1. Sustainable City V/S Smart City: Which should come first? Why?

Argue your
case.

A Smart City refers to a city’s development which is managed by use of

Information Technology. IT is extensively used to improve the city’s
infrastructure, services and other facilities. Though the Smart City initiatives
do include the ideas of sustainability, often this is not the primary focus.
A Sustainable City refers to a city’s development whose primary focus is
Environmental protection. The initiatives involved are often focused on green
space, public transportation, community facilities etc.
Among the various issues that our planet currently faces, climate change is
one of the most critical one. Climate change brings with it adverse effects
such as threats to biodiversity and ecosystems, risks to human health, rising
sea levels, increased water stress, rapid depletion of natural resources and
decreased agricultural productivity. Innovation and digital technology must
be leveraged to tackle rising urbanization and climate change issues, to
minimize energy consumption and improve the quality of life.In my view, the
sustainability of a city holds slightly higher importance that being a smart
city. Sustainability has become a much-needed goal, particularly given the
recent rapid urban spread and the subsequent worsening of social,
environmental and economic problems.
To truly achieve sustainability, we must think about how to implement it in
all facets of life.We need to have a sustainable attitude towards the
environment and natural resources,towards our work, towards our
infrastructure, and even towards our relationships. However, implementing
sustainability based on the current definitions seems to be a far-fetched
goal.
It’s widely accepted opinion that urbanization is real economic development.
It inevitably gives the national development of smart cities that are well-
planned peripheral urban centers, a thrust. It has to be ensured that smart
cities evolve from the existing urban conglomeration and that newly planned
smart cities are also proposed. This needs to be done by adopting
environmentally sound measures that will also ensure that they become
economically strong, financially viable and environmentally sound,
‘sustainable’ – not only for today but for the future as well.
Sustainable cities are ideally about projects that implement the concepts of
‘green building’ within an existing city. Being an eco-friendly and sustainable
township involves recycling garbage to form compost for gardens,
harnessing wind and solar power to supply some of the power demands,
charging the ground water through rainwater harvesting, as well as sewage
treatment that provides treated sewage in the form of water for gardening
purposes and construction/cleaning.
It is about smart architecture that ensures that wind and natural light
resources are in sync, thereby reducing the load on heating, ventilation, and
air conditioning and luminaires. That’s the best way to make sure new
corporations turn out to be smart cities. It is important to focus on areas
such as air and water pollution control, sewage disposal, connectivity that
ensures low road pollution emissions, a maintenance and management
system that includes e-governance and online citizen-based solutions.

2. What is your Concept of an Ideal Smart City? Describe the same under
different Dimensions.

An Ideal Smart City is a city where Information Technology plays a major role in
creation/improvement of goods and services. Informatica Technology is already imbibed
in our day to day lives and has been significant in reshaping the way we interact with
our friends, communities, home and work. A smart city can use technology to improve
traffic conditions, improving online presence for consumer services, better health care
and education etc.
The IoT-driven smart cities monitor their urban landscape and communicate that data to
both the government and the citizens for creating a more efficient and sustainable
space. This could pave way for efficient weather monitoring, tracking pollution and help
reduce it as well

The dimensions of a Smart City can be categorized into 6 broad types

SMART MOBILITY
This dimension consists of developing a modern and sustainable transport system
throughout the territory, adapted to the needs of all users (citizens, workers,
tourists, etc.). These innovative mobility solutions are part of a plan that will focus
on local and international accessibility, the availability of information and
communication technologies (ICT) and modern and sustainable transport systems.
SMART GOVERNANCE
This dimension focuses on making public actions and services more open and
transparent. To achieve this, all the stakeholders concerned (public organizations,
companies, civil society, etc.) are integrated into the decision-making process, in
particular by encouraging citizen participation and/or by using new technologies (e.g.
e-services or intelligent management and the provision of data - Big Data
Management).
SMART ENVIRONMENT
This dimension focuses on the management of natural and heritage resources. A
management that is therefore more thoughtful, but also more sustainable. This
sustainable
and smart territory leads reflections on the use and production of green and
renewable energies, on more sustainable methods of food production or on the use
of new technologies in order to optimize the management of resources (energy, air,
water, waste, etc.). Urban agriculture, for example, is at the crossroads of these
major issues
SMART PEOPLE
This dimension refers to a more inclusive society, a territory that offers equal
treatment to everyone by considering the specificities of the individuals who make
up the territory. Through the Smart People dimension, innovation and the use of
new technologies aim to improve knowledge management, access to education and
social capital.
SMART LIVING
This dimension highlights one of the fundamental objectives of the sustainable and
smart territory - the improvement of its citizens' quality of life. Health, safety in the
city, social cohesion and the attractiveness of tourism are among the fundamental
pillars of the Smart Living axis.
SMART ECONOMY
This dimension particularly provides favorable ground for innovation and innovative
business models. These new models support sustainable economic competitiveness
while promoting interconnections between local and global economic ecosystems.
For example, sustainable entrepreneurship and the circular economy are two
concepts that are particularly in line with this vision.

3. Present a project Concept for Smart City that you lived in. Apply the above
Dimensions to your city.

I have lived in the city of Mysore for a significant period. I think this city would be a
suitable candidate for a Smart City project. Mysore is around 150 kms from the city of
Bangalore and has great potential in terms of infrastructure, economy, goods and
Services.
SMART MOBILITY
Mysore is one of the important tourist cities in the state. It also has a reputation of
being a calm and peaceful place to live. That being the case, the city could hugely
benefit from having a modern, sustainable and dependable public transport system.
An app or service which can be used by both tourists and residents to have updated
information on tourist places, their timings, modes of transport to reach there can
be highly beneficial.Users can also have an option to report possible roadblocks/bad
roads filled with potholes or garbage which can enable authorities to take necessary
action as quickly as possible

SMART GOVERNANCE
Introducing smart governance or e-governance is definitely the way to move
forward. With increasing use of Internet and smartphones among the youth, easy
online access for payment of utility bills, taxes and other services will be an efficient
use of Information Technology. Any new decisions taken/new implementations by
the governing body can be publicized/propagated through online channels so that it
reaches all the stake holders. A periodic review system as well as grievance airing
system can be implemented to keep the quality of services.
SMART ENVIRONMENT
Planning smart green layouts, sustainable parks and gardens can lead to improved air
quality in the city. Though there are couple of parks surrounding lakes that are already
being used by the public, the city can benefit from increasing the numbers. Promoting
segregation of garbage, efficient management and disposal, improved sewage systems
are some of the aspects I would like to add in this proposal.
SMART PEOPLE
Access to basic education should be a prominent part of a Smart City. There are
various government run Anganawadi centers for children. These centers could be
upgraded to make use of Information Technology for the education of these
children.The governance of these centers could be streamlined for performance
tracking and improvement.
SMART LIVING
Aspects of healthcare, Education, Tourism together make up smart living. It should be
an amalgamation of all the points discussed so far. Improved facilities at public
transportation centers, opportunities for the communities to get involved are some of the
aspects that need to be taken into consideration.
SMART ECONOMY
The city’s governing body should encourage small investors and startups to come
forward with their business ideas. Increased self-employment will reduce burden on the
system, provide an outlet for great business ideas to be implemented and bring talented
entrepreneurs into limelight

4. Identify the Execution Challenges for your proposed Project Concept. How
will you overcome the same?

Converting an existing city into a Smart City comes with its own challenges. It’s
important to retrofit the plan for the Smart City to that of the current set up. As there are
numerous stakeholders involved in the execution of the project, all of them have to be
onboard with the project plan. The possible challenges for the proposed project concept
and their workaround are listed below.
● The governing body needs to be dedicated in making the project a success.
Revamping the transportation system for modernizing it involves buying new
fleet of buses, educating drivers/conductors/general public on the possible
introduction of token/smart card system and so on. Senior and less educated
may find it difficult to adapt to the new system.

● Proper guidelines need to be outlined and smart business plan needs to be

drawn for purchase of a new fleet of buses. Though token/smart card system
should be the way forward, current way of purchasing paper-based tickets
should still be continued until the new transport system is stabilized.
Representatives of the city’s governing body should be trained to be
customer friendly and should help citizens as necessary.
● Securing necessary infrastructure such as servers/routers/access points
throughout the city has to be intelligently planned. Experts in these fields
should be hired and provided with fair compensation. Forecasting possible
issues and their resolutions is important and can be arrived at by studying the
implementation of Smart City projects in other cities.
● Creating awareness among the city’s residents about the environmental plans
is highly necessary. They must be encouraged to keep city’s common green
areas such as parks, gardens neat and litter free. Societies and Apartment
complexes could be provided with incentives for maintaining garbage
disposal guidelines. Also, areas with dense population of small income
households need to be specially considered in the execution plan.
The governing body needs to be dedicated in making the project a
success.
Revamping the transportation system for modernizing it involves
buying new
fleet of buses, educating drivers/conductors/general public on the
possible
introduction of token/smart card system and so on. Senior and less
educated
may find it difficult to adapt to the new system.
Proper guidelines need to be outlined and smart business plan needs
to be
drawn for purchase of new fleet of buses. Though token/smart card
system
should be the way forward, current way of purchasing paper-based
tickets
should still be continued until the new transport system is stabilized.
Representatives of the city’s governing body should be trained to be
customer friendly and should help citizens as necessary.
Securing necessary infrastructure such as servers/routers/access
points
through out the city has to be intelligently planned. Experts in these
fields
should be hired and provided with fair compensation. Forecasting
possible
issues and their resolutions is important and can be arrived at by
studying the
implementation of Smart City project in other cities.
Creating awareness among the city’s residents about the
environmental plans
is highly necessary. They must be encouraged to keep city’s common
green
areas such as parks, gardens neat and litter free. Societies and
Apartment
complexes could be provided with incentives for maintaining
garbage
disposal guidelines. Also, areas with dense population of small
income
households need to be specially considered in the ex