Towards the right model of smart city governance in India

City, Culture and Society, 2018

Smart cities commentary often highlights the technological and entrepreneurial aspects of the city. But, the dimensions of local policy and politics is surprisingly little debated. Mega cities in the rapidly urbanising economies develop a plethora of urban policies and plans cultivated by various state and local agencies. These are often overlapping or conflicting and as a result do not produce desired outcomes. Prospective smart cities tend to add a new layer of plan and devise extra institutional instrument in to this already complex environment. We challenge this idea of smart cities being another stand-alone initiative and explore how integration of plans and unification of smart city visions with the overarching city development goals can better support effective urban transformation and local innovation. This research addresses the complex planning and governance mechanisms in the world's fastest growing economy – India - which has initiated an ambitious mission to transform 100 urban areas across the country into “smart cities”. The federal program involves the provision of centrally devised guidelines for smart city development. These combined with local level policy and institutional initiatives in designated smart cities in India shape a multiplicity of policies and programs. A two-level case study is presented in this paper as a critical polemic on this policy landscape. Investigation along these lines provide opportunities for identification of underlying patterns and challenges of smart city developments in India. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for building sound smart city policy frameworks in emerging economies.

Athens Journal of Business and Economics, 2020

The Government of India is trying to tackle the challenges of rapid urbanization through the Smart Cities Mission, launched in 2015. This paper discusses a case about the development of a smart city under this initiative, which exhibits exemplary governance practices while improving developing infrastructure and technological solutions to solve critical problems of the city, e.g., Solid Waste Management. It addresses the question whether building good governance practices results in successful achievements of a public policy program and aimed at infrastructure development along with best practices in governance. This paper attempts to assess whether the Panaji Smart city project is in line with purpose of the Smart Cities Mission 'to create model cities which can be triggers for planned and rapid urban development on desired lines'. Information for the case study was collected through published data and personal site visits, interviews and discussions with senior officials of the project team and stakeholders. The findings are useful not only in portraying the Smart City of Panaji with respect to citizen engagement, transparency and accountability but also in evaluating the outcomes of the project. It is interesting to note that the 'model' framework adopted to implement the project appears to be filled with good governance but has till date not made much impact on lives of residents of the smart city and as yet does not appear to be creating desired networks that would be connecting to urbanization in the region. (JEL G30)

International Journal of Civic Engagement and Social Change, 2016

India is on the path of developing its smart cities at a faster pace in near future. But what constitutes a smart city and what is purpose of this focus remains to be explored. Through in depth literature review and grounded approach this paper, appraises the genesis of smart city to develop a better understanding of urban problems. It explores how smart cities intend to relate the infrastructure, operational functioning, planning through management, control and optimization to ensure equity, fairness for realizing better quality of city life. The paper also attempts to review how informed participation creates shared knowledge for democratic governance. Anticipated paradigm shifts that will occur in this area of research and the expected impacts in developing and planning smart cities in general and in particular the steps being taken in India in development of smart cities is delved into.

2018

The creation of a new greenfield capital in Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati, is an opportunity for its Chief Minister to test new foms of e-governance through the mobilisation of ICT tools. According to Naidu, this project of " People's Capital " , Praja Rajadhani in Telugu, will enable them to build a more inclusive city. To achieve its goals, he mobilises all the resources of the web to make the project more transparent and promises to rely on citizen participation. In this article we will evaluate by a structural analysis of the Internet networks built by this government , if these affirmations have a chance to be realised during the construction of the capital. The challenge is to move from a top-down approach, from government to citizens, set up by the e-government procedures of the 1990s, to a bottom-up approach, from the citizen to his government promised by the web 2.0.

2016

Seamless information access enabled by mobile technology combined with realtime sensing is beginning to change the way citizens inhabit their cities. Around the globe, there is increasing evidence of smart city experiments and implementation through leadership at a city level or at a national level. The analysis of the real-time functioning of the cities using sensing techniques and data analytics is seen by city administrators as an effective strategy to achieve seamless flow within a city. India’s Smart Cities Mission is a step towards futureproofing its cities, an initiative that requires careful analysis of existing Smart City practices by other countries. India needs to adapt pertinent methodologies in terms of its governance of the mission, funding mechanism, business models for implementation, choosing the right smart city services and technology. One of India’s frequent reference points is its neighbor China, which has consistently seen far higher levels of urbanization and ...

GeoJournal, 2020

This paper argues for a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance that we call “smart urban governance,” which represents a move away from the technocratic way of governing cities often found in smart cities. A framework on smart urban governance is proposed on the basis of three intertwined key components, namely spatial, institutional, and technological components. To test the applicability of the framework, we conducted an international questionnaire survey on smart city projects. We then identified and discursively analyzed two smart city projects—Smart Nation Singapore and Helsinki Smart City—to illustrate how this framework works in practice. The questionnaire survey revealed that smart urban governance varies remarkably: As urban issues differ in different contexts, the governance modes and relevant ICT functionalities applied also differ considerably. Moreover, the case analysis indicates that a focus on substantive urban challenges helps to define appropriate ...

2020

Smart cities that make broad use of digital technologies have been touted as possible solutions for the population pressures faced by many cities in developing countries and may help meet the rising demand for services and infrastructure. Nevertheless, the high financial cost involved in infrastructure maintenance, the substantial size of the informal economies, and various governance challenges are curtailing government idealism regarding smart cities. This review examines the state of smart city development in developing countries, which includes understanding the conceptualisations, motivations, and unique drivers behind (and barriers to) smarty city development. A total of 56 studies were identified from a systematic literature review from an initial pool of 3928 social sciences literature identified from two academic databases. Data were analysed using thematic synthesis and thematic analysis. The review found that technology-enabled smart cities in developing countries can only be realised when concurrent socioeconomic, human, legal, and regulatory reforms are instituted. Governments need to step up their efforts to fulfil the basic infrastructure needs of citizens, raise more revenue, construct clear regulatory frameworks to mitigate the technological risks involved, develop human capital, ensure digital inclusivity, and promote environmental sustainability. A supportive ecosystem that encourages citizen participation, nurtures start-ups, and promotes public-private partnerships needs to be created to realise their smart city vision.

Information polity, 2019

Over the past decade, two dominant perspectives prevail on the governance of smart cities. From a public administration perspective, 'smart governance' emphasizes the importance of technology-based tools in transforming government institutions. From an urban planning perspective, the governance of smart cities focuses on the institution interaction with spatial challenges. Within this backdrop, these perspectives can learn from each other to arrive at new transformative smart governance approaches. This paper proposes a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance, labeled as 'smart urban governance'. It is aiming specifically at the transformative governance of the socio-spatial context of urban challenges associated to smart cities via technological innovations and opening up new possibilities for city transformation. To this end, the meaning of smart urban governance is conceptualized from three dimensions: purposes, components and contexts. Based on a systematic literature review, these three dimensions are integrated into one holistic framework. A case illustration was applied to demonstrate the use and advantages of this framework. From this, this paper concludes that smart urban governance, by explicitly taking into account the specific socio-spatial context, can improve our understanding of the urban challenges associated to smart cities and contribute to its appropriate and 'smart' governance. Keywords: Smart cities, smart governance, ICT, an urban planning perspective, transformation of cities Key points for practitioners:-Two dominant perspectives prevail on the present governance of smart cities-a public administration perspective and an urban planning perspective.-The identified shortfalls along with the context ignorance within the two present dominant perspectives have impeded the transformation of cities.-The paper argues that the mentioned perspectives can learn from each other to arrive at new transformative smart governance approaches.-This paper proposes a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance, labeled as 'smart urban governance'.-Smart urban governance intends a symbiosis between the 'smart' from smart governance literature and the 'urban' from urban governance literature, as a means to 'smartening' urban governance as well as drawing attention to the importance of socio-spatial transformations in shaping smart governance.

Scholedge International Journal of Business Policy & Governance ISSN 2394-3351

After coming to power in 2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government announced the ambitious programme of building 100 smart cities in India. The idea behind is to rejuvenate the ailing urban system, improve urban infrastructure, quality of life and achieve sustainable and inclusive development besides other things. Tremendous demographic pressure, inadequate infrastructure and resources to cater to the population which runs in billions, unplanned growth of the peri-urban sprawls characterize India's urban environment. Socioeconomic imperatives are the key factors behind the rapid urbanization in India. Livelihood, security and prosperity are some prime movers. Ironically, cities, which on the one hand are considered the growth engines of economy, also attract poverty (socio-economically marginalized population) in large proportion. Consequently posh urban sprawls in Indian cities exist amidst impoverished habitats called slums where the poor inhabitants are condemned to live in subhuman condition. Reconciling growing affluence and abject poverty in cities is a difficult task too. In the backdrop of India's urban challenges this paper seeks to examine some critical issues associated with the development of smart cities to understand: Will smart cities serve India's aspiration or fulfill its urban needs? Can it address the contemporary and future needs of India's urbanization? How will it ensure the participation of the urban stakeholders? How will it ensure social inclusion and finally, whether India needs smart cities or smart urban solutions for sustainable development?