CITIE S&ARCHITE CTURE

A Trip Down the

Rabbit Hole of
Modis Smart
Cities
Wonderland
BY A.SR IVAT HSANON0 5 /0 6/20 15

TwintowersatGIFTCity,Gujarat.Photo:ChirayuBhatt

Nourbandevelopmentprojecthasbeenmoreconfusingand
misleadingthantheSmartCityscheme.
IntheyearsincetheNarendraModigovernmentannouncedthis

asanationwideproject,therehavebeenmanyhastydecisions
andpolicyflipflops.Morechatterthanplanswithclear
substance,theSmartCityprojectinitspresentformisarecipe
forskeweddevelopmentratherthanavisionforasoundurban
future.
ThegovernmentdidnotconceptualiseSmartCitiesasan
integratedurbanplanningprojectthatwouldtransformIndias
ageingcivicinfrastructure,mobilisetechnologytoimprove
environmentalperformanceandenhancethequalityofcitylife.
GujaratsGIFTtoIndia
Itinitiallythoughtofthemasnewcitiesontheoutskirtsof
existingonestofunctionasspecialinvestmentregionsthat
wouldattractglobalcapital.SmartCitiesweredesignedasreal
estateenclavesthatprovideservicedlandtoprivatecompanies.
Thesegreenfieldprojectsweretohaveacentralisedsurveillance
system,adigitallymonitoredwatersupplyprogramme,
technologyenabledwastecollectionandotherInformationand
Communicationstechnology(ICT)drivenamenities.Twoofthe
earliestexamplesofthismodelofaSmartCityDholera
(http://dholerasir.com/)andGIFTCity(http://giftgujarat.in/)(Gujarat

InternationalFinanceTecCity),inGujarat,notifiedin2009and
2007respectivelyareinvestmentzones.
Aboutonethird
ofthe886acresin
GIFTcityis
designatedasa
SpecialEconomic
Zone(SEZ)and
GFTCity,fromtheofficialbrochure

theremaining
partincludesa

domesticfinancecentre,businessclubs,aretailmall,hotelsand
apartments.Dholera,whichoncompletionwouldcovera
developedareaofabout22,790acres,isaspecialinvestment

zonecateringtosectorssuchaselectronics,ITand
biotechnology.Itwouldalsoincluderesorts,apartmentsanda
commercialcitycentre.
TheSmartCityideastartedtomorphintoagrandurbanstrategy
duringthe2014nationalelections.ThoughtheBJPmanifesto
didnotusetheword`Smart,itpromisedtoinitiatebuilding
100newcities(http://www.hindustantimes.com/stateofthestates/bjp
manifestopromisesbullettrains100newcities/article11205167.aspx)

enabledwiththelatestintechnologyandinfrastructure.The
phrasesoonappearedinNarendraModiselectionspeeches,
wherehepromisedtogetridofIndianurbanproblemsby
building100SmartCities.
FinanceMinisterArunJaitleysfirstbudgetsoonaftertheBJP
cametopowerin2014providedRs7,060croresforbuildingthe
promisedsmartcities.(http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/rs
7060crorefor100smartcities/article6198022.ece)Inhisbudgetspeech,

Jaitleysaid,Unlessnewcitiesaredevelopedtoaccommodate
theburgeoningnumberofpeople,theexistingcitieswouldsoon
becomeunliveable.Insubsequentstatements,SmartCitieswere
officiallypromotedasnewcitiesbuiltwithsubstantialprivate
investment.TheGujaratinvestmentorientedmodelsremained
thereferencepoints.GIFTCityinGujaratwasconsideredthe
prototypeofaSmartCity.
Changingtheconcept
FollowingcriticismthatpromotingSmartCitiesasnewtowns
wouldexcludeexistingurbancentresthatbadlyrequiredan
upgrade,andendupcreatingsatellitecitiesasislandsof
prosperity,thegovernmentreviseditsproposal.
InadraftconceptnotepublishedinDecember2014
(http://indiansmartcities.in/downloads/CONCEPT_NOTE_3.12.2014__REVI
SED_AND_LATEST_.pdf),theMinistryofUrbanDevelopment,

whichisimplementingtheSmartCityproject,saidthatthenew
schemewouldpromotenotonlysatellitetownsbutalso
moderniseexistingcities.Theschemewouldincludeupgrading
ofsocial,institutionalandhealthinfrastructureinexistingcities.
Itwouldsupportabroadrangeofprojectsrelatedtoeducation,
healthcare,andentertainment,facilitiesforthepoor,governance
andinstitutionalmodification.Almosteveryconceivableurban
projectwasbroughtunderthenewscheme.
Inotherwords,theSmartCityprojectnowstartedsoundinglike
everyotherurbandevelopmentprogrammethatprecededit.The
differences,ifthereareany,lieintwoareas.One,allproposed
developmentundertheSmartCitycategorymusthavea
mandatoryICTcomponent.Two,moneywouldnotbeallottedto
preselectedcitiesbuttothosewhichcompeteandqualifyas
smartcity.
Boththesedefiningfeaturesareproblematic.
First,theCentralgovernmenthascompletelyoverlookedthefact
thatIndiancitieshavealreadytakentotechnologyenabled
servicedeliveryandgovernance.Manycitieshaverealisedthe
valueofspendingondigitalinitiativesandhavesteadilyshifted
todigitalplatforms.Egovernance,digitalpropertyregistration,
GPSbasedbusmovementmonitoring,realtimecitizen
interactionandonlinebuildingapprovalsareafewexamplesof
this.Citiesaresteadilyincreasingtheirinvestmentin
technologyenabledsolutionsand,incourseoftime,would
chooselargersystemsthatmatchtheirprioritiesandresources.
TheModigovernmenthasnotstudiedhowcitiesspendon
digitalinitiatives,thebenefitsoftransition,andthepriority
areasthatneedsupport.Instead,itispushingtheSmartCity
projectthatpromotescapitalintensive,technologydriven
infrastructureprojects.TheUDministryinsiststhat60percent
ofallocatedfundshavetobespentoninfrastructure,butithas
notprobedthepossiblecostsandsuitabilityofthenewproducts.

Thisseriousflawcanforcecitiestochooseprojectsthatcan
burdentheirresourcesandskewpriorities.
Highcostfetish
Forinstance,GIFTCityhasadoptedapneumaticunderground
wastecollectionsystem,whichwilltransportwastefrom
multistoriedbuildingstoacollectioncentreataspeedof110140
kmperhour.Thissystem,astheSwedishmanufacturer
describeditonthecompanywebsite,isaminimum
requirementforSMARTCityConceptandInitiativeacross
India.
Dataaboutthecostorbenefitsoftheautomaticwastecollection
systemarenotavailable.However,researchbytheUniversityof
Helsinkiin2012onsimilartechnologiesintheFinnish
capitalprovidesafairideaaboutthecostsinvolved.Thestudy
concluded
(http://www.researchgate.net/publication/227856156_Pneumatic_vs._door
to
door_waste_collection_systems_in_existing_urban_areas_a_comparison_of_e
conomic_performance)thatavehicleoperateddoortodoorwaste

collectionsystemiseconomicallysixtimessuperiortopneumatic
systemsbecauseofthehighinvestment.Theresearchalso
observedthatintegratinghightechnologywastecollection
systemswithexistingcityinfrastructureishighlychallenging.In
Indiancities,giventhelowlabourcost,theeconomicadvantage
ofconventionalwastecollectionwouldbeevengreater.Forcities
here,thepneumaticsystemneednotbeapriority.Intheabsence
ofinformedresearchandfacedwithenticingSmartCity
propaganda,cancitiesmakerationalchoices?
Citiesneedtoupgradeinfrastructure,butthatdoesnotmean
theyhavetochooseasystemthatinvolvesprohibitivecapitaland
highoperatingcosts.TheUDministryestimatescitiesin
IndiawillhavetoinvestRs43,386percapita
(http://www.governancenow.com/news/regularstory/smartcitiesgovtneeds

7lakhcrore20yrs)ininfrastructurefora20yearperiodto

improvetheexistingcondition.Adoptingsmartsystemsmay
substantiallyincreasetheinvestmentburden.Localbodies
strugglingtoprovideconventionalinfrastructuretotheentire
cityhavetothinkcarefullybeforechoosinghighendsystems.
Citiescanstepuptheirdigitalinvestment,butitshouldmatch
theirresourcesandcapacitytosustain.
Whatssmartaboutrealestate?
TwootheraspectsoftheSmartCitiesconceptareequally
disconcerting
First,manydetailsandparametersoftheSmartCityprojects
havenotyetbeenworkedout.TheParliamentaryStanding
Committee(http://thewire.in/glossary/parliamentarystandingcommittee/)
onUrbanDevelopment,initsreportpublishedinApril,hadalso
pointedtotheincompleteness
(http://www.igovernment.in/news/1003210/udministrytoldtostop
adhocisminsmartcityproject).Disappointedbythelackof

finalisationofcomponents,thecommitteecautionedtheUD
ministrythatthisapproachtotheSmartCityprojectwouldlead
to`adhocismintheurbanplanningprocess.Strangely,despite
thesesevereshortcomings,theministryisgoingaheadwiththe
projectandhassetasidefundsforthenextfiveyears.Itlooksas
ifthegovernmentisinahurrytoimplementahastilycrafted
sloganratherthantocarefullybuildasoundurbanfuture.
Second,thegovernmentsobsessionwithcreatingrealestate
enclavesoutofeveryurbaninitiativepersists.Theministryhas
directedthatcitieswhichreceivefundsfromtheSmartCity
schemeshouldspend60percentoninfrastructure,10percent
onegovernanceandtheremaining30percentontwo
integratedtownshipstobedevelopedinpartnershipwithprivate
developers.IfGIFTCityisarolemodelasJaitleydescribedit,
thetownshipsproposedbythegovernmentaregoingtobegated
communities.Theywouldbeexpensiveandservealimited

numberofpeople.IftheSmartCityconceptisaboutmaking
citiesmoreefficientandconvenient,andaboutinvestinginnew
systemsandprocesses,whereistheneedtospendprecious
publicresourcesincreatingrealestateprojectsthatwouldserve
asmallprivilegedgroup?
ItwoulddowellforlocalbodiestostayawayfromtheSmartCity
schemefornow.Ratherthanadoptillconceivedprojectsand
followconfusingdirections,citiesshouldconcentrate
onmobilisingtheirownresources,andintelligentlysettingtheir
ownagendafordevelopment.
A.Srivathsan(http://cept.ac.in/news/asrivathsanappointedas
academicdirectorofceptuniversity)isaprofessoratCEPT

University,Ahmedabad.Opinionsexpressedarepersonal.

Whattoreadnext:

BeforeCitiesCan
BecomeSmart,They
MustFirstBe
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Architecture"

ReadersRespondto
SmartCities,
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ZoyaAkhtar,Warring
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Taggedas:ArunJaitley(http://thewire.in/tag/arunjaitley/),Dholera
(http://thewire.in/tag/dholera/),GIFTcity(http://thewire.in/tag/giftcity/),NarendraModi
(http://thewire.in/tag/narendramodi/),SmartCities(http://thewire.in/tag/smartcities/),

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