Planned development of cities is necessary to manage the pressure of urbanization on the infrastructure and basic civic amenities in urban areas. Therefore, the urban areas of the state have been adopted as an independent unit, the urban local body. Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of urban local bodies in India. In the 734 urban local bodies of the state, there are 17 municipal corporations, 200 municipal councils and 517 Nagar Panchayats. The duty and responsibility of local bodies is to provide basic civic amenities such as clean drinking water supply, roads/streets, drainage, sanitation, garbage disposal, sewerage system, street lighting, parks, clean environment, etc. to the population.
The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India launched the Smart Cities Mission on 25th June 2015, to be implemented through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affair, Government of India, with the objective to initially make 100 smart cities across India which will predominantly use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to develop, deploy, and promote sustainable development practices. 10 Central Smart Cities of Uttar Pradesh namely Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Prayagraj, Saharanpur and Varanasi, were selected in 5 rounds.
Subsequently, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh announced during the budget session for the year 2019-20 the extension of Smart City Mission to the remaining 7 Nagar Nigams namely Ayodhya, Firozabad, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Mathura, Meerut and Shahjahanpur which were not covered under the Central Smart City Mission. These 7 cities were designated as State Smart Cities. Subsequently, the State Smart City Guidelines were issued vide GO No. 1170/Nau-9-2019-113J/19 dated 30/9/2019.
The Directorate of Smart Cities Mission has been setup under the Directorate of Local Bodies to oversee the work in the 17 Smart Cities which have been formed in the existing 17 Nagar Nigams of the state. Out of these 17, 10 Central Smart Cities are being managed through SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) formed under the Companies Act 2013, while the remaining 7 State Smart Cities are directly managed by the respective Nagar Nigams.
The objective of this mission is to develop inclusive and sustainable citizen friendly cities enhancing the quality of life of citizens through following interventions:
- Promoting mixed land use in area-based developments.
- Housing and inclusiveness.
- Creating walkable localities.
- Preserving and developing open spaces.
- Promoting a variety of transport options.
- Making governance citizen-friendly and cost effective.
- Giving an identity to the city.
- Applying Smart Solutions to infrastructure and services.
Urban areas designated as urban local bodies are eligible for the Smart Cities Mission. In Uttar Pradesh, 10 Central Smart Cities and 7 State Smart Cities have been selected for implementation.
The scheme enhances citizen quality of life by promoting mixed land use, inclusive housing, walkable localities, and sustainable transport. It also improves governance efficiency and city identity while integrating smart solutions for infrastructure and services.
Cities are engines of growth for the economy of every nation, including India. Nearly 31% of India’s current population lives in urban areas and contributes 63% of India’s GDP (Census 2011). With increasing urbanization, urban areas are expected to house 40% of India’s population and contribute 75% of India’s GDP by 2030. This requires comprehensive development of physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructure. All are important in improving the quality of life and attracting people and investments to the City, setting in motion a virtuous cycle of growth and development. Development of Smart Cities is a step in that direction.
The total number of 100 Smart Cities have been distributed among the States and UTs on the basis of an equitable criteria. Each aspiring city competed for selection as a Smart City under the ‘City Challenge’. There were two stages in the City Challenge. After the number of tentative Smart Cities for each state/UT was indicated, the respective State/UT undertook the following steps:
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Stage 1 of the competition: Shortlisting of cities by States
The State/UT began with shortlisting their potential Smart Cities on the basis of conditions precedent and scoring criteria and in accordance with the total number of cities allocated to it. The cities that emerged successful in the first round of competition were sent by the respective State/UT as the recommended shortlist of Smart Cities to erstwhile MoUD (Ministry of Urban Development), now known as MoHUA (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs). -
Stage 2 of the competition: The Challenge round for selection
In the second stage of the competition, each of the potential 100 Smart Cities prepared their Smart City Proposals (SCP) for participation in the ‘City Challenge’. The SCP also outlined the consultations held with the city residents and other stakeholders, how the aspirations matched with the vision contained in the SCP and importantly, what was the proposal for financing of the Smart City plan including the revenue model to attract private participation. In all, five rounds of the city challenge were held for selection of 100 Smart Cities across the country, out of which 10 cities were selected from Uttar Pradesh.
State Smart Cities (7 Cities)
The remaining seven Nagar Nigams of the state were designated as State Smart Cities by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in the year 2019. The State Smart City Guidelines were issued vide GO No. 1170/Nau-9-2019-113J/19 dated 30/9/2019.
Cities are engines of growth for the economy of every nation, including India. Nearly 31% of India’s current population lives in urban areas and contributes 63% of India’s GDP (Census 2011). With increasing urbanization, urban areas are expected to house 40% of India’s population and contribute 75% of India’s GDP by 2030. This requires comprehensive development of physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructure. All are important in improving the quality of life and attracting people and investments to the City, setting in motion a virtuous cycle of growth and development. Development of Smart Cities is a step in that direction.
The total number of 100 Smart Cities have been distributed among the States and UTs on the basis of an equitable criteria. Each aspiring city competed for selection as a Smart City under the ‘City Challenge’. There were two stages in the City Challenge. After the number of tentative Smart Cities for each state/UT was indicated, the respective State/UT undertook the following steps:
-
Stage 1 of the competition: Shortlisting of cities by States
The State/UT began with shortlisting their potential Smart Cities on the basis of conditions precedent and scoring criteria and in accordance with the total number of cities allocated to it. The cities that emerged successful in the first round of competition were sent by the respective State/UT as the recommended shortlist of Smart Cities to erstwhile MoUD (Ministry of Urban Development), now known as MoHUA (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs). -
Stage 2 of the competition: The Challenge round for selection
In the second stage of the competition, each of the potential 100 Smart Cities prepared their Smart City Proposals (SCP) for participation in the ‘City Challenge’. The SCP also outlined the consultations held with the city residents and other stakeholders, how the aspirations matched with the vision contained in the SCP and importantly, what was the proposal for financing of the Smart City plan including the revenue model to attract private participation. In all, five rounds of the city challenge were held for selection of 100 Smart Cities across the country, out of which 10 cities were selected from Uttar Pradesh.
State Smart Cities (7 Cities)
The remaining seven Nagar Nigams of the state were designated as State Smart Cities by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in the year 2019. The State Smart City Guidelines were issued vide GO No. 1170/Nau-9-2019-113J/19 dated 30/9/2019.
For Central Smart Cities, documents related to SPV formation and equity sharing are necessary. For State Smart Cities, documentation for project execution under Nagar Nigam supervision is required.