By Parnika Jhunjhunwala
Urbanisation in India is happening at a breakneck speed. People are migrating from rural areas to urban cities. The lack of resources or inefficient usage of the same is deteriorating the quality of life in urban areas. Hence, investing in smart cities is essential and will enhance not only the productivity of the people already living there but will make migration easier and affordable without questioning the quality of life or creating a conflict over resources.
As per government estimates, every minute 25-30 people are migrating to major Indian cities from rural areas in search of a better livelihood. PM Modi has emphasised for cooperation in investment in smart cities, urbanisation and disaster management, inviting foreign partnership in developing smart cities with Japan, Germany, US and Singapore.
How smart is a smart city?
The government aims to revamp the entire urban ecological system. It intends to provide some basic infrastructural amenities to begin with which will include expanding housing opportunities for all, reducing congestion and pollution, ensuring security, making governance citizen-friendly and cost effective by increasingly relying on online services, especially using mobiles to reduce cost of services, assuring water and electricity supply, sanitation and solid waste management along with a robust IT connectivity and e-governance.
Smart city initiative also looks into promoting area-based development of the cities; which includes initiatives such as a pan-city development of the existing city-wide infrastructure. For instance, introducing intelligent traffic management system to reduce the commute time of citizens. Another aspect is Greenfield development, which will focus on vacant areas to address the needs of the expanding population. For example, the Gujarat International Finance Tech-City (GIFT), which is under construction.
Smart and green is what we need
Smart cities need to be climate resilient. A study from the IIT Guwahati looked at the links between urbanisation and emissions in eight emerging Asian economies and found that urbanisation has positive links with both carbon emissions and energy consumption. Creating assets will boost the urban economy, but that very economy will fall flat if the air is not breathable and the roads are not walkable. The Mumbai flooding of 2005 and now again in 2017 is just an example of how poorly equipped, even Indian Metropolitans are to battle natural disasters. Within hours of rain, the city gets swamped and public transport becomes a menace.
China, faced with similar drainage issues, embraced the concept of Green infrastructure and has come up with Sponge Cities, which is about developing storage ponds, filtration pools, and wetlands in residential areas, and roads and squares built with permeable materials that allow storm water to soak into the ground more effectively. The pilot projects have shown that 85% runoff can be reduced annually.
Environmental concerns around the world
Many other cities around the world have adopted smart and green solutions. Reykjavik, Iceland has been putting hydrogen buses on its streets and its electricity requirements are met completely by renewable resources. Portland in the USA has aggressively pushed green building initiatives and also runs a neat system of buses and bike lanes to keep cars off roads. Austin, Texas is poised to become the number one solar manufacturing centre in the U.S. The city is on its way to meet 20% of its electricity needs through renewables by 2020.
How to ensure economic growth?
Cities are seen more in the light of welfare and less so in terms of addressing the economy. The government proposes to pick each smart city and name it after what it is unique for. Studies have shown that cities focusing on a singular competitive advantage tend to specialize but often struggle to adapt to the changing opportunities. Though specialisation is beneficial, it comes at the cost of structural flexibility. If a particular sector of the city undergoes market failure, the economy of the city can be compensated by the other sectors. Many successful cities boast diversified economies. New York has a path-dependent advantage in finance, with recent volatility offset by tourism, business services and the arts. Thus, along with the promotion of the existing specialities of the city, the government also needs to focus on diversifying its economy.
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