SMART CITIES: A EUPHEMISM?

Prakash M Apte

The origin of the concept

The concept of smart cities originated at the time when the entire world was
facing one of the worst economic crises. In 2008, IBM began work on a
'smarter cities' concept as part of its Smarter Planet initiative. By the
beginning of 2009, the concept had captivated the imagination of various
nations across the globe.
Today more than half of the worlds population lives in cities. According to a
study of the MIT Media Lab, in the future, cities will account for 90 per cent
of the global population growth, 80 per cent of the wealth creation and 60
per cent of the total energy consumption. Developing better strategies for
creation of new cities is, therefore, a global imperative. Expanding current
metropolises by just adding population or cloning old cities are not
intelligent or sustainable options. The policymakers are, therefore, looking
at smart cities of the future.
Countries like South Korea, UAE and China began to invest heavily into
their research and formation. Today, a number of excellent precedents
exist, such as those in Vienna, Amsterdam, Cairo, Lyon, Mlaga, Malta, the
Songdo International Business District near Seoul, Verona etc.
India
The Union budget of 2014 has earmarked Rs.7,060 crores to set-up 100
new smart cities.
The cities with ongoing or proposed smart cities include Kochi in Kerala,
Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Manesar in Delhi
NCR, Khushkera in Rajasthan, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Ponneri
in Tamil Nadu and Tumkur in Karnataka. Many of these cities will include
special investment regions or special economic zones with modified
regulations and tax structure to make them attractive for foreign
investment. This is essential because much of the funding for these
projects will have to come from private developers and from abroad.
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Wave Infratech, a Noida-based real estate developer, is already making a

smart city in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) and has engaged IBM for the
project. Named Wave City, it is to have a central command centre which
will integrate and interconnect information from various systems and
services within the township to improve safety, prevent and anticipate
problems and improve the quality of life of residents. For example a
residents smart device will be alerted to current traffic conditions or
residents can check parking availability or changes to traffic conditions due
to large sporting event or a natural disaster like flooding.
What about those residents that do not possess smart devices?
Over 60% of the population in most cities in India live in slums and
have a very low monthly income. How will these residents be helped
by a smart city in having adequate water, uninterrupted power
supply, freedom from garbage piled up around, good and
conveniently located parks, playground, schools & medical facilities?
Urbanization in India has for a long time been viewed as a result of rural
emigration. Though it is inevitable, and will only change when the benefits
of urbanization overtake the costs involved, it is an opportunity for
achieving faster growth.
With increasing urbanization and the pressure on rural land, the
government has now realized the need for cities that can cope with the
challenges of urban living and also be magnets for investment. The recent
announcement of 100 smart cities falls in line with this vision.
What is a smart city?
Smart cities as an applied technology term perhaps relates to an internetenabled, broadband, wireless and digital concept for future of cities.
So, are they simply places where a smart phone can run all the
errands for a citizen? Will they be cities that produce both the energy
resources and food they need to keep them going and hence
sustainable? Or are they modern urban places with infrastructure
like the Silicon Valley? Or just very hi-tech cities with flying cars and
floating buildings? As an old and experienced urban planner the
question that nags me is, how will installing a digital server help
create civic infrastructure needed to house the poor? How will this
improve quality of housing and its affordability in the city? How will
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the cities get enough electricity to power all these digital gadgetry
when we cannot supply 24x7 power to light homes? How will it help
overcome lack of sewage and water supply system? One needs
infrastructure in place first to digitally manage it. Where are the funds
for these? One would feel that smart city is sort of brand
endorsement: packaging of old ideas into new boxes and
copyrighting.
The concept of the smart city as the next stage in the process of
urbanization has become quite fashionable in recent years, with the aim of
drawing a distinction from the terms Digital City or Intelligent City. Its main
focus is still on the role of ICT (Information communication Technology)
infrastructure, but much research has also been carried out on the role of
human capital (education, social and relational capital and environmental
interest) as important drivers of urban growth.
The availability and quality of the ICT infrastructure is not the only definition
of a smart or intelligent city. Other definitions stress the role of human
capital and education and learning in urban development. It has been
shown, for example, that the most rapid urban growth rates have been
achieved in cities where a high share of educated labour force is available.
Innovation is driven by entrepreneurs who innovate in industries and
products which require an increasingly more skilled labour force. Because
not all cities are equally successful in investing in human capital, an
educated labour force is spatially clustering over time. It turns out that
some cities, which were in the past better endowed with a skilled labour
force, have managed to attract more skilled labour, whereas competing
cities failed to do so.
Definitions
The Vienna University of Technology defines a smart city as: A city well
performing in a forward looking way in economy, people, governance,
mobility, environment and living, built on the smart combination of
endowments and activities of self-decisive, independent and aware
citizens. This description puts intelligent and enlightened people at the
heart of the vision. It does not restrict itself to the focus on its digital and
connected infrastructure which is important. Smart cities have three
enablers the first and most obvious one is technology infrastructure. But
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the two other enablers are soft and less obvious institutional and human
enablers.
A 'smart city' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall
infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability.
It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and
the basis for providing essential services to residents. There are many
technological platforms involved, including but not limited to automated
sensor networks and data centres.
In a smart city, economic development and activity is sustainable and
rationally incremental by virtue of being based on success-oriented market
drivers such as supply and demand. They benefit everybody, including
citizens, businesses, the government and the environment. A smart city's
core infrastructure is information technology, where a network of sensors,
cameras, wireless devices, data centres forms the key infrastructure
providing essential services. Being environmentally friendly, smart cities
use sustainable materials for building facilities and reduce energy
consumption.
So, what is the concept of a smart city? Will it be something similar to the
Songdo International Business District coming up on 1,500 acres of
reclaimed land near the Incheon international airport in South Korea? Or
will it be sector-focused like in Singapore where, with heavy investment in
its public transportation infrastructure, they succeeded in creating one of
the most modern, affordable and highly-used public transport networks in
the world? (Close to three million people use Singapore's bus system every
day; over one-and-a-half million use the train, in the process efficiently
addressing
the
huge
traffic
congestion
issue.)
How will future smart cities use the experience of Dubuque in Iowa, which
proclaims itself to be the US' first smart city? The city of 60,000 people,
which operates on a fairly limited budget, recently completed a three-year
pilot project to install smart electricity and water meters. It reported a 6.6
per cent drop in water usage, partially driven also by an eight-fold increase
in the number of households identifying and fixing a leak. This is a pointer
to the fact that a smart city project does not always require a big budget.
There is no single, comprehensive definition of what a smart city means.
While identifying smart cities for an award for the period 2007-11 in the
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Asia region, five factors were taken into consideration: broadband

connectivity; a knowledge-based workforce; digital inclusion; innovation;
and marketing and advocacy. Three Indian cities, namely Bangalore,
Hyderabad and Jaipur, figured in a list of 20 cities from the region; four in
China, four in Korea and three in Japan made it to the list.
We have to recognize the fact that after roads, water and electricity, there
is a fourth utility now, namely networking. Shared infrastructure,
broadband, end-user services and common service centres would be key
features of a smart city set-up.
Establishing smart cities
There are lessons to be drawn from green-field cities like the GIFT city near
Ahmedabad and even private initiatives like Lavasa near Pune in
Maharashtra.
In
trying
to
establish
smart
cities;

How is resource availability to be ensured? Will it essentially be

private-public partnership? If so, sufficient clarity on its
components would be essential, considering the fact that urban
PPPs have really not taken off in our country. What would be the
role for technology providers, since it is they who would
dominate
that
part
of
the
work?

What will be the role of state governments? A proper structured

mechanism for their participation will have to be clearly stated
right at the beginning, as these projects cannot be allowed to
become victims of circumstances - as they do tend to become
quite
often.

How is the process to be led and coordinated at the local

government level? Since in India we do not have empowered
mayors, and local bodies have a limited mandate, how is the
process to be taken forward in a professional manner given that
it will cut across sectors within and beyond the jurisdiction of
the
urban
body.

A key aspect to be carefully addressed is that of inclusiveness.

What systems will ensure that access is easy even for
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economically weaker sections, and equal participation is

facilitated
for
them?

How can we create technical capacity at the local body level to

drive the entire process ?

Role of soft infrastructure

The term infrastructure indicates business services, housing, leisure and
lifestyle services, and ICTs (mobile and fixed phones, satellite TVs,
computer networks, e-commerce, internet services), and brings to the
forefront the idea of a wired city as the main development model and of
connectivity as the source of growth.
Creative industries in long-run have a critical role in urban growth. But the
soft infrastructure (knowledge networks, voluntary organizations, crimefree environments) is the core of a smart city. The basic idea is that
"creative occupations are growing and firms now orient themselves to
attract 'the creative'". While the presence of a creative and skilled workforce
does not guarantee urban performance, in a knowledge-intensive and
increasingly globalised economy, these factors will determine increasingly
the success of cities.
A strategy for creating a competitive environment
A smart city is taken to be one that takes advantage of the opportunities
ICTs offer to increase local prosperity and competitiveness - an
approach which implies integrated urban development based on multiactor, multi-sector, and multi-level perspectives
This leads to an "underlying emphasis on business-led urban
development creating business-friendly cities with the aim of attracting
new businesses. The data shows that business-oriented cities are indeed
among those with a satisfactory socio-economic performance. Smart cities
as innovation ecosystems could offer ample opportunities for sustainable,
user-driven intelligent services. This can be achieved by combining open
innovation processes and advanced e-Government service applications.
Wireless sensor networks for smart cities

Wireless sensor network is a specific technology that helps to create Smart

Cities. The aim is to create a distributed network of intelligent sensor nodes
which can measure many parameters for a more efficient management of
the city. The data is delivered wirelessly and in real-time to the citizens or
the appropriate authorities.
For example, citizens can monitor the pollution concentration in each street
of the city or they can get automatic alarms when the pollution level rises a
certain level. It is also possible for the authorities to optimize the irrigation
of parks or the lighting of the city. Water leaks can be easily detected or
noise maps can be obtained. Rubbish bins can send an alarm when they
are close to being full.
Vehicle traffic can be monitored in order to modify the city lights in a
dynamic way. Traffic can be reduced with systems that detect where the
nearest available parking slot is. Motorists get timely information so they
can locate a free parking slot quickly, saving time and fuel. This information
can reduce traffic jams and pollution, improve the quality of life. It has also
been recently asserted that, due to the revenue-generating nature of
parking, smart parking systems could be the ideal foundation for building
municipal wireless networks. These sensing networks could later be
extended to include other types of sensing, as California-based company
Streetline announced it would offer in early 2014, adding road surface
temperature and noise sensing capabilities to its smart parking portfolio.
Urban flooding can be mitigated by using distributed rainwater harvesting
infrastructure to reduce peak flows and maximize wet weather capture.
This enables wastewater treatment facilities to treat stormwater runoff.
How smart cities can transform citizens lives
China has a Tianjin knowledge city and some smart cities include Suxhou,
Guangzhou and Szechuan.
Eighteen kilometers off Ahmedabad airport, the Gujarat International
Financial Tec (GIFT) City may become the first city in Narendra Modi's
dream project. This project that costs Rs.70,000 crore is spread over 370
hectares. The construction that began in 2011 will take a decade to
complete. Two towers and few banks among others have already signed
up. At least 5 lakh direct jobs and an equal number of indirect jobs are
promised. At the facility, while solid waste will be sucked out from homes
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and offices through pipelines leading directly to a waste processing plant, a

fully functional GIFT City will have a command centre with information and
communication technology infrastructure to manage everyday chores.
Our cities can be Smart if as urban planners, Politicians,
Administrators and decision makers we can follow the following
principles in our urban planning and plan implementation viz.
(1) Effective governance: Our cities must see a greater involvement of
stakeholders in policy framing and implementation. Technology
should enable greater participation and transparency. Communities
should be able to keep in mind the long-term interests and make
wiser
choices
in
the
use
of
resources.
(2) Enlightened inhabitants: Citizens must develop a habit of
participating in the life of the community and consider participation
not only as a choice but as a right, rather than a burden. They should
be guided by principles of pluralism and harmony.
(3) Easy mobility: Our cities must embed mobility in the fabric of the
citys infrastructure and weave it in its cultural ethos. Apart from
other physical infrastructure, safe and efficient public transport
systems is a must.
(4) Happy living: The ability to access housing, healthcare, education
and leisure facilities easily and at an affordable cost is a critical
component. At the planning stage, planners must factor in cultural
infrastructure, safety and quality of buildings and social cohesion.
(5) Amenable environment: While planning, living space must be
envisioned in the light of a subtle balance between built-up space and
green areas, water resources, pollution control and use of resources
in a responsible and environment friendly way (for example, use of
renewable energy, rain-water harvesting, green initiatives and so on).
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(6) Optimal economy: In such an economy, innovation must be the

driving force that allocates resources in the right direction.
Smart city is, thus, but a euphemism for good urban planning that an urban
planner is expected to practice ever since the days of Ebnezer Howard.
The term Smart City is but a Euphemism, old wine in a new bottle with a
topping of information & communication technology! There is no need for
such smart cities if we can just get clean, motivated administration for our
urban areas and garner enough resources to plough back in the
infrastructure of our existing cities! Rational urban planning, adequate
physical & social infrastructure and financing with stringent implementation
and management is all that is necessary! The cities will then be smart by
themselves even without the technology and gadgetry!

19th September 2014

Prakash M Apte
apteyconsult@hotmail.com