Opportunities for improving urban services while handholding smart cites
Student name: Mr Rajat Kapoor
Guide: Dr Shaleen Singhal
Year of completion: 2016
Host Organisation: ICLEI South Asia
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Ashish Rao Ghorpade
Abstract: With a vision to develop 100 Indian cities as smart cities by the end of year 2020, union government of India launched Smart City Mission (SCM) in July 2015. While the mission is able to capture the aspirations of the citizens and challenges cities are facing. SCM can be a game charger in the way city develops and manage. Taking lessons from the failures of the predecessor urban renewal and development programs, smart city mission embodies a balanced mix of top-down and boom-up approaches. SCM focuses on local actions and integrated approach towards development to transform urban areas. It promotes peoples’ participation, transparency in governance, stakeholder consultation and opportunity to local powers to come up with socially inclusive solution that corresponds to their specific local needs.
The basic on which Smart city mission is developed is not new but is in the very essence of our constitutional framework. SCM can be considered as building blocks built on the foundation bricks of 74th constitutional amendment. The programme empowers municipal administration to develop their own strategies that are inclusive and self-sustained leading towards improved service delivery, clean energy and sustainable economic growth. But the success of the mission can only be ensured when city governments embrace the core objective of the mission and exploit this opportunity to its extent.
SCM puts track record of performance as an entry ticket to participate in the challenge. With the commencement of the mission, cities in order to produce a strong contendership improved their infrastructure to some extent. Present paper along with the essential features of Smart city mission discusses roles and responsibilities of ULBs and scope to perform beyond the limits of the mission. The paper is developed around a theme that projects smart city mission as an opportunity for urban local bodies to improve urban services and governance infrastructure.
“Smart City is not a destination but a series of small steps in that directionâ€
– Anil Sasi, The Indian Express.
