Smart Cities Mission Research Articles

Seeing into the entropic state: Smart cities and COVID-19 management in Kerala

The Integrated Command and Control Centre (IC3) has emerged as a key component of the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) in India. Although the mission has been widely critiqued, IC3s were used for communications, resource allocation and inter-departmental coordination in many cities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study, based in the state of Kerala, uses in-depth interviews with personnel who were actively involved in the pandemic response, along with secondary data, to examine how the IC3 was used. The research finds that the vision of digital transformation and centralisation is reinterpreted by various layers of the state. The paper propounds the idea of the ‘entropic state’ to explain the situation where state agencies are able to act synergistically in an emergency, but default back to misalignment and internal competition once the crisis has passed.

Challenges and Opportunities in funding localization of SDGs under India's Smart Cities Mission

India's pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is challenged by rapid urbanisation, with the urban population projected to grow from 34.9% in 2020 to 43% by 2035. This expansion necessitates addressing the environmental and infrastructural impacts, particularly the anticipated rise in urban carbon emissions. Strategic alignment with global frameworks, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), New Urban Agenda (NUA), Paris Agreement, and Sendai Framework, is crucial for managing these challenges. The Smart Cities Mission (SCM) is central to India's strategy, aiming to leverage advanced technologies to promote sustainable development. It focuses on SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), while addressing challenges such as privacy concerns, high infrastructure costs, and the digital divide. Through secondary data analysis and qualitative techniques, the study finds that the SCM's implementation of SDGs is both progressing and encountering challenges. The enquiry reveals key themes related to SDG integration and financial mechanisms, highlighting the need for improved alignment with SDGs and enhanced governance. The paper provides insights into the localization of SDGs within the SCM and the associated funding mechanisms. It offers a comprehensive understanding of the governance frameworks and financial allocations, which is essential for refining the SCM’s effectiveness in sustainable urban development.

How to Make Future Cities Smart in the Realm of Environmentally Friendly Healthy Cities? Looking from the Perspective of Ease of Living Index

Rapid urbanization and environmental issues have led the Government of India to implement urban development initiatives like Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Smart Cities Mission, Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihood Mission, and Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban to improve citizens' quality of life. The Ease of Living Index (EOL), developed to assess the outcomes of these initiatives, is a data-driven assessment tool aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals that enables cities to adopt evidence-based planning and execution. It assesses the well-being of citizens in 111 cities, including cities under the Smart Cities Mission, capital cities, and cities with populations over one million. The concept of healthy cities gained popularity in the South-east Asian Region of the World Health Organization, with the Healthy City Network Assessment Tool being introduced in 2021 to help cities assess their health profile in its eleven member countries, including India. In view of NITI Aayog's 2021 recommendation for the development of 500 healthy cities by 2030, there is a need to expand the scope of the existing EOL Index (2020). This research aims to integrate the healthy city evaluation criteria from WHO's South-east Asia Regional Guidelines with the EOL Index 2020 to develop an integrated tool for data-driven assessment of India's proposed healthy cities program. The study based on literature review and comparative analysis identifies 8 determinants, 28 sub-determinants and 112 indicators, enhancing the comprehensiveness of the EOL Index to promote smart, environmentally friendly, healthy, and sustainable urban development.

Analysing the drivers of smart city implementation using DEMATEL method

<p>Indian cities are becoming more and more populated, and the technological, environmental, social, political, and economic infrastructure of those cities is deteriorating, necessitating the development of more innovative methods to enhance public utilities and services. The growth of smart cities encourages the creation of a stable, networked, and sustainable metropolitan structure. The “100 Smart Cities Mission” was started by the Indian government to encourage planned development. However, there is also a literature of criticisms of the indicators used by the smart city mission. A thorough investigation is necessary to identify the critical infrastructure, important resources, and development patterns for smart city planning. The purpose of my study is to achieve and move towards Smart City Mission goals in a holistic framework. This research paper proposes a weighted criteria to assess the eligibility factors identified from the literature studies of the Smart City Mission, to analyze the complex relationships among the indicators, to develop a holistic approach, and to classify factors based on the drivers of dependence and implementation. The findings of this study shed light on the key drivers and barriers to the implementation of smart city initiatives. The DEMATEL method provided a valuable tool for analyzing the complex interrelationships between different factors and identifying the most influential drivers. The results can guide policymakers, city managers, and other stakeholders in developing more effective strategies for smart city implementation. However, the study also highlights the need for further research to explore the context-specific factors that may affect the drivers of smart city implementation in different regions and cities. Overall, this study contributes to the growing body of literature on smart cities and provides practical insights for decision-makers seeking to promote sustainable and inclusive urban development.</p>

Epistemic Violence Embedded in Urban Policy: Locating Internal Migrants in Pune’s Smart City Mission

This article argues that the fundamental cause for migrants’ exclusion, precarity and the othering process in the ‘smart city’ lies in the epistemic violence against them, embedded in the Smart City Mission itself, which develops the knowledge framework of ‘inclusion and exclusion’. An epistemology constructs and shapes the knowledge and ideas of smart cities and the power structures which consequently influence urban government functionaries, urban planners and officials of the Smart City Mission Project Corporation. This constructed knowledge and perception of the smart city serves the interests of the ‘middle-class citizen’ by giving overwhelming importance to smart technologies and infrastructure growth. On the other hand, it systematically disadvantages internal migrants by excluding them at several levels. This epistemic violence has successfully distorted the reality of the existence and contribution of migrants in cities and portrayed a picture of ‘feel-good cities’ pleasing their middle-class citizens. At the same time, it deflects inclusion-directed interventions which would have had a significant positive impact on the lives of the migrants. It normalises the miseries of migrants and validates the salience of urban policy in protecting migrants’ rights. Consequently, migrants experience multiple and interconnected forms of violence and victimhood in their everyday life and remain unheard.

Tightly Bound, Loosely Interpreted: Meta-Governance and Local Institutional Adaptation in the Implementation of the Smart Cities Mission India

This paper explores the implementation of the Indian Government’s Smart Cities Mission in four cities. The Mission was to be delivered through a tightly specified governance form, known as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), although its function (smart urban renewal) was left more open. The national reform was, however, silent on how the SPV would work within the pre-existing network of actors. Using interviews and documentary analysis, the paper shows how the embedding of SPVs within pre-existing governance networks was strongly shaped by state-level decisions and local institutional dynamics. These insights open up new avenues for research into multi-level meta-governance.

Smart Cities Mission

The National Smart Cities Mission was launched by Government of India in 2015 which is a redevelopment program with the aim to develop smart cities across the country and make them sustainable. This study examines how the Smart Cities Mission was implemented by The Union Ministry of Urban Development while collaborating with the state governments. It explores about the budget of the Mission, the engagement of the mission in different cities, the sustainability measures integrated and the future of the mission. It analyses the challenges faced, technological integrations involved and the funding models of the mission. Moreover, the research focuses on the comparison of the smart cities mission in different cities, how different states have worked on it and what has been the perception of the public. Furthermore, looking ahead to developing technology, the mission's lessons learned, and the dynamic nature of urbanization, the research also takes into account future viewpoints.

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF INDIA'S SMART CITIES INITIATIVE: PROSPECTS AND DIFFICULTIES

The Indian government, along with all state governments, has an ambitious plan called the Smart City Mission (SCM). An urban area that uses many electronic Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to collect data and use it to support services and resources required for effective municipal operations is referred to as a "smart city". The policy might address one issue facing the city, but it might not address all the issues that a city faces. This research will concentrate on the most important and pertinent publications, papers, and articles about the Indian Smart Cities Mission. The theoretical notion of smart cities, the "Indian smart cities mission," and its conceptual framework will also be covered. Ultimately, the research’s conclusions will clarify the goal statement, the stages involved in implementation, and the numerous opportunities and challenges that India's efforts to develop smart cities face. The obstacles and potential in the Indian Smart City Mission will also be highlighted in this paper.

Varanasi—The Making of a Smart Heritage City

One of the oldest cities in the world, Varanasi is home to more than one religion. It is an acclaimed centre of spirituality for Hindus and Buddhists while being equally sacred for Jains and Sikhs. The city is located along the river Ganga, which many believe is a celestial incarnation to grant salvation. Varanasi is a million-plus-population city; an increasingly important provincial metropolitan centre enshrined with the values of commerce, religion, ritual and tradition; and caught between the confluence and contestations of traditions and modernity. Since 2016, Varanasi has been incorporated under India’s Smart Cities Mission (SCM) to develop the city into a smart city with a strong focus on heritage and tourism. The present article is an attempt to trace the journey of the city that has developed as a palimpsest over centuries; it deliberates the contemporary urban landscape and maps out recent urban and infrastructure developments of the city and its concerns. This article also argues that Varanasi has focused on locally specific everyday urbanisms with heritage and culture and pivoted to making itself a Smart Heritage City.

Investing in Smart Cities: Enhancing Public Libraries for Quality Services in India

ABSTRACT This article comprehensively examines investments in India’s smart cities1 with a specific focus on public libraries. A survey of 100 Smart Cities Mission projects was conducted to gather data on budget allocation and expenditure for public libraries, construction and renovation projects, and IT infrastructure and outreach programs. Results reveal investments in 27 library projects across 12 states geographically distributed throughout India, spanning new library establishments, renovations, digitization efforts, and IT integration with library services. The majority of funds (60%) support new libraries including business and innovation components, while renovation projects claim 30%. The article contributes valuable insights for public library development, targeting library authorities, municipal administrators, and local planners as statutory services at the heart of community development and engagement of public.

Driving Urban Digitalisation through a National Mission– a multilevel governance perspective of India’s data smart cities strategy

ABSTRACT This article analyses the Data Smart Cities Strategy, a key policy component under India’s ambitious 100 Smart Cities Mission, to understand how a national government-driven urban digitalisation agenda is being implemented in a federal political system where urban development responsibilities are shared between different tiers. A review of the implementation progress shows wide city-to-city variation in digitalisation and data readiness. Using the lens of multilevel governance as the analytical framework, our study highlights the importance of state-level factors in shaping city-level outcomes. Governance capacities and administrative attention towards urban issues vary significantly from state to state. This, in turn, impacts city performances as the institutional architecture of smart cities is dominated by state-level actors. We flag concerns that the top-down digitalisation agenda may widen the regional divide. While seed capital provided under the central scheme helped cities in poorer states to build expensive digital infrastructure, there are uncertainties regarding how these will be managed once the scheme ends.

Past, present and future of the Smart City in India: An institutional perspective

The present contribution analyses the Smart City Mission launched in the year 2015 in India from an institutional perspective and examines how it is mobilized for coordinated action. Relying on theoretical guidance provided by Ostrom's (2005) ‘Institutional Analysis and Development’ (IAD) framework and González-Arellano's (2022) and Scott's (2008) formulation of ‘Institutional Construction of Futures of Cities’, we analyse a corpus of empirical data to suggest that SC has historical precedents in the way it is institutionalized. Further, to substantiate our findings, a structured literature review of empirical contributions (34 nos.) within the SCOPUS database is undertaken. In conceptual terms, the anticipatory praxis of Smart City Mission leverages the institutional structure of doing flagship programmes and a cultural-cognitive affirmation of neutrality in data-driven governance. The initiative blurs the political city as the action arenas of structuring SC initiatives at the local levels lack operational rules to construct desired outcomes. The paper argues for a need to make the action-to-outcome linkage legible and endow agency to participants to act and control the outcomes by framing collective choice rules. Strengthening action arenas at the city level emboldens the capacity to envision collaborative futures and bridge the gap between anticipation and experience.

Smart Cities Mission in the Face of COVID: Scope and Scale of 'Smart' COVID Responses in India.

COVID has expedited and expanded the already precarious smart city development in India with the multitude of 'smart' COVID responses-broadly known as CovTech-introduced since the early days of the global pandemic. This paper offers an analysis of the scope and scale of smart responses to COVID in the first 20 cities prioritized for smart city implementation-as part of the Smart Cities Mission in India. The analysis unravels the diversity within the smart COVID response, as 125 COVID applications, 14 COVID-War-Rooms, and numerous examples of smart public place initiatives are discussed. The findings include a typology of COVID applications and shed light on the operations of COVID-War-Rooms throughout the nation. The learnings point toward a mostly top-down approach to smart COVID response. Yet, early evidence indicates the existence of an alternative subaltern smart COVID response to provide bottom-up support to the most vulnerable groups, filling the gaps in the top-down approach. More research is required to thoroughly understand the scope and scale of the subaltern smart response to COVID.

Localizing India’s global smart cities: a multi-scalar analysis of cities yet-to-come

ABSTRACT “Smart Cities” have been positioned as a global digital paradigm addressing challenges in urban service delivery and governance. Recent debates have suggested the possibility of localized forms of smart intervention, however, we argue there is a need to first analyze the entanglement of actors through which urban narratives must pass. A granular examination of three small, “smart” cities within India’s Smart City Mission reveals structures and storylines produced at the intersection of transnational, national and local stakeholders, complicating attempts to unravel the “local” and “global”. State narratives reproduce a “smart” subject as part of “modern”, global, nation-building, demarcating who does and doesn’t belong in cities yet-to-come. Municipalities mediate between transnational narratives and local needs, but localization has become primarily a means to create a distinction within inter-city competition. Therefore, while local activism can function as a node of resistance to Smart City redevelopment, vulnerable city residents remain precariously placed.

Funding and financing the zero emissions journey: urban visions from the 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission

Cities play a critical role in delivering emission-free futures, yet the financial capacities, together with the unprecedented estimated capital requirements represent substantial barriers to climate action. In this study, we use data collected through the European Mission on 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities to investigate how 362 ambitious, yet differently prepared cities are fostering climate investment, under three aspects of (i) financial readiness, (ii) financial proactiveness, and (iii) financial innovation. On one hand, according to their self-assessment, over 70% of the cities have not yet estimated—not even roughly—the total investment needed to become climate neutral and the majority (i) have experience in financing only a few specific climate projects, (ii) are ill-equipped to tap capital markets, (iii) have developed only marginally co-financing with the private sector, and (iv) have taken no steps to establish an investor-ready pipeline of projects contributing to climate neutrality. On the other hand, cities are at the forefront of financial innovation, creating blueprints and business models that are being tested under a learning-by-doing approach, creating deep and long-lasting transformative change, and establishing coordinating mechanisms with new critical players. In this context, current financial management, regulation, and institutional arrangements are key barriers to unlocking access to financing and creating an enabling environment for investment at the city level. The different levels of maturity in terms of financial readiness and institutional arrangements are discussed as the catalysers of climate financing at the city level.

STUDY OF PRAGMATIC DEVELOPMENT AND KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN THROUGH WEB SERIES AMONG YOUTH

Web series is an innovative revolution of digital world and become a new trend setter in entertainment industry. It‘s displayed over digital platforms and provides opportunity to deliver the structure of new text as well as multi-dimension of media and technology that construct modern network. On comprehensive learning perspective, web series programs are responsible for developing new breed and transferring knowledge, new aesthetic and semiotic that producing pragmatic values towards the viewers. Likewise, pattern of accessing and watching of web series is responsible for knowledge dissemination and pragmatic development. This study highlights the attributes that reflects knowledge domain towards viewers through watching perspective web series. Study is consolidated with primary data sources and executed in Bhopal and Indore, cities planning under Smart Cities Mission Strategy.

Circular economy and waste management to empower a climate-neutral urban future

To mitigate climate change while catering to the needs of a growing population, cities need to find smarter ways to manage their resources, while reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Since waste management and circular economy will be instrumental in this endeavour, the current level of circularity in cities, the environmental impact of related activities and sharable best practices need to be explored. This paper examines the roadmap to zero emissions of the 362 cities that expressed interest in the Horizon Europe 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission. Based on an unprecedented suite of city inputs, this study answers a set of research questions so far unaddressed due to the lack of a suitable dataset. The analysis focusses on a) current actions undertaken by cities in achieving a circular economy and reducing/optimising waste streams, b) envisioned circular actions in supporting climate neutrality by 2030, and c) urban sectors and metabolic flows for which circularity has a particularly high potential to mitigate climate change. Best practices are captured to create an informative set of actions aimed at policy-makers and at encouraging peer-to-peer learning. Finally, the barriers to incrementing circular approaches that emerge from the cities’ self-assessments are compared to those identified in existing scientific literature to provide input for a more comprehensive conceptual framework. Overall, this study distils how circular economy imaginaries are translated into local governance and policy-making by focussing on a large group of cities. This is key to truly understand why some initiatives fail and others succeed and can inform all relevant stakeholders on the next steps to take.

Three decadal urban drought variability risk assessment for Indian smart cities

In 2015 the beginning of the Indian Smart Cities’ mission was one of the significant steps taken by the Indian government to make the urban environment resilient to climate change impact and extreme weather events like drought, floods, heatwaves, etc. This study computes the urban drought risk for Indian smart cities before the beginning of the Indian smart cities mission. This study considers three decadal variability (1982–2013) in meteorological, hydrological, vegetation, and soil moisture parameters for inducing water scarcity and drought conditions in urban regions. Hazards associated with urban drought-inducing parameters variability, vulnerability, and exposure of Indian smart cities were used to compute the Urban drought risk. The research investigations revealed the maximum urban drought risk for Bangalore, Chennai, and Surat cities. Northwest, West Central, and South Peninsular urban regions have higher risk among all the urban regions of India. Indian smart cities mission can be used to make Indian cities resilient to urban drought risk and increase their sustainability. The present research aligned with several national and international agreements by providing an urban drought risk rank for Indian cities, making them less vulnerable to extreme weather events and improving their resilience to climate change.

Smart cities - spatial planning and disaster risk reduction of Pune city, India

Cities are becoming the preferred choice of populations to reside in due to the opportunities they offer. While the concentration of populations is increasing in the cities, there is an immediate need to equip the cities for efficient functioning and providing safety and security. The unplanned urbanization of cities is adding vulnerability, especially to the spatially relevant hazards such as earthquakes and floods. Initiatives such as the Smart City Mission support cities with investments to improve the quality of life for people and enhance the efficiency of the civic systems by integrating infrastructure and technology. However, the top down approach to decision making, especially in spatial planning, leaves out the perspective of citizens. This study, hence, attempts to gather the perception of citizens on smart city initiatives and disaster risk reduction (DRR) through a questionnaire survey in the smart city of Pune, India. The objective of this study is to understand how smart city initiatives influence the key spatial planning components for DRR. The study reveals smart city initiatives proposed for the city impacts each spatial planning component. Smart city initiatives may further stress these components, increasing the exposure to disaster risks. Therefore, there is a need for holistic integration in spatial planning for DRR. This study can help in modulating the smart city initiatives for enhancing the safety of the citizens.

Bhubaneswar Smart City by Using GIS

Abstract: Smart City Bhubaneswar: A Citizen-Centered Approach for Smart Growth. Bhubaneswar is the capital of the state of Odisha in India. Known as “The Temple City”, it is an emerging hub for education, health and information technology, as well as a popular tourist destination. The projects detects the origins of Bhubaneswar Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes. Hereby in the project, The transition towards greater smartness is an emerging trend in the development of modern cities. Urban Sprawl, also called Sprawl or Suburban Sprawl, the rapid expansion of the geographic extent of cities and towns, often characterized by low-density residential housing, single-use zoning, and increased reliance on the private automobile for transportation