Mr. Shyam
Sundar S Pani, GIREM
India can get its 100
smart cities, provided it formulates a forward looking urbanisa tion policy.
Let's look at what it can do right
In 2010, the city of
Maywood, California, completely outsourced all of its civic services and turned
local officials into contract workers.
Maywood outsourced
everything other than the city manager, city attorney and elected officials.
Many functions were
outsourced to private corporations and some functions were outsourced to better
functioning municipalities.
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| Shyam Sundar S Pani, GIREM |
In 1999, the Taipei
City Government (TCG) introduced ICT-oriented urban planning strategies. The
rationale has been to complement the traditional geographical approach to urban
policy , with innovative applications of ICT in governing Taipei city and
improving public services.
Closer home, we have
the model of Jamshedpur, wherein, municipal services are provided by Tata
Steel's town division unit. In 2003, Tata Steel 'corporatised' the town
division unit, thus, enabling the expansion and improvement of services,
greater efficiency and financial viability.
The Jamshedpur
Utilities and Services Company (JUSCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel,
has transformed Jamshedpur into a model town with world-class facilities.
CORPORATISATION OF
CIVIC BODIES..
The profiles of
Maywood, Taipei and Jamshedpur, may be vastly different but the bottom-line is
that all of them have gone in for 'corporatisation' of their cities and
leveraged dynamic ICT technologies for improving civic services.
How do these two
examples fit into cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi
and the tier-II cities like Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Pune, etc.
Firstly, it is
possible to outsource many of the civic services, if not all, in such
mega-cities, to professional organisations. The challenges may be different but
a systematic approach (with data analytics) can make all the difference.
CITY PLANNING...
If Indian cities are
to become truly global and developed, it is imperative to match resources to
capacity and cities need to be looked at like blocks.
The zones have to be
sustainable and TPMP (transportation and parking management plan) is the way
forward. Importantly, the city planners will have to take a tough call with
regards to the population growth of a city it has to limit by way of creating
counter-magnets.
Amenities for work
and living have to be within a 5-km radius and this concept paves the way for
growth of smaller towns, thus, holding back migration to a certain extent to
cities, which are already choking to death.
OUTSOURCING..
Yes, the concept of
outsourcing can be leveraged for city development. Urban planning is a major
and complicated exercise needing expertise, foresight and vision. From the way
the cities have grown, we can surmise that the planners have lacked all of
these. There are many experts outside the government edifices whose services
should be utilised.
The planning process
has to be outsourced and extremely transparent. Not just planning, the urban
civic bodies will have to outsource some of the work (some of the
municipalities have outsourced garbage clearance, etc.), divest some of the
work and reorganise some work based on exigencies. Smart cities urgently
require smart people to run them.
URGENCY..
There is an urgency
to correct the course of development of cities as we see more and more cities
'decaying', 'dying' as pressure on them builds up with large-scale migration
from rural areas. Towns are rapidly transforming into cities, cities into
megacities, transforming the urban landscape considerably. As per World Bank
reports, urban population growth in India was 2.45% in 2011.
The percentage of
Indians living in urban areas has shot up from 27.8% in 2001 to 31.16% in 2011.
India registered considerable increase as compared to Pakistan (up from 33.1%
to 36.2% and Bangladesh up from 23.6% to 28.4%), during the decade.
The world's urban
population is currently growing at four times the rate of rural population.
Between 1990 and 2025, the number of people living in urban areas is projected
to double to more than five billion, if it does, then two-third of the world's
population will be living in towns and cities.
An estimated 90 per
cent increase will occur in developing countries.
India's rate of
urbanisation was last recorded at 31.1%. Presently, urban India is home to 377
million people and is expected to house 600 million people by 2031, an increase
of 59 per cent from 2011 when the last census was taken.
The problem is how to
accommodate this sea of humanity-will they have to drift to the already
over-congested towns and cities? Will the resources be sufficient for the whole
population? It is hoped that the new government which has come to power on a
'development plank', will take decisions that will make urban living a lot less
uncomfortable in terms of traffic snarls, massive power cuts, drinking water
shortage, inadequate and inefficient public transportation, social tensions.
100 CITIES, A WELCOME
MOVE..
The 100 cities vision
of the government of India is a step in the right direction. The announcement
by prime minister, of creating 100 new 'smart cities' by bringing premier
institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian
Institutes of Management (IIMs) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) to every state; job creation; development model for farmers; water
grids, etc., can transform India if the delivery and implementation mechanisms
are prompt, efficient and sustainable.
Future cities need to
be sustainable, self-sufficient and reliable for which the national
urbanisation policy has to be not only comprehensive, but also forward-looking.
It is indeed a challenge to control unplanned growth of large cities by
dispersing economic and social activities to small and medium-sized towns and
cities.
About the author
The writer Mr. Shyam
Sundar S Pani is president at GIREM.
GIREM
White House,
No. 23-29, F-8, First Floor, St. Marks Road,
Bangalore 560 001.
Phone: +91-80- 4113 1320
Phone: +91-80- 4113 1320
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