Mysuru: Smart Cites will help in developing multi sectors and also create job opportunities. The smart cities are also a boon for poor and uneducated class said Institute of Town Planners, India (ITPI) New Delhi President A N Sachidanandan, here on Friday.
After inaugurating a national workshop on ‘Making Indian Cities Smart’ organized by University of Mysore (UoM) School of designs at B N Bahadur Institute of Management Sciences (BIMS), he said the smart cities not only favors high class people but also for poor and uneducated class. Any benefits have to trigger down and it should be spread across the citizens irrespective of class, he added.
The conference aimed towards attracting attention of central government which has even allocated substantial funds for the development of 100 smart cities throughout the country. It is proposed by government that smart cities could be built as new cities or they could be retrofitted said, Krishne Gowda, organizing secretary of the conference.
However, if the smart city mission has to be effectively, efficiently and equitably implemented, policy makers and planners will have to work on a number of issues. First, which 100 cities out of nearly 8,000 urban settlements in India should be selected as candidates for the smart city mission. Only a well-crafted approach and definitive criteria will do, said Gowda.
Apart from this location problem, planners and policy makers will also have to determine clearly in which states new smart cities will be developed, and which cities will be selected for retrofitting. This appears to be a technical problem, which would require technical rather than political solutions.
Earlier in the day, Director of Department of Town and Country Planning of Karnataka S B Honnur was felicitated for his contribution towards planning milestone projects in the state.
University of Mysore is all set to establish School of Planning and Architecture in its premises. The UoM will also start a bachelor’s degree in Planning, said UoM VC K S Rangappa. The structures will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and will be developed at cost of Rs 25 crore, said the VC.
