The status of the Smart Cities Mission

The story so far: The Centre used a competitive process to select 100 cities for upgradation with significant investments through the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) launched on June 25, 2015. These cities were identified through a “challenge” to which State governments and local bodies responded with plans that covered showpiece projects for a specific area, as well citywide plans. These included integrated data, use of technology platforms for service delivery to citizens, and mainstreaming of urban development concepts to encourage other cities to adopt best practice.

In September 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) expanded the emphasis on climate-friendly infrastructure in smart cities through the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0 and a “Streets for People” plan that would put pedestrians and non-motorised road users at the centre of urban planning.

Yet, many plans under the SCM, which is funded partly by the Centre, remain incomplete due to the COVID-19 pandemic that stalled activities for most of 2020. In response, the Smart Cities Mission has extended the implementation date and given cities until June 2023 to complete the work.

How far have smart cities progressed?

The Urban Affairs Ministry says that as of November 12, 2021, a total of 6,452 projects at a cost of ₹1,84,998 crore had been tendered. In terms of work progress, 5,809 projects worth ₹1,56,571 crore were under implementation or had been completed, it says, although it is not clear how many were completed.

Under the Ministry’s original framework for the 100 cities, 5,151 projects were proposed involving an estimated outlay of ₹2,05,018 crore, as per MoHUA. Although the Mission goal encompasses 100 cities, 66 cities were chosen in different rounds of the “challenge” method only between 2016 and 2018.

India’s most urbanised State, Tamil Nadu proposed 11 Smart Cities with 618 projects worth ₹15,307 crore. Its experience showed the difficulties in achieving the Mission objectives. The SCM project to upgrade the Chennai Pondy Bazaar shopping area and build an elevated skywalk to the local bus stand came in for criticism during November 2021, as flooding in several adjacent localities was attributed to poor drainage planning in the project.

In terms of execution, the Centre has said that Smart City Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), which were constituted to implement, operate and monitor the projects, are empowered to take decisions on Mission projects under the overall guidance of the State High Powered Steering Committees, and are not required to submit projects for approval to the Ministry. This effectively puts the onus on these entities to complete the work according to the deadlines, and the Centre does not bear responsibility for delays.

What challenges are faced by smart city plans?

The key features of smart cities, according to the Ministry, are liveability, economic ability and sustainability. These broad ideas have a universal character and incorporate access to clean water, safe streets and public spaces, good public transport, facilities for health and education and places for recreation. They also seek to expand economic opportunity for all and address environmental stresses - rising temperatures, extreme weather events, bad air quality, flood and drought, and lost urban biodiversity.

In practice, smart city plans have been critiqued as being distanced from elected democratic institutions and wide public discussion, reflected in project finalisation that involves mainly State governments, the bureaucracy and independent experts. This is in spite of processes that have been incorporated to tap public sentiment using online tools and platforms.

A core factor of liveability and inclusivity, such as affordable rental housing, determines the usability of other features of a smart city.

Some centres, such as Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Indore, and Thane have pencilled in housing developments of various models, ranging from slum improvement to free sale of houses, into their smart city projects, a few involving over ₹1,000 crore; others have smaller levels of outlays for housing.

Ongoing smart city plans also face the pressure of designing for climate change. The Climate Smart Assessment Framework would need to put in compulsory features to align all investments with national commitments towards obligations under the Paris Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).