Smart City with Sustainable Ecosystem of Urban Planning: How Smart Are Our Cities - News18

The ingenuity of a ‘smart city’ aims to determine digital innovation to improve the lives of citizens and make urban living sustainable by excelling in governance, economy, transport, environment, resources, and people’s services, such as healthcare, education, housing & living etc. Last year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs organised a series of events & conferences in the name of ‘Smart Cities, Smart Urbanisation’ from April 18-20, 2022, in Surat to explore ideas, innovations and partnerships towards the future trajectory of smart urban development in India to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.’ The conference engrossed on five sub-themes namely: reimagining public spaces, digital governance, climate-smart cities, innovation and smart finance. Therefore, it is required to make smart cities sustainable in all forms because a smart sustainable city can create an innovative city that uses 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, political, environmental as well as cultural aspects. Though, as part of the smart cities initiatives guidelines, the Union Ministry of Urban Development had notified in September 2016 to create a City-Level Advisory Forum comprising all major stakeholders including elected representatives of that city, local youth, technical experts, associations of taxpayers, residents’ welfare, trade and commerce associations, etc. In contrast, more experienced smart cities manage their smart city programs through internal cross-functional ‘transformation’ or ‘innovation’ organisations.