The National Science Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm on February 28 to commemorate the invention of the Raman Effect in India by Indian physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman the same day in 1928. The day offers an opportunity to bring issues of science for humanity. The theme for the day 2015 was “Science for Nation Building”.
Science and technology is a key driver for sustainable and economic growth of a city. Smart Cities in the developed world are formulating technology master plans and then using these plans to develop a citywide command and control network that monitors and optimises delivery of services like power, water, traffic and healthcare. The concept of a Smart City is a relatively new one.
People migrate to cities primarily in search of employment and economic activities beside better quality of life. Therefore, a Smart City for its sustainability needs to offer economic activities and employment opportunities to residents, regardless of their level of education, skills or income levels. Besides, it would have to provide affordable housing, cost-efficient physical infrastructure such as 24-hour water and electric supply, proper sanitation facility, clean air, quality education, healthcare, security, entertainment, fast and efficient urban mobility, etc.
In fact, 90 per cent of the world’s urban population growth will take place in developing countries. India is currently experiencing a high pace of urbanisation and movement of its citizens from smaller towns and villages to cities.
To create a more livable and healthy environment, Smart Cities have been planned. The Smart City concept emerged during the last decade as a fusion of ideas about how information and communications technologies (ICTs) might improve the functioning of cities, enhancing their efficiency, improving their competitiveness and providing new ways in which problems of poverty, social deprivation and environment might be addressed.
For a smart city the key elements are institutional (including governance), physical, social and economic infrastructures. Institutional infrastructure refers to the activities that relate to the planning and management systems, the participatory systems of governance and e-governance. Physical infrastructure refers to cost-efficient and intelligent physical infrastructure like the urban mobility system, the housing stock, the energy system, the water supply system and sewerage system, solid waste management, drainage, etc. Social infrastructure relates to the components that work towards developing human and social capitals such as educational, healthcare, entertainment, open spaces and parks.
The Prime Minister has a vision of developing one hundred Smart Cities as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernising the existing midsized cities to meet the demands of the country’s rapidly growing urban population. To achieve this, Urban local Bodies (UlBs) would need to make effective use of information and communications technology in public administration to coordinate between various departments. Specifically, Smart Cities would have municipal offices fully automated to deliver services in time through IT-based facilities.
Public participation in governance should be made possible through the social media and by making all information available in the public domain. One hundred Smart Cities may be chosen by considering various criteria as one satellite city of each of the cities with a population of 4 million people or more (nine cities). Most of the cities in the population range of 1-4 million people (about 35 out of 44 cities). Cities of tourist, religious and economic importance not included in above cities. Cities in the 0.2 to 1.0 million population range (25 cities).
Developing 100 Smart Cities would need a large number of professional manpower and several decision support systems. Thus, there is a need for a large capacity building programme that encompasses training, education, research, knowledge exchange and a rich database.
The benchmarks for Smart Cities include smart transportation with maximum travel time of 30 minutes in small and medium-size cities and 45 minutes in metropolitan areas; unobstructed footpath of minimum two-m width on either side of all streets; and dedicated and physically-segregated bicycle tracks with a width of two m or more. At least 20 per cent of all residential units have to be occupied by economically weaker sections. All households should be connected to the waste water network. India can make Smart Cities like Seoul, Singapore, Yokohama and Barcelona, which have a sound transport system and efficient management of services for all citizens.
There is also proposal in Odisha to include six cities in the Smart City project. The cities are Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Brahmapur, Puri, Sambalpur and Rourkela. To fulfil the goal, there is a requirement of involvement of citizens in decision-making processes. New ways of reengineering cities to make them smart, responsive, competitive and equitable would require new forms of governance. Public-private partnerships and citizen participation is highly needed for application of smart technology in city planning.