GS I (Urbanisation)(Analytical)(Simplex)
The objective of Smart City Mission is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions. Discuss. What are the challenges to Smart City mission?
Best answer
Narayana Sarma wrote the best answer for this question and got a score of 5.5/10. The answer is being reproduced below for everyone’s convenience. Of course these answers can always be improved. (Best answer of a particular only involves those given on that day, later answers may not have been checked)
Today, a smart and sustainable development of urban sector based on inclusive growth is essential. This is to be realized through the proposed ‘Smart City Mission.’ The deliverables of a smart city should bridge economic and social gap. Some of them are as follows:
-Adequate supply of clean water
-Proper sanitation
-Efficient last mile delivery
-Efficient urban mobility especially in public transportation
-Robust IT connectivity
These can be achieved by applying the so called ‘smart solutions’ such as:
-e-Governance Eg: myGov platform, Common Service Centres (CSCs) to digitize certificate distribution and other activities
-CCTV monitoring in cities to avoid crimes
-Intelligent traffic management Eg: Green Corridor, where a vehicle moving at a speed of, say 40 kmph on road can pass all signals without stopping
-Intelligent parking systems, in which, for instance, warning sensors could be placed on the sides of parking space
-Smart meters for water supply
Though the smart city mission offers attractive solutions and makes people’s life easier, it does face some of the challenges as listed below:
-Huge pumping in of funds is required
-Citizenry participation should be ensured
-Requirement of skilled populace to efficiently utilize the technological solutions
-Smart cities should be climate resilient and also, be capable of withstanding a disaster
-Privacy and security of people’s data acquired for smart solutions should be ensured
Some of the solutions which have been taken and required are as follows:
-myGov platform, though promotes participatory approach, has no effective reach due to lack of awareness among people. Spreading awareness about inclusive decisions could address this
-The funding can be acquired through a Gross Budgetary Support to concerned ministry, levying of cess (as in case of Swachh Bharat), appealing to the goodness of people resulting in their voluntary contribution (as in case of Give it up campaign in LPG), taking loans from Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB)
-Following a ‘twin city’ approach to mimic a model city in addressing specific problems/areas. Eg: Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India and Esslingen in Germany have agreed to be ‘twin cities.’
-Proposed Universal Identity Authority to take care of Aadhar data management & security
The success of Smart City Mission will depend on its ability to transform the lives of people in future, that too, in a sustainable manner.
