The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has set the ball rolling for its pilot ‘smart sub-city’ project in Dwarka.
The land development agency plans to come up with three smart sub-cities: Dwarka, Rohini and Narela.
The DDA has already identified vacant land for the project in Dwarka and is now looking for a consultancy firm to prepare a model for an integrated township and advise the agency on how to implement the project.
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The smart sub-cities are planned as self-sufficient townships with transit oriented development so that residents won’t have to travel too much to reach their workplace or access basic needs.
The smart sub-city will also boast of round-the-clock water and power supply, Wi-Fi connectivity, green buildings and an efficient solid-waste management system.
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In a departure from the traditional town planning carried out by the DDA, where residential, commercial and institutional use of land is clearly demarcated and separated, the smart sub-cities will largely see mixed land use.
“With residential, commercial and mix use development, people will not need to go far for anything,” said D.P. Singh, Chief Engineer (Dwarka), DDA.
“We are trying this for the first time and have invited requests for proposal for consultants. The pre-bid meeting will take place on August 8,” Mr. Singh said.
Last-mile connectivity
“The aim behind developing a smart city is to provide all infrastructure and related amenities that would come up together in a high density area, with commercial and financial institutions nearby too,” he said.
“It might also be possible that working space for residents would come up nearby, apart from availability of basic needs. Along with better infrastructure, we will also focus on connectivity and more importantly last-mile connectivity,” he said.
Mr. Singh said that provision of efficient last-mile connectivity would be a major feature of the smart sub-city.
“The unavailability of last-mile connectivity at present is a concern and that is why Metro bus sewa was started in Dwarka,” he said.
The DDA has already held a round of talks with consultants before the request for proposal was drafted and expects major global players to participate in the bidding.
The agency expects to hire a consultancy firm or a consortium of firms to help it develop the smart sub-city.
Hi-tech
The smart sub-city will also feature internet-based systems to link traffic management, parking, transit operations, emergency response, incident management etc.
The sub-city will also feature large public spaces, iconic structures and globally benchmarked communications infrastructure.