Top five contenders for Smart Cities

Ever since the Cabinet approved the ‘100 smart city project’, there has been a lot of talk about which these cities are going to be. Magicbricks takes a look at the top five cities that should be developed into smart cities.

The process of finalising the list of 100 cities that would be developed as ‘Smart Cities’ would involve a 'City Challenge Competition' intended to link financing with the ability of the cities to perform to achieve the mission objectives. The Cabinet decided that the selection process will take into consideration existing infrastructure and civic facilities, and the city under consideration must also have a vision of its own. Other aspects that will be assessed include existing information and grievance redressal mechanisms, functioning of its municipal corporation, and the progress made under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

While, the list being finalised, Magicbricks spoke to real estate experts to know the top five cities that should be developed as a ‘Smart City’.

“In order to implement an extensive undertaking such as a ‘Smart City’ 5 crucial elements are necessary: Power, Infrastructure, Funds, Technology and Social Capital. Smart Cities require clean and continuous supply of power and for this there is a need to develop alternative energy sources to make the cities financially and ecologically viable. Both physical and social infrastructure developments will be crucial,” says Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director, South Asia, India, Cushman and Wakefield.

Keeping these factors in mind, five cities that should be developed as smart cities include Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

Noida and Gurgaon

When it comes to infrastructure, Noida stands out for its impeccable roads and expressways. Proximity to Greater Noida that offers a burgeoning recreational and night life via the F1 race and the developing night safari also adds to Noida’s chances. The city already has an economic drive in the form of a growing IT sector. In fact, Greater Noida could be another example which could be turned smarter without major hassles

Gurgaon, on the other hand, is next only to Bangalore when it comes to IT growth. With the already established economic driver, it would be easier to fix other issues.

Mumbai

The city already has some of the critical infrastructure that indicates towards smart living, the Mumbai Metro and Monorail being some of them. The recently built flyovers and expressways also add to the advantages the city already enjoys. “Large population may also be use for maximum benefit,” adds Dutt. It is also the financial capital of the country. Newspaper reports also suggest that EU is collaborating with Maharashtra Government to make Mumbai a smart city.

Ahmedabad
The city has seen large scale development in the last few years. Ever since the Modi government came into the power the city has been in the limelight. Being the manufacturing hub of the country, it would be easier to implement smart city infrastructure.

Bangalore

The ‘Silicon Valley’ of India should ideally be a sure shot winner considering the already established IT sector. The city has a lot of housing demand and the urban sprawl min the city is only going to increase in the coming years. Metro has become operational in some pockets. “Bangalore is city which could become a large smart city if there is political will. The biggest automators like Cisco, Honeywell, and GE are present here and are working for a smarter world across the globe. In addition, the large IT workforce is providing smarter solutions to the whole world; they could do it in their backyard as well,” says Maneesh Gupta, director, valuation and advisory services, Colliers International.

Hyderabad

After the Telangana split, Hyderabad has been in news for the various IT developments. The CM intends to expand IT here and the last few quarter have seen large scale investments from different corporate.

“Lastly there are a few small towns which have been smarter but escape the eyes of media because of the small size like Bhilai and Rourkela which are developed and managed by large industries like SAIL mostly for captive usage. These would be easiest to implement smart technologies to,” suggests Gupta.

SOURCE:Magicbricks