PM Modi had announced his vision to set up 100 smart cities across the country soon after his government was sworn into power mid last year. Since then a race has been on among cities to land on the list that the ministry of urban development is compiling. The 100 smart cities mission intends to promote adoption of smart solutions for efficient use of available assets, resources and infrastructure. Dipak Dash explains what these smart cities are and how they will work.
1.
What is a 'smart city'?
A city equipped with basic infrastructure to give a decent quality of life, a clean and sustainable environment through application of some smart solutions.
2.
Basic infrastructure
Assured water and electricity supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, robust IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation, safety and security of citizens.
3.
Smart solutions
Public information, grievance redressal, electronic service delivery, citizens’ engagement, waste to energy & fuel, waste to compost, 100% treatment of waste water, smart meters & management, monitoring water quality, renewable source of energy, efficient energy and
green building, smart parking, intelligent traffic management system.
4.
What's the next step?
The next step is identification of the 100 cities and for this a city challenge competition to be conducted by Bloomberg Philanthropies is envisaged. The current plan looks to select 20 cities this year followed by 40 each in the next two years.
5.
Smart Cities Council India has been formed
It is part of the US-based Smart Cities Council, which is a consortium of smart city practitioners and experts, with a 100-plus member and advisor organizations operating in over 140 countries.
6.
All states will get at least one smart city
A Special Purpose Vehicle will be created for each city to implement
Smart City action plan. The SPV will be signed with the urban local body, state government and the Centre for implementation of the project.
7.
How it will work
After government announces the guidelines, states will be asked to nominate names of cities for a ‘
City Challenge Competition’ and the chosen ones will get Central fund of Rs 100 crore each year for 5 years.
8.
The basic criteria for selection of a city/municipal area
9.
Area-based development
1. Retrofitting 500 acres: Planning in an existing built-up area in a municipal ward, preparing plan with citizen participation (example: Connaught Place in Delhi, Bhendi Bazar in Mumbai).
2. Greenfield 250 acres: Introduce smart solutions in a vacant area using innovative planning (example: land pooling/land reconstitution in Outer Delhi, GIFT city in Gujarat).
3. Redevelopment 50 acres: Replacement of existing built-up area and preparing a new layout plan with enhanced infrastructure by way of mixed land use (example: Kidwai Nagar in Delhi).
