By Venkata Subbarao Chunduru, Director and Head of India Operations, Arcadis
India’s Smart City Mission (SCM) embarked on an ambitious journey to transform urban landscapes, promising sustainable development, efficient infrastructure, and improved quality of life for citizens. While the initiative was successful in setting in motion the transformative journey, the goals are far from being achieved. Refreshing our outlook by reflecting on the progress to date, encompassing successes and failures, reimagining urban perspectives through the lenses of diversity and scale, and realigning strategies to meet desired outcomes is imperative at this juncture. This article attempts to outline a novel strategy, inspired by the mythological tales of the Panchatantra for advancing India’s urban transformation that integrates the best of proven digital and financial innovations, successfully tested into a public-private collaborative framework.
Launched in 2015 with a central government investment of Rs 4.84 trillion, India’s SCM aimed for 100 sustainable, citizen-centric urban centres. While it saw progress (city data centres, siloed projects), challenges such as collaboration gaps and incompatible technology hindered wider success. The mission’s learnings – collaboration, standardised technology, citizen focus – are crucial for future efforts. Optimising resources, boosting efficiency and financial sustainability are key to bridging the gap between vision and reality.
Indian urban centres present a mosaic of diversity across demographics, infrastructure and financial resources, reflecting the country’s rich cultural tapestry. Rapid urbanisation has spurred a surge in demand for citizen services; yet this demand varies widely across cities due to factors such as population density and economic disparities. Infrastructure, though a mix of modern amenities and deficiencies, faces stark contrasts between metropolitan hubs and smaller towns. The availability of financial resources and institutional capacities also fluctuates, with larger cities often enjoying greater funding and administrative capabilities. With India’s urban population projected to reach 600 million by 2031, addressing these challenges calls for tailored and comprehensive approaches.
In response to these multifaceted challenges, a holistic “urban sustainability maturity model” emerges as a beacon of hope. This model, incorporating technology as a catalyst, offers a structured pathway for cities to assess their sustainability levels across various dimensions and progress towards holistic development. Beginning with basic infrastructure provision, cities advance through stages, emphasising environmental, economic, social and technological sustainability. This staged approach enables systematic evaluation and prioritisation of actions, ensuring resilient, inclusive and technologically advanced urban futures. Complementing the urban sustainability maturity model is the development of a central digital platform known as the “urban sustainability toolkit”. As a digital public good, this platform empowers city authorities to assess their sustainability levels, devise strategic plans, and access real-time insights and data-driven recommendations. Integrated with the “Connected Cities Collaborative (3C)” framework, the toolkit fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange among cities, amplifying the impact of collective efforts towards sustainability.
Framing the approach to India’s urban transformation through the lens of Indian mythological tales invokes wisdom and the art of learning from timeless narratives. Imagine India’s urban transformation as a tale from the Panchatantra, where each principle plays a crucial role in navigating the journey towards sustainable progress.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) through Operations-as-a-Service (OaaS) are depicted as the wise Brahmin, utilising his knowledge and skills to forge alliances between the public and private sectors. Just as the Brahmin enlists the help of various animals to accomplish his goals, PPPs leverage the strengths of both sectors to efficiently deliver essential services and infrastructure. The mission should leverage PPPs, but with an enhanced structure. It works in the following manner:
- Public sector leadership: Retains control over infrastructure development, ensuring alignment with long-term urban planning and citizen well-being. This includes guaranteeing basic services such as water and sanitation at affordable rates.
- Private sector expertise: Brings operational efficiency through an OaaS model. Private entities manage and optimise city services (waste management, transportation, utilities, etc.) using their technical expertise and innovative solutions.
Technology serves as a magical tool, much like the clever monkey who uses its wit to overcome obstacles. By embracing technology-as-an-enabler, cities should unlock innovative solutions to complex challenges, transforming urban landscapes and enhancing the quality of life for residents through building a connected, open and efficient future. The foundation for this will be a robust, open and collaborative technology stack. This next phase prioritises seamless data exchange, powerful digital tools and a unified management platform.
- Open network protocols: Enabling secure and easy data exchange between city systems, promoting interoperability and scaling potential.
- Digital public goods repository: A central library of proven solutions such as smart grids and IoT devices, allowing cities to pick and choose tools that fit their specific needs.
- Urban data labs: These “engines of innovation” analyse and visualise vast datasets, providing city leaders with actionable insights.
- Integrated control centre applications: Unifying city operations under one digital umbrella, these applications optimise resource allocation and enhance service delivery.
- Central Operations Management Platform (OMP): As a nerve centre of this phase, the platform seamlessly integrates data from all sources, providing real-time insights and analytics for optimised decision-making. OMP fosters collaboration among stakeholders, promoting transparency and accountability.
Multi-agency collaboration is portrayed as the unity among the four friends in the Panchatantra, each bringing their unique abilities to the table. Similarly, in urban development, collaboration among government agencies, NGOs and community groups is essential for coordinating efforts and maximising impact. The City Operations Agency, established under the PPP, acts as a central hub for collaboration, fostering communication and information sharing between various stakeholders including:
- Central/State governments: For providing policy direction, financial resources and regulatory oversight.
- Local municipal bodies: For offering their ground-level expertise and ensuring that citizen needs are addressed.
- Private sector entities: For bringing technical know-how and innovative solutions for service delivery.
- Citizen groups: For providing valuable feedback on service quality and participating in decision-making processes.
Empowering and engaging locals is likened to the moral lessons imparted by the wise old crow, teaching the younger crows to fend for themselves. Just as the crow empowers its offspring to thrive independently, empowering and engaging local communities in decision-making processes fosters ownership and sustainability in urban initiatives. This new approach will create employment for skilled local workforces to ensure inclusive growth. These can be done by the following:
- Employment creation: A measurable increase in the number of local residents employed by the City Operations Agency and associated businesses will foster local economic development.
- Training programmes: Partnerships with educational institutions and vocational training centres will equip residents with the necessary skills to contribute to smart city operations under the OaaS model.
- Skill gap analysis: Identifying the specific skill sets required for various aspects of city management will lead to targeted training programmes, ensuring a readily available skilled workforce.
Lastly, financial resilience is illustrated by the story of the ants, diligently storing food for the future. In urban transformation, cities must cultivate financial resilience by prudently managing resources and investing in long-term sustainability, ensuring resilience in the face of economic uncertainties. A few tried and tested initiatives in the Indian context include:
- Diversify revenue streams: Explore non-traditional sources such as property taxes and user charges. Consider innovative financing methods such as value capture financing, PPPs and impact bonds for infrastructure funding.
- Prioritise budgetary discipline: Adopt transparent budgeting and expenditure controls. Monitor and evaluate budget performance regularly to identify inefficiencies and optimisation opportunities.
- Invest in revenue-generating assets: Utilise city-owned assets such as real estate for revenue generation. Explore commercialisation and PPPs for asset management and development.
- Enhance financial planning and risk management: Develop long-term financial plans aligned with strategic goals. Implement robust risk management strategies for fiscal risks such as economic downturns and natural disasters.
- Promote financial inclusion and equity: Ensure equitable access to financial services for all, including marginalised communities. Implement inclusive financing programmes to support small businesses and entrepreneurs.
As the characters in our Panchatantra tale work together towards a common goal, so too must India’s urban stakeholders unite under the guiding principles of PPPs, technology, collaboration, empowerment and financial resilience to fast-track the nation’s urban transformation journey.
India’s ambitious SCM has yielded valuable lessons. While early successes demonstrated the potential of technology, challenges such as the lack of collaboration and proprietary/siloed technology solutions hampered progress. The suggested approach of the 3C framework prioritises collaboration, standardised technology and citizen focus to create inclusive, sustainable and resilient cities and envisions a network where data-driven decisions, local talent engagement, and multi-agency cooperation unlock economic growth and mutual learning. By embracing these learnings, India can bridge the gap between vision and reality, building a brighter urban future.
The views expressed above are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s employer
