SMART CITIES-2
In July 2014, post the maiden budget being presented by the
NDA Government, I had first published a post on “Smart Cities”. So the
title Smart Cities-2
Eight months down the line the proposal does not seem to have
moved much forward. Though we do hear of Vizag, Ajmer etc. being considered by
the Industry/Govt. to be developed as smart cities and some task force or the other
having being formed. But little seems to have taken place on the ground.
In my post in July I had given the definition of a smart city
given by EU “Smart people; smart mobility, smart governance, smart living,
smart environment & smart economy." I had added that we must add smart
energy also to this definition.
Subsequently, after searching on the net, I have come across
a ‘Smart City Council’ (http://smartcitiescouncil.com)
where the tag words are livability, workability
and sustainability. The ‘lead’ partners in this Council are Companies like
GE,IBM, CISCO, Alstom grid etc. That is to say that these are primarily
companies engaged in IT & ITES. Even Associate partners are leading IT
companies. My assumption is that this Council represents collective wisdom or
provides a platform for leading IT Companies to present and discuss technological
solutions for cities which can be used to better manage the services or provide
intelligent services and controls.
Further search
has lead me to a post by Federico Guerrini in January this year on Forbes (http://www.forbes.com)
wherein he has listed seven cities identified by a US based think tank (http://www.forbes.com/sites/federicoguerrini/2015/01/28/worlds-top-7-smartest-cities-of-2015-are-not-the-ones-youd-expect/).
The cities listed are: Arlington County in Virginia, USA; Columbus in Ohio, USA;
Ipswich in Queensland Australia; Mitchel in South Dakota, USA; New Taipei City,
Taiwan; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Surrey in British Columbia, Canada
Write up
about these cities shows primarily the steps taken and being taken by the city
managers to provide intelligent services using IT solutions. (I would urge
those who read this post to visit the original page and read for themselves. It
is interesting.)
What Federico
writes in his post about concept of a Smart City is –“a city which uses digital technologies to improve the quality of
public and private services, while reducing costs and resource consumption.” He
also mentions that “The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a New York-based think
tank, prefers to focus on Intelligent Communities, defined as “cities and regions that use technology not just
to save money or make things work better, but also to create high-quality
employment, increase citizen participation and become great places to live and
work.”
Another
interesting read was a post published by Boyd Cohen in January 2012 (http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679127/the-top-10-smart-cities-on-the-planet).
He, after research has listed cities like Vienna, Hong Kong, Copenhagen, Barcelona,
Berlin, Tokyo, London, Paris, New York, Toronto. He does talk about cities
which have adopted low carbon technologies etc. However primarily again the
focus is on technology
While I have
no issue with technology lending a helping hand in making a City Smart it alone
cannot do so. Nor we should, in my opinion, give too much emphasis on
technology. Can we transport water or sewerage using IT? Can transport run just
on IT? Can buildings, parks, roads be built using IT? Answer of course is a
resounding No. But it is a fact that we can manage the resource better and
facilitate taking of decisions based on data which is in real time and correct.
However the
output or outcome will depend upon how good the DESIGN and IMPLEMENTATION is.
This in my opinion is the crux.
So I come
back to my first post. What we need is:
·
Good designers
who are capable of utilizing the given geographies and create passive
infrastructure. Designers who understand local climatic conditions and who can create
assets which make best use of wind and sunlight. We need designers who understand
how economic activity takes place and are able to integrate same with other
activities such as recreational, leisure, commercial, education etc. so that
people travel less and enjoy a quality life.
·
We need very
good engineers who can manage the resources in an efficient manner with minimum
wastage and produce quality assets which reduces post installation maintenance
costs and who can translate the designs in an efficient manner.
·
We need
engineers who can design efficient road systems, efficient water supply and
sewerage systems, efficient and smart energy grids which give reliable and
stable power.
·
We need very
good artisans and very good and reliable material sources which reduce time and
production costs.
Once we have
these and we are able to create smart infrastructure then we can put in IT
backbones and other related infra to manage the systems on a scientific basis
and create real smart cities and even smarter and sustainable communities.
New cities
will present basically a design challenge but existing cities will present more
of an engineering challenge. Whether it will be better to create new cities or
to make existing cities into smart ones is difficult to say. But considering
the issue of land acquisition creating new cities may prove to be difficult. In
case of existing cities selling the likely benefits to existing populace and
getting them ready to face the hardships that they will have to face while
infra is being laid will also be a challenge. The issues can best be dealt with
by political entities or city managers. Once the first smart city gets created
it will be easier to sell the idea and get the people on board. In fact the
first may not really be very smart but it will help in getting the things right
in subsequent ventures
For this concept
to succeed a lot of capacities will have to be created and harnessed and even more than the technical expertise we
will need leaders who have the vision and the ability to put together capable
and empowered teams and give them the resources to enable them to create world
class cities where people live in harmony with nature and lead comfortable
and fruitful lives. We need leaders who understand that besides designs
innovative ideas will have to be developed to incentivize the creation of smart
cities and smart communities. Once the vision is in place and teams have been
created necessary financial resources will flow as financiers will be assured
of good returns.
Would like
to request all who get to read this post to chip in with ideas which can be
compiled and shared.
