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Smart City Mission – Features, Strategy, and Challenges 

The Government of India's Smart Cities Mission is an innovative and fresh initiative designed to boost economic growth and enhance people's quality of life by promoting local development and utilizing technology to produce smart outcomes for citizens.

Smart City Mission – Features, Strategy, and Challenges 

• The Government of India's Smart Cities Mission is an innovative and fresh initiative designed to boost economic growth and enhance people's quality of life by promoting local development and utilizing technology to produce smart outcomes for citizens.
• A "smart city" combines innovative solutions with basic infrastructure to provide livable conditions, a clean environment, and a sustainable future.
• It entails the provision of fundamental infrastructure, such as sufficient water and electricity supplies, solid waste management that is both sustainable and efficient, adequate urban transportation, affordable housing, and strong IT connectivity.
• The most urgent needs and life-improving opportunities are the focus of Smart Cities.
• To make a difference, they use a variety of strategies, including public-private partnerships, best practices in urban planning, digital and information technologies, and policy change. They constantly prioritize people.

Objectives

1. The Smart Cities Mission's approach aims to support cities that offer basic infrastructure, a decent standard of living for its residents, a clean and sustainable environment, and the implementation of "Smart" Solutions.
2. In order to create a replicable model that will serve as a lighthouse for other aspirant cities, the emphasis is on sustainable and inclusive development.
3. The Smart Cities Mission aims to provide models that can be used to create similar Smart Cities both inside and outside of the Smart City.

Strategic plan for Smart Cities  

One or more smart solutions are implemented across the city as part of a global initiative. Three models of area-based developments develop areas incrementally.

• Redevelopment,
• Greenfield
• Retrofitting,

Core components of the infrastructure

• a sufficient supply of water
• a reliable supply of electricity,
• solid waste management is a part of sanitation.
• effective public transportation and urban transportation,
• Affordable housing, especially for the poor,
• IT connectivity and digitalization that is robust,
• Effective government, particularly e-government and citizen participation,
• Environmental sustainability
• citizens' safety and security, especially that of women, children, and the elderly, and
• Education and good health.

coverage 

• Following an evaluation by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), the Mission might be continued after incorporating the lessons learned. 

Concerns/Challenges

• In contrast to conventional urban governance structures, smart cities serve a specific purpose.
• Instead of a citywide inclusive development, it may result in the development of islands.
• In order to understand the changing needs of their communities, state and local governments need more fine-grained data and the analytical tools to use them.
• Even though the Smart Cities Mission in India has identified more than 20 priority areas, the interventions made by the relevant organizations need to be revised.
• More attention should be paid to how urban local bodies operate.
• Only about 3% of the urban areas connected to these smart cities will use the Area Based Development approach, which involves building a sewage system somewhere or a network of roads in another city.
• Both technical and human capacity and professionalism need to be improved in urban local bodies.

Steps to take

• Smart cities cannot solve the urban crisis in India. Through the systematic collection of data, the issue must be understood rationally.
• Arrays of Sensors are installed on the streets of Chicago City, for instance, so that people can download unprocessed data on the state of the air, the movement of pedestrians, and any standing water.
• In a similar vein, India must also produce waste and transportation management data to strengthen urban governance.
• Taking five large cities or ten small ones at once and ultimately changing them is an easier and faster option when one has a limited budget. 
• Government spending alone cannot be used to build these cities.
• The private sector must participate in the funding.
• Government must facilitate more efficient land acquisition with appropriate rehabilitation and resettlement because the smart cities program aims to provide affordable housing and modern transportation.