The futuristic government proposals for smart city Other Services

From the time Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi announced about converting 100 Indian cities into Smart Cities, Vizag which is one of them, the hype about smart cities and its correspondence evolved in the market. There is one set of people who are inspired by the international cities and hope to reach there and there is another who wishes for basic amenities with cleanliness available at any point in time.

How does the concept of a smart city work?

A smart city holds its roots in those people which migrate from rural to urban space. The more they migrate the more space needs to be developed in order to accommodate these migraters. Most of the big cities these days complain about being overpopulated in a certain period of time.

What has changed now?

In 1951, the urban population in India was 62 million, 17% of the total population of the country. Now, the urban population stands at 377 million, 31% of the population. By 2025 it is expected that 45% of the population will turn urban.

What is the corresponding repercussion of a smart city?

Since there has been increasing in migration, urban cities have to face multiple problems like overcrowding, cleanliness, clean water, traffic congestion, pollution. So now when in the future smart cities have to be built keeping these problems in mind along with some strong solutions to it.

So what does a smart city really mean?

A smart city is not about having good WiFi networks or metros but being flexible enough to make the life of citizens living in it better. But according to the definition given by The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)’s definition is – ‘A smart sustainable city is an innovative city that uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) and other means to improve quality of life, the efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental as well as cultural aspects.’

How will India’s smart cities differ from European ones?

The challenges that we face as Indians are way different than what they experience there, also the development stage of yours differ from them and hence the approach will also vary from city to city which means there are no set of definitions to be followed but there are few guidelines mentioned below which can certainly be followed for a better outcome:

1. Driving economic growth and improving the quality of life of people.

As buying houses these days have become an expensive affair it is really important to make the people feel the worth of amount they have paid for their would-be house as its is not always about the amenities that it comprises of but also about the overall administrative and regular support that is been provided on daily basis.

2. Enabling local development by harnessing technology.

It is not only about the complex where the people recite but also about the surroundings of the complex, as people start staying in such complexes, they would be expecting all the things that they need for their living to be nearby. Most, of the times people usually keep this as a priority while purchasing a house. Say for example a convenience store which keeps all the day to day needed stuff, so the people get everything they need at one stop. So getting such things closer to or within the complex gets a positive heads up from the people.

3. Transforming existing ones into areas with better planning.

There is no compulsion that everything needs to be built from scratch, the existing cities or complexes can also be converted into smart cities keeping all the requirements and needs that lag in the current complex or city and get it cooperated into the new one with better planning.

4. Building new areas around the developed cities to accommodate the growing population.

The development that is done needs to be made in such a way that new construction can be made in order to accommodate the new population that would be coming it, the plans should be laid in such a way that any given point of time the existing city can be expanded to satisfy the increasing demands from the city.

5. Application of smart solutions to solve problems.

It would be more of lying if it’s said that the smart city would never have any problems. Problems are more likely to arise, most of the time in terms of cleanliness, various solutions are been provided by the government under government cleaning contracts which helps in maintaining the cleanliness of the city. The others can be small scale businesses that provide solid solutions to the problems.

6. Generating employment and hence enhancing incomes for all in the long run.

As with respect to the current situation where we are bounded to work from home, various business partner opportunities have also come up into the market which has created new small business opportunities as well as online business opportunities for the people wishing to grow in their respective fields.

What makes a smart city really smart?

There are 10 points on the checklist that need to be ticked off before a city can be called smart:

1. Adequate water supply
2. Assured electricity supply
3. Sanitation, including solid waste management
4. Efficient urban mobility and public transport
5. Affordable housing, especially for the poor
6. Robust IT connectivity and digitisation
7. Good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation
8. Sustainable environment
9. Safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly
10. Health and education

How is India achieving its smart city vision?

By collaborating with a number of countries like Sweden, the UK, China, Japan and Australia both for funding as well as to learn the basics of smart cities. Sweden will pitch in on waste management, usage of energy, digital urban land management, women empowerment, self-sustainable living and urban transportation. Japan will impart knowledge on how to make our cities modern without losing our cultural identity.

The deadline to meet all these checkpoints is five years since the year of announcement. Only time can tell if India will manage to develop its 20 most promising smart cities, Visakhapatnam included, in the given time.

With various fields that need to be taken care in smart cities, we at TendersOnTime help you to bridge the gap between the standardization and actual implementation of the smart city by providing a huge database for tenders, e-Procurement, RFP, global tenders, open tenders and government contracts.