Smart Cities India

Backdrop

Urbanization in India is mainly due to liberalization of its economy after the 1990s, which gave rise to the development of

the private sector. Presently, although urbanization is taking place at a fast rate in India, only one-third of its population

lives in urban areas. The urban scenario in India is to a large extent characterised by disparities and inequalities, which

explains soaring real estate prices on one hand, and poor living conditions on the other. The sheer magnitude of the urban

population, haphazard and unplanned growth of urban areas, and a desperate lack of infrastructure are the main causes of

such a situation. The rapid growth of urban population both natural and through migration, has put heavy pressure on

public utilities like housing, sanitation, transport, water, electricity, health, education and so on. Every city in India stresses

the environment with pollution, and poor waste management, which combines with poor administration and lack of

implementation of plans and control to aggravate the problem. The advent of technology has made the lifestyle more

sedentary and urban population calls for innovative and structured ways to address the above issues. It is expected that by

2030, 250 million new urban population will reside in the Indian cities which will provide for 70% Indian GDP. Will the

current model be able to sustain urbanisation at such a massive scale?

The Smart City Concept

A smart city is one which is equipped with basic infrastructure to give a decent quality of life, a clean and

sustainable environment through application of some smart solutions. So, how can a city be smart? Creating a

smart city is a continuous process of smart planning, smart financing and smart execution. It provides cutting-

edge solutions to the problems that the existing civilizations are grappling with. The smart city is a prototype for

implementing a vision of progressive and modern urbanisation. This vision envisages achievement of three goals, social

equitability, economic viability, and environmental sustainability.

Government’s