by Mr. A. Shankar,
National Director – Strategic Consulting &
Head – Urban Solutions,
JLL India
The buzzword ‘Smart Cities’ has gained a lot
more meaning now after the selection of the 20 top cities as Smart Cities out
of a total of 98 through a competitive process of selection. It bears
mentioning that the selection process for the ambitious 100 Smart Cities
mission is the first of its kind in India.
Also, the selection timelines were
met without any extensions. This is quite significant, since most
Government-related submissions usually tend to get extended for various and
sometimes no reasons.
This fact clearly evidences firm intent and
interest of the involved city managers and citizens to have their cities
included in the Smart Cities program.
All cities participated with proposals to
develop better infrastructure in terms of assured water and power supply,
sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public
transport, IT connectivity, e-governance – and, most importantly, citizen
participation.
In the Smart Cities selection process,
Bhubaneswar tops the list, followed by Pune and Jaipur in the second and third
places. JLL India’s Strategic Consulting team was instrumental in preparing the
proposals for two of the 20 selected cities, namely Bhubaneshwar and Chennai.
Over the next two years, the Government will identify 40 and 38 more cities
respectively through another round of competitive selection.
 |
| A. Shankar, JLL India. |
India’s Smart City Mission marks the country’s
next phase of urbanisation, and will contribute to the growth of the nation in
a big way.
The Smart City Proposals and Vision of the top 20 cities clearly
focus on what citizens want, and the various issues prevailing in most of the
cities. From the initial stage till implementation, one underlying question
will dominate – what can citizens expect from these Smart Cities?
The following deliverables are part of most of
the Smart City proposals:
1. Access To Better Public
Transport..!
Growing urbanisation has increased the number of
private vehicles on public roads, leading to massive traffic congestion in
almost all Indian cities. All selected Smart Cities have undertaken to develop
or strengthen their public transportation networks to encourage their increased
use and thereby reduce the use of private vehicles.
The Smart Cities propose to
provide easy access to public transport and enhance mobility by use of ICT
(Information & Communications Technology) solutions. Public transport will
aid faster, easier and cheaper commuting, and the modal shift from private to
public transport will be instrumental in significantly mitigating inner city
congestion.
Of the 20 selected Smart Cities, the ones which
are focusing on ICT solutions for urban mobility are Pune, Jaipur, Surat,
Davanagere, Indore, Belagavi, Udaipur and Chennai.
2. Putting Pedestrians First..!
‘Pedestrianisation’ and Non-Motorised Transport
are integral factors in the proposed ‘smartening up’ programme of cities like
Pune, Belagavi, Udaipur and Chennai, the latter also being the first city to
implement a Non-Motorised Transport Policy in India.
Citizens will enjoy wide
footpaths with public seating at regular intervals and easy mobility for the
differently-abled. Car-free Sundays will make streets available for citizens to
interact and engage in street activities.
Since pedestrians are the victims in a large
number of major road accidents, on-street parking will be managed and organized
to increase their safety. Also, cycle sharing and feeder systems will help
citizens achieve better Last Mile connectivity, which is the major hurdle for
the successful functioning of public transport. Citizens will have the option
to use cycles to commute to their destinations from the public transport mode.
3. Availability Of Adequate
Parking..!
Intelligent parking management, a part of many
of the winning Smart City proposals, will help citizens find parking with ease
and even pre-book their parking slot along with online payment modes.
On-street
parking management will be a reliable revenue source for the cities, and can be
used to further strengthen their public transportation systems. Managing
on-street parking will reduce traffic congestion, increase the effective
carriageway width available for vehicles and reduce fuel consumption and
pollution, among other benefits.
The cities which have identified this as a
prime winning proposition in the Smart City contest are Bhubaneshwar,
Davanagere, Indore, Udaipur, Guwahati and Chennai.
4. Reduced Traffic Congestion..!
Intelligent Traffic Management Systems to manage
city traffic via various ICT solutions have been considered by Bhubaneshwar,
Surat, Ahmedabad, Davanagere, Indore, Udaipur and Chennai.
Citizens will enjoy
easier transport modes and routes, and also have smart phone access to
estimated travel time to their destination by Passenger Real Time information
on arrival of buses, trains and e-rickshaws.
Traffic Signalling Prioritization
of BRTS buses and video surveillance will further ensure safety and prevent
traffic violations.
5. Safer Living..!
Safety of residents is another aspect that has
been assured in Coimbatore, Kakinada, Udaipur, Guwahati and Chennai.
Initiatives such as LED street lighting will boost pedestrians’ safety, as will
video surveillance via a Common Control Centre – which will simultaneously help
reduce traffic violations and ensure efficient on-street parking management.
6. Hassle-Free Civic Services..!`
Another big initiative that the identified Smart
Cities are targeting is e-governance, meaning a single platform from where
citizens can access all and any details and also help them get all services
done.
Most importantly, this will enable citizens’ engagement in all aspects of
city functioning, as the data sharing or transparency between government and
citizens will act as a forum for citizens to understand exactly how their city
is functioning.
Some of the smart solutions such as integrated fare cards,
smart unified city governance, ‘one city one website’, GIS (Geographic
Information System) mapping and Wi-Fi hotspots have been considered by
Bhubaneshwar, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Vishakapatnam, Davanagere, New Delhi Municipal
Council (NDMC), Belagavi, Ludhiana and Bhopal.
7. Safety Against Natural
Disasters..!
Natural disasters are, almost by definition,
impossible to prevent; however human interventions in terms of precautionary
measures can help in minimising losses to life and property to a great extent.
The coastal areas are often badly affected by cyclones and flooding, so cities
like Chennai and Vishakhapatnam will concentrate on ICT-based disaster
management techniques like sensors, weather forecasts, zero flooding zones,
storm water management, etc. to make them safer places to live in.
8. Neighbourhood Sanitation..!
Solid Waste Management through smart solutions
for clean roads and a healthy environment is considered as an important factor
by cities of Jaipur, Jabalpur, Indore and Kakinada.
Recycling of waste will
produce renewable energy, ensure safe disposal of solid waste, prevent soil and
environmental pollution and reduce depletion of resources.
9. Easy Access To All Basic
Infrastructure..`!
Smart Cities aim to maintain basic
infrastructure with best quality and 100% efficiency.
The efficiency of the
utilities in our cities has been an elusive factor till date, thanks to
inadequate monitoring and responsiveness. Electricity, sewerage, storm water
drainage and water supply will be strengthened in the Smart Cities with a smart
layer of ICT applications. Citizens in Pune, Kochi, Solapur, NDMC, Kakinada and
Belagavi will benefit from ICT-enabled initiatives such as zero loss monitored
by Smart Meters, LED street lighting, 24×7 water supply by source augmentation,
waste water recycling and sensors to detect sewer system leakages.
Pune is
focusing on healthcare for low income households and providing training in
digital literacy, and Solapur is incentivising conservation of water. Chennai
aims to create water sources using desalination plants and recycling water to
use for various purposes.
10. City Beautification..!
All identified Smart Cities are focusing on
developing more ‘lung spaces’ within the city. Smart components like cycling,
street furniture, jogging tracks, designated spaces hawkers, etc. will enhance
the aesthetics of the city. Green spaces will get a new dimension with new soft
and hard landscapes equipped with Wi-Fi hotspots, providing ideal areas for
citizens to relax, exercise and interact. All this also plays a major role in
creating a healthy and a sustained environment.
In Short…
Smart City citizens stand to benefit
significantly if the smart cities initiatives are implemented effectively.
Implementation through the formation of SPVs is integral to success of these
proposals and will determine the success of Smart Cities Mission as a whole;
failure to consider this route seriously can prove to be a major stumbling
block.
Smart City citizens can expect their city
authorities and the involved nodal agencies to work efficiently towards
finalizing and implementing the committed proposals, keeping them involved
through the citizen’s engagement process, and to see their respective cities
compete successfully with others in attracting investments.
The post 10 Things Citizens Expect From
India’s 20 Smart Cities appeared first on Real Estate Trends 2016, News, Insights.
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