SMART CITY- Smarter solution for a better tomorrow

The first question that arises in our mind is, what exactly is a smart city?

Well, there is no particular definition for smart city. The definition of smart city varies from person to person, cities to cities and country to country depending on the development and willingness to change and aspirations of the residents. Smart city has different goals in India as compared to other countries, say USA or Singapore. Smart city is represented through four pillars:  institutional, social, physical and economic infrastructure.

The 2^nd smart city conference was recently held in Delhi at Pragati Maidan, and we as INLEADers got a chance to be a part of the insightful conference. During the conference, we came to know about the entire Smart city project and how it aims to make 100 cities smart. The main focus area of this conference was water and waste management, environment, IT & communications, security and safety, disaster management, smart education, smart health, smart multi- model transport, clean energy, smart building.

Many speakers were in the conference. I am sharing below excerpts from their speeches:

Mr. Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (Railway Minister of India). According to him, “there are two important things that should be maintained - natural resources and energy.” He said that under the smart city project stations will be redeveloped and that the people would get smart railways.

The other speaker was Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy. He mainly focused on three issues energy, waste and water. According to him “people’s participation is another main ingredient to make the smart city project sustainable.” He also talked about segregation of the waste material, smart meters that will update the status of water usage in a house, power costs which can be reduced to 83% by the use of LED bulbs. This way India can save Rs.6.5 billion per year. Definition of smart city stated by him “anything you do to improve the lifestyle of people.”

Commenting on the expo, Ravinder Pal Singh, Director, Solutions Strategy & Business Development, (IoT, Smart Cities & Digitization) Dell India, said “smart work has to be done in order to improve the technology. And has to have open architecture and scalability.” For smart city, people also have to become smart and consider that it is their duty to keep their city clean as their houses. He also said that government should keep record of everything. One example he cited was of GIS meter which is used to control water flowing.

Meenakshi Lekhi (Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, India) pointed some very important facts in order make a city smart and sustain it. As, in terms of financial structure, utility based model, waste management model, water management, education system, infrastructure. She said that without making any strategy regarding these terms, the goal of making cities as smart city cannot be achieved.

To demonstrate huge international interest towards India’s mission of Smart Cities, the expo hosted 4 individual countries Holland, Poland, Sweden, and Taiwan and participants from 40 other countries.

H.E. Mr. Chung-Kwang Tien (Ambassador to India, Embassy of Taiwan) gave example of some of the technology and facts about Taiwan which might be introduced in India as well such as “smart water meter” which gives the information about water quality and its usage. Also the information is connected to cloud for easily access. Other example was of usage of LED in traffic lights. Thus Taiwan will help India in terms of technology.

H.E. Mr. Harald Sandberg (Ambassador to India, Embassy of Sweden) focused on renewable energy and sustainable urban development. He also gave the information that 15 Swedish companies are participating in smart city project to work in areas of solar energy, water, traffic, parking, biogas, etc.

The three-day expo comprised an exhibition with 325 national and international companies showcasing trends and technologies for integrated smart city management. The exhibiting companies include leading multinationals to innovative start-ups - Dell International, Xerox, Ericsson, 3M India, Berger Paints, Godrej Security, Grundfos Pumps, Millenium Semiconductor, Tata Projects, Volvo, Yamaha, etc. offering solutions for smart cities India.

I heard out all speakers and found myself agreeing with all of them at some level. Going further, we the future of our country, should be closely associated with the concept of Smart Cities. The future lies in technological innovation, and what better way than participating in your own country’s technological evolution.

Rashi Agarwal

Student, INLEAD

Are we smart enough to build Smart Cities?

The current Govt. true to its pre poll promises has taken up some initiatives that will in the long run be those initiatives which Indians would be proud owners of.  One such initiative is construction of Smart Cities. A project if successful, will serve as a model modern living concept.

What is a Smart City?
There are many definitions of Smart cities. While we will tackle that later, let’s look at some initiatives that the Govt of India has taken up in its Smart cities Mission. The mission is expected to set examples that can be replicated both within & outside the smart city.


According to the website http://smartcities.gov.in/ the core infrastructure elements in a smart city would include:
i. Adequate water supply;
ii. Assured electricity supply;
iii. Sanitation, including solid waste management;
iv. Efficient urban mobility & public transport;
v. Affordable housing, especially for the poor;
vi. Robust IT connectivity & digitalization;
vii. Good governance, especially e-Governance & citizen participation;
viii. Sustainable environment;
ix. Safety & security of citizens, particularly women, children & elderly; and
x. Health & education

Smart cities are aimed at improving the quality of life, provide employment opportunities, encourage  green living and especially create inclusive cities that look after its Have nots (i.e. poor, elderly, disadvantaged) and the Haves alike.

Choosing Smart Cities in India
There are 100 Smart cities in the pipeline that have been distributed among States & Union territories on the basis of equitable criteria. The formula gives equal weightage (50:50) to urban population of the State/UT and the number of statutory towns in the State/UT. This has resulted in all States & UTs having atleast 1 smart city, with Uttar Pradesh having a maximum of 13, followed by Tamil Nadu with 12, and Maharashtra with 10 such cities.

Monitoring of Smart Cities
The Union Ministry for Urban Development is responsible for implementing this mission. A total of Rs.70.16 billion has been allocated for this mission. National level monitoring will be of two types: Apex Committee & National Mission Directorate. These committees will develop strategic blueprints, coordinate across center & states, oversee capacity building, and approve the release of funds based on progress in implementation. The first smart city under construction is at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

To conclude lets define Smart City:
To provide for the aspirations and needs of the citizens, urban planners ideally aim at developing the entire urban eco-system, which is represented by the four pillars of comprehensive development-institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure. With these smart cities we will be able to boast of modern facilities & a quality of life comparable to western standard of living. It will be symbolic of a culture that needs to be fostered & inculcated such that a sense of discipline & timeliness becomes an integral part of our lifestyle.

Monica Mor
Sr. Faculty, INLEAD