From the grid-pattern design of the Boulevard to the landmark Gandhi Thidal, the award-winning smart city logo for Puducherry is a mash-up of the city’s history, the French-tinged heritage and its maritime identity.
Puducherry’s submission was selected under the Innovative Logo for Smart City category from the 130 participants for Business World Smart Cities Conclave and Awards 2017. The award was presented by Union Minister for Urban Development Hardeep Singh Puri at a recent function in Delhi.
On Sunday, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy had convened a press conference to compliment the team that produced the awarded logo, singling out for special mention A. Namassivayam, Minister for Town and Country Planning, and P. Jawahar, secretary (LAD, Housing and Town Planning).
Among the prominent emblems that find a place in the logo are the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Promenade Beach by the Bay of Bengal, the statue of Joseph-François Dupleix, Governor-General of 18th century French India, and the six pillars representing the war trophy of Gingee Fort and the first lighthouse on the eastern seaboard.
Core of the design
Pondichery, the erstwhile name given by the French for the port city, forms the core of the design along with “Ville Smart” the tag line of the smart city mission.
Depicted in the logo is the Aayi Mandapam, the white Greco-Roman styled monument built during the time of Napoleon III, to commemorate the commissioning of water supply to the city. The monument is named after Aayi, a courtesan, who brought down her house during drought to make way for a water body that would provide drinking water to this former French outpost.
The ornate masonry pavilion with domed roof and featuring a Fleur de lis (lily flower) is the official emblem of the Union Territory.
The Public Works Department has taken up the much-awaited restoration of the 161-year-old Aayi Mandapam located in Bharathi Park in the French precincts of the Boulevard.
A slice of life in the city — its bicycle-friendly streets — has made it to the logo while the whole backdrop of the symbols represents the unique grid-patterned Boulevard in the French Quarter area designed by the Danes and built by the French.
The city’s smart city aspiration as reflected in the logo is to transform it into a global tourism destination by tapping into its unique spiritual, cultural and heritage values while at the same time evolving into an organic entity that betters the lives and livelihoods of the peple.
“The logo represents the bond between Puducherry and France,” as Mr. Narayanasamy put it.
