KOCHI: The achievements made in household amenities, physical / finance infrastructure, social and health sectors, and community assets have helped Kochi top the Multidimensional Prosperity Index (MPI) rating of the first 20 smart cities.
The assessment was made by the South Asia Urban Knowledge Hub of the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, using the 2011 data. The MPI was developed to monitor smart cities. The MPI of Kochi was 329.8, which was way ahead of the national capital, whose score was 248.3. The index, according to the paper, “is a tool to measure the overall progress of a city based on the quality of infrastructure, socio-cultural opportunities, and resources available for the collective well-being.”
Kochi scored significant points in physical and financial infrastructure index. The overall status of physical infrastructure, road density, water capacity of tanks, intensity of commercial electricity connection, intensity of street lights, and availability of banks and working women’s hostels were considered.
In the case of road density, Kochi stood next to New Delhi. The city and Visakhapatnam reported better electricity connections. The condition of street lights was found best in Kochi and Delhi.
On the availability of banking facilities, Kochi and New Delhi were the best two smart cities.
While working women’s hostels were absent in several cities, Kochi topped the list in the category. The number of higher educational institutions was also high in Guwahati and Kochi.
In the category of community assets, availability of cinema halls, public libraries, and community halls per 10,000 people was assessed.
Community assets
Kochi reported the highest concentration of cinema halls and public libraries among the smart cities assessed. In the household amenities sector, the assumption was that good houses would have at least two rooms or more. The city has more than 90% houses with two or more rooms, the report pointed out.
Under sanitation and hygiene, the variables such as safe drinking water, tap water connection in households, availability of water on household premises, availability of latrines, bathrooms, and closed drains were evaluated, the report explained.
The literacy rate of 97.36% and the lowest slum population (0.86%) were the port city’s specialities.
Around 95.55% households of Kochi have tap water, and toilet facilities are available for 94.62% of the city population. Power connectivity was found to be accessed by 99.08% households, while 87.41% per cent households have waste water connectivity to drains.
