A lot of people tout Smart City as a perfect cost-effective solution to the negative consequence of rapid urbanisation. When we examine its advantages and disadvantages, we will realise that it offers a far better solution to our urban problems than any other alternatives.
Of course there is no rigid pattern how a Smart City should be developed or operated. It has to be tailored to mesh with local situation.
There is no dispute that Smart City will enhance quality of living and offer cost-effective solutions in running the local government institutions and their delivery services. It will address the requirements of residents quickly and effectively. Implementing Smart City solutions will require flexibility in its planning and implementing strategies.
If we make a check-list about what are Smart City requirements, we would realise that the most important will be uninterrupted power and water supplies. Following this will be issues connected withy people’s mobility and ease of transportation.
Depending on geographical location, Smart City should provide intelligent transport. This would help reduce environmental pollution to a great degree.
The priority in developing a smart public transport system should take into consideration two important points: commuting within the city and addressing issues related to connectivity with other cities, towns, and villages.
The basic concept of Smart City envisages availability of services within walking distances. How this can be achieved is a challenge that Smart City planners will have to grapple with. For this a ‘commuting model’ has to be developed according to the geographic and locational parameters.
As an expert said the efficiency that Smart City offers will depend on the progress that development initiatives have achieved. Progress of a city will be known ‘not by the number of private vehicles run by individuals in the city, but by the number of individuals using public transport services’.
Smart City should aim at development of 24×7 transport facilities to every spots within the city map and thereby creating appropriate traffic control-light systems, bus stands and terminals, solar-powered lighting on public roads, emergency phone-booth and medical care spots on the routes, waste disposal bins and toilets on the routes,
Smart City planners should consider how best citizens can be facilitated with drop-in and drop-out points where they can have access to modern livelihood services such as hospitals, schools, educational institutions, government offices and markets.
To achieve such an objective, the government should plan modern road infrastructure connecting village/towns, so that people can at least commute to the city for their daily needs.
We should try to use available resources in a more effective and efficient way by streamline existing service delivery systems, and then create more efficient systems.
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