The Strategy of Smart Cities Mission
The strategic components of area-based development in the Smart Cities Mission are as follows: City improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment), and city extension (greenfield development) plus a Pan-city initiative in which smart methods are applied to cover a large part of the city.
- Retrofitting: It introduces planning in an existing built-up area to achieve Smart City objectives, along with other objectives, to make the existing area more efficient, effective, and livable. In this, an area consisting of more than 500 acres is to be identified by the city body in consultation with citizens.
- Redevelopment: It affects a replacement of the existing built-up environment and enables the co-creation of new structures with enhanced infrastructure using mixed land use, increased density, and new technology.
- Greenfield Development: It introduces most of the Smart Solutions in a vacant area with innovative planning, plan to finance, and plan implementation tools (e.g. land pooling/ land reconstitution) for affordable and sustainable housing especially for the poor.
- Pan-City Development: It envisages the application of selected Smart City Solutions to the existing city-wide infrastructure. Application of Smart Solutions will involve the use of technology, information, and data to make infrastructure, governance, and services better.
Implementation and Financing of Smart City:
The implementation of the SCM is to be done by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). It will plan, appraise, approve, finance, implement, manage, organize, monitor, and evaluate the Smart City projects. It is headed by a full-time CEO and has nominees of Central Government, State Government, and ULB. The Mission is financed by Central Government to the extent of Rs. 48,000 crores over five years as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) and an equal amount have to be contributed by the State and ULB; therefore, nearly Rupees one lakh crore of Government/ULB funds be available for Smart Cities development across India.
Smart City Mission – Features, Strategy and Challenges
Across the world, the pace of migration from rural to urban areas is increasing rapidly. According to United Nations, by 2050, about 68% of the world population will be living in urban areas and India is no exception. While the urban Indian population is currently around 31%(Census, 2011) of the total population, it will be over 50% by 2030 as projected by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Considering the enormous importance of urbanization, Smart City Mission(SSM) has been launched by the Government of India in 2015.
Smart City initiative drives economic growth, improves the quality of life, facilitates local development with the help of digital and information technology, follows best practices of urban planning, utilizes public-private partnerships and policy change through smart solutions. A ‘Smart city’ is an urban area that is highly advanced in terms of sustainable land use, transport & communication, market viability, and overall infrastructure. It is a city where technology is the principal source for providing essential services to residents and focuses on sustainable and inclusive development.