Cabinet approves proposal to set up 100 smart cities

The final selection of cities will be done through a process of elimination.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal to set up 100 smart cities across the country. In addition to this, old housing projects initiated by the previous government have also been cleared.

The smart city project was formally announced in July 2014 in the current government's first Union Budget and the Centre had allocated nearly Rs 7,000 crore for the programme.

The urban centres that will be developed as smart cities will be selected through a 'City Challenge' competition later this year. States will propose the names of cities, and those will be graded on parameters like creditworthiness, power supply, water, revenue generation, municipal planning and partnerships they can form. The final selection will be done through a process of elimination.

During the first week of this month, Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu had said cities would be selected only on merit, not on political considerations. Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York, is expected to help in the selection process.

The Centre would be a facilitator in the project, the minister had added.

Understanding the concept of smart cities
 

A smart city, according to www.indiansmartcities.in, a government website, is one that offers economic activities and employment opportunities to a wide section of its residents, regardless of their levels of education, skills or income. 

At a time when the Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to set up 100 smart cities in India, Business Standard explores the idea of smart cities for better understanding of the concept.

What are smart cities? 

Smart cities are those cities that have smart (intelligent) physical, social, institutional and economic infrastructure, and ensure centrality of citizens in a sustainable environment. In this context, these cities should have the following: 

Competiveness: The ability to create employment opportunities, attract investments, experts, professionals and people

Sustainability: These should be socially, environmentally and financially sustainable

Quality of life: These cities should have safety and security, inclusiveness, entertainment, ease of seeking and obtaining public services, cost-efficient health care, quality education, transparency, accountability and opportunities for participation in governance

What do they require?

The statement on the concept of smart cities also states that building 100 urban centres requires the following pillars:

Institutional infrastructure: Activities that relate to governance, planning and management of cities. 

Physical infrastructure: The urban mobility system, the housing stock, the energy system, the water supply system, sewerage system, sanitation facilities, solid-waste management system, drainage system, etc, which are all integrated through the use of technology

Social infrastructure: Components that work towards developing the human and social capital, such as education, health care and entertainment. These also include performance and creative arts, sports, open spaces, children’s parks and gardens. The concept city should promote inclusiveness and have structures that proactively bring disadvantageous sections into the mainstream of development

Economic infrastructure: The city has to first identify its core competence, comparative advantages and analyse its potential for generating economic activities. Determining these gaps in required economic infrastructure will comprise building incubation centres, skill development centres, industrial parks & export-processing zones, trade centres, service centres, financial centres and services & logistics hubs.his return from a nearly two-month-long sabbatical.