THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thiruvananthapuram retained its title as the best city according to an Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS) for 2016, conducted by Bengaluru-based Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy.
The city piped other cities in the country to score 4.4 on a scale of 10. Various parameters were compared against global cities such as London and New York. The city of Pune came second with a score of 4.2, Kolkata with 4.1.
Thiruvananthapuram first clinched the title in the 2015 survey conducted by the non-profit organisation with a score of 4.3. The parameters were broadly classified into four segments. Urban Planning and Design (UPD), Urban Capacity and Resources (UCR), Empowered and Legitimate Political Representation (ELPR) and Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) are the four components. Out of which good scores in ELPR and TAP helped the city to clinch top score. Under these, better turnout in corporation election and gender representation in council received good marks.
The survey found that only Thiruvananthapuram has an ombudsman for issues related to public service delivery. It scored 7.5 points in citizen complaint redressal segment.The survey was critical of the inadequate devolution of powers to city administration, regulation of plan violations, revenue generation mechanisms, use of information technology etc.