Smart urban planning

The smart city development is not elitist and it has triggered inclusive and comprehensive urban planning and development addressing the inherited deficit in urban governance, #Urban Development Minister M. Vanakaiah Naidu has stressed on 7 Feb 2017.

Addressing a Business Conclave at #Shri Ram College of Commerce on 7 Feb 2017, he explained that the Smart City Mission has been so designed to promote inclusive development benefitting all sections of people besides promoting sustainable urban development practices and actions in the context of urban citizens being starved of breathing and living spaces.

Elaborating, he said that this mission is a “behavioral change” initiative requiring all stakeholders including elected and executive leadership and citizens to change their attitudes and approaches towards urban planning and execution.

“Smart leaders and smart citizens are crucial for the success of the mission,” stressed Naidu.

Asserting that the mission is progressing well, Naidu said that since the announcement of first batch of 20 cities for smart city development on January 28, 2015, these mission cities have moved quickly towards appointing Project Management Consultants, Special Purpose Vehicles and converting city-wise smart city plans for awarding project works for implementation.

He said 114 projects worth Rs.1,582 crore would be completed by June this year and another 186 projects costing Rs.11,749 crore have been awarded for execution and another 210 projects worth Rs.7,336 crore would be awarded soon.

By June this year i.e within two years of the launch of the mission, a total of 510 projects with a total investment of Rs.20,669 crore would take off the ground amounting to about 50 per cent of the total investment proposed, said Naidu.

Stating that awarding and execution of remaining projects would pick up further momentum from now on, Naidu said “the mission is on course and visible impact will be felt soon”.

Naidu said the cities were now moving away from archaic ways of urban governance and vying for credit ratings for mobilization of resources through municipal bonds, reflecting on their keenness to think and act differently.

He said 89 smart cities of the 97 have initiated this process, 70 of which have completed it and 26 of them have already been given credit rating. fii-news.com