Exploring Dimensions and Elements for Smart City Development in India

Abstract

The recent emancipation of a political will to build smart cities in India has engendered a spurt of actions in the urban development and transformation process in the country. While the definition of smart cities is still not unequivocally asserted, constituents and priorities are yet to be formalised, a venture to transform existing cities into smart cities or to build new smart cities has been undertaken. However, this seems to be a long shot. Experiences and examples from European and North American cities manifest that a city needs to perform well in one or a combination of a number of attributes that range from an entrepreneurial ecosystem, innovation, Information Communication System (ICT) usage and connectivity, mobility, governance, environment, to smart populace in order to become a smart city. So, attempts to reinforce certain civic urban infrastructure or to advance technological infrastructure, such as ICT in the cities of India as is being seen in the effort to transform cities, will not suffice to the challenge. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to explore the dimensions and elements of cities that need interventions to transform Indian cities into smart cities. Literature review and case study examination were used as a precursor to the study. It is argued that each and every city that wants to develop as a smart city needs to be evaluated independently to examine its strengths and weaknesses; no generic policy, strategic interventions or a replication of the Western model will enable their long-term sustainability. Individual city-specific policy interventions and measures to augment the potential strengths and reinforce the weaknesses could perhaps support the development of smart cities in India.