Technology doesn't alone suffice a smart city

(With inputs from Geetanjali Prasad)

Ever since the '100 Smart Cities' mission has been announced in India, the entire nation has been gripped with excitement, with each passing day witnessing brainstorming for the same.

Experts are of the opinion that technology is not the only factor that defines a smart city. "Systems under people need to be in synergy, only then it can be truly called a smart city," says H. M. Shivanand Swamy, Executive Director, Centre of Excellence in Urban Transport, and further explaining that a smart city is determined by economic activities and development, sustainability and smart people. 

                        

Furthering the discussion on the dependence of technology for smart cities, Akshay Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Technological University, says, "Technology that is smart today might become a nightmare of tomorrow,” while mentioning that his university now boasts of a smart city lab.

While technology forms a small part of smart cities, there are many aspects that really make a city smart.

Energy efficiency forms an integral part of smart cities, and renewable sources of energy using wind, solar and hydro power is indeed the need of the hour which will take cities of future in the right path of being environmentally responsible. 

Eminent civil servant from Gujarat, Punamchand Parmar, raises a spirit of hope and grit in this concern while announcing,"I will rate the engineer or architect number one who will build a city which will not consume a single unit of electricity".

Much focus is on the empowerment of local government bodies to ensure smooth functioning of smart cities. "Local municipalities in India have a dearth of funds and the centre should direct appropriate funds to the municipalities for the development of smart cities," says Utpal Sharma, Director, Nirma University.

Sustainability, undoubtedly, is the keyword when it comes to smart cities, and each expert have their own interpretation of sustainability. Loveleen Garg, Head - Environment and Sustainability, GIFT City points out that carbon is a sustainability indicator. GIFT City has pledged towards green and sustainable future by joining hands with U. S. Green Building Council.

A representational picture of GIFT City

Anil Roy, Associate Professor, CEPT University opines that smart city and sustainability should be used separately. "Indian cities, though not smart yet, have sustained for many years now," he says.  "Sustainability is a subjective term. While many Indian cities sustained, cities like Fatehpur Sikri did not survive because of socio-economic reasons. Hence a synergy between all these aspects in necessary," says Kedarnath Rao Ghorpade, President, Building Environment India, who is currently working on three smart cities, namely, Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Jabalpur and Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Furthering the thought on how sustainability is prevalent in India, Punamchand Parmar established the relation between Vastu and sustainability by saying,"Vastu is not superstition, in its essence it talks of being sustainable by using wind and sunlight in the right way while designing and constructing homes." 

Scot Horst, Chief Product Officer, U. S. Green Building Council rightly points out 'cities are made by groups not individuals', a sentiment shared by all agreeing to the fact that smart is in sharing, co-operating and being sympathetic towards others in the community. Efforts and determination by each stakeholder will eventually lead to the making of a smart sustainable world. 

Adding to this thought, renowned architect BV Doshi remarks, "If we think of our home as a small city and our city as a big home, change will come." Horst also comments on what role LEED - a premier green building certification system powered by U. S. Green Building Council - plays. "Change is happening one brick at a time but we have to change smartly, and LEED is a tool that knits us together. LEED is a global tool with local implications," he says. 

'Change is happening, but we've to change smartly'

Finally it has been agreed in unison that in an Indian context, not just cities, villages need to be made smart so migration does not occur and each unit is self-sufficient without burdening urban areas. 

Technology and nature need to be brought in co-operation with each other for a truly smart city for the people.