We need smarter Cities

The Mumbai being a financial capital of India, most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million have a population of 1.8 Crore and every day 10,000 people are added into it. Around 70% of population of Mumbai lives in Slums and the percentage is constantly increasing. The real estate prices are astronomical and are record breaking high. The story of Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai is similar. Our metro cities, Tier-II and Tier-III cities have already reached their maximum permissible limit of town planning are still flooding with migration of peoples from rural areas. The authorities are working hard to establish the networks and smooth functioning of these cities, however the unpredicted increase in rate of urbanization have drastically affected the planning of infrastructure making the things worse. So the traffic jams, power cuts, long distance travelling, inadequacy of drinking water and sanitation are the major among the problems faced by these cities.

What we need immediately is to construct other planned cities to decrease the inflow coming to these megacities. This includes construction of satellite city like Navi Mumbai where many Government offices will get shifted in comparative cost. We need smart cities. Smart cities are depending on some axes, these are: a smart economy; smart mobility; a smart environment; smart people; smart living; and, finally, smart governance. India is experiencing unprecedented growth. In the next 20 years, 30 Indians will move every minute from rural India to the cities. To accommodate this massive urban migration, India will need about 500 new cities in the next 20 years.

While this rapid urban growth creates tremendous opportunities, it also puts extreme pressure on our resources. Transportation, public safety and energy are some of the most critical issues facing our cities today.

These smart cities must constructed keeping following aspects:

A) Smart Economy: Housing for all classes in adjoining Vicinity: This maintains the social balance of the city. Keeping LIG, MIG, and HIG colonies together minimizes the social differences. One can easily figure out the slum pockets are developed in heart of city for this reason only.

B) Smart Transportation: Mass rapid transit system can set a floating population to adjoining city next to these megacities. It must be well planned rail and road network having cheaper cost. Well constructed transport means decreases the travel time of commuter.

C) Smart Governance: The business centers should be evenly distributed and not to be concentrated in specific area of city. The high tech Governance is an essential factor.

D) Smart Environment: The planned cities could have ample of free spaces, gardens, playgrounds.

We must focus on building the world class infrastructure and new cities to solve the problem of migrations.