The proposal for building smart cities in our country has aroused unprecedented enthusiasm since it was first mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 as part of a mission to transform the nation.
Described as ‘Mission Transform-Nation’ by the PM, the Smart City initiative is an ambitious game changer that seeks to transform cities and towns into sustainable centres of economic activity, providing an improved quality of life to the citizens in all respects. Smart Cities will create a replicable model which will act like a lighthouse to other cities.
Announcement of the first 20 winners in the Smart City challenge selected for funding in the first phase under Smart City Mission is a landmark in the annals of urban development in our country.
This is because, for the first time in the country and perhaps the world, investment in urban development is being made based on the basis of competition.
The competition was among cities nominated by the states from a competition held among that state’s cities and towns — nothing was decided in Delhi.
These 20 cities have qualified for funding in the first phase but all the other cities that have not qualified are still in the running to become smart cities. They can revise their proposals and participate in the second round of the challenge.
That cities from the BJP-ruled states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Goa could not make it to the top 20, speaks for the transparency with which selections were made. The same is the case for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Telangana.
The implementation of the Smart City plans will demonstrate how integrated planning, area development and smart technologies can deliver a better quality of life, improve economic output, provide opportunities and jobs and bring about a much-desired urban transformation.
As part of the paradigm shift in urban development in the country, the Smart City Mission marks the beginning of a ‘bottom-up’ approach as against the capital-driven ‘top down’ approach followed so far. Citizen participation has been mandatory for preparation of the plans.
In the whole process of preparation of the Smart City Plans (SCP) the views of citizens, their suggestions and feedback were given top priority and the whole process was a citizen-centric one.
A total of 1.52 crore citizens have participated in the preparation of the plans at various stages. This, in my view, is the biggest gain in the whole exercise. This level of citizen participation accounts for about 12 per cent of the total population of the 97 smart cities that participated in the competition.
In these Smart Cities, information and communication technology (ICT) will be used to leverage citizen participation for urban planning by ensuring a constant exchange of information personalised to the citizens’ needs and preferences, so as to mitigate and remedy urban development challenges.
The process of the competition was as error-free as possible. The Ministry, in consultation with Bloomberg Technologies, States and Urban Local Bodies, has evolved a standardised template with a set of 43 questions to assess the plans.
This format enabled the cities and towns to express themselves fully, and even bring out unique features, which otherwise may have been missed.
Of the 20 cities selected, 18 have come forward with retrofitting proposals; one city with both retrofitting and redevelopment and one only redevelopment. In all, a total area of 26,735 acres will be taken up for improvements in these 20 cities including redevelopment of 425 acres.
Eleven states and the Union Territory of Delhi have made it to the top 20 cities. With Jammu & Kashmir still to decide on their choice, 23 States and UTs are still to be covered under Smart City Mission. We are giving the top ranking city in each of these 23 states and UTs an opportunity to upgrade their proposals in a fast track round of competition. They will be given time till April 15 this year to submit their upgraded proposals. The second round of competition for the remaining 54 cities and towns will begin on April 1 this year. Those who do not make the grade in the fast-track competition will also join this round.
Resource mobilisation is one of the crucial aspects of the implementation of the plans. Selected cities have proposed detailed financing plans to meet the investment needs. Sources of finances would be `500 cr from the Centre and matching grants from states over a five-year period, convergence of Central and State schemes, land monetisation, tax on area development properties and PPP.
But getting selected alone will not make these 20 cities smart. They will have to work hard to achieve the purpose of the mission to enhance quality of life for citizens. They will have to make use of ICT to enhance the quality of urban services, reduce costs and consumption of water and electricity. These cities may first provide basic necessities like water, sanitation, and transport and vegetation.
My vision of a smart city is a happy city for people. Smart cities should have regular water and power supply, comfortable public transport, cycling and walking tracks, rainwater harvesting, recycling of water, green buildings, use of renewable energy fuels such as solar and LED, metering for water and power, toilet for each house, access for disabled, reasonable user charges with differential pricing for poor, etc. Every street must have trees. Every house, every shop, every complex should be mandated to have waste basket outside. There should be ban on spitting in public places. There has to be enough green public space. The city should have mechanisms for safety and security of citizens. Housing for all should be an integral part of the smart city mission. This according to me is an ideal smart city. I hope our cities march towards this end.
The administration of these cities, their public representatives and municipal commissioners should work towards the implementation of the smart city plan and to improve their credit rating. They should have an integrated plan, envisioning the convergence of different State and Central schemes to make the project cost effective and increase the quality of outcome.
In fact, convergence of new initiatives like the Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Swachh Bharat Mission, Urban Housing Mission and Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) is another feature of the shift in our approach to urban development. Many cities in the list of 98 smart cities have qualified for AMRUT, HRIDAY and Housing Mission. This convergence leads to integrated development.
The implementation of the Mission at the city level will be done through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created for the purpose. A SPV will be formed for each of these cities, to identify all the potential partners from public and private sectors who will establish the Public Private Partnership. SPV will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate the Smart City development projects.
The government is pushing for an urban renewal in India. This project aims to provide world-class infrastructure in Indian cities. Moreover, affordable housing, which is the top priority for the government, would receive a further boost through this mission. Incentivising infrastructure development will lead to higher private participation in the formation of smart cities and the private sector, especially the infrastructure and real estate sectors, could witness ample opportunities through investing in specific cities.
As Victor Hugo said, “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come” and Smart Cities is one such idea whose time has come.
The author is the Union Minister for Urban Development