[Urbanstudy] Questions abound over smart city project

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/gated-community-or-inclusive-questions-over-smart-city-project-115021700951_1.html





Questions abound over smart city project

*Experts caution against it turning elitist, say there's a need to involve
the local population*
*Nivedita Mookerji
<http://www.business-standard.com/author/search/keyword/nivedita-mookerji>
|  New Delhi *
*February 18, 2015* Last Updated at 00:44 IST










Even before concrete work begins on the government’s ambitious smart-city
project, there seems to be increasing concern over the initiative turning
into an elitist concept.


While the National Democratic Alliance government has been striking deals
for the project with other countries and international entities (the latest
was with Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City), participants at
a smart city
<http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Smart+City>summit on
Tuesday sounded a cautious note, saying the government should think of the
project as an “inclusive” venture, not a gated community for the rich and
privileged.

The two-day summit is organised by First Smart Cities Council, the India
chapter of Global Smart Cities Council, a Washington DC-based research body.

On Monday, it was decided Michael Bloomberg’s Bloomberg Philanthropies
would assist the Ministry of Urban Development in selecting cities for the
smart city project, on a continuous basis. Japan, Germany, Singapore and
the US are among the countries that have expressed interest in partnering
the government in this initiative. A signature project of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, it envisages 100 smart cities, most of which will involve
upgrade and conversion of existing ones. It is expected Union Budget
<http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Union+Budget> 2015-16
will make a pitch for smart cities; Budget 2014-15 had allocated about Rs
7,000 crore towards this.

A K Jain, architect and town planner and former commissioner (planning) at
the Delhi Development Authority, told Business Standard as of now, the
project to build 100 smart cities was just “a slogan”. Other government
initiatives, such as the Swachh Bharat, housing for all, Clean Ganga
<http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Clean+Ganga>and the
urban renewal mission, should have been clubbed under this project, Jain
said, adding he was against too much foreign participation and a
significant role for developers in this initiative. Jain highlights the
risk of developers making it a luxury and upmarket project and says there
is a need for local expertise to come up with smart cities in India. “We
cannot forget the poor; it should not end up as a posh locality.” Tying up
with foreign entities could be done later, he said, adding “planning has to
be done in-house, with the needs of the local population as the key point”.

Jayesh Ranjan, commissioner of industries, Telangana, also stressed the
need to make the smart city project inclusive. If it was a brownfield
project (redevelopment of existing cities), chances of smart cities being
inclusive were greater, Ranjan said.

He, however, added, this wasn’t a simple project that could be completed
quickly and without hurdles. “You need a great deal of patience for the
smart city project,” he said, pointing to problems related to
“retro-fitting” in case of brownfield projects. He buttressed his argument
by citing the lessons learnt from the retro-fitting underway in Cyberabad,
which came up as an information technology (IT) hub in 2002, as an
amalgamation of four villages. Even after it became an IT park, with
companies such as Microsoft
<http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Microsoft>setting up
offices, the authorities realised much more had to be done. That’s how
retro-fitting started, along with several partners, Ranjan said.
“Retrofitting is an arduous and long path. There’s nothing instant about
it.’’

At the stage of drawing up a master plan, local and regional involvement
was important, said P N Rao, founder — director of Urban Development
Research Institute. Rao said while drawing up plans, the less privileged
should be kept in mind. He concurred with Jain that though 70 per cent of
India’s gross domestic product came from urban areas, economic growth
should not be the only criterion for a smart city. International
participants such as Sabrina Coccia, an expert on smart cities (Paris),
said strategy was the primary aspect of the smart city project. It
“shouldn’t be about cut and paste” of initiatives taken up by others, she
added.

Last month, Shankar Agarwal
<http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Shankar+Agarwal>was
shunted from the post of secretary in the urban development ministry and
replaced with Madhusudan Prasad
<http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&q=Madhusudan+Prasad>from
the commerce ministry. While the two-day summit on smart cities is backed
by the urban development ministry, no official from the ministry was
present.

*AIMING BIG*

*A matter of time*

If you thought India was far behind other countries in terms of smart
cities, think again. Leaving aside some pockets of Barcelona or Paris, most
smart city projects are still in the making, says Pratap Padode, chairman
of First Smart Cities Council. These projects include the ambitious Songdo
in South Korea and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. Singapore wasn’t a smart city,
Padode said, adding there were “livable cities such as Melbourne and
Vancouver”. On being asked the time taken to complete such projects, he
said Songdo was work in progress for 12 years, adding it wouldn’t be
completed before another five years.

*Green concern*

Of the buildings in Cyberabad, an information technology hub, 99.9 per cent
aren’t ‘Green’, a key benchmark in defining smart cities. Another important
aspect in terms of making Cyberabad ‘smart’ is the number of people cycling
to work. Jayesh Ranjan, commissioner of industries, Telangana, said against
the current 400, the target was to have 4,000 people cycle to work by the
end of this year.

*The cost factor*

Even as much is being talked about financing models for smart cities, one
thing is for sure: the cost on brownfield projects (redeveloping existing
cities) will be much lower than those on greenfield ones (building fresh
cities). Though the National Democratic Alliance government is considering
brownfield projects, a negative is it is much tougher to execute such smart
city projects, while new smart cities can be rolled out more easily.

*Wholesome offerings*

If there’s any confusion, smart city trackers like to make it clear — smart
cities are very different from smart buildings. Such cities are wholesome,
covering everything from technology to security and sustainability to
infrastructure. And yes, climate designers, or architects planning
according to climate needs, might soon be in vogue.

*Banking on technology*

In between presentations on data collection and analysis in the context of
smart cities, there were lighter moments, too. It was said on being asked
why she hadn’t turned up for work, a domestic help told her mistress she
had put up the message on a Facebook post, adding, “Sir had liked it, too.”
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