Indian cities today face significant challenges such as: Increasing population Lack of physical and social infrastructure Environmental and regulatory deficit Declining tax bases and budgets, and Increasing costs They have to learn to identify new and smart ways to manage the complexity of urban living, and problems ranging from pollution, overcrowding and urban sprawl to inadequate housing, high unemployment, resource management, environmental protection, and rising crime rates.
Long-standing urban challenges include those in terms of:
Housing( especially for low-income populations) Infrastructure provision Delivery of a variety of services including water, sanitation, education and healthcare.
These challenges can be met in two ways- building new( Greenfield) cities or transforming existing ones. and adequate provisions for base utilities and control of resources. The conceptualization of a Smart City varies from city to city and from country to country, depending on the level of development, willingness for changes and reforms, availability of resources and aspirations of the city residents.
In developed countries, a Smart City is one where existing infrastructure is augmented, monitored and controlled, leading to highly sustainable development. In the Indian context, the approach is necessarily different. Since many cities lack basic infrastructure, institutional frameworks and proper governance, a Smart City initiative will first and foremost involve providing basic civic requirements and making the infrastructure robust and scalable.
November 2016 47 www. smartgovernance. in