Urban Update Oct 2014

RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

ISSN 2349-6266

All India Institute of Local Self Government

Rs 100

UrbanUpdate Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Sustainable Urban Design & city smarts

Volume I - Issue VI

OCTOBER 2014

Community Based Interventions

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INSIDE

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Inside Cover Story

16 Building cities for future Focus on sustainable urban design to make Indian cities livable 22 Crafting cities through urban design

Tools to enhance infrastructure, affordable housing & quality of life 26 Designing cities: Mould the clay City managers must tap the conventional resources for a ‘smart’ city Velo-city

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GIFT(ing) Smart City Gujarat shows path to acquiring quality urban life through GIFT city

centre stage

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Smart Cities – the Future Buzz City managers seek concrete solutions for implementation of future cities

vox pop

38 Building castles in the air Cities are not able to support migrants, who are then forced to live in slums Cutting edge

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The world needs an AIDS vaccine Researchers are working to develop a safe, effective and accessible AIDS vaccine

Urban Agenda

46 Behavioural change required

Solving transport chanllenges in cities requires mindset change RegularS

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October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

44 Events

EDITORIAL

Dr Jatin Modi President-AIILSG Ranjit Chavan Editor-In-Chief & Publisher Director General-AIILSG, dgaiilsg@gmail.com Apresh C Mishra

Urge for innovative solutions

Managing Editor, apresh@urbanupdate.in Lojy Thomas, Aiilsg Associate Editor, lojy@urbanupdate.in Prathiba Raju Assistant Editor, prathiba@urbanupdate.in Abhishek Pandey Principal Correspondent, abhishek@urbanupdate.in Jessy Iype Desk Editor & Reporter, jessy@urbanupdate.in Meenakshi Rajput Graphic Designer, meenakshi@urbanupdate.in Ankita Singh Marketing Executive, ankita@urbanupdate.in Aamini Dogra Marketing Executive, aamini@urbanupdate.in Volume I - Issue VI For Feedback & Information Write at info@urbanupdate.in Printed and published by Ranjit Chavan on behalf of All India Institute of Local Self Government. Printed at Cirrus Graphics Pvt Ltd B-61, Sector-67, Noida – 201301 Uttar Pradesh. Published at Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-58 Phone No. 011-2852 1783 / 5473 Despite careful selection of sources, no

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ndian cities are grappling with myriad challenges with community clusters mushrooming almost overnight, with little regard for the provision of supporting service. As of today, cities infrastructure, agencies, services and economics — all demand a reformative change.

This will require fundamental changes beyond policy-based decisions.

The basic recipe for a successful city is to improve the quality of city life — by making traffic flow smoother, improving policing, and ensuring 24x7 water and power supply. Better strategies provide new ways for governments, municipal authorities and private sector companies to design and build efficient infrastructure and services.

There is a need to go beyond the transactional, functional overview of the city. It is imperative that all the stakeholders should come together to identify the true quality of a city, a collective introspection about the definition of a great Indian city is the need of the hour.

It would be superfluous to think only a pleasing architecture and landscape for cities is required, but a proper shaping is essential. We need to understand about ownership of spaces and why this seems to be lacking in our urban centres. Preserving heritage buildings going beyond the transactional nature of our cities has become vital. Further, the growth of slums in Indian cities is a symptom of a deeper planning malaise and that needs to be addressed. In addition, the very own cultural identity of every city that seems to be getting submerged in a sea of structural glazing needs to be preserved.

City planning is currently undertaken without interpreting the over-lapping impact of socio-political-cultural-economic-legal aspects. Unlike the workers that are all working towards a singular master plan, we are all working with an understanding that is limited to our own sandboxes. This generates a physical identity that ignores the multiplicity of needs and the equitable distribution of services.

We need a revolutionary way to look at urban issues. Looking at individual issues and solutions will get us nowhere. A holistic view of the city to examine the unique as well as unifying role played by each stakeholder in finding a collaborative solution is necessary.

To plan a city with an equitable and high quality-of-life delivery, city planners must understand the complexity of the urban issues. They need to take input from all city users.

responsibility can be taken for accuracy. The magazine assumes no liability or responsibility of any kind in connection with the information thereof. All right reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

Ranjit Chavan dgaiilsg@gmail.com

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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Working long hours elevates heart disease

SEOUL: Workaholics beware, your heart is at risk if you are dedicating 40 hours a week to your vocation, as per new study. It may increase one’s risk of developing coronary heart disease, or narrowing of the blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart, the study says. “The longer hours employees worked, the higher their chances of developing coronary heart disease within 10 years, with those working 61 to 70 hours having a 42 percent increased likelihood of developing the disease,” said Dr Yun-Chul Hong, senior author of the study.

Litter pivot revamped into garden in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: A group of plant lovers in the temple city Bhubaneswar has revamped a dumping ground into a garden.

Saheed Nagar, used over the years as a garbage dumping point, is now producing vegetables as it is now being turned into a garden. The Kitchen Gardens’ Association, which was formed by a group of plant lovers, developed the kitchen gardens in limited space. In the vegetable garden, the association has been preparing an organically treated soil and various types of quality planting materials. On the World Kitchen Garden Day recently, an exhibition was displayed on various plants, seeds, organic manure, vermin compost and garden equipments. The members of the association demonstrated and displayed soil building, composting, sowing, and planting techniques, and also helped participants learn specific gardening skills.

Firefighting advanced Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has decided to procure advanced fire fighting equipment such as cooling vests, and portable self-oscillating monitor sets to minimize risks for fire-fighters.

Helpline for defective street lights NDMC set up a helpline number for registering complaints for out of order street lights.

Recharging ground water through wells

Surat Municipal Corporation will dig water recharge wells along the banks of Tapi river to improve ground water levels in the region.

A film on city assets

Pune Municipal Corporation would make a short-film on city assets to attract tourists. The film would feature Peshwe-era water supply system, historical temples, museums and educational institutes.

Praying mode: President Pranab Mukherjee visiting the Temple of Literature in Hanoi during his visit to Vietnam

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October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

‘e-cigarettes incites usage of marijuana, drugs’

NEW YORK: Even though cigarette smoking is injurious to health is a known fact, what is lesser known is that its safe alternative e-cigarettes may promote use and addiction to illicit drugs. According to a study, e-cigarettes may function as a “gateway drug” – a drug that lowers the threshold for addiction to other substances such as marijuana and cocaine. “While e-cigarettes do eliminate some of the health effects associated with combustible tobacco, they are pure nicotine-delivery devices,” said co-author Denise Kandel, professor from the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in the USA.

App to tackle suicide rates SYDNEY: Australian researchers are developing a smartphone app to stop the escalating rate of indigenous youth suicides. The app will facilitate referral of the young person to local liaison officers and other government or non-government support agencies. “We will design, develop and distribute an iOS and Android app through iTunes and Google’s Android market to support the implementation of the gatekeeper training,” Maree Toombs, a researcher from the University of Queensland’s school of medicine, said. A community led training programme linking health providers, community members, peers, school leaders and mentors as gatekeepers will run alongside the app.

Get cash without swiping your card MUMBAI: Now you can avail the facility of getting cash without swiping your card, but rather just through your mobile number.

ICICI Bank has introduced a cardless cash withdrawal facility that now allows customers to transfer money from their accounts to anyone across the country with a mobile number. The recipient, even if he does not have a bank account, can withdraw money round the clock without using a debit card from over 10,000 ATMs of ICICI Bank. “Cardless Cash Withdrawal provides an added facility in an array of electronic payment options,” said a senior bank official.

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‘India needs a Look East & Link West Policy’ With an aim to make India a manufacturing hub, Narendra Modi rolled out a red carpet for foreign investors and corporate houses by launching ‘Make in India’ campaign Team Urban Update

NEW DELHI: Assuring the corporate world and foreign investors to provide ease of business operation in India by easing norms and government regulation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ‘Make in India’ campaign at Vigyan Bhawan recently.

Modi also unveiled the ‘Make in India’ logo that carries a picture of ‘moving lion’. He said, “This is the step of a Lion...Make in India.”

At the launch, he said, “Make in India is not a slogan but a mission to be accomplished with a singleminded commitment. The world is ready to come to Asia. India offers democracy, demographic dividend, and demand. Be assured you will not lose your money.” The main objective of the campaign is to transform India into a manufacturing hub.

PM also talked about the potential of waste to wealth concept in cities.

He said that big and small corporate houses could tap the opportunity in 500 cities to convert waste into wealth by generating energy. He emphasized the need of having i-ways (information ways) and highways, gas grid, water grid, ware houses and cold storage networks and optical fiber network in the country. He

said, “Do not treat India just as a market; see the potential of every citizen of India...the faster people move into being the middle-class it will create an opportune market. And to move from being poor to middleclass, we must provide employment opportunities.”

Speaking on making business easy in India, Union Minister for Commerce and Trade Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The processes of applying for licenses has been made online, it is 24/7. The validity of such licenses has also been extended to three years.” She added several norms and procedures have also being changed to make it easier to do business in India.

A brochure was also released which covers India’s national manufacturing policy for as many as 25 sectors. The programme lays emphasis on job creation and skill enhancement. The major sectors include: automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ports, aviation, leather, tourism and hospitality, wellness, railways, auto components, design manufacturing, renewable energy, mining, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and electronics among others. Thousands of Indian CEOs and over 500 heads of Multi National Companies (MNC)

were present at the event. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani informed during the event that his company will create 1.25 lakh new jobs over the next 12-15 months as part of the movement. “PM Modi dreams and does, working 14 hours a day and motivates a billion Indians to dream and do. Under your (NaMo) leadership India will become competitive and it will have fastgrowth trajectory” During the programme, Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Birla Group said it is high time India become a preferred choice for global companies as a manufacturing hub and not just an IT hub. “Manufacturing has to become the next big wave for us.

‘Make in India’ is a clarion call that will galvanise India’s economy to reach greater heights,” he said.

Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank, said, “As a nation we need to focus on four areas- rules and regulations, infrastructure, policies and skill training.” Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, said even though his company is primarily known as a software major it has been contributing to manufacturing. He added, “Our manufacturing facilities consist of 13 around the world of which 5 are in India.” www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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Capital’s cess in liquor, no free parking

NEW DELHI: To help combat the high pollution level and improve the mobility issues in the capital, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung’s high-powered committee is likely to impose a cess on cigarettes and alcohol and a no free parking zone to widen public spaces. In line with the committee’s directions, the traffic police will make it mandatory for all vehicles to display a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) sticker. Statistics reveal that from January 1 to September 5, about 24,000 violators have been challaned for not carrying a valid PUC certificate. The monitoring will be stringent with the traffic police taking action against unauthorised parking through enforcement of a ‘no tolerance’ zone.

Smokers likely to pay fine of Rs 20,000

NEW DELHI: Now, think a zillion times before you puff a cigarette in public places, because you might end up paying a hefty fine, upto Rs 20,000 for inhaling the hazardous nicotine. According to a suggestion by an expert panel of the Health Ministry, the age limit for consumption might be raised and the fine for smoking in public spaces would be hiked to Rs 20,000 from Rs 200, apart from making this a cognizable offence. The Modi government wants to introduce this fine in the winter session of the Parliament to curb the damage caused by the habit in the form of cancers, cardiovascular diseases and other health related problems.

ECHO for better healthcare in GJ Civil hospital of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation launched the ECHO project for HIV patients that will enable medical officers at the hospital to get specialists’ knowledge and improve administering of patients.

First LED city in NE

Agartala is set to become the first city in North East to have the energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) street lights.

Green cover on dumpyards Chennai Municipal Corporation has decided to improving greenery and developing the landscape of dumpsites near densely-populated urban areas.

IMC to translocate 50 trees

Indore Municipal Corporation is going to translocate as many as 50 trees to speed up the construction of 13 roads in the city.

Bill meets Gadkari: Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates met Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and his wife Kanchan Gadkari at latter’s residence

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October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

‘India on verge of possible ozone depletion’

PUNE: A city-based scientist has discovered that the Earth’s protective ozone layer is on track to recovery in the next few decades, but he has however predicted depletion in the thickness of the layer over the tropical region – posing serious threat for countries like India. “The Montreal Protocol – one of the world’s most successful environmental treaties – has protected the stratospheric ozone layer and avoided enhanced ultra violet radiation reaching the earth’s surface,” Pune-based scientist Gufran Beig, said.

‘Smart leadership required for building Smart Cities’ NEW DELHI: While stating that the urban population contributes to a total of 60 percent GDP, Minister of Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu asserted how smart leadership and smart people are essential pre-requisites for making cities smart. Naidu was addressing the National Conclave of States/UTs on Smart Cities in the capital. “Effective urban governance requires smart leadership that is bold, initiative bearing, willing and able to take hard decisions like raising, if required, and recovering cost of services, implement reforms in governance, prevent unauthorised constructions besides removing encroachments and take on mafia,” he said.

LED to illuminate 12 more cities, towns in Telangana HYDERABAD: Energy consumption is the need of hour and to implement efficient street lighting in 12 more cities of Telangana work has already been initiated.

The pilot project, Energy-Efficient StreetLighting System (EESL), in five cities, six municipal towns and one nagar panchayat in the state, has been proposed and asked for approval of the concerned municipal councils before September 20. As per the directions of the chief minister, the CDMA has selected 12 ULBs for retrofitting the existing street lights with energy-efficient LED lighting system in selected stretches of the select corporations.

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‘SWM vehicles market to grow at CAGR of about 8 %’ BURNABY (CANADA): According to a recently published report by TechSci Research, “India Solid Waste Management Vehicles Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2019”, the market for solid waste management vehicles in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.6 percent, in value terms, during 2014-2019. It is forecasted that the auto tippers, used to collect the garbage, would continue dominating the India SWM vehicles market by the end of the forecast period, as these vehicles are still preferred by municipalities for door-to-door

collection of solid waste. India on an average generates around 135,000 MT daily in the urban regions. There are municipal corporations are involved in the entire process of solid waste collection, transportation and disposal.

The use of compaction hydraulic technology is gaining rapid popularity among municipal corporations in India. In the year 2000, the Government of India legislated the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Act and in order to comply with the strict government guidelines, several municipal

Five no-frill airports in four states

NEW DELHI: Construction of first five no-frills airport in four states will begin in the next six months, as the location for the airports has been identified by the government, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati informed. “We have identified five locations for the development of no-frills airports in the country,” the minister said, after sharing the achievements of his ministry in the first 100 days of assuming office.

The five locations for development of no-frills airports includes Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, Kishangarh in Rajasthan, Jharsuguda in Odisha, Hubli and Belgaum in Karnataka. No-frill airports means no arrival hall, no conveyor belts, no security hold or check-in area and no air conditioning, the government is considering to build the most basic model of airport. The lowest cost airport terminal will be meant for 20-seater aircraft. Plan for nofrill airports has been prepared by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). It is expected that the new kind of airports will come up at an initial cost of Rs 50 crore with limited facilities for seating, lounges and air traffic management.

Paint industry to touch 62,000cr by 2016 MUMBAI: The Indian paint industry is expected to touch Rs 62,000 crore by 2016, largely fuelled by fast urbanisation and increase in demand across the country, a report by the industry body ASSOCHAM said.

As per the recent report ‘Indian Paint Industry: 2014’ reveals that India is the second-largest consumer of paint in Asia. It says: “Indian paint industry is likely to surge from the current level of about Rs 40,600 crore to about Rs 62,000 crore by 2016.” Growth in decorative paint segment has given a push to the paint market and it is anticipated to grow more than 18 percent during

the period 2014-15. “The Indian paint industry has seen a gradual shift in the preferences of people from the traditional white wash to higher quality paints like emulsions and enamel paints”, said Mr. D S Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM. In Financial year 2014, the paint industry stands at Rs 40,600 crore with per capita consumption increasing to over 4 kgs, out of which the decorative segment contributed nearly 73 percent at Rs 29,638 crore.

The unorganised sector controls around 35 percent of the paint market, with the organised sector accounting for the balance.

corporations have started using hydraulics enabled vehicles.

“Currently, Refuse Collector Vehicles (RCVs) or compactors are the fastest growing segment and most preferred solid waste management vehicles by municipal corporations in India. Due to their ability to squash solid waste by using compaction hydraulic technology, and relatively higher solid waste collection capacity, the demand for these vehicles, in volume terms, is growing at more than 8 percent,” said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director, TechSci Research.

‘India on brink of urban revolution’ New Delhi: India is on the “brink of an urban revolution” with its population in towns and cities expected to reach 600 million by 2031, according to a new report by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate (GCEC). The report estimates gap of a whopping USD 827 billion in creating urba infra , with two-thirds of this required for urban roads and traffic support. In the last twenty years, India’s urban population increased from 217 million to 377 million. It is expected to reach 600 million by 2031. “India is on the brink of an urban revolution. The current pattern of urbanisation is largely taking place on the fringe of cities, much of it unplanned and outside the purview of city codes and bylaws, and is already imposing high costs.

Unprecedented growth is leaving municipal governments with critical infrastructure shortages and service gaps,” it said. www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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Access municipal services through mobile app

NEW DELHI: The Association of Municipalities and Development Authorities (AMDA), the apex organisation of municipal bodies, recently unveiled the standard mobile app that all civic bodies could adopt through a technology-based support at a lower cost. The app will also be useful in engaging the public who could use it for paying taxes, getting birth and death certificates, lodging complaints and even to get weather alerts. AMDA chairperson, Naini Jayaseelan, said, “We are offering the basic app at a very reasonable price to the municipal bodies so that they don’t need to spend huge amount to start mobile based governance.”

News SMS service in five languages launched NEW DELHI: Now, news will not be limited in one or two languages but become accessible to people pan-India through a free news SMS service in five more Indian languages, that is, in Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, Dogri and Nepali. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar while inaugurating the service said that the SMS service aimed at providing important news to the subscribers in their preferred language on their mobile phones. He suggested that the All India Radio should aim to disseminate news in other regional languages through the SMS service and run a campaign through newspapers to create awareness about it. This would enable a large cross section of society to access news on real time basis, the minister said.

PMC joins hands with BASF for SWM Pune Municipal Corporation joined hands with the leading chemical company BASF to promote smart management of organic waste through the use of certified compostable organic waste bags.

RFID chips on bins

To monitor garbage pickup, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation would install radio frequency identitification tags on garbage bins.

VMC donates to JK relief fund

Vadodara Municipal Corporation will donate the funds allocated for annual drama and Garba competition for the relief works in J&K.

OMC to install 20 water purifiers

With the help from NGOs, Ongole Municipal Corporation would set up 20 RO plants to supply 20 litres of drinking water at Rs 2 from October 2.

Thailand, UN Habitat supports sanitation program in Kenya NAIROBI: The Kingdom of Thailand, through its embassy in Kenya, provided a contribution of USD 32,500 to support UN-Habitat’s Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Programme which aims to assist towns in meeting the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation. The project ‘Thailand and UN-Habitat partnership for WASH in schools’ would target the School Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Component of the programme and will be implemented in two urban schools in Kenya. The project will provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation for approximately 1,023 students and teachers as well as improved hygiene awareness and practices.

ADB to lend USD 63m for urban services BANGALORE: Asian Development Bank signed an agreement with the Indian government for lending USD 63.3 million to improve urban municipal services and strengthen municipal and project management capacity in 14 towns in north Karnataka. The loan is being provided under the North Karnataka Urban Sector Investment Programme to help upgrade infrastructure. The programme includes expansion of the potable water systems to provide continuous water supply with private sector participation, completion of sewerage networks, and improvements to the road network.

‘Pesticides a concern for aquatic life in US streams’

Spinning Wheels: Chinese President, Xi Jinping, trying his hands on the spinning wheel while Indian PM, Narendra Modi looks upon at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

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October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

WASHINGTON: The proportion of urban streams in the United States of America with worrying levels of pesticides for aquatic life has surged to 90 percent, the U.S. Geological Survey report on pesticides from 1992 to 2011 said. The report said that more than 500 million pounds (around 220 million kg) of pesticides used every year in the USA are concentrated at levels that pose a concern for fish and water-dwelling insects. The levels seldom topped human health standards.

NEWSCAN PIN POINT

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‘Make in India’ is an opportunity for the world and a responsibility for India. India is not only providing cost effective manufacturing but also a market of handsome buyers. India should keep in mind that the FDI is nothing but First Develop India Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India at ‘Make in India’ event

India has potential to be world leader in manufacturing and the world is looking at us. When India can send orbiter to Mars that cost less than Rs 7 per kilometer then we should realize what our potential is

Mukesh Ambani Chairman, Reliance Industries on the Make in India event

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Department of Science and Technology is implementing national mission for sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem and on strategic knowledge for Climate Change. It will focus on research in integrated disaster management

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Dr Akhilesh Gupta Head/Scientist-G, Department of Science and Technology

BUZZ

The role of cities is to create safety between strangers. Digital security, privacy & trust are key to #SmartCities Rick Robinson Executive Architect, IBM Group, Smarter Cities Solution (@dr_rick)

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Building toilets does not mean that people will use them and there seems to be a host of cultural, social and caste-based reasons for that.

People need to be taught the value of sanitation

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Yamini Aiyar Director of Accountability Initiative, a policy research group

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The erratic weather incidents like Jammu Kashmir and Uttarakhand floods are part of a pattern of climate change occurring over years. Climate extremes are increasing and need urgent attention R K Pachauri, Direcor TERI

The future of the world’s coastal cities depends on our ability to adapt to rising sea levels and #climatechange Mike Bloomberg Mayor of New York City (@MikeBloomberg)

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It is a pivotal moment for India; if the country seizes the opportunity to improve health even more, especially for its poorest citizens, it can help hundreds of millions of people improve their lives and share in the country’s prosperity Bill Gates, Founder Microsoft

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Compact #cities better than sprawl Vibrant cities are pride of Guj. cities. #smartcities #greenbuilding Distributed Rs 1652 cr grant to urban local bodies to enable them to give better amenities & services to ppl Sunita Narain Director General, Center for Science and Environment (@sunitanar)

Anandiben Patel CM, Gujrat @anandibenpatel

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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Bill Gates to support India in promoting sanitation

NEW DELHI: To promote use of user friendly toilets and sanitation, Indian government and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation agreed on a partnership to ensure universal sanitation in the country.

In a meeting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, UD Minister Venkaiah Naidu apprised him about the government’s initiatives to ensure housing for all by 2022 and the ‘Swachchh Bharat Mission’.

Naidu said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accorded top priority to ensuring universal sanitation in the country. He added that the support of the foundation will help in completion of the mission.

Delhi performs better than Shanghai, Singapore SINGAPORE: Delhi ranked fifth in the firstever rating of the economic performance of Asia’s major cities, a report released by non-profit organisation, Milken Institute, revealed. However, it is the only Indian city in the top-ten list while six cities of China have made to the list. Shenzhen, the birthplace of modern Chinese economic reform, topped the chart. The Milken institute measured the performance considering the capacity of cities in creating jobs, vibrant urban growth, household income and high value-added industries over five years between 2008 and 2013. “Above all other factors, it is job creation that drives the formation and expansion of the middle class in Asia’s most dynamic cities,” says Ross DeVol, the Milken Institute’s chief research officer.

SDMC ropes in NGOs to run schools

Telangana government proposed a project of Rs 695cr to modernise Hyderabad police on the lines of the metropolitan police force in New York and London.

NEW DELHI: China has assured India that it will get a better market access in regards with goods and investments, which would help to bridge the trade deficit between the two countries. After the bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinxing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “I raised the issue of trade imbalance between the two countries. I urged President Xi to give our companies better market access and investment opportunities. He assured that concrete steps will be taken in this regard.”

India-China bilateral merchandise trade stood at USD 65.88 billion in 2013. While India’s exports to China were valued at USD 14.50 billion, its imports were much larger at USD 51.37 billion, resulting in a large trade deficit.”

Solar powered signalling by AMC

NU sets up Centre for Urban Agriculture

To improve standard of education in schools, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has invited NGOs to manage its schools on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Telangana to modernise Hyd police

Allahabad Municipal Corporation installed the solar powered signalling system at 10 major crossings in the city.

Dengue awareness drive on wheels

To spread awareness on Dengue, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation launched a 10-day awareness drive on a Rath. It will cover all the wards of the city.

Flood Havoc: An Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter hovers over flooded areas of Srinagar looking for stranded people to be rescued

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October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

China assures better market access to India

NOTTINGHAM: To address critical issue of food security in cities, Nottingham University in association with its academic partners in China and Malaysia set up the Centre for Urban Agriculture at its campus recently. The centre will be part of the global Food Security Programme.

At the launch of the centre, Bio-scientist Professor Neil Crout said that it is skeptical to think that cities can ever match the efforts of large scale agriculture around the world, but cities can provide a valuable component of the food that their inhabitants will eat in the future.

More metro trains in UP LUCKNOW: More metro trains will be coming in cities like Meerut, Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi, as the state government has decided to run more metro rail in the state after pushing for a similar project in Lucknow. Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan has asked officials to prepare a DPR for the same. “A techno-feasbility of running metro in different UP cities has already been done and now the efforts are on to take it further,” an official said.

Among the various cities in UP Varanasi, which is represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha is given high priority.

NEWSCAN

Real Estate Bill to be tabled in winter session

NEW DELHI: The UD and HUPA ministry will discuss with stakeholders about the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013 before tabling it in the Rajya Sabha in the upcoming winter session of parliament. “The stakeholders and representative from various ministries will discuss various aspects of the bill, transparency in disclosures by the developers with regard to all relevant information about real estate projects,” said UD minister, M Venkaiah Naidu . After the consultations, there will be a round-table of concerned ministers before firming up the official amendments to be moved.

NGO, people keep ghaats clean during puja PUNE: To keep the ghaats of Pune and Pimpri Chindwad clean, hundreds of volunteers of SWaCH pitched in during Ganeshotsav in Pune and Pimpri Chinwad to collect puja offerings such as flowers, coconut, and waste. The nongovernment organisation, SWaCH, has been carrying out the Nirmalya campaign during Ganeshotsav in selected cities of Maharashtra for last six years. The NGO brought together waste pickers, volunteers to collect offerings discarded during visarjan. Coconuts, fruits and other edible items were distributed amongst the family members of the waste collectors, and all the other food waste was composted.

No unfair practices by DMRC, UD Ministry: CCI

NEW DELHI: Rejecting the charges of unfair trade practice against Delhi Metro Rail Corp (DMRC), Kochi Metro Rail Ltd and Ministry of Urban Development, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) rejected the case of contraventions of the provisions against these bodies. A complaint had been filed with the CCI alleging that the entities were abusing their position and indulging in unfair and discriminatory conditions in a qualification criterion for a tender related to design, manufacture, supply, testing, commissioning and training of standard gauge cars for the Kochi metro.

Clean India: Union Minister for UD, M Venkaiah Naidu and the Union Minister Drinking Water & Sanitation, Nitin Gadkari releasing the logo of ‘Swachchh Bharat Mission’

OC must for highrises in Bangalore Builders have to obtain Occupancy Certificate for high-rise buildings from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, failing which power connection will not be given to such structures.

BMC launches drive for voting

To increase voter turnout in the forthcoming assembly elections, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation started a door-to-door campaign in Mumbai to increase voter turnout from 45 percent in the last elections to 70 percent this time.

GMC to conduct survey of street vendors

The Guwahati Municipal Corporation would soon conduct a survey of all existing street vendors within its jurisdiction to identify different categories of street vendors such as stationary vendors, mobile vendors, etc.

‘Green norms more stringent, practical’ NEW DELHI: To combat rising industrial and vehicular pollution in the country, green norms would be made more stringent for the industry and strengthen regulations for diesel vehicles, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar informed. “Why diesel norms are lower than the petrol norms?

Now we can also prepone the higher stringent norms for diesel vehicles also.

We must create the infrastructure for protection of environment and we must use it,” said Javadekar. The government would be “practical” in its approach and the stakeholders would be consulted in the process so as to ensure complete compliance once the norms are laid down.

NGOs review 100 days of Modi Government DELHI: A coalition of over 4000 national and international NGOs under the banner of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan released a review report of 100 days of the NDA government at Constitution Club of India.

Early trends and key decisions taken by the NDA government is 100 days were analyzed in the report to measure the government’s accountability to people’s priorities and development needs. Paul Divakar, Convener of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, said, “100 days are not enough to evaluate government’s works but it gives an insight to the government’s intent and priorities. A mixed verdict emerged in the report that highlighted that some promises made in the BJP’s manifesto were kept, others missed or overlooked.” www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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NEWSCAN

Mobile technology can improve India’s healthcare

NEW DELHI: Mobile technology and smart devices can play a significant role in improving access to health care as it can involve patients more in their own treatment, a leading Oxford University academic said. “The country needs to move use the latest technology like mobile phone and smart devices to address the growing healthcare demands,” said Robyn Norton, principal director of the George Institute for Global Health. He informed that for patients, medical apps offer the opportunity to monitor health and encourage patient wellness on a moment-to-moment basis.

India has the largest wireless market in the world; healthcare delivery over the mobile phone seems to be an obvious answer to a lot of healthcare issues, he added.

New portal for river Ganga NEW DELHI: In order to rope in public and take their suggestions on the rejuvenation of river Ganga, the government has started an exclusive website, a digital platform where one can extend their views on good practices to keep the national river clean.

“The bilingual website will be an important tool to connect the public in a big way in the government’s Ganga rejuvenation programme,” Uma Bharti, union minister said. The website (nmcg.nic.in) contains information on the ‘clean Ganga’ mission viz Ganga Manthan, Namami Gange, status of NGRBA, Ganga action plan, water quality monitoring, industrial pollution monitoring and comprehensive details of Ganga basin.

Computerized property assessment Nagpur Municipal Corporation launched computerized property tax assessment, revaluation and billing system on a pilot basis in which around 10,000 properties will be assessed.

UP gov upgraded Firozabad civic body

UP government upgraded the Firozabad Nagar Palika Parishad to Nagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation). It will make city eligible to get more funds from state and central governments for infrastructure development.

NDMC trains stray dogs to safeguard Delhi

New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has hired a dog trainer and four guards to train stray dogs as guard dogs in an attempt to enhance security in various gardens and parks in Central Delhi.

Green Talk: The European Commissioner on Climate Change, Ms Connie Hedegaard, talking about green initiatives with Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar

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October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

Indian electronics body collaborate with Taiwan

NEW DELHI: In order to promote Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) industry India and Taiwan has joined hands, the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) has signed an agreement with Taipei Computer Association (TCA).

“Taiwan wants to invest in other countries.

India is positioned among their priority destination, due to its maturity of the market, availability of talents and the expertise India can bring to the ESDM supply chain with components like designing, embedded system,” M N Vidyashankar, IESA president, said. The agreement is part of the collaboration with TCA under which IESA will extend support to promote investments for India.

GHMC seek tech solutions from citizens HYDERABAD: Giving an opportunity to the citizens to offer technological solutions to address urban problems, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is organising a Hyderabad Urban Hackathon. The first-of-its kind initiative will involve citizens in better urban planning, the civic body has invited public aged between 18 and 35 years to participate in the event. The participants will talk on areas like public transportation, sanitation, roads, electricity, water supply, housing, parking management and women safety.

Japanese competency centre in India BANGALORE: As Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is pitching for more business from Japan, Fujitsu, Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company, will soon set up a high-performance computing (HPC) competency centre in Bangalore. “We are planning an HPC competency centre in India for highperformance computing solutions. It will be headquartered in Bangalore,” said Andy Stevenson, managing director of Fujitsu, India. The centre in Bangalore will be open to the customers and partners from November this year.

NEWSCAN PROFILE

“ Snehal Ambekar Mumbai Mayor

Mumbai Mayor envisages clean, green city

E

lected as the 75th mayor of Mumbai, the financial capital of India Snehal Ambekar promises to keep the city which is fifth most populous city in the world to be clean, green and secure.

The 42-year-old stated that her prime aim is to ensure civic sanitation for women, child health issues and easing the transit in Mumbai.

“My immediate priorities are to build public toilets for women, and take up issues related to children’s health. I will work towards beautifying Mumbai and address matters related to garbage collection and traffic jams,” Ambekar said.

As far as the garbage collection is concerned the new Mayor has huge task as the city generates 8,550 metric tonnes of filth every day. But the new Mayor is confident that she can make the city clean and green

if the garbage is lifted several times particularly during monsoon.

A graduate who worked as a senior sales executive in LIC, Ambekar will be the seventh woman mayor in the municipal corporation’s 124-year history.

For several years, she has been actively involved with various local organisations and institutions to solve problems related to civic amenities. Her husband, Suryakant, is a Shiva Sena leader from Lower Parel and the secretary of Shiv Sena’s Railway union.

The Mayor said that her priority is also to call out to the corporates to donate to the mayor’s funds. “We receive many applications to help out people suffering from terminal illnesses. But the mayor’s fund is not capable to help each one of them. We will, therefore, invite corporates to donate money to the mayor’s fund so

We receive many applications to help out people suffering from terminal illnesses. But the mayor’s fund is not capable to help each one of them. We will, therefore, invite corporates to donate money to the mayor’s fund so that such patients can be treated free of cost

“

that such patients can be treated free of cost,” she said.

She also added that efforts will be made to fill the nearly 20,000 posts that are lying vacant under the OBC category in the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). “There is a vacancy of nearly 20,000 posts in various departments of MCGM which needs to be filled. We will spare no effort to fill up the positions.”

The new mayor was questioned for using a red beacon on her car, Ambekar informed that a red beacon is necessary as her official position is equal to a “state minister”.

“Mumbai is an industrial city that has an annual budget of more than Rs 30000 crore. Besides being a mayor, I have the status of a state minister. Therefore, I had opined that the use of a red beacon (fitted car) is a necessity,” she said.

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Sustainable Urban Design & city smarts 16

October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

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he Smart City project by the Government rightly draws focus of policy makers on the future of Indian cities. Since independence, there has been an urban bias in the national economic development policies. Yet, the cities and towns have received scant national attention.

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) that was launched in December 2005 offered a ray of hope. The programme was designed to bring about infrastructure capacity and service improvements in cities.

A book ‘Transforming Our Cities, Postcards of Change’ by Dr. Isher Ahluwalia states that the central government run missions such as the JnNURM “can only act as catalysts for transforming the urban scenario in the country. Actual progress depends on the states and urban local governments.” The book shows through vignettes of successful examples how Indian cities can be improved with the right leadership and programs.

As the nation now embarks on the mission of building Smart Cities, a key lesson from the JnNURM programme is to empower urban local bodies by giving them greater discretion, helping them to build their professional capacity, and guiding them through right policies.

Urban roadblocks

Urban local bodies in India face serious challenges in providing even the basic services such as water, sewage treatment, garbage disposal, storm water and traffic management, environmental protection and

affordable housing.

Dr Ahluwalia states that the overall problem of Indian cities “lies not only...(in improving) the ease of doing business... but also... the ease of living in a city.” More significantly, as DP Tiwari, Director, Town and Country Planning, Bhopal, in his article ‘Challenges in Urban Planning for Local Bodies in India’ points out, the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 that empowers urban local bodies to plan for themselves brings greater responsibilities “in the era of liberalization, as cities now have to identify their competitive advantages for growth and development.”

Such challenges to improve services on a competitive basis will only magnify in the future. The McKinsey study ‘India’s Urban Awakening: Building Inclusive Cities, Sustaining Economic Growth’ states: “India will have 590 million people living in cities by 2030 as compared to 340 million in 2008. The number of Indian cities with a million people will also increase to 68 from 42 in 2008.

And, the 468 cities with 100,000 plus population will need to be revived.

The report highlights that Indian cities would generate 70 percent of new jobs and help raise national per capita income fourfold.”

The rising aspirations with increasing incomes will see upsurge in national car ownership, which is projected to increase, according to a Freakonomics study, almost sevenfold by 2030.

With the increasing urban population, cities will face greater demand for better services, more effective transportation solutions, better environmental protection and

reformed governance. The demand for better places to live and work in cities will also grow.

To address all these challenges simultaneously, Sustainable Urban Design comes into play. It can make cities smart, sustainable, livable and competitive.

City smarts

A number of Indian cities like Surat, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pimpri-Chinchwad have improved governance through ‘e-transactions’.

These transactions obviate the need to go physically to pay taxes, water or electric bills, or get birth and marriage certificates.

It is a progress on part of a few select Indian cities. Yet, this very basic smartness cannot enhance a community’s overall quality of life.

What we need is not only improved conveniences but also actual improved services and better quality of the built environment. This is why cities need to abandon the current master planning approach that has several inheritance weaknesses and start preparing sustainable urban design plans.

As per Tiwari, this approach suffers from static planning for a longterm (20-25 years) end state, weak information base, lack of financial considerations to implement plan recommendations, ineffective plan monitoring, and ‘the development control mechanisms that are observed more in breach than in compliance,’ and which in the end ‘has not produced satisfactory physical environment’.

If the master planning approach has failed to deliver quality environments in cities, let alone provide adequate

India has taken on the challenge of creating 100 smart cities. Learning from its past experiences in urban planning and models of cities world over, the country needs to focus on Sustainable Urban Design to make its cities smarter, better, liveable and competitive Mahender Vasandani, President, M Square, Urban Design

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In a competitive economy with rising incomes, provision of basic infrastructure and services will be the least of expectations by an aspirational society. Indian city planners should consider high quality built environment a priority because there will be greater demand for higher quality built places for living

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and working, as evidenced by some of the newly built suburban townships that offer the conveniences, services, and better places and lifestyles.

Many examples of urban design globally provide real-life evidence of the benefits. One study in particular ‘The Value of Urban Design’ prepared by the London-based the Council of Architecture and the Built Environment’ (CABE) shows that

there can be several benefits of good urban design.

Through actual examples, the CABE study shows that good urban design “adds economic, social and environmental value, and does not necessarily cost more or take longer to deliver...It benefits all stakeholders— investors, developers, designers, public, authorities and the users of developments.”

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Urban transformation

Indian cities can become smart, sustainable, liveable and competitive through good urban design. Cities can improve the quality of urban living by focusing on neighbourhoods one at a time.

The thrust of this approach is to create self-financing mechanisms to fund new infrastructure and urban design enhancement based on

approved area-wide strategic urban design plans. (See article on....)

One of the best examples of a focus on urban design to improve quality of life neighbourhood-byneighbourhood is the modern-day City of Vancouver, Canada. So significant have the strides been to improve the built environment that the city has now become one of the most emulated cities for planners in North America.

The city has been judged to be one of the top ten most liveable cities in the world for ten consecutive years. Vancouver teaches us what can be done by a city with the right urban design approach, the right professional capacities to prepare their own urban design plans, and the right governance with strict adherence to the adopted guidelines and regulations. (See images from Vancouver) To make it clear, examples of cities such as Vancouver are presented only for inspiration; they cannot be viewed as models of the end product for the type or quality of urbanism achieved.

It is recognised that urbanism in India for reasons such as high captive self-employment will remain uniquely Indian. Yet, to achieve incremental improvements in the environment, a start has to be made with strategic urban design plans.

New township planning

For the areas at the peripheries of cities, India needs to change the way suburban townships are planned.

Using sustainable urban design principles, the country will need new models of township planning that have minimal adverse impacts on the existing infrastructure systems.

Such new townships would be entirely self-sufficient in terms of providing township-based jobs, housing, educational, recreational and shopping opportunities—all within a 15-minute walking distance.

A number of ‘Integrated Townships’ have been built in the country in the last decade and have a high quality built environment and other

conveniences. Such townships enjoy a premium price in the market place.

These townships represent the better built environments that people prefer. Yet, even these townships are still predominantly car-dependent because their multiple uses are often segregated and not mixed.

‘Live-work-play-walk everywhere’

Looking at the future, the design of such ‘Integrated Townships’ can be improved further to make them not just ‘Live, Work and Play’ but ‘Live-Work-Play-Walk Everywhere’ townships. The two figures below show a conceptual example of such a township.

The key goal is to enable people to walk everywhere — whether it is a trip to a nearby store, a cinema hall, a restaurant, a college, a hospital, a park, a transit station and even workplace.

By vertically mixing uses in buildings in close proximity to one another will improve walk-ability and which in turn will improve air quality of the region by significantly reducing the usage of cars.

Hence, walk-ability in township planning will be of major significance that will have the additional benefit of improving the quality of life.

One can imagine people’s health improving, people getting more time for leisure and families, and businesses benefiting from more productive workers who remain alert throughout the day because they would avoid commuting by cars and being stuck in traffic.

Place-making

Another key benefit of planning townships based on sustainable urban design principles will include placemaking. It is becoming a competitive source of attracting people and businesses to a town or city in the West.

In an unprecedented case in the history of the US planning, the State of Michigan recently hired its first ever Chief Place-making Officer (CPO).

The CPO says: “Through strategic place-making...we are trying to take www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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COVER STORY advantage of a new demand that has been created by...the millennial generation and baby boomers who want a specific lifestyle.”

Another evidence of how placemaking has now become a key determinant of real estate value in the West is a course offered by the Harvard Business School titled ‘What Sells: Urban Design and What Makes a Place’.

Final thoughts

It is evident that the planning for cities in India in the form of master plans has not worked. A few examples of urban development projects funded through the JnNURM offer a glimpse of what can be achieved to address urban challenges in the country.

With the latest government thrust on Smart Cities, the urban local bodies and the states would need to work closely with the Centre.

The individual cities and towns would need to be competitive in the post-liberalisation economy and be able to attract and retain new real estate projects. All else being equal, like the availability of right skilled workers, the new jobs and new

housing will come to those cities that have the basic services, ease of transportation, better recreation, better air quality, and convivial and healthy urban places.

There is a need for Indian cities and towns to become smart through sustainable urban design and thus also become competitive. In a departure from the old master planning approach, the way to move forward for Indian cities is to focus on urban transformation in a systematic way so as to create great places and improve urban living in the cities one neighbourhood at a time.

Looking to the future, as people’s aspirations rise with rising incomes, there will also be a greater demand to create new suburban townships that reduce dependence on cars and provide a better built environment for healthier lifestyles such as walking to work.

As Indian cities start becoming smart, there will be need for the right professional capacity in-house so that the work by consultants can be properly guided by local officials. The need for more urban designers in the country will grow. Fortunately, there

Booming populace

India will have 590 million people living in cities by 2030 as compared to 340 million in 2008. The number of Indian cities with a million people will also increase to 68 from 42 in 2008. And, the 468 cities with 100,000 plus population will need to be revived

Being smart

A number of Indian cities like Surat, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pimpri-Chinchwad have improved governance through ‘e-transactions’. These transactions obviate the need to go physically to pay taxes, water or electric bills, or get birth and marriage certificates. This is basic smartness. We need to build on itcontracting HIV and also have less access to treatment and prevention

20 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

are colleges in the country that provide excellent urban design education. In addition, there will also be a need for special workshops to train existing city planners and administrators to make them understand the need of making cities sustainable and smart through sustainable urban design plans.

There are organisations in the country such as the Institute of Urban Designers of India (IUDI) that provides expert help on issues related

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to urban design. Local architects can also be a resource as they begin applying their creative talents to the design of places and neighbourhoods and look beyond the design of just buildings. Indian cities will need to improve urban liveability to meet the rising aspirations of society. There will be a demand for better basic services and better built environment.

Sustainable urban design can help cities and towns achieve such goals, and meet their own aspirations to be

sustainable, smart and competitive.

The need to get the DNA of urban design right is paramount in the planning of cities. This critical level of city smarts can be termed as ‘Smart.1’.

Once the design DNA is right, then Information Communication Technology (ICT) can be integrated with the design of cities to help cities achieve the next level of smarts: ‘Smart.2.’

Every aspect of urban design can be rendered smarter with the ICT. It

provides systems and technology to gather, access, analyses and present data for benefits such as energy demand management, transportation and parking management, and enhanced security through real-time tracking systems.

“Smart.1,” though, through Sustainable Urban Design is the basic building block and the first critical step to make Indian cities smart. That should be one of the key take a ways from this article. www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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Crafting

Resilient Cities through Urban Design Indian cities can be successfully transformed to improve urban liveability even as they face challenges. The proposed new method to transform Indian cities is the Urban Design Index (UDI) system

22 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

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he UDI system will be the “next practice, to borrow a term from the acclaimed Indian business management consultant, CK Prahlad, which will help cities improve infrastructure, services, mobility, affordable housing and quality of life. It will benefit neighbourhood residents and businesses, builders and developers, and the city one neighbourhood at a time.

Challenges staring Indian cities

Historical neglect, current development trends and regulations, lack of full monetisation of real estate, and infrastructure deficit – all these affect quality of life, especially in face of rapid urbanisation. According to Ministry of Urban Development, the current urban population in India is about 377 million. Five million people are added to Indian cities every month.

At this rate, India will add 157 million more urban people by 2030 and 500 by 2050. As per a McKinsey Study, by 2030, India will need to revive 468 cities with 100,000 plus population to cope with fast urbanization.

How will the Indian cities be revived even as they expand and grow?

As Indian cities switch to smart city mode, the UDI System can be the “next practice,” which will set it apart from the current best practices: ♦♦ It will be applied at the neighbourhood level ♦♦ It will diffuse the singular focus on FSIs and help develop entire neighbourhoods ♦♦ All possible needed infrastructure and urban design improvements will be identified and prioritised as part of the Neighbourhood Urban Design Plan ♦♦ All such improvements will be paid for by the developers seeking extra FSIs in terms of “give-backs” targeted to be implemented within the neighbourhood ♦♦ As new developments occur the entire neighbourhood will gain from the implantation of the needed improvements ♦♦ Quality of life in a city will improve one neighbourhood at a time

Specifically, how will the existing urban areas of cities be transformed without further compromising people’s quality of life. This is where a UDI system will be instrumental in bringing about sustainable urban transformation.

UDI- Building resilient cities

Currently, most Indian cities control development through Floor Space Index (FSI) and other regulations.

An almost singular reliance on FSI results in development patterns that negate the principles of sound urban planning and cause adverse impacts on neighbourhoods where a high-rise development is built. As a consequence, individual towers springing up collectively may form an impressive skyline. But good skylines alone do not make good cities. What is more important is the improvement of the context—the neighbourhoods— where such towers are permitted to be built.

For residents and existing businesses in such neighbourhoods adverse impacts worsen as extra traffic congestion, more air pollution, overload on water supply, waste disposal and storm water drainage www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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all remain unaddressed. More chaos creeps in and the quality of life worsens, whenever new development is allowed without simultaneous improvement in the neighbourhood as well.

The UDI System is one method which will allow new public infrastructure and urban design improvements to be built whenever a new development is built in a neighbourhood; all in a self-financing mechanism.

The preparation of a UDI System starts with the adoption of a Strategic Urban Design Plan for a neighbourhood. Such a plan takes a short-to-medium-term view of what would be feasible to be built in that neighbourhood. It proposes the types of projects that would ideally be suited in the context - both in terms of use and urban form. It recommends the upgradation of needed infrastructure improvements, and proposes urban design guidelines to be followed.

In order to test the efficacy of the UDI System, an Indian city has agreed with the system’s concept and is ready to undertake a pilot study. In less than a year, we can present an update on the UDI System and show how in realistic ways cities can continue to grow denser and improve urban livability at the same time. This new planning method for guiding urban transformation will help cities join the ranks of Smart Cities.

24 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

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Viewpoint

Designing Indian Cities for Sustainability A lot is being stressed on building livable, sustainable cities in India today. What is often missed is the significant role of planning and designing cities in accordance with sustainability criteria. What makes a city sustainable or smart was recently discussed at the Smart City Summit in Mumbai. A key take away from talking to a number of experts at the summit is that the Indian cities must tap unconventional resources – such as sustainable urban design - to become smart

I

ndia is a rapidly urbanising nation. Not only will the total number of cities in India increase but there will be more cities with one million population. Also, close to 500 Indian cities will need to be revived.

This rate of increase in urbanisation is worrisome because of the impacts on urban liveability and the capacity to adequately serve increasing urban population.

As cities face the challenges of urbanisation and strive to become sustainable, they must focus on urban design in the course of planning their future.

Urban design deals with the public space and incorporates within it effective physical and social infrastructure planning so as to provide maximum benefits of improved liveability to citizens In India, with increaseing urbanization, cities’ challenges are made more complex because of lack of sound planning in the past.

This has often led to chaos in the cities making urban living difficult.

With this background, a number of experts we talked to, offer a variety of viewpoints and insights about what Indian cities can do to face up to the urbanisation challenge.

26 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

Livable Cities

Vince Berkhout, Executive Director, Planning at AECOM, suggests that there is need to “focus on sustainable urban design to make cities livable.”

He emphasizes the importance of first understanding the culture of a city, and how people live, work and play.

These are the fundamental building blocks to consider in planning to improve cities so that “optimum” standards can be developed for preparing plans that meet aspirations of people. Urban design is the key to make our communities better and “there should be a planned regimen” for taking care of public spaces, according to Berkhout.

With the burgeoning urban population, there will be greater pressure to retrofit, revive or transform our cities. Mala Singh, Chairman of PEC Greening India Group, echoes the need for proper criteria for retrofitting. She emphasizes the need for better implementation than has been the case so far. She stressed the need for “better sewage management, waste collection, and clean water availability.” She adds that the “green design or environment-friendly initiatives need to be simplified” for more effective application.

Mobility Design Imperative

Moving about in any Indian city, we know how critical is traffic management to improve mobility of people. Ajay Pradhan, Managing Director, Halcrow, said, “Good transit should be such that a user can be in the system and do all the required daily needs like going to the office, picking up children, buying groceries and reaching back home” in a simple way. There is a need for a “holistic yet systematic” vision for transit to improve urban mobility.

Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRTs)

Ajay Pradhan Managing Director, Halcrow

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Good transit should be such that a user can be in the system and do all the required daily needs like going to the office, picking up children, buying groceries and reaching back home...

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Mala Singh Chairman of PEC Greening India Group

Green design or environment-friendly initiatives need to be simplified for more effective application.

There is a need for better sewage management, waste collection, and clean water availability

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are one viable option for better mobility as long as they are implemented with right design standards. Ahmadabad, a forerunner of BRTs in the country, planned for its system in a holistic way and is a great success, even heralded as being among the best in the world.

The experience with the BRT in Delhi, on the other hand, is an example of “the right thing in the wrong place,” as it was designed poorly and was operational only for a small segment as compared to being part of a larger network. In addition, the Delhi BRT took out roadway capacity from existing vehicular traffic, leading to more traffic congestion and air

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MK Sunil Head (AEC), Autodesk

Cities with historical buildings and places will need special redevelopment policies in order to protect as much heritage as possible

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pollution. So, implementing with right standards is critically important.

Moreover, Vijay Garg, Founder, Design Consultants, said, “cities need a solution to make their mobility accessible” to all. User’s participation should be important in the design of transit systems, as there are a variety of users. While implementing transportation or other infrastructure systems, proper regulations is required, which, according to MK Sunil of Autodesk, Indian cities currently lack. Well-designed transit systems when properly implemented should have the draw to “pull the vehicle users to use the transit system” so that more energy conservation is achieved and traffic congestion is reduced.

Conserve Heritage Buildings Vijay Garg Founder, Design Consultants

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Cities need a solution to make their mobility accessible” to all. User’s participation should be important in the design of transit systems, as there are a variety of users

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Several of our cities have rich architectural heritage, especially cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Lucknow—to name a few. As a majority of these cities face the burden of transformation, what should be the fate of their existing heritage buildings and places?

An architect, MK Sunil, feels cities with historical buildings and places will need special redevelopment policies in order to protect as much heritage as possible. What is essential is to incorporate green measures to conserve heritage buildings as they

“

Vince Berkhout Executive Director Planning, AECOM

Culture of a city, and how people live, work and play are the fundamental building blocks to consider in planning to improve cities so that “optimum” standards can be developed for preparing plans that meet aspirations of people

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may need to be retrofitted to meet the demands of new technologies such as cables, cell towers and solar panels.

Berkhout recommends “better understanding of the space requirements, the numerical dimensions, and construction materials,” when dealing with older structures for retrofitting. He also suggests that better coordination between the government and planners is needed to more effectively protect heritage structures.

The Way Ahead

To ensure cities meet the various urban challenges head on, Berkhout recommends that “planners should deliver projects in such a way that they reap maximum returns in future through sustainability.” This key “mantra” should be the guiding principle of sustainable urban design for all Indian cities.

Mahender Vasandani is Mumbai based architect and urban planner. He has over 35 years of experience in architecture, regional planning and urban design.

Direct your queries to

mgv@msqre.com

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

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ONE ON ONE

Suresh Babu, Architect & Founder, sbandpartners

‘City making is a continous process’ With Indian cities grappling with suitable structural design to make them sustainable, an architect and founder of the renowned sbandpartners, Suresh Babu, shares his insights on the sector with Urban Update...

In view of lack of proper public spaces in cities, do you think there is a structured design drawn while planning?

Some of the European cities like Munich have devised structured plans for urban development as the foreseeable reuse of other derelict and unstructured site along the central axis highlighted the need for a comprehensive approach. I have not seen any such structured design drawn while planning in India. We have to draw similar structured design to enhance public spaces in our cities.

Urban architecture in Indian cities needs more dimensions in terms of mobility and infrastructure for people, your views.

Our cities deserve more dimensions not only in terms of mobility and Infrastructure but to demonstrate the cultural heritage and technological advancements. It should be a stage for 28 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

the theatre of everyday life relaying societal myths.

Are we prepared/ aware to incorporate international design standard in Indian context? For example, cycle tracks, BRT.

It is important to have awareness about the international standards. But we have to modify it to suit our cultural background, financial limitations, future goals.

Are the architects and town planners well educated to observe the ground necessities while planning a city design, like enough road spaces, numerical dimensions, vertical-horizontal mobility and structures?

I think the education to design city should come from two stages. First one is the formal training and other comes from the experience and researches from various master plan

and developments. With this, the designer should optimise the space and mobility to save land uses and resources also to cut toxic and noise emissions. At the same time, the designer should be able to create a dynamic composition for the edges to explore.

Which are the best well planned towns and cities in country that the administration should take lessons from?

I don’t think any of the Indian cities will qualify as role model for administrators to follow. City making is a continuous process. Every city has its own unique problems, constraints, resources, aspirations and culture.

Identifying these parameters and creating appropriate design will be correct way. They may follow procedures and methods from other cities.

COVER STORY

The Projects

Marathon - Panvel

Wallfort Woods - Raipur

Afcons - Andheri

Raipur school

With the smart city concept in full swing, is it enough to debate on the requirements a smart city will need or should there be more forums to help implement the concept?

Smart City concepts are in full swing.

Use of technology will definitely improve the quality of life. There shall be more forums and platforms to discuss the concept. But remember we should make sure the fundamentals should be in place before anything.

What is the role of urban local bodies and municipalities a while planning city design, i.e. in terms of funds.

Urban local bodies and municipalities

have a large role to play. They should understand, channelise, utilise and encourage geographical, natural & human resources to fund the city development.

Your company envisages on the concept of ecological responsibility while designing buildings, what will be your advise to fellow architects?

I have not grown enough to advise my fellow architects. Still I have sincere request to them- use design as a strong tool to contribute to improve the quality of life and environment.

Create a strong DNA in your product, building or city instead of using it

as a weapon to destroy society and environment.

How does your company contribute in the urban design of the city?

Explain.

In addition to follow the principle of sustainability in each design we undertake, studies and research to improve, the built environment and hence improve the livability with reduced consumption of natural resources, Thane creek development, sustainable development of Kerala, pilot project of decongesting of Kannur and tribal area development of Jawahar are some of the few studies done. www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

29

VELO-CITY

GIFT(ing) Smart City

The vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a hundred Smart Cities in the country will have its beginning in Gujarat. The GIFT City project in between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar is setting a benchmark for quality urban life Jessy Iype, Desk Editor & Reporter

T

he Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Ltd (GIFTL) was one of Modi’s pet projects when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The project has now become a model for the upcoming Smart City project. The Centre had recently taken GIFT City project as a benchmark to develop 100 Smart Cities pan India.

Demand for financial services in India has seen a tremendous transformation over the decades with the sector contributing significantly to the economy by employing over four million people and representing around five percent of the GDP. The estimated market capitalisation of over USD 200 billion offers distinct kinds of opportunities across several product markets.

“If India builds an international financial center, with suitable rules and regulations, the earnings out of financial sector exports will surpass that of IT,” feels Percy Mistry, former senior official in World Bank.

30 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

Given India’s continued economic growth, it is estimated that the financial sector will grow increasingly larger; with a prospect of 10 to 11 million jobs by 2020.

Why only Gujarat?

The state was seen as key competitive factor as Gujarat has an adequate employable pool and offers high potential for inward migration and has demonstrated successfully its forte of providing conducive business environment.

The project is emphasised on smart urban infrastructure highlighting water systems, power, ICT System, district cooling, domestic gas, waste management, fire-fighting, and utility tunnel. It has incorporated smart transport that included traffic management, parking, area traffic control, road condition system, real time travel response along with smart streets with digital signage and streetscape. Proactive urban governance, smart business

environment, integrated residential development, retail and commercial development along with social infrastructure like school, college and club facilities only builds in the aspirations of this dream assignment.

The GIFT(ed) city

GIFT City is a Global Financial Hub, one of its kind in the country with state-of-the-art infrastructure for transacting various international and domestic services like banking, finance, insurance, information technology (IT) and information technology enabled service (ITES).

It is believed that the central business hub expects to generate five lakh direct and five lakh indirect jobs within its mammoth infrastructure.

The project was conceptualised in February 2007 and the company GIFTCL was formed in June 2007.

The GIFTCL has decided to develop the entire project in three phases.

The project has been planned as a financial Central Business

VELO-CITY District (CBD) between Ahmadabad and Gandhinagar as a green-field development.

Propelled by a competitive economy anchored on commerce and related industry, GIFT, envisaged as an Eco-City, is expected to serve as the vibrant hub of western India and as a habitat showcasing business oriented, environmentally-sensitive growth with equity. The project GIFT offers to be a test-bed to drive reforms and innovation in various fields including in delivery systems, local government, physical planning, infrastructure development, and environmental protection among others.

What GIFT Aspires

The super speciality project is seen to catalyse India’s largest financial services potential by offering worldclass infrastructure to attract top talent in the country. The creation of one million direct and indirect jobs can be acquired in this up to 90 million square feet of real estate office and residential space. The project aspires a smart business environment through benchmark office, and highrise district with landmark buildings.

Social Infrastructure

When a city is designed, it is required to provide a social infrastructure, to ensure quality social life to the city and its residents. The GIFT will avail optimum social infrastructure facilities through international exhibition complex, educational institutes, international and domestic schools, state-of-the-art hospital, training school, five star hotels and business club.

The specifications include 110 building: two landmark buildings (height- above 350 meter); 19 buildings (height- 150 mt to 300 mt); 73 buildings (height- 100 mt to 140 mt); two schools – international and domestic board; 214 bed hospitals; hotels (5000 rooms).

Leisure is also an important aspect for true living and GIFT ensures that through the Samruddhi Sarovar (Master Balancing Reservoir) which

has food courts: restaurants, eateries, dining; gathering spaces for concerts and events, promenades, water sport activities, retail facilities, walkers paradise: jogging track, viewing points, light and sound show, fountains, and water shows.

An interesting component of the city would be the living bridge of a length of 600 meter; having lanes of divided carriageway with vertical segregation of public transport and pedestrian walkway.

The retail cum entertainment hubs would have high quality entertainment malls and a large river front entertainment development with over 60 percent of the green space.

Integrated residential

A place to reside is the basic component for any smart city project, to acquire necessary green design, numerical dimensions and safety measure must be well planned.

GIFT for housing development ensures a well-planned residential housing that has spatial benefits like walk-to-work and an overall connectivity through external like MRTS/BRTS/roads, where the PublicPrivate model Split is 90:10. Basic infrastructure like uninterrupted and highly reliable power supply (99.999%), next generation water

and waste management, and district cooling is also an added feature.

Technology wise the city promises Broadband FTTP, WiFi/Wimax, Shared IT Services and Global Connectivity. In terms of scale and sheer physical scope, GIFT is being designed to be at or above par with presently acknowledged globally benchmarked International Financial Centers (IFCs strategic location). GIFT integrated infrastructure is platform for better diversity, the technology ensures energy conservation and all the utilities/services are coordinated through single agency.

Trigger For Development

GIFT a much needed trigger for development and not a stand-alone real estate. The city would have about 3,000 acres earmarked for GIFT expansion zone. There would be integrated townships to be developed in surrounding development zone of 100 square kilometres.

The city would be regulated by a dedicated Area Development Authority ensuring singular control for coherent and sustainable development. There will be a single window clearance through GIFT Urban Development Authority (GIFTUDA)­­--constituted for well planned urban development of the area. The GIFT Notified Committee will be constituted for the better management at city level.

Intelligent Transport

“

Mahendra Sinh Rana Gandhinagar Mayor

Gift City will be a apex centre or business hub of Gujarat. It is first of it’s kind. Youngsters of the city will be getting better employment opportunities, as many international clients are expected to beeline towards this city

“

Mobility is one the crucial components for developing and accommodating public spaces for the booming populace. GIFT would have a high share of public transport and a conflict free traffic movement with transit oriented development and aim for a zero-accident city. There will be multi level car parking along arterial roads, pedestrians oriented internal movement; grid of six external gateways from NH-8 and state highway (Connecting to various areas of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar); Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS); Metro Rail Transport System (MRTS); www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

31

VELO-CITY

Urban character of GIFT city ♦♦ Each open space to have a distinct identity and name, Hierarchy of open spaces ♦♦ Streetscape defining roads ♦♦ Pleasant walking experience ♦♦ Forum for social interaction ♦♦ Planned space to street vendors ♦♦ A C elevated walkways ♦♦ Food streets and street bazaars

and a Multi Modal Transport Hub. Apart from this, there will be interactive road maps and road condition system like automatic vehicle location and tracking, real time travel response parking management for a hassle free mobility in the city.

Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) is an innovative technology for intelligent mobility as an automatic personal transit service will be there in the city where an intelligent vehicle will be made available on demand 24x7. It will have a dedicated guideway network and a non-stop travel direct to destination.

Quality water and cooling

There will be availability of quality water which can be drunk from any tap because of the storage of surface run-off and rain water. District cooling system will be a centralised cooling method where the total cooling load 2,70,000 TR and its efficiency through economies of scale would reduces energy and maintenance costs. This method would improve air quality and temperature control while reducing noise and vibration. GIFT does not require conventional AC system as there will be a monitoring District Cooling Plant System through which there will be simulation of cooling/ energy requirements.

Solid Waste Management

The city will be smart through its smart processing or managing the impending waste influx day by day.

GIFT’s plan on SWM is to maximise resource recovery with minimal emissions. The processes involve 32 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

Objectives for smart Infra

♦♦ Integration of building, technology and systems ♦♦ Energy Management and optimization of costs ♦♦ Enhancing facilities operating efficiency ♦♦ Real time performance ♦♦ Ensuring user safety, security and comfort

minimise impact on environment, human intervention, space requirement, and impact on health.

The city will aim to no waste visibility through automatic collection, transportation and segregation system. The waste will be thrown into a disposal chute through a computer controlled access. The waste is then sucked through pipes at a speed of 90 km/hr and treated through plasma gasification. E-Waste; Bio-medical, hazardous waste handling system will be through Monitoring Central Waste Handling Facility. There will be monitoring of the residual waste handling, rejects and a safety management emergency response for these harmful substances in garbage. A City Command Center would take critical live feeds from all Control Centers and enforce centers to take remedial actions in case of emergency.

State-of-the-Art fire detection system

It is very crucial for every city to acquire an adequate provision in the building for quenching of fire.

GIFT has a provision of adequate logistics and fire fighting system at city level conducive to high-rise building. There will be adequate and effective evacuation system.

Tech advanced city

The project will provide a technologically advanced financial services gateway to national and global financial markets and create an “integrated city” blueprint, global customers with an immediate emergency response system.

Disaster/Crisis Management

In regards with disaster preparedness, the hi-tech city will enable creation of GIS platform for monitoring of services in case of natural calamities or disasters with a wide range of connectivity.

Paving implementation

The city that was earlier governed by state government will now be directly monitored by the central government as a project of national importance. All major decisions will be taken after consultation with the Union Urban Development Department (UDD) so that the project can be completed without hassles.

According to a highly placed source in Urban Development Department: “The UDD decided to take Gift City as a model for Smart City last month.

A committee comprising officials of UDD and Planning Commission frequently visited Ahmadabad to study the project and technology used to develop it.”

The Gujarat government has earmarked 886 acres of land for the GIFT project, of which 673 acres is in possession of GIFTL. Also, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs 11,700 crore was signed during Vibrant Gujarat Global Investment Summit- 2011 with seven agencies. However, GIFTCL has reworked the costs and have brought it down to Rs 10,000 crore.

Direct your queries to

jessy@urbanupdate.in

CENTRE STAGE

Smart Cities

The Future Buzz Living in a city with streets installed with sensors, buildings enabled with Wi-fi, an intelligent transport system, uninterrupted water, power supply, and door-to-door solid waste collection system is no longer a science fiction. Taking baby steps towards the Smart City concept, which is yet to be conceptualised, city managers seek concrete solutions for implementation Prathiba Raju, Assistant editor

D

espite the cities being the treasure troves, which contribute 60 percent of India’s GDP, they struggle with myriad pressures from burgeoning population, traffic congestion, pollution and impacts of climate change. They are in ardent need of a magical touch of hi-tech innovations. As per the Ministry of Urban Development, currently Indian urban population is 377 million, which constitutes about 31 percent of total population. Projections are that, in the next 15 years, India will add another 157 million to its urban population and, by 2050, it will be a whopping 500 million.

“Cities are called engines of growth.

It is imperative to improve our cities 34 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

M Venkaiah Naidu UD Minister

“

Cities are called engines of growth. It is imperative to improve our cities to handle rapid urbanisation. 100 smart cities will be a benchmark for wealthier, healthier and happier cities

“

to handle rapid urbanisation. In order to make sure that our cities are adequately equipped to accommodate such large population and develop economic infrastructure, the 100 Smart Cities will be a benchmark for wealthier, healthier and happier cities,” M Venkaiah Naidu, Urban Development Minister, said.

Transcending to smart cities – a mammoth task

As urban population dream of Smart Cities, which promises to provide minimal pollution levels, maximum recycling, optimised energy supplies.

The state government representatives say that they are deprived of funds, human resources and technology, which are the key enablers for creation

CENTRE STAGE of such cities. City managers and state governments who are struggling to combat various gridlocks like the lack of adequate infrastructure, growth management, voice that now the country is on the road to build smart cities, and inform that the concept is viable only by proper planning and funding.

“Smart Cities are workable, unlike individual experiments by various states like Aamby and Lavasa project in Pune, new town in Kolkata, and Navi Mumbai. We need a concerted effort by the centre, state and the urban local bodies,” Debashis Sen, principal secretary, urban development, West Bengal told Urban Update. The central governments should provide substantial funds otherwise states will go individual way and no streamlining will be there. Percentage for funds is 90: 10 where 90 percent is from centre, Sen added.

Funding key for Smart City concept

The various state representatives who spoke to Urban Update suggested that developing Smart Cities needs a higher central assistance as the resource constraints of urban local bodies, expedite clearance by the centre, flexible implementation and capacity building, said a senior Urban Development official.

Higher level of Viability Gap Funding with respect to solid waste management and water supply projects and capital expenditure are to be borne by central government since private operators can only manage the operations and maintenance with utility charges. Special Purpose Vehicles need to be created for executing the projects is one of the suggestions made by states at the national conclave on smart cities held recently in Delhi.

The concept of Smart City though exciting, but funding is an important factor, stressed T K Anil Kumar, secretary of urban development, Karnataka.

“We require investment…we (the states) can look at operation cost being recovered but the capital expenditure

T K Anil Kumar Secretary of Urban Development, Karnataka

“

We require investment…we (the states) can look at operational cost being recovered but the capital expenditure has to be borne by the public sector. We need to think comprehensively about the investment required. Then only all the smartness comes into place

“

has to be borne by the public sector.

We need to think comprehensively about the investment required. The concept is workable, it is been done in few departments like monitoring of garbage, water management. When it comes to creating a city, funding is critical and it should be decided.

Then only all the smartness concept comes into place,” Anil Kumar told Urban Update. Talking about the new concept, Kewal K Sharma, Adviser to Administrator at Union Territory of Chandigarh, told Urban Update that the 100 smart cities is a “nice and exciting idea”.

“Cities generate wealth, and we need to make them efficient to attract investment and spurt growth. We need a scheme like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM). Heavy reliance is placed on public private participation in certain services of these new smart cities, which may play a huge role,” said Sharma.

As per the draft concept note on Smart Cities, by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), huge investments will be needed to build the 100 Smart Cities.

Innovative methods of raising revenues will have to be developed by the states and cities. These efforts will be supplemented by “the government through MoUD and other ministries like health, education, power, transport, IT, and Communications,” the draft concept stated.

The High Power Expert Committee (HPEC) has estimated that in an average a figure of 1 million people in each of the 100 Smart Cities, the total investment requirements would be seven lakhs crore rupees for over 20 years. This translates into an annual requirement of Rs 35,000 crore.

Therefore, a large part of the financing for smart cities is expected from the private players with the state and central government supplementing the effort.

“There are difficulties in the (Smart City) scheme which has to be worked out. They are largely depending on private investment.

But we don’t see much of private players coming in for fresh capital investment. Funding large amount will be private is unlikely. So it should come from central government. We are bothered about money, it is a key thing,” J M Balamurugan, secretary local government, Punjab told Urban Update. He also said that earlier in such new infrastructure projects, the central government used to just prescribe only the scheme. Now, it is taking suggestion from the state how to go about it, which is seen as a welcome change.

“The centre has given us a guideline or a framework, the state has to prepare the plan as per its requirements and it will be submitted to the centre. States has to prepare a city management plan that will help us to showcase our requirements,” Balamurugan added.

Anil Joshi, BJP leader and local bodies minister, Punjab informed that all the stakeholders, centre and state should contribute for the project.

“It is a new concept, every state has different requirements. State will design its own scheme and present before the government. Earlier centre used to make projects and give it to www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

35

CENTRE STAGE

Transport

Education

Healthcare

•

•

•

• •

Maximum travel time of 30 minutes in small and medium size cities and 45 minutes in metropolitan areas Dedicated bicycle tracks with a width of 2m or more High frequency mass transport within 800m (10 to 15 minute walking distance) of all residences in areas over 175 persons

• • •

One primary school for every 5000 and one senior secondary school for every 7,500 residents One school for physically challenged for every 45,000 residents One college per 1.25 lakh population One engineering, medical college for every 10 lakh population

• •

30 minutes emergency response time One dispensary for every 15,000 residents Nursing home, child, welfare and maternity centre—25 to 30 beds per lakh population

Technology

Solid Waste Mgmt

Water Supply

•

•

• • •

• •

Every household to have mobile, telephone connection Every city has Wi-fi connectivity 100 Mbps internet speed

•

Every household to have door-step SWM collection 100% recycling of solid waste

100% household with direct supply 135 litres water per capita 24X7 water availability

Electricity

Sewerage

Others

•

•

•

• •

Every household to have electricity connection 24X7 power supply Tariff slabs that work towards minimizing rates

•

All households to have access to toilets Separate toilet for girls in schools

• •

Benchmark for Smart cities

36 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

Use of renewable energy in all sectors Rooftop solar panels on all public, institutional, commercial buildings 3-D maps on GIS on all power, water supply, and sewerage services

CENTRE STAGE

Quality of Life

Physical Infrastructure

Social Infrastructure

Institutional Infrastructure

Power

Education

Speedy Service Delivery

Healthcare

Enforcement

Security

Solid Waste Management

Entertainment (Parks & Greens, Music, Culture and Heritage, Sports, Tourist Spots)

Taxation

Sewerage

Inclusive Planning (SC /ST, Backward incentives) ?

Institutional Finance/Banking

Building Homes

Transparency and Accountability

Water Supply

Multimodal Transport

Skill Development

Cyber Connection

Environmental Sustainability Connectivity (Roads, Airports, Railways)

People’s Participation in Decision Making

Housing ICT Based Service Delivery

Citizen Advisory Committee

Disaster Management

Implementation framework

National Advisory Committee

Project Monitoring Unit

Empowered Committee

MD (Gol) + MD (ULB) + Gol + State + Fin.

Project Management Unit

State-level Advisory Committee

Ministry of Urban Development

Mission Director (MoUD) (Addl. Secy.)

Mission Director (ULB)

Chief Secretary (State)

Committee of Secretaries (Gol)

Support Staff

Support Staff

Committee of Secretaries (State)

Staggering Numbers

Currently, Indian urban population is 377 million, which constitutes about 31 percent of the total population. Projections are that, in the next 15 years, India will add another 157 million and, by 2050, it will be a whopping 500 million

Debashis Sen Principal Secretary UD, West Bengal

“

To make smart cities workable, we need a concerted effort by the centre, state and the urban local bodies

“

the states and doled out enormous funds that went waste but now the new government will ensure the funds are utilised as the states will decide on the required projects,” Joshi added. Giving a brief on how the centre is going on the smart city project, Shankar Aggarwal, UD secretary informed that they are looking into potential part of every city. “Finalising the framework for the smart cities is not an easy task. It is a huge exercise and all possible pitfalls, effects and other factors are being considered before announcement of the policy,” he said.

There will be a lot of job opportunities during the implementation of the Smart City plan, he added.

In the stage one of projects, an integrated development plan based on the Smart City reference framework will be submitted.

Thereafter, the cities would be sanctioned an initial amount for preparation of professional and comprehensive project reports.

“Already the UD ministry have called all the state secretaries and they have been briefed about the draft concept. They will be giving us the report in a week. The stage one process will be completed on or before first week of October,” an official told Urban Update.

Projected Investment

The total investment requirements would be seven lakh crore rupees for over 20 years.

This translates into an annual requirement of Rs 35,000 crore

Direct your queries to

prathiba@urbanupdate.in

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

37

VOX-POP

Slum Redevelopment

Building castles in

Unwary of the challenges of cities, every minute about 30 people migrate from villages to cities in search of better economic opportunity and livelihood.

Already burdened with population influx, cities are not able to support or accommodate them in formal settings. They are forced to live in slums because of unaffordable housing Abhishek Pandey, Principal Correspondent

38 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

VOX-POP

the air

rehabilitated since 1996, when the Slum Redevelopment Scheme (SRS) was started.

A recent UN Habitat report says, urbanisation is placing remarkable strain on housing and serviced land.

By 2030, about 3 billion people, or about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need proper housing and access to basic infrastructure and services such as water and sanitation systems. This translates into the need to complete 96,150 housing units per day with serviced and documented land from now till 2030.

As per a report by the Census commissioner, 64 million people, representing one in six urban residents, live in Indian slums with unsanitary conditions unfit for human habilitation.

At the time when the central government is planning to create new cities, fast paced slum redevelopment is essential to make city cleaner and healthier. With growing urgency to provide more homes to millions of families in the country, and the remarkable rate of illegal housing construction calls for a paradigm shift in housing policy, urban planning, and building practices.

Housing, an uphill task

P

opulation in Indian cities is growing fast and so is the number of slums.

Slum redevelopment plans of many state governments have not delivered desired results.

Maharashtra is a point in a case where only 13 percent of the targeted slum dwellers could be

Understanding the gravity of the housing problem particularly for the urban poor, the NDA government has set its target to usher in a lowcost housing policy that would ensure every family in India a home by 2022. For that the government has announced to start National Housing Mission by merging all the existing housing schemes such as Rajiv Awaas Yojna (RAY), Indira Awaas Yojna (IAY), Rajiv Rinn Yojna (RRY), etc.

The government is also making concentrated efforts for slum redevelopment to ensure every household has basic facilities.

Recently, the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs included Slum Redevelopment in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. The government has to learn lessons from its past experiences to ensure

the housing scheme benefits the genuine slum dwellers; sorting out the ineligible occupants in slums.

Economic dynamics

Many studies by Non-Government Organisations (NGO) and academic institutions have shown that slum eradication and resettlement create more problems than they solve. The studies suggest that most residents pushed out of their homes soon have little option but to return to the same area, because they need the work that drew them to the city in the first place.

Mukta Srivastava, Convener of Right to Food Campaign (Maharashtra) and an activist of National Alliance for People’s Movement (NAPM) said slums are not mere housing; they are hub of economic activities in cities.

“Slum Redevelopment Schemes (SRS) should be formulated in a way that it ensures the livelihood of the poor is not affected. For example, such schemes have not benefitted the poor in Maharashtra but the builders.

Land in metros cities is considered ‘gold’. Politicians’ nexus with builders use the land for commercial benefit, taking advantage of the provisional incentives in SRS,” Srivastava told Urban Update.

“To making cities slum free political will is required. But most of the politicians particularly in Mumbai have links with builders and this nexus further deteriorate the situation. As the builders grab the land and shift the slum dwellers in vertical settlements far away from their original habitats.

Such resettlement has several social and economical side effects on the poor. The poor operate their businesses from these slums and that is not possible in small space of oneroom apartments that are offered to them after their eviction from slums,” he said. According to a report, Dharavi in Mumbai, India’s largest slum has an estimated business turnover of USD 650 million. Certain slum dwellers run their own business, for example make clothes for malls and film industry and people from all over the city flock to these specialised shops. www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

39

VOX-POP

Urban poor regrets SRS

Mukta Shrivastava Convener, Right to Food Campaign (Maharashtra)

“Slums are not mere housing. They are hub of economic activities in cities.

Slum redevelopment schemes should be formulated in a way that ensure the livelihood of the poor is not affected” Madhusudhan Menon, Chairman, MHFC

“In slum redevelopment projects, buyers do not have free choice. Builders provide them free housing in exchange of commercial use of land or it is done with the NGOs. But we provide housing loan to end buyers” Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Welfare

“The NDA government is committed to extend all kind of help for socially excluded groups and disadvantage sections of society to improve their economical and social condition” Arpan De Sarkar, Public Policy Analyst

“Rental housing could be a solution to make cities slum free. Such housing should not only be for the poor but for one and all. It would provide a housing option to migrants who come to city for livelihood” Dr Mukesh Kanaskar, Director-International, AIILSG

“Notifying all slums should be made mandatory as non-notified slums do not get basic civic amenities. And, the slums should be developed using engineering for future and global innovation” Ancilla Tragler, Slum Rehabilitation Society

“Our society targets individuals and families who have been forced to live in slums and provide them with a legal, self-contained home having basic amenities with community support” Tarun Sharma, Ecorys India

“Affordable Housing for All is a nice initiative that would benefit slum dwellers. Housing problem shall not be looked in isolation. A holistic approach is needed to make slum redevelopment successful”

40 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

Negative impact on the economic activities of slum dwellers does not attract them to slum redevelopment or resettlement plans and that’s why they don’t willingly support such projects.

Madhusudhan Menon, Chairman, Micro Housing Finance Corporation (MHFC) told Urban Update that our corporation provides housing loan to end buyers after approving housing projects of the private and public sector. In the case of slum redevelopment projects, buyers do not have free choice. Either the builders provide them free housing in exchange of commercial use of land or it is done with the collaboration with civil society organisations or government agencies.

Union government and state governments have been making efforts for making cities slum free but the projects have not be successful because either slum dwellers were reluctant to shift from the urban centre to a far flung area that could affect their social connections and their connection to livelihood that brought most of the slum dwellers to cities from their native places.

Tarun Sharma, Head, Urban Policy Research and Practice, Ecorys India said that slum redevelopment requires a holistic approach to provide housing for urban poor. The spirit to begin RAY was good and the project was moving in right direction. ‘Affordable Housing for All’ is a nice initiative that would benefit slum dwellers too as housing problem shall not be looked in isolation.

Civil society engagement

Ancilla Tragler of Slum Rehabilitation Society says: “Our society targets individuals and families who have been forced to live in slums because of the absence of affordable housing in the metropolitan area. The ultimate aim is to provide slum dwellers with a legal, self-contained home having basic amenities such as: a raised kitchen platform, a toilet and a bathroom - conveniences not found in Mumbai’s slums.”

VOX-POP

URBAN BLUES According to a report by the Census commissioner, 64 million people in India, representing one in six urban residents, live in slums with unsanitary conditions unfit for human habilitation.

What is a slum?

Many slum definitions require some minimum settlement size for an area to be considered a slum, so that the slum constitutes a distinct precinct and is not a single dwelling. Examples are the municipal slum definition of Kolkata that requires a minimum of 700 square metres to be occupied by huts, or the Indian census definition, which requires at least 300 people or 60 households living in a settlement

Slum rehabilitation in Mumbai is financed by re-housing the slum dwellers in multi-storeyed buildings on one part of the land and selling the other part at commercial rates. If the area is too dense to accommodate both, the rights for developing the commercial area can be transferred to the northern suburbs under the scheme known as TDR (Transferable Development Rights).

The society also mobilises slum dwellers to improve their living conditions. The organisation works with communities, facilitating their relocation to permanent housing, forming housing societies, training former slum dwellers to maintain their homes and helping them develop programmes to improve and care for their environment. There are several other initiatives such as SPARC, Mahila Milan, etc. across the country, which are enabling slum dwellers to live in decent habitats.

Union Minister for Social Welfare Thawar Chand Gehlot said that the NDA government is committed to extend all kind of help for socially excluded groups and disadvantage sections of society to improve their economical and social condition.

Slum-free cities

Dr Mukesh Kanaskar, DirectorInternational, All India Institute of

Local Self Government (AIILSG) said: “Notifying all slums should be made mandatory as non-notified slums do not get basic civic amenities. It will improve living standard of the people.

These slums should be developed using engineering for future and global innovation. All the slum redevelopment projects should be made keeping in mind the futuristic aspects and for that there is a need to modify policies.”

Definition of slums varies from state to state. Many slum definitions also require some minimum settlement size for an area to be considered a slum, so that the slum constitutes a distinct precinct and is not a single dwelling.

Examples are the municipal slum definition of Kolkata that requires a minimum of 700 square metres to be occupied by huts, or the Indian census definition, which requires at least 300 people or 60 households living in a settlement cluster.

Arpan De Sarkar, Public Policy Analyst, said, “Urban local bodies should notify slums because these colonies are in any way using the basic civic amenities some way or the other.”

Offering a solution to create slum free cities, Sarkar said: “Rental housing could be a solution to make cities slum free. Such housing should not only be for the poor and low

income group populace but for one and all. Such housing would provide a housing option to migrants who come to city for livelihood.”

Sarkar further said that urban local bodies should be empowered for successfully implementing slum redevelopment schemes. There are thousands of flats made to provide housing to slum dwellers are lying vacat in southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu because such housing does not address the problems of urban poor; particularly livelihood connection. Slum redevelopment or resettlement schemes should provide solution to the slum dwellers and ensure that they are connected to their livelihood. Gujarat has done so in some cities by connecting new settlements with proper transport system.

The new scheme ‘Affordable Housing for All’ is expected to improve urban housing as it is said to offer concrete solutions and accommodation to increasing population in cities by providing transit housing in small towns and rental housing for migrants.

Direct your queries to

abhishek@urbanupdate.in

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

41

CUTTING EDGE

The World Needs an AIDS Vaccine Every four minutes, someone in India becomes infected with HIV, the virus that causes death to over 1.5 million people every year Dr Rajat Goyal, India Country Director, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

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ndia is home to the thirdlargest share of the world’s 35 million people living with HIV(after South Africa and Nigeria), with women and young people disproportionately affected. More than 1.5 million people worldwide still die of AIDS each year.

All this is why researchers around the world and in India, including those

at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), are working to develop a safe, effective and accessible vaccine for this dreaded disease.

Pillars to Fight HIV/AIDS: Treatment and Prevention

Thirty years ago, telling patients they had HIV was like reading a death sentence. Today, that is no

longer the case. Thanks to generous funding from government and private donors, tremendous progress has been made with treatment and prevention. Medications have become more effective and accessible, and we have an expanding arsenal of prevention options.

Since 1992, the Government of India and the National AIDS Control Organization have coordinated a strategic national response that has enhanced HIV awareness and expanded access to treatment and prevention; aiding India in reducing new HIV infections by over 50 percent over the past ten years.

But there is still a long way to go.

Despite commendable progressin providing treatment, HIV/AIDS is still spreading faster than the drugs to treat and prevent it, more people are newly infected each year than gaining access to treatment.

Globally, for every three people put on treatment, five others contract the virus. In India alone, around 1,40,000 people still die from AIDSrelated causes every year, and over 1,10,000 are newly infected. Even if the ambitious goals for maximizing existing interventions is achieved, new prevention options, including a vaccine, are needed to get ahead of the infection and end AIDS forever.

HIV Vaccine: Challenging but Possible

Vaccines are among the greatest success stories of public health.

They save millions of lives and help 42 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

CUTTING EDGE

HIV Vaccine – modelling studies suggest ♦♦ An HIV vaccine with 50 % efficacy, given to just 30% of the population would prevent 56 lakh new infection by 2030 ♦♦ A 70% effective vaccine administered to 40% of the population would avert 98 lakh new infections ♦♦ A 90% effective vaccine with 40% coverage would prevent 1.2 crore new infections by 2030

Why an AIDS Vaccine

♦♦ Vaccines have been human kinds most cost effective public health tools, eradicating debilitating diseases like smallpox; controlling many other serious infectious diseases still very frequent and much feared only a few decades ago (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, rubella) ♦♦ Annual investment in existing HIV treatment and prevention falls short (US$3-5 billion) of the amount needed (US$22-24 billion) for full scale-up of existing options (UNAIDS, 2013) ♦♦ An AIDS vaccine would be expected to reduce the long-term cost burden of treating HIV/AIDS and its consequences ♦♦ Vulnerable and stigmatized populations - women, MSM (men who have sex with men), FSW (female sex workers), IDU (intravenous drug users), mobile communities and people in remote areas, face a 5-20 times higher risk of contracting HIV and also have less access to treatment and prevention

avert untold suffering. No infectious disease has been effectively controlled without a vaccine, and AIDS will be no exception. But developing these lifesaving tools takes time and resources.

HIV is a challenging foe that transforms much faster than the flu virus (for which we need a new vaccine annually) and targets body’s own defense system.

However, enormous progress has been made, especially during the past few years that suggest research for a vaccine is headed in the right direction.

In 2009, for example, a vaccine candidate study showed a 30 percent reduced risk of HIV infection, proving that a vaccine to protect against the virus is possible. Closer home, recently researchers at the HIV Vaccine Translational Research Laboratory (HVTR) in Delhi—a joint venture between IAVI and the Government of India’s Translational Health Science and Technology Institute—played a vital role in finding important clues that will pave way for breakthrough discovery of new antibodies (proteins present and produced in our body in response to unwanted intruders like viruses etc., that make and strengthen our immunity) that block infection and aid in effective HIV vaccine design and development.

With such clues at hand, scientists from India and around the world are passionately working to develop vaccine candidates to harness this potential. We can’t afford to slow down promising and research, when scientists are closing in on this elusive target. After more than 25 years of research, the question is no longer ‘if’ we will have an effective vaccine but rather ‘when’ and with sustained dedication, perseveranceand financial supportfrom India and beyond, an end to AIDS will be a reality.

Photo Credit: Gagandeep, IAVI To learn more about IAVI’s work and how to support our mission please visit

www.iavi.org

www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

43

EVENTS

November Events Indian Economic Summit Nov 4-6, Taj Palace Hotel New Delhi ConMac 2014 Nov 6-8, Assam Trade Promotion Organization, Guwahati India Nuclear Energy Nov 6-8, Nehru Centre, Mumbai Industrial Expo 2014 Nov 6-9, Haridwar- Delhi Bypass Road, Uttarakhand World DevOps Summit Nov 7, Hotel Atria, Bangalore International Industrial Expo Nov 7-9, Kisan Bhawan Chandigarh Secure India 2014 Nov 12-14, Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai World Disaster Management Nov 12-15, International Trade Exposition, Hyderabad Water Use Efficiency Nov 14, India Habitat centre New Delhi India US Technology Summit Nov 18-19, India Expo Mart Greater Noida Intersolar India 2014 Nov 18-20, Bombay Exhibition Center, Mumbai SUMINFRA 2014 Nov 21-22, Andhra Pradesh Clean India Nov 27-29, Gujrat University Convention & Exhibition Center Ahmedabad

44 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

‘Security paramount in cities’ NEW DELHI: Better policing is essential for every city to ensure safety to its citizens and pointing on the need for optimum technological surveillance is the need of the hour, Commissioner Delhi Police, BS Bassi, said.

Speaking at the 6th edition of Secure Cities 2014 Conference in New Delhi, Bassi said, ‘‘Certain processes that are needed to be involved for better policing remain elusive. While more kinds of hardware applications are available, it is the software aspect that is lacking.” Secure Cities 2014, hosted by Security Watch India, binds together every year the foremost security experts from the government and private sectors.

Muktesh Chander, IPS, Special Commissioner

Police, Delhi while addressing the gap between technology and manpower expressed, “There is requirement for more number of technical manpower in police for effective implementation of technology in police forces.” The country has taken aid from many technologically advanced countries for better policing safety equipments, and one such country is the United Kingdom.

Chief Supt (retd) Richard Freeman, UKTI DSO Police and Security Advisor said: “UK government stands ready to support India in bringing technologies to secure Indian society better. UK has faced significant number of terror attacks.” UK export of security equipment to India last year was 185 million pounds.

Solutions for sustainable development in tech fest NEW DELHI: To keep pace with the changing responsible water, waste and pollution strategies, a three-day fest was organised at Pragati Maidan, Delhi to exhibit advanced solutions for sustainable development of industries and cities. Several products such as advance liners for land fill, composters, durable water tanks, toxic analyzer, water treatment solutions, advanced air filters, etc were exhibited. A varied range of issues including waste water management, renewable energy solutions, pollution related concerns, solid waste management and recycling were among the key issues deliberated upon during the fest. Praveen Saxena, Advisor, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said, “Solar energy is a simple technology compared to other renewable energy. It is quick to develop within six weeks we can install it, while for thermal and hydro it takes few years to install. The renewable energy will see a sea change in coming years.”

‘Citizen participation necessary for Smart City’ NEW DELHI: Urban planners, academia and policy makers participated in the four-day 37th Skoch Summit ‘Minimum Governance, Maximum Government’—in which a varied ranged of subjects ranging from Land, Urban Strategy and Smart Cities’, ‘Social Inclusion’, ‘Digital India’, ‘India 2.0’ and ‘Jan-Dhan’ were deliberated upon. Several representatives of the government agencies, politicians, civil society organizations and corporate industry took part in the sum-

mit to find solutions for the emerging challenges of the country. Aruna Maira, former member of Planning Commission of India, said that citizen participation is essential for success of smart city project. “Unless people are attached with a city emotionally they would not engage in the process of its development,” he added.

The foundation awarded 50 municipal corporations for their out of the ordinary initiatives to improve civic infrastructure and services.

EVENTS

Global mayors pledge to combat climate change With the world seeing the wrath of climate change through flash floods, earthquake, tsunami without warnings, melting of ice glaciers, mayors globally have initiated efforts to fight it through a Compact Team Urban Update

NEW YORK: To help cities across the world fight the immediate impacts of climate change, a Compact, which will demonstrate the global cities’ commitment via more aggressive, transparent climate targets, was launched at the UN SecretaryGeneral’s Climate Summit.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael Bloomberg announced the global Compact of Mayors as the world’s largest effort for cities to fight climate change.

“Today, by taking on the same rigorous, transparent approach to measuring and managing their climate action plans as nations, cities are demonstrating their determination to lead on this critical issue,” Bloomberg said. The Compact is seen as an enabler for cities to publically commit to deep GHG emissions reductions; make existing targets and plans public; and report on their progress annually, using a newly-standardized measurement system that is compatible with international practices. Through this effort, cities will be choosing to meet the same requirements proposed for the international climate negotiations

that will lead to a global climate treaty in 2015.

The key partners of the Compact of Mayors are the world’s preeminent global city networks, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) with support from the UN’s lead agency on urban issues UNHabitat. New research by the parties to the compact, along with research partner Arup, indicates that existing city commitments alone could reduce annual emissions by 454 Megatons CO2e in 2020 -- a total of 13 Gigatons CO2e by 2050.

“Cities are economic and population hubs, making them critical actors in the fight against climate change,” said Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Councillor Mpho Parks Tau, a member of C40’s Steering Committee.

The Compact will help regions, nations and financial institutions to understand the potential impact of local climate actions, where they can offer support such as funding the mass transit systems or energy-efficiency measures. Under the Compact, local emissions data will be collected through existing city platforms,

including partner platform CDP Cities, and will be made publically available through ICLEI’s platform, the carbon Climate Registry.

The Compact also supports a new consistent method for collecting and publishing city-level greenhouse gas data – the Global Protocol on Community-scale GHG Emissions (GPC). Cities reporting through the Compact will be using the GPC to ensure the consistency, credibility and quality of their local emissions data.

“For climate action by cities to truly count, cities need to move ever closer to coordinate on matters such as the reporting of GHG emissions. The Compact of Mayors represents an important step forward in building consensus among cities on how to achieve this,” Dr. Joan Clos, UNHabitat Executive Director.

The gathering of 120 world leaders – the first such meeting on climate change in five years – resulted in a day of impassioned speeches and hoped a powerful symbol of unity among the world’s cities through the Compact. It will encourage nations to recognise local commitments; establish better policies; and direct resources to cities to limit any further increase in global warming.

“Cities are drivers of progress and innovation, and by taking this step, they can help nations set new, necessary, and aggressive GHG targets over the next year” Michael R Bloomberg UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change www.urbanupdate.in | October 2014

45

URBAN AGENDA

Behavioural change required Apresh Chandra Mishra Managing Editor apresh@urbanupdate.in

There is an urgent need to focus on the issue from different stakeholders’ viewpoints–as a planner, as an executor, and finally as citizens as the end beneficiaries 46 October 2014 | www.urbanupdate.in

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ndia virtually has no road left that is not choked with traffic.

Rise of the urban middle class with exponential rise in car ownership, cities going vertical, and insufficient infrastructure are some of the factors adding to urban traffic chaos.

In fact, lack of policy has been the prime culprit that precipitated traffic nuisance in the country. While we tried to maintain the pace of economic growth, we neglected livability in the cities. We did not integrate transport in urban planning. We failed to foresee the pace and volume of urban transport demand. We went on promoting car sales for the sake of boosting economy but neglected the transport infrastructure.

As the country grapples with the urban transport challenges, there is an urgent need to focus on the issue from different stakeholders’ viewpoints–as a planner, as an executor, and finally as citizens as the end beneficiaries.

Starting with the citizens, it is a general tendency to flaunt car ownership as a status symbol, though both money and time are best utilised in public transport. There seems a need to

educate citizens that they have a right to mobility but at the same time, they have accountability towards the city.

There is also a need to treat public transport as a public service similar to water or electricity. Therefore, consistency and efficiency in urban mobility is required. Commuters, particularly the young, should be given greater say in decision-making and evaluating efficiency of the infrastructure related projects and programmes.

Capacity building of employees at the local and regional government level is the need of the hour. A detailed planning for attracting investment and supporting demonstration cities could be two ways of augmenting local capacity. There is a need to decentralise the decision-making power, hitherto confined to state transport departments, and engage local authorities.

Similarly, there are distinct challenges in implementing a national vision and policy for urban transportation, as there are huge variations in the capacity, size and support associated with individual cities. The government needs to develop multilevel mechanism for implementation too.

MUMBAI METROPOLITAN REGION DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Transforming Mumbai Into A World Class City

MMRDA EASES

Mobility

PROJECTS THAT PROVIDE RELIEF FROM TRAFFIC WOES Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro Corridor – 11.4 km – 2,356 crore ♦♦ Journey time reduced from 70 minutes to 20 minutes ♦♦ Has provided East-West connectivity ♦♦ 4-coach Metro carries 1,178 commuters ♦♦ MMRDA intends to develop a 150-km Metro network Chembur-Wadala-Gadge Maharaj Chowk Mono Corridor – 20 km – 2,460 crore ♦♦ 9-km Chembur to Wadala corridor successfully launched ♦♦ Journey time reduced from 50 minutes to 20 minutes ♦♦ 4-coach Mono carries 600 commuters ♦♦ The second phase from Wadala to Gadge Maharaj Chowk will be completed next year

Roads completed under MUTP Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, Santacruz-Chembur Link Road Roads completed under MUIP Eastern Express Highway, Western Express Highway, Swami Vivekanand Marg, Lal Bahadur shastri Marg, Main Link Road, Andheri-Kurla Link Road (Saki Naka to Kurla), Sahar Elevated Road, N.S.Phadke Marg, SakiVihar Road, Marol-Maroshi Road, Mahakali Caves Road, B.D.Sawant Road (Dhaku Road), Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (Extended), Sion-Dharavi Road Flyovers completed under MUIP Dahisar ROB, Thakur Complex, Times of India, Dindoshi, Santacruz airport, Barfiwala Lane, Suman Nagar, Navghar, Sion Hospital, King’s Circle, Hindamata, Lalbaug, Milan ROB, Amar Junction Flyovers completed under Extended MUIP Waghbil, Manpada, Patlipada, Panvel, Kapurbawdi-2

Eastern Freeway – 16.4 km – 1,464 crore ♦♦ The Freeway connects Southern Mumbai with Eastern suburbs ♦♦ Runs from Orange Gate to GhatkoparMankhurd Link Road ♦♦ Journey time reduced from 90 minutes to 25 minutes ♦♦ The Freeway has been providing quicker connectivity to Thane, Nasik, Pune, Goa sahar Elevated Road – 2 km – 400 crore ♦♦ The Elevated Road is a boon for International Commuters ♦♦ From WEH to International Airport within five minutes ♦♦ The signal-free road provides 3 lanes for up and down traffic ♦♦ The beautiful Palm trees and shrubs offers enjoyable driving experience