Smart city | ICSE Class 9 Economics Notes

This note covers what a smart city is, why Indian cities need to become smarter, how urbanisation is defined and measured, the trends in India's urban population, the core features of a smart city, how the Smart Cities Mission is organised, and how smart-city development can affect infrastructure, employment, poverty, human resources and industry. It includes worked examples with urban data and ends with a case study of Pune.

What is a smart city?

A smart city is a city that provides core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to its citizens. It also applies smart solutions to its infrastructure and services in order to make them better.

The Smart Cities Mission is a programme of the Government of India, launched in June 2015. Its objective is to promote cities of this kind.

Definition: Smart city. A city that provides core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to its citizens, and that applies smart solutions to its infrastructure and services to make them better.

What are core infrastructure and smart solutions?

Core infrastructure means the basic facilities a city needs to function, such as water supply, electricity, sanitation and transport. Smart solutions are improved ways of providing these facilities and other services.

Examples of what smart solutions can do include:

• making areas less vulnerable to disasters;
• using fewer resources;
• providing cheaper services.

Each example answers a familiar city problem. An area that is vulnerable to disasters puts its residents at risk. A service that uses many resources costs more to run. A costly service can be out of reach for poorer households.

Why does the idea focus on compact areas?

The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development. The idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model that other cities can copy, and let it act like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.

A lighthouse guides ships. In the same way, a successful smart area is meant to show other cities what is possible, so that the lesson spreads beyond one neighbourhood.

• Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Inclusive development is development whose benefits reach all sections of society, including poorer people.

Why do Indian cities need to become smarter?

How are cities and villages linked?

Human settlements range from a hamlet to a metropolitan city. Rural settlements draw their basic economic needs from land-based primary activities. Urban settlements depend on processing raw materials, manufacturing finished goods and a variety of services.

Cities act as nodes of economic growth, which means central points around which activity gathers. They provide goods and services to urban dwellers and also to people in rural settlements in their hinterlands, the areas around a city that it serves, in return for food and raw materials. This exchange works through transport and communication networks.

What pressures come with fast urban growth?

Urban population grows through natural increase, net in-migration and, sometimes, reclassification of areas that were formerly rural. Rural-urban migration has many causes, including high demand for labour in urban areas, low job opportunities in rural areas and an unbalanced pattern of development between rural and urban areas.

Because opportunities in smaller and medium cities are low, poor people generally bypass them and go directly to the mega cities for their livelihood.

Urban areas are generally marked by overcrowding, congestion, inadequate facilities for the fast-growing population, and consequent poor sanitary conditions and foul air.

Waste is one visible sign. In metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru, about 90 per cent of solid waste is collected and disposed of. In most other cities and towns, about 30 to 50 per cent of the waste generated is left uncollected.

Uncollected waste accumulates on streets, in open spaces between houses and in wastelands, and leads to serious health hazards.

Are all parts of a city equally well served?

No. Urban centres in India are more differentiated in indicators of development than any other areas. At the top end are high-income localities with wide roads, streetlights, water and sanitation facilities, parks and green belts.

At the other extreme are slums and clusters of shanty structures. They are inhabited by people who were forced to migrate from rural areas in search of livelihood but could not afford proper housing because of high rent and high costs of land.

Is a growing city the same as a developing city?

Growth is a quantitative change that may be positive or negative. Development is a qualitative change that is always positive. Positive growth does not always lead to development. Development occurs when there is a positive change in quality.

Take a city whose population grows from one lakh to two lakhs (1 lakh = 1,00,000). If housing, basic services and other characteristics stay the same, the city has grown, but the growth has not been accompanied by development.

A smart city aims at development in this sense: better quality of life, not only more people.

How is the level of urbanisation measured?

Urbanisation is the growth of urban settlements and of the share of people living in them. Its level is measured as the percentage of urban population to total population.

Definition: Level of urbanisation. The percentage of the urban population to the total population of a country or region.

Level of urbanisation = (Urban population ÷ Total population) × 100

Here urban population means the people living in urban settlements, and total population means all the people, urban and rural together. The answer is a percentage.

Rural share = 100 − Level of urbanisation

This works because every person is counted as either urban or rural. The two shares add up to 100 per cent.

What counts as an urban settlement?

Unlike rural settlements, urban settlements are generally compact and larger in size. They are engaged in a variety of non-agricultural, economic and administrative functions.

The Census of India, 1991 defined urban settlements as all places that have a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee (bodies that administer a town), and all other places that have:

• a minimum population of 5,000 persons;
• at least 75 per cent of male workers engaged in non-agriculture pursuits;
• a density of population of at least 400 persons per square kilometre.

How are towns grouped by function?

Some towns and cities specialise in certain functions. Towns can be broadly classed by their dominant function, for example as administrative, industrial, transport, commercial, mining, educational, religious and cultural, or tourist towns. However, each town performs a number of functions.

The cities are not static in their function. Even specialised cities, as they grow into metropolises, become multifunctional, so that industry, business, administration and transport all become important.

What do the trends of urbanisation in India show?

The table below gives India's urban data from 1901 to 2011. UAs are urban agglomerations, that is, a town together with its adjoining urban outgrowths. Urban population is in thousands, and decennial means over ten years.

Table: Trends of urbanisation in India, 1901 to 2011

*The 2011 figures are provisional (Census 2011).

What does the table tell us?

The level of urbanisation in India in 2011 was 31.16 per cent, which is quite low in comparison to developed countries. Total urban population increased eleven-fold during the twentieth century.

The enlargement of urban centres and the emergence of new towns played a significant role in the growth of urban population and urbanisation. But the growth rate of urbanisation has slowed down during the last two decades.

The table shows decennial growth of 36.47 per cent in 1991, 31.13 per cent in 2001 and 31.08 per cent in 2011. The 2011 value is the printed figure for the provisional data; working it out from the printed populations, (3,77,000 − 2,85,355) ÷ 2,85,355 × 100, gives about 32.12 per cent.

Draw a line graph with census years on the horizontal axis and per cent of total population on the vertical axis (0 to 35). Plot the twelve values in the table, from 10.84 in 1901 to 31.16 in 2011, and join the points. The line dips slightly between 1901 and 1911 (10.84 to 10.29) and then rises at every later census.

Draw a bar graph with the eleven census years from 1911 to 2011 on the horizontal axis and decennial growth in per cent on the vertical axis (0 to 50). The tallest bar is 46.14 for 1981 and the shortest is 0.35 for 1911. After 1981 the bars fall to 36.47 in 1991, 31.13 in 2001 and 31.08 in 2011.

How did new towns come up?

After independence, a large number of towns were developed as administrative headquarters, for example Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar and Dispur. Others were developed as industrial centres, such as Durgapur, Bhilai, Sindri and Barauni.

Some old towns developed as satellite towns around metropolitan cities, for example Ghaziabad, Rohtak and Gurugram around Delhi.

How do we calculate with urban data?

Four more formulas help to read the table. Each uses only numbers from the table.

Increase in urban population = Later-year urban population − Earlier-year urban population

Decennial growth rate = (Increase in urban population ÷ Earlier-year urban population) × 100

Average town size = Urban population ÷ Number of towns and UAs

Times increase = Later-year value ÷ Earlier-year value

Times increase tells how many times larger the later value is than the earlier value.

Worked example 1: the rural share in 2011. The table gives the level of urbanisation in 2011 as 31.16 per cent. Every person is counted as either urban or rural. Find the rural share of the population.

Formula: Rural share = 100 − Level of urbanisation.

Substitute: Rural share = 100 − 31.16.

Answer: 68.84 per cent. This is close to the figure of approximately 69 per cent given for the rural population in 2011.

Worked example 2: decennial growth from 1991 to 2001. The urban population was 2,17,611 thousand in 1991 and 2,85,355 thousand in 2001. Find the increase and the decennial growth rate.

Formula: Increase = 2001 value − 1991 value, and Decennial growth rate = (Increase ÷ 1991 value) × 100.

Substitute: Increase = 2,85,355 − 2,17,611 = 67,744 thousand. Growth rate = (67,744 ÷ 2,17,611) × 100.

Answer: 31.13 per cent, which matches the value of 31.13 given in the table for 2001.

Worked example 3: average town size in 2001 and 2011. In 2001 there were 5,161 towns/UAs with an urban population of 2,85,355 thousand. In 2011 there were 6,171 towns/UAs with an urban population of 3,77,000 thousand. Find the increase in the number of towns/UAs and the average town size in each year.

Formula: Average town size = Urban population ÷ Number of towns and UAs.

Substitute: Increase in number = 6,171 − 5,161 = 1,010. Average size in 2001 = 2,85,355 ÷ 5,161. Average size in 2011 = 3,77,000 ÷ 6,171.

Answer: The number of towns/UAs rose by 1,010. The average size rose from 55.29 thousand persons in 2001 to 61.09 thousand persons in 2011, a rise of about 5.80 thousand persons per town on average.

Worked example 4: towns and population from 1901 to 2001. In 1901 there were 1,827 towns/UAs and an urban population of 25,851.9 thousand. In 2001 there were 5,161 towns/UAs and an urban population of 2,85,355 thousand. Compare how many times each has risen.

Formula: Times increase = Later-year value ÷ Earlier-year value.

Substitute: Towns/UAs = 5,161 ÷ 1,827. Urban population = 2,85,355 ÷ 25,851.9.

Answer: The number of towns/UAs rose 2.82 times and the urban population rose 11.04 times, which is the eleven-fold increase. The population rose about 3.9 times as much as the number of towns, so the average town became larger.

Average town size is only an average. It mixes small and large towns, and it suggests, but does not prove, rising pressure on each town's infrastructure.

What are the core features of a smart city?

The Smart Cities Mission names ten core infrastructure elements that a smart city should have. The table pairs each element with a related fact about Indian cities.

Three terms in the table need explaining. IT is information technology. CNG is compressed natural gas, used as a vehicle fuel. E-governance is the use of electronic and Internet-based means in governing and in delivering public services.

Table: Core infrastructure elements of a smart city and related facts

Draw a circle labelled "Smart city" at the centre. Around it draw ten spokes, one for each element in the table, each ending in a small box with the element's name.

How does the Smart Cities Mission work?

How were the cities chosen?

The Mission was launched in June 2015 and aimed to develop 100 cities. A city that wished to join prepared a Smart City Proposal and competed for selection. The first 20 cities were announced in January 2016.

What is area-based development?

In area-based development, a city picks a compact area (or areas) for focused work. This fits the aim of a compact area that becomes a replicable model. There are three ways of doing it.

Table: Three models of area-based development

What is a pan-city initiative?

A pan-city initiative applies selected smart solutions across the existing infrastructure of a whole city, often using ICT, which stands for information and communication technology. The Mission therefore combines focused work in one area with improvements that cover the whole city.

Who runs the projects?

Each selected city set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV), a company formed to plan, carry out and manage its smart city projects.

Many cities also set up an integrated command and control centre (ICCC), a central room where information from many city services can be watched and acted on.

Draw boxes joined by arrows: Mission launched in 2015, then cities prepare a Smart City Proposal, then cities are chosen by competition, then SPV. From the SPV draw two arrows, one to area-based development (retrofitting, redevelopment, greenfield) and one to pan-city initiatives. Draw a last arrow from both to the control centre.

How does a smart city develop its infrastructure?

Infrastructure development is the first of the five heads that a smart city case study looks at. It covers the physical systems on which daily life and industry depend.

How do transport systems change a city?

City roads suffer from chronic traffic congestion. Metro rail has revolutionised the urban transport system in India. Replacing diesel buses with CNG-run vehicles, together with the introduction of the metro, is a welcome step towards controlling air pollution in urban centres.

Indian Railways is divided into 17 zones, and the Metro Railway, with its headquarters at Kolkata, is one of them.

The Bharatmala Pariyojana, a national road programme, focuses on ring roads, bypasses and elevated corridors to decongest the traffic passing through cities.

How does digital connectivity help?

The Internet expands the economic and social space of people through e-mail, e-commerce, e-learning and e-governance. Digital India is an umbrella programme to prepare India for a knowledge-based transformation.

How do water, waste and housing fit in?

Solid waste should be treated as a resource and used to generate energy and compost. Untreated wastes ferment slowly and release toxic biogas, including methane, into the atmosphere.

The Swachh Bharat Mission is part of the urban renewal mission launched by the Government of India to improve the quality of life in urban slums.

Slum areas lack basic amenities such as drinking water, light and toilet facilities. Core infrastructure for the poor therefore starts with these basics.

Note: A list of projects shows what has been planned or built. Whether quality of life has improved has to be judged from how well the services work for the people who use them.

How can a smart city help reduce unemployment?

Reduction of unemployment is the second head. To see how it can happen, start with the kinds of joblessness that exist.

What is underemployment?

Underemployment occurs when people are apparently working but are all made to work less than their potential. It is hidden, unlike the joblessness of someone with no job who is clearly visible as unemployed, so it is also called disguised unemployment.

It can also happen in cities. There are thousands of casual workers in the urban service sector who search for daily employment, such as painters, plumbers and repair persons. Many of them do not find work every day.

How can employment be created?

In a farming example, if the government invests in transportation and storage of crops or in better rural roads, the activity can provide productive employment to farmers and also to others in services like transport or trade. The same logic can apply to a city's public facilities.

If more children are to attend school, more buildings, teachers and other staff are needed. A study by the erstwhile Planning Commission, now known as NITI Aayog, estimates that nearly 20 lakh jobs can be created in the education sector alone.

Improving health similarly needs many more doctors, nurses and health workers, for example to work in rural areas.

The electronics industry covers a wide range of products, and a major impact of this industry has been on employment generation.

What does this mean for a smart city?

A smart city plan builds and runs infrastructure, public transport, schools and health facilities. These tasks need workers, so such a plan can create jobs. Better connectivity and services can also help industry, which employs people.

There is also a caution. Technological unemployment is unemployment caused when new technology replaces workers. Some routine tasks may be affected where technology is adopted.

Note: A project list does not prove that unemployment has fallen. A city needs figures, such as the number of people seeking work before and after the projects, to show that.

How can a smart city help reduce poverty?

Poverty alleviation is the third head. It means reducing poverty and improving the lives of poorer people. Smart cities are meant to pursue inclusive development, so this head matters directly.

What do slums show about urban poverty?

Slums are residential areas of the least choice, with dilapidated houses, poor hygienic conditions, poor ventilation and a lack of basic amenities such as drinking water, light and toilet facilities.

Open defecation, an unregulated drainage system and overcrowded narrow street patterns are serious health and socio-environmental hazards.

Most of the slum population works in low-paid, high risk-prone, unorganised sectors of the urban economy. The unorganised sector is characterised by small and scattered units that are largely outside the control of the government, and its jobs are low-paid and often not regular.

As a result, slum dwellers are undernourished, prone to different types of diseases and illness, and cannot afford to give proper education to their children. The poverty makes them vulnerable to problems such as drug abuse and alcoholism, and ultimately to social exclusion.

How do jobs and skills change a family's position?

A case describes Ramesh, who moved from his village to find work. He worked in a woollen factory in Ludhiana for six months at only 20 rupees (Rs. 20) per day in 1988. He then learnt welding in Surat and now works on construction sites as a contract welder.

He remits, that is sends home, Rs. 20,000 per year to his father in his village. The money is used for daily consumption, healthcare and schooling of children, and the standard of living of his family has improved significantly.

Worked example 5: Ramesh's remittance per month. Ramesh remits Rs. 20,000 per year to his father. Find the average remittance per month.

Formula: Monthly remittance = Annual remittance ÷ 12.

Substitute: Monthly remittance = 20,000 ÷ 12.

Answer: about Rs. 1,667 per month.

What can a smart city do for poorer households?

Several core elements target the conditions of poorer people: affordable housing, especially for the poor, adequate water, electricity, sanitation, public transport, and health and education.

The same case also shows a limit. Ramesh's job is temporary and transferable, so he cannot shift his family with him.

How can a smart city develop its human resources?

Human resource (HR) development is the fourth head. It means building the knowledge, skills, health and capabilities of people so that they can work well and live well.

What is human development?

Human development enlarges people's choices and improves their lives. Leading a long and healthy life, being able to gain knowledge and having enough means to live a decent life are its most important aspects. Access to resources, health and education are therefore the key areas.

Building people's capabilities in these areas enlarges their choices. For example, an uneducated child cannot make the choice to be a doctor, because lack of education has limited her choice.

What are the four pillars of human development?

• Equity is making equal access to opportunities available to everybody.
• Sustainability is continuity in the availability of opportunities, so that each generation has the same opportunities.
• Productivity is human labour productivity, which must be enriched by building capabilities in people.
• Empowerment is having the power to make choices, which comes from increasing freedom and capability.

How can a smart city support skills, health and education?

Health and education are two of the ten core elements. Efforts to increase people's knowledge or to provide better health facilities ultimately lead to better work efficiency.

In India about 60 per cent of the population belongs to the age group 5 to 29 years, and only about 51 per cent of them are attending educational institutions. The rest, particularly those aged less than 18 years, may be at home or working as child labourers.

Ramesh's case points to the value of skills. He learnt welding in Surat and has since worked as a contract welder, and his family's standard of living has improved significantly.

How can a smart city support industrial development?

Industrial development is the fifth head. Cities are centres of manufacturing and services, so industry and urban infrastructure depend on each other.

How are industries and cities linked?

Towns based on modern industries evolved after 1850, and Jamshedpur can be cited as an example. After independence, industrial centres such as Durgapur, Bhilai, Sindri and Barauni were developed.

Several urban regions, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Jaipur, have a high concentration of population due to industrial development and urbanisation, which draws large numbers of rural-urban migrants.

The automobile industry is located around Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur and Bengaluru. The major concentration of the electronics industry is at Bengaluru, Noida, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

What do industries need from a city?

Industries need infrastructure. For example, cement needs coal and electric power apart from rail transportation. In the same way, a smart city's power, transport and connectivity can serve industry.

What are the environmental costs?

Concentration of industrial units in and around urban centres gives rise to disposal of industrial wastes. River pollution from city-based industries and untreated sewage leads to serious health problems downstream. Industry is the most significant contributor to water pollution among human activities.

So industrial development has to be matched with a clean and sustainable environment, which is part of the idea of a smart city. Sustainable development takes care of ecological, social and economic aspects.

What does the case of Pune show?

Pune is a city in Maharashtra and one of the 100 cities of the Smart Cities Mission. It was among the first 20 cities announced in January 2016. Its special purpose vehicle is Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited.

The area-based part of its plan covers Aundh, Baner and Balewadi. The table separates what is on record about Pune's economy from what a smart-city plan aims to add under each of the five heads.

Table: The five heads of development and the case of Pune

How should a case study be written?

State each head in turn. Give the facts on record for the city, link them to the relevant core element, and describe what the plan aims to add.

Be careful about results. A project list shows what has been planned or built. A fall in unemployment or poverty needs figures for the city before and after, so it should be described as a goal or a possibility unless such figures are available.

Glossary

• Smart city — a city that provides core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life, and uses smart solutions to improve its infrastructure and services.
• Smart solutions — improved ways of providing infrastructure and services, for example making areas less vulnerable to disasters, using fewer resources or providing cheaper services.
• Core infrastructure — the basic facilities a city needs to function, such as water supply, electricity, sanitation and transport.
• Urbanisation — the growth of urban settlements, measured by the percentage of urban population to total population.
• Hinterland — the area around a city that it serves with goods and services, in return for food and raw materials.
• Area-based development — focused work on a compact area (or areas) of a city, by retrofitting, redevelopment or greenfield development.
• Pan-city initiative — the application of selected smart solutions across the existing infrastructure of a whole city, often using information and communication technology.
• Special purpose vehicle — a company formed to plan, carry out and manage the smart city projects of a selected city.
• Sustainable development — development that meets the needs of the present without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Inclusive development — development whose benefits reach all sections of society, including poorer people.
• Underemployment — a situation in which people are apparently working but are all made to work less than their potential; also called disguised unemployment.
• Human development — development that enlarges people's choices and improves their lives, with access to resources, health and education as its key areas.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: A smart city is simply a city full of gadgets and screens. Correct: The idea is to provide core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life, and then to apply smart solutions to make infrastructure and services better.
• Misconception: The Mission rebuilds a whole big city at once. Correct: The idea is to look at compact areas and create a replicable model that acts like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.
• Misconception: If a city's population doubles, it has developed. Correct: That is growth. Development needs a positive change in quality, and a city whose housing and basic services stay the same has grown without developing.
• Misconception: India's urbanisation level must be high because the urban population rose eleven-fold. Correct: The level was 31.16 per cent in 2011, which is quite low in comparison to developed countries.
• Misconception: The growth rate of urbanisation keeps rising every decade. Correct: The growth rate of urbanisation has slowed down during the last two decades, with decennial growth of 36.47, 31.13 and 31.08 per cent for 1991, 2001 and 2011.
• Misconception: All parts of an Indian city have the same facilities. Correct: Urban centres are differentiated, from high-income localities with wide roads and parks to slums that lack drinking water, light and toilets.
• Misconception: Underemployment means having no job. Correct: It means people are apparently working but are all made to work less than their potential, so it is also called disguised unemployment.
• Misconception: A long list of projects proves that unemployment and poverty have fallen. Correct: Projects show what was planned or built; a fall in unemployment or poverty has to be shown with figures for the city.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Define a smart city and name one thing that smart solutions can do for it. [2 marks]

1. A smart city is a city that provides core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to its citizens.
2. It applies smart solutions to infrastructure and services to make them better, for example by making areas less vulnerable to disasters.

Q2. State two reasons why the Smart Cities Mission focuses on compact areas. [2 marks]

1. A compact area can be used to create a replicable model, which is a model that other cities can copy.
2. A successful compact area acts like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities, showing them what sustainable and inclusive development can look like.

Q3. India's urban population was 2,17,611 thousand in 1991 and 2,85,355 thousand in 2001. Decennial means over ten years, and the decennial growth rate is the increase divided by the earlier-year figure, multiplied by 100. Find the increase and the decennial growth rate. [3 marks]

1. Increase in urban population = later-year value − earlier-year value = 2,85,355 − 2,17,611 = 67,744 thousand.
2. Decennial growth rate = (67,744 ÷ 2,17,611) × 100, where 2,17,611 thousand is the earlier-year value.
3. The growth rate is 31.13 per cent, correct to two decimal places.

Q4. A city's population grows from one lakh to two lakhs, but its housing, basic services and other characteristics stay the same. Has the city developed? Explain. [3 marks]

1. The city has grown, because growth is a quantitative change and its population has doubled.
2. Development is a qualitative change, and it occurs only when there is a positive change in quality.
3. Because housing and basic services have not improved, the growth has not been accompanied by development.

Q5. Name any four core infrastructure elements of a smart city and give one related fact about Indian cities for each. [4 marks]

1. Adequate water supply: slums lack basic amenities such as drinking water.
2. Sanitation, including solid waste management: in most cities and towns outside the big metropolitan cities, about 30 to 50 per cent of waste is left uncollected.
3. Efficient urban mobility and public transport: city roads suffer from chronic traffic congestion.
4. Affordable housing, especially for the poor: slum dwellers could not afford proper housing because of high rent and high land costs.

Q6. Describe four features of slum life in Indian cities. [4 marks]

1. Slums are residential areas of the least choice, with dilapidated houses and poor ventilation.
2. They lack basic amenities such as drinking water, light and toilet facilities.
3. Open defecation, an unregulated drainage system and overcrowded narrow streets are serious health and socio-environmental hazards.
4. Most of the slum population works in low-paid, high risk-prone, unorganised sectors of the urban economy.

Q7. Explain five ways in which a smart city can help to reduce unemployment. [5 marks]

1. Building infrastructure such as roads and transport systems needs workers, so it can create jobs.
2. Investment in better roads and public transport can give productive employment in services such as transport and trade.
3. Running schools needs buildings, teachers and other staff, and an estimate by the erstwhile Planning Commission, now NITI Aayog, is that nearly 20 lakh jobs can be created in the education sector alone.
4. Health facilities need doctors, nurses and health workers, so they can create jobs.
5. Better power, transport and connectivity can help industries such as electronics, whose major impact has been on employment generation.

Q8. State the five heads under which the development of a smart city is studied, and give one way in which a smart city can develop each. [5 marks]

1. Infrastructure development: improved water, power, sanitation, public transport and connectivity.
2. Reduction of unemployment: jobs in building, running and servicing infrastructure and services.
3. Poverty alleviation: affordable housing and basic services within reach of poorer households.
4. HR development: better health and education facilities that build people's capabilities.
5. Industrial development: reliable power, transport and connectivity for industry, with a clean and sustainable environment.

Key takeaways

• A smart city provides core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life, and applies smart solutions to make its infrastructure and services better.
• Smart solutions can make areas less vulnerable to disasters, use fewer resources and provide cheaper services, with a focus on sustainable and inclusive development.
• The Mission looks at compact areas to create a replicable model, which acts like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.
• The level of urbanisation is the percentage of urban population to total population, and in India it was 31.16 per cent in 2011, quite low compared with developed countries.
• Urban population rose eleven-fold during the twentieth century, but the growth rate of urbanisation has slowed down during the last two decades.
• The Mission names ten core infrastructure elements and works through area-based development and pan-city initiatives, with a special purpose vehicle for each city.
• A smart city case study looks at infrastructure, unemployment, poverty, human resources and industry, and should treat results as aims unless figures are available.
• Growth is a quantitative change, while development needs a positive change in quality, which is why a smart city aims at better quality of life.

Test yourself

What is the objective of the Smart Cities Mission?

It is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment and a decent quality of life to their citizens, using smart solutions to improve infrastructure and services.

Name two things that smart solutions can do.

They can make areas less vulnerable to disasters, use fewer resources, and provide cheaper services. Any two of these three is a correct answer.

What was India's level of urbanisation in 2011?

It was 31.16 per cent (a provisional figure), which is quite low in comparison to developed countries.

Why is a city growing from one lakh to two lakhs not necessarily developing?

Growth is only a quantitative change. Development needs a positive change in quality, such as better housing and basic services.

What is underemployment?

It occurs when people are apparently working but are all made to work less than their potential. It is hidden, so it is also called disguised unemployment.

What are the two parts of the Mission's strategy?

Area-based development, which focuses on a compact area (or areas), and pan-city initiatives, which apply selected smart solutions across the existing infrastructure of the whole city.

Name the three models of area-based development.

Retrofitting, which improves an existing built-up area; redevelopment, which replaces it with a new layout; and greenfield development, which uses a previously vacant area.