Smart Cities and Smart Communities: Empowering Citizens through Intelligent Technologies (Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, 294) 9811911452, 9789811911453

“Smart City” programs and strategies have become one of the most dominant urban agendas for local governments worldwide

161 25 13MB

English Pages 486 [471] Year 2022

Report DMCA / Copyright

DOWNLOAD PDF FILE

Table of contents :
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Contents
Editors and Contributors
1 Introduction
1.1 Smart Cities and Communities: An Overview
1.2 Purpose of the Book
1.3 Organization of the Book
References
Part I Conceptual Framework for Smart Cities and Communities
2 Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Background
2.3 The Social Media Rhetoric of #Smartcities
2.3.1 Language
2.3.2 Content: Keywords and Hashtags
2.3.3 Websites
2.3.4 Bots and #Smartcities
2.4 Discussion and Conclusion
References
3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence and Innovation for the Radical Transformation of Cities
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Literature: Projects and the Supply Chain for the Smart City
3.2.1 Intelligent/Smart City: A New Urban Paradigm
3.2.2 Subsystems: The Smart City as a System of Systems
3.2.3 Smart City Projects
3.2.4 Smart City Projects and Planning
3.3 Smart City Projects from Around the World
3.3.1 Structuring by Ecosystems
3.3.2 Diversity and Standardisation of Projects Per Ecosystem
3.3.3 Projects and Technology
3.3.4 Typology of Projects and Architectures of Integration
3.4 Smart City Projects: Drivers and Barriers
3.4.1 Improve-My-City: Collective Intelligence and Reward for User Engagement
3.4.2 CUTLER’s Smart Parking: New E-Services Over Data
3.4.3 STORM Cloudfunding: Organisational and Institutional Barriers
3.5 Discussion
3.6 Conclusion
Appendix 3.1: Smart City Projects by City and Ecosystem
References
4 The Histories of New (Geo)Politics of Smart Villages Communities in a Global World. A Contribution to Geographical Debate
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Global Countryside, Rural Community Histories and People
4.3 Smart Cities, Smart Communities and Smart Growth
4.4 Smart Spatial Politics and Communities Histories
4.5 Smart Connectivity and Communities Histories
4.6 Conclusion
References
5 Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities and Digital Divides: Hyperlink Variations in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Cities
5.1 Introduction
5.2 What Is a Smart City?
5.3 City Selection and Methodology
5.4 Country-Level Analyses
5.4.1 Hyperlink Volumes, by Country
5.4.2 Comparing Hyperlink Volumes and Population
5.5 Primary, Secondary and Tertiary City Hyperlink Volumes
5.5.1 Hyperlinks Per Capita
5.5.2 Hyperlinks to Photos and Maps
5.6 Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Paired Hyperlink Volumes
5.6.1 Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Linkages
5.7 Comparing a Subject/Knowledge Base for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Cities
5.8 Discussion: Mapping Degrees of Smartness
5.9 Conclusion
References
Part II Technical Concepts and Models for Smart Cities and Communities
6 Role of Smart Dustbin in Creating a Smart Environment
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Applications of IoT in Building a Smart Environment
6.2.1 Smart User
6.2.2 Smart Education
6.2.3 Smart Government
6.2.4 Smart Health Care
6.2.5 Smart Agriculture
6.3 Specific Technologies for IoT Applications
6.3.1 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
6.3.2 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
6.3.3 Bluetooth
6.3.4 Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)
6.3.5 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
6.3.6 ZigBee
6.3.7 Near-Field Communication (NFC)
6.4 Methods and Objective of Smart Dustbin
6.4.1 Working Principle of Smart Dustbin
6.5 Result Analysis
6.5.1 Comparative Study
6.6 Conclusion
References
7 Smart Technologies and Aging Society
7.1 Introduction
7.2 “Smart Home” Technologies
7.2.1 Definition of Smart Home
7.2.2 Examples of Smart Home Technology
7.2.3 Implications of Smart Home Technologies on Older Adults’ Aging in Place
7.2.4 What is the Approximate Cost of an Average Smart Home?
7.3 “Smart Mobility” Technologies
7.3.1 Definition of Smart Mobility
7.3.2 Types of Smart Mobility Technologies
7.4 Discussion
7.5 Limitations of This Study
7.6 Conclusions
References
Part III Civic Engagement and Citizen Participation
8 Conceptual Model of Mixed-Methods Community Engagement Infrastructure Using Cloud-Based Computing Combined with On-Site Engagement and Action Projects
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The Illusion of Collaborative Planning
8.2.1 Rational Ignorance
8.2.2 Involving Underrepresented Populations
8.2.3 Cutting-edge Technical Architectures Enabling Community Engagement
8.2.4 Research Focus: Ways of Involving Underrepresented and Marginalized Populations in Urban Planning
8.3 Basic Principles of a Successful Civic Engagement Infrastructure
8.3.1 Mix-Methods Engagement
8.3.2 Playful Public Participation
8.3.3 Technology-Based Participatory Methods
8.3.4 Action Projects in the Neighborhoods
8.4 Conceptual Model of a Mixed-Methods Civic Engagement Infrastructure
8.5 Reflections: Beyond Technical Infrastructure
8.6 Conclusions
References
9 Digital Placemaking: An Analysis of Citizen Participation in Smart Cities
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Smart Cities and People
9.3 The Traditional Model of Citizen Participation
9.4 Smart Cities and Digital Placemaking
9.5 Thoughts on Citizen Participation
9.6 Conclusion
References
Part IV Case Studies from the Global North
10 Historian for a Day: A Use Case of Augmented Reality in Civic Engagement
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Augmented Reality in Civic Engagement
10.3 The Technical Framework
10.3.1 Geospatial Data Visualization
10.3.2 Multi-media Integration
10.3.3 Pokémon-Go Integration
10.4 The Partnership
10.5 The Community Events and the AR Apps
10.5.1 Event-1: Neighborhood History Walk App
10.5.2 Event-2: Neighborhood Pop-Up Story-Telling AR Exhibit
10.5.3 Event-3: #HomeCLT
10.6 Discussions
10.7 Preliminary Conclusion
10.7.1 Future Outlook
References
11 Web Mapping Platforms for Community Planning and Engagement: Lessons Learned from NJ MAP
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Case Study: NJ MAP
11.2.1 New Jersey Context for NJ MAP
11.2.2 Open Access Platform
11.2.3 Democratizing Data and Aiming Toward Equity
11.3 Project Collections
11.3.1 Collection #1—Conservation Blueprint
11.3.2 Collection #2—Camden Conservation Blueprint
11.3.3 Collection #3—Parcel Explorer
11.3.4 Collection #4—Land Use Change Viewer
11.3.5 Collection #5—Buildout Modeling
11.3.6 Collection #6—Natural Resources
11.4 Geospatial Data—Bridging
11.5 Implementation
11.6 Community Engagement and Feedback
11.7 Lessons Learned
11.8 Conclusion
References
Part V Case Studies from the Global South
12 One More in the Family
12.1 Introduction
12.2 The Smart Village Concept
12.2.1 Connectivity, Sine Qua Non of Smart Villages
12.2.2 Red (Network) Jalisco
12.3 The State of Jalisco’s Base Project for Smart Cities
12.3.1 Background
12.3.2 Jalisco’s Base Project and Local Smart Villages
12.4 One More in the Family
12.4.1 Tree Planting as a Smart Strategy
12.4.2 Pilot Project
12.5 Conclusion and Future Outlook
12.5.1 Scaling Up
12.5.2 Challenges and Future Outlook
References
13 How Inclusive are the Smart City Projects Implemented in India?
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Research Method
13.3 Inclusive Planning Theories
13.4 Indian Inclusive Policies
13.5 History of Slum Eviction in India
13.6 Indian Smart City Mission
13.7 SCM’s Inclusive Principles and Actual Actions
13.8 Findings
13.9 Conclusion
13.10 Recommendations
References
14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Background
14.2.1 Context of Urbanization
14.2.2 The Smart Cities Mission (SCM) of India
14.3 Two Spatial Scales of Smart City Intervention
14.3.1 ABD Plans Were Pilot Initiatives, Capital Intensive, but Limited in Geographic Scope
14.3.2 PCS Plans Were Smart ICT Solutions Benefiting the Entire Municipal Area
14.4 Three Types of Area-Based Development (ABD) in Smart Cities—Cases
14.4.1 Bhopal ABD—A Case of Redevelopment
14.4.2 Indore ABD—A Case of Retrofitting and Redevelopment
14.4.3 Satna ABD—A Case of Greenfield Development
14.5 Pan-City Solutions (PCS) in the Case Study Cities
14.5.1 PCS Initiatives in Bhopal
14.5.2 PCS Initiatives in Indore
14.5.3 PCS Initiatives in Satna
14.6 Discussions
14.6.1 Smart Cities PCS Plans Engaged Citizens and Improved Cities’ Efficiency
14.6.2 ABD Benefits Only Fraction of the City, Have Potential to Become Islands of Prosperity
14.6.3 Revenues from Land-Based Financing Must Be Grounded in Realistic Estimates
14.6.4 The Retrofit Based ABD Are More Replicable and Have a Greater Impact
14.6.5 Success of Land Pooling Schemes Have Prerequisites
14.7 Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
References
15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable Action Plans for Indian Smart Cities to Re-define Public Engagement
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Civic Engagement in India Smart Cities Mission
15.3 Review of Literature
15.4 Design and Development of EPIC Toolkit: A Model for Sustaining Civic Engagement
15.4.1 Design of the EPIC Toolkit
15.4.2 Implementation of EPIC in Chandigarh as Pilot Study
15.5 Identifying Typology of Cities for EPIC Implementation
15.5.1 Use of the Socio-Demographic Parameters for the Dashboard
15.5.2 Integrated Dashboard
15.6 Sustainable Action Plans: EPIC Framework
15.6.1 Routine G2C Services
15.6.2 Grievance Redressal
15.6.3 Feedback Collection
15.6.4 Information Sharing and Awareness Generation
15.6.5 Inputs Soliciting
15.6.6 Solution Co-creation
15.6.7 Citizen Co-management
15.7 Resources Designed by the Team for Enhanced Participation
15.7.1 Internal Checklist
15.7.2 Stakeholder Management
15.7.3 Information Gathering and Feedback Formats
15.7.4 Monitoring and Evaluation
15.7.5 Parameters for Success
15.8 Conclusion
15.8.1 Key Takeaways from the Chandigarh Pilot Strategies
15.8.2 Transferability and Scalability in Other Cities
15.8.3 Recommendations
References
16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal for Land-Based Financing Using Smart ICT Systems
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Literature Review of TOD
16.2.1 TOD Features
16.2.2 Land Use Transformations and Property Value Premiums in TOD
16.2.3 Affordable Housing and TOD
16.2.4 Land-Based Financing and TOD
16.2.5 Integrated Land and Property Development Information Systems to Evaluate Policy Impacts and Estimate Land-Based Financing
16.3 An Empirical Case Study of TOD in Gurugram
16.3.1 Gurugram and the National Capital Region
16.3.2 Restricted Land Use Regulations in Gurugram
16.3.3 TOD Policy, Four Transit Corridors, and Group Housing Lands in Gurugram
16.3.4 TOD Policy Allowing Higher FAR in Exchange for a Fee (A Land-Based Financing)
16.3.5 Assessing Development Potential of Group Housing in TOD Zones
16.3.6 An Illustration of Emerald Bay Along the NPR Corridor
16.3.7 Profitability Analysis of a 10 Acre Site
16.3.8 Potential Effects of TOD on the Built Form
16.3.9 Mega Landlords in the TOD
16.4 Key Issues and Challenges
16.5 Need for a Land and Property Development Information Systems (LPDIS)
16.5.1 Components of the LPDIS and How to Establish LPDIS
16.5.2 How It Benefits the Future, Discussions, and Challenges
16.6 Conclusion
References
17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban Attributes of Traditional Neighborhood-Level Communities in India
17.1 Introduction
17.2 Literature Review
17.2.1 Concept of Smart Cities
17.2.2 Research Gaps
17.2.3 Conceptual Smart City Model
17.3 Case Study
17.3.1 Selection Criteria
17.3.2 Macro-level Characteristics
17.3.3 Micro-level Characteristics
17.4 Methodology
17.5 Assessment of Spatial Smart Urban Attributes
17.5.1 Compactness
17.5.2 Density
17.5.3 Green and Open Spaces
17.5.4 Diversity
17.5.5 Accessibility
17.6 Conclusions
References
18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic Vulnerability and Necessary Interventions by Local Government
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Socio-economic Vulnerability
18.2.1 The Concept, Causal Factors, and Indicators
18.2.2 Aim of the Research
18.2.3 Introduction to Study Region and Local Governance System in West Bengal
18.3 Methodological Framework
18.3.1 Formulation of Socio-economic Vulnerability Index—Theoretical Explanation
18.3.2 Identification of Indicators
18.3.3 Standardization of Data
18.3.4 Vulnerability Index—Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)
18.4 Socio-economic Vulnerability and ICT—A Computer Application
18.5 Conclusions—Governance with ICT and Platform for Policy Recommendations
References
19 Concluding Remarks
19.1 Salient Themes
19.1.1 The Need to Broaden the Definition of Smart Cities and Communities
19.1.2 Challenges of Digital Divide
19.1.3 Ineffective Methods of Citizen Participation
19.1.4 Insights on Recent Approaches to Increase Effectiveness in Involving Citizens
19.1.5 Took Kits and Technologies for Planners, Public Policy Maker, and Government Officials
19.2 Concluding Remarks
Recommend Papers

Smart Cities and Smart Communities: Empowering Citizens through Intelligent Technologies (Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, 294)
 9811911452, 9789811911453

  • 0 0 0
  • Like this paper and download? You can publish your own PDF file online for free in a few minutes! Sign Up
File loading please wait...
Citation preview

Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294

Srikanta Patnaik Siddhartha Sen Sudeshna Ghosh   Editors

Smart Cities and Smart Communities Empowering Citizens through Intelligent Technologies

Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies Volume 294

Series Editors Robert J. Howlett, Bournemouth University and KES International, Shoreham-by-Sea, UK Lakhmi C. Jain, KES International, Shoreham-by-Sea, UK

The Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies book series encompasses the topics of knowledge, intelligence, innovation and sustainability. The aim of the series is to make available a platform for the publication of books on all aspects of single and multi-disciplinary research on these themes in order to make the latest results available in a readily-accessible form. Volumes on interdisciplinary research combining two or more of these areas is particularly sought. The series covers systems and paradigms that employ knowledge and intelligence in a broad sense. Its scope is systems having embedded knowledge and intelligence, which may be applied to the solution of world problems in industry, the environment and the community. It also focusses on the knowledge-transfer methodologies and innovation strategies employed to make this happen effectively. The combination of intelligent systems tools and a broad range of applications introduces a need for a synergy of disciplines from science, technology, business and the humanities. The series will include conference proceedings, edited collections, monographs, handbooks, reference books, and other relevant types of book in areas of science and technology where smart systems and technologies can offer innovative solutions. High quality content is an essential feature for all book proposals accepted for the series. It is expected that editors of all accepted volumes will ensure that contributions are subjected to an appropriate level of reviewing process and adhere to KES quality principles. Indexed by SCOPUS, EI Compendex, INSPEC, WTI Frankfurt eG, zbMATH, Japanese Science and Technology Agency (JST), SCImago, DBLP. All books published in the series are submitted for consideration in Web of Science.

More information about this series at https://link.springer.com/bookseries/8767

Srikanta Patnaik · Siddhartha Sen · Sudeshna Ghosh Editors

Smart Cities and Smart Communities Empowering Citizens through Intelligent Technologies

Editors Srikanta Patnaik Department of Computer Science and Engineering SOA University Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Siddhartha Sen School of Architecture and Planning Morgan State University Baltimore, MD, USA

Sudeshna Ghosh Department of Geography and Regional Planning Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA, USA

ISSN 2190-3018 ISSN 2190-3026 (electronic) Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies ISBN 978-981-19-1145-3 ISBN 978-981-19-1146-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Foreword

Smart Cities as Strategies to Foster People-Centered Urbanism I have always had a fascination with cities, their design, rhythms, rituals, and especially their intrinsic adaptability to change, and morph. We are currently experiencing social, economic, and environmental transformations; the way we envision our cities can be the answer to address current and future challenges, such as pandemics, climate adaptation, inequality, or economic recessions. Smart technologies are today a substantial component of the discourse about cities, and they provide us with new strategies to improve our urban environments. I have lived and worked in three different continents, experienced extremely complex urban ecosystems, and appreciated how resourceful communities can be in addressing their issues through innovation and creativity. In more than 20 years of academic research, I have investigated the complex relationships between tangible and intangible factors that shape our urban culture. The physical city has always been intertwined with the symbolic city; actual architectures, public spaces, and overall urban design are informed by different narratives aimed to represent a city identity, culture, and society. Landmarks, memorials, and monuments have played a central role in defining a city’s character and identity; they have traditionally represented the shared values and principles shared by a local community. Smart technologies have now added an extra layer to the urban narratives. Digital media are changing the traditional rules of city-making as well as the way we live, navigate, and experience the built environment. New technologies and innovations have continuously altered the way we conceive and live cities and, over the centuries, redefined what a city is or could be. The potential and impact of the current ITC revolution are still largely unexplored, and every day, we encounter novel ways to embed smart technologies in our everyday lives, hence the need for this book and its rich review of smart cities tactics. Government agencies are increasingly relying on digital solutions to address their procedure, improve their governance, and enhance community democratic participation; v

vi

Foreword

however, smart approaches are often vented as slogans without debating their impact and actual applicability to different contexts. The term ‘Smart City’ has now become common, and we can hear it in different contexts; politicians use it to strengthen their propositions, and communities often engage with it in aspirational terms. Literature on smart cities is constantly evolving, and having a volume that reflects on the current state of research in the sector is a valuable resource for academics and practitioners. This volume discusses the multifaceted complexities of smart cities balancing the breadth of a variegated landscape, providing an in-depth reflection on semantics, strategies, and case studies. How we define a smart city can be nuanced; this book renders the debate in this field, providing a novel perspective waiving academic literature, social media, and industry practice. Five different chapters offer a reflection in terms of the impact of technology at different scales (home, neighborhood, village, town, city, systems). We often encounter the concept of smart city as something targeting metropolitan areas; articulating this discourse toward the scale of the home, the village, or the town stresses the systemic nature and potential intrinsic within digital technologies. Two chapters deal with services and what a smart city can do, while another series of five chapters explore governance through different lenses, such as discussing digital tools to better understand a territory, support planning, and foster sustainable development. Community engagement is then another central theme in this book. Local governments, especially in remote areas, are increasingly relying on social media to outreach to their citizens; apps and peer-to-peer platforms are commonly used to gather information about a locale and community’s activities. Smart technologies are also widely used to engage communities in the debate about their city, including planning and governance issues. Cities are produced through the tensions between different powers, interests, and ideologies; the adoption of smart strategies is now changing these tensions and how they are represented in the city’s physicality. The response by city dwellers to institutional paradigms can be of compliance or contestation; in the post-modern city, citizens layer urban spaces with their narratives and meanings and often arrive to physically modify the image of the city, relying on the opportunities afforded them by smart technologies, social media, and urban data. The book delivers its ambitious scope through an interesting breadth of case studies, including examples from Europe, the Americas, and Asia; this approach allows the reader to appreciate the versatility of the concept of the smart city and how it has been adapted and molded to respond to particular local challenges. The inclusion of chapters documenting experiences from India, Mexico, and regional areas enriches a debate too often focused on main metropolitan areas. Medium-sized cities, towns, and villages have an intrinsic potential to respond to current social and environmental challenges; smart tactics can make these areas more appealing and more competitive to attract skilled workers as well as to retain talents. As one of the leading products of smart cities, the knowledge economy is changing the distribution of the workforce, especially in countries like Australia where, because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, we have experienced migration from capital cities toward smaller regional towns. Data about this migration are still contested, and it would appear to be more a general perception than a mass phenomenon;

Foreword

vii

the migrants, anyway, would be mainly the ones who can rely on a ubiquitous work environment, professionals and creatives that take advantage of smart technologies to organize their life and work environment. Florida’s creative class, at least in Australia, would appear to have taken full advantage of new technologies, an NBN network already established in many regional areas, and smart solutions to relocate to the bush. In his pre-budget address in September 2020, the deputy prime minister of Australia stressed the importance of smart technologies for regional Australia. He has reminded how COVID-19 is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build back better regional towns, illustrating the advantages of a rural lifestyle, congestion-free and stress-free, stressing how regions offer plenty of Instagram friendly settings to appeal to city professionals. This book allows to understand and appreciate how the smart city paradigm can guide future sustainable development and planning. It enquires into experiences where smart strategies and digital media have been implemented as an infrastructure to support governance and community development. The original research, case studies, and practices it collates are relevant beyond their immediate milieu and represent valuable examples for a broad range of geographical, social, political, and economic contexts. The book evaluates opportunities and challenges in the uptake of smart strategies, broadening the discussion to include social and economic issues sometimes overlooked by academic research. Too often today, the paradigm of the smart city is vented to legitimize initiatives and policies; this book contributes valuable knowledge to go beyond simple slogans to appreciate the complexity and potential of the smart city discourse. It documents the vital role of smart technologies in engaging communities in the decision-making process about their settlement and in taking agency in terms of their environment. The book’s ethos strongly aligns with the UN-Habitat New Urban Agenda, which indicates how we can achieve a resilient and sustainable urban future only through a people-centered development. Smart technologies and digital media are today central within this narrative and allow a level of community engagement and empowerment unprecedented, as expressed in the book’s rich chapters. Dr. Mirko Guaralda Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, School of Architecture and Built Environment Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, QLD, Australia [email protected]

Dr. Mirko Guaralda (Ph.D., MHEd, DArch) is internationally recognised for his work focuses on people-centred urban design, enquiring into the complex issues of urban morphology, place quality, and community involvement. Dr. Guaralda is Associate Professor at the Queensland University of Technology; he was visiting professor at the Thammasat University of Bangkok, Thailand, in 2017. He is a passionate HDR supervisors and has so far supervised to completion more than 20 HDR

viii

Foreword

candidates, most of whom are currently employed in leading research institutions. Dr. Guaralda’s research provides alternatives to the way cities are designed, serving to guide the future of urbanisation, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where rapid urbanisation still follows unsustainable development models. In the last 10 years, he has been working on smart cities and Knowledge Innovation spaces in collaboration with leading academics in the sector, contributing his experience to enquire the physical outcome and morphological implications of digital technologies.

Preface

The idea for this book emerged from a previous book by two of the coauthors (Srikanta Patnaik, Siddhartha Sen, and Magdi S. Mahmoud, editors, 2020. Smart Village Technology: Concepts and Developments. Springer: Cham, Switzerland. Springer Series in Modeling and Optimization in Science and Technologies) and ongoing research of all the authors on smart cities and communities. While the aforementioned book was also from a transdisciplinary perspective and brought together scholars from engineering, public health, architecture, social, and behavioral sciences to discuss some of the technological and managerial issues associated with smart villages, we felt that there was a need to explore these issues in the context of Smart Cities and Communities. We were cognizant of the fact that while the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is overarching in most or all aspects of Smart City and Smart Community initiatives, ICT systems or advanced computing capacities alone cannot make a city “smart” or a smart community. To achieve ideal “smartness,” ICT systems can only be complementary to human capital or human organization. To successfully implement Smart City objectives, we need to focus more on “Smart Community” goals—social inclusion, social justice, citizen participation, and empowerment of minorities and the poor. These goals cannot be achieved without bringing the “human” angle into the realm of Smart and Smart Community City strategies. Smart City and Smart Community goals must also find ways to bring citizens together, enable communications between multiple actors and organizations, enable efficient participation from urban citizens and stakeholders, and engage citizens in meaningful ways in the decision-making process about urban functions. While a huge amount of literature—scholarly articles, books, reports— has emerged recently exploring the topic of the Smart City from various disciplinary backgrounds, only a few explore and compare the distinctive approaches adopted for implementing Smart City or Smart Community goals in the Global North and Global South. We contend that the Smart City and Smart Community challenges are distinctly different for the Global North and Global South. Hence, there can never be a ubiquitous model of a Smart City or a Smart Community. Given the above situation, we set about getting together scholars from various fields such as engineering, information science, architecture, urban planning, public policy, geography, ix

x

Preface

and social and behavioral sciences as well as practitioners to explore Smart Cities and Smart Communities from citizens’ empowerment perspectives and investigate how the models of “smartness” can be achieved through intelligent technologies from various stories and cases representing the Global North as well as the Global South. We hope that this transdisciplinary book has achieved this lofty goal. We set out to bring forth a scholarly transdisciplinary book that would be of value to various fields such as engineering, information science, architecture, urban planning, public policy, geography, and social and behavioral sciences. However, we tried to avoid technical jargon to make the book accessible to practicing regional planners, politicians, policy makers, Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community-Based Organization (CBOs) officials, journalists, and informed general readers. Bhubaneswar, India Baltimore, USA Indiana, USA

Srikanta Patnaik Siddhartha Sen Sudeshna Ghosh

Acknowledgments

This volume is an outcome of our ongoing research on smart cities and communities from a comparative and transdisciplinary perspective. We are thankful to the contributors of this volume for bringing this effort to fruition. We express our heartfelt thanks to the Senior Editor Dr. Aninda Bose, of the Springer Book series on Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies (SIST), for his constant support and time-to-time monitoring to bring out this volume. We are thankful to Dr. Pragyan Nanda Assistant Professor of Interscience Institute of Management and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India, for her invaluable research assistance in bringing out this volume. We would like to extend our thanks to Nancy Menefee Jackson of National Transportation Center at Morgan State University for valuable editorial assistance. Last but not least, we express our valuable thanks to all our reviewers to bring out this volume. Srikanta Patnaik Siddhartha Sen Sudeshna Ghosh

xi

Contents

1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Srikanta Patnaik, Siddhartha Sen, and Sudeshna Ghosh

Part I

Conceptual Framework for Smart Cities and Communities

2

Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities . . . . Mark Wilson, Travis Decaminada, and Eva Kassens-Noor

3

Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence and Innovation for the Radical Transformation of Cities . . . . . . . . . . Nicos Komninos, Ioannis Tsampoulatidis, Christina Kakderi, Spiros Nikolopoulos, and Ioannis Kompatsiaris

4

5

The Histories of New (Geo)Politics of Smart Villages Communities in a Global World. A Contribution to Geographical Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angel Paniagua Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities and Digital Divides: Hyperlink Variations in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stanley D. Brunn

Part II

1

19

33

69

81

Technical Concepts and Models for Smart Cities and Communities

6

Role of Smart Dustbin in Creating a Smart Environment . . . . . . . . . 113 Sangam Malla, Prabhat Kumar Sahu, Dhananjaya Sarangi, and Srikanta Patnaik

7

Smart Technologies and Aging Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Xueming Chen

xiii

xiv

Contents

Part III Civic Engagement and Citizen Participation 8

Conceptual Model of Mixed-Methods Community Engagement Infrastructure Using Cloud-Based Computing Combined with On-Site Engagement and Action Projects . . . . . . . . . 149 Alenka Poplin

9

Digital Placemaking: An Analysis of Citizen Participation in Smart Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Mary Anne Alabanza Akers

Part IV Case Studies from the Global North 10 Historian for a Day: A Use Case of Augmented Reality in Civic Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Ming-Chun Lee 11 Web Mapping Platforms for Community Planning and Engagement: Lessons Learned from NJ MAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Katrina McCarthy, John Hasse, and Mahbubur Meenar Part V

Case Studies from the Global South

12 One More in the Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Henri Audirac-Lass and Ivonne Audirac 13 How Inclusive are the Smart City Projects Implemented in India? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Tej Karki 14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Jay Mittal and Dinesh Harode 15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable Action Plans for Indian Smart Cities to Re-define Public Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Sreenandini Banerjee, Nandini Bhattacharya, and Mayank Saravagi 16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal for Land-Based Financing Using Smart ICT Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 Jay Mittal, Sweta Byahut, and Sunil Agarwal 17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban Attributes of Traditional Neighborhood-Level Communities in India . . . . . . . . . 395 Mani Dhingra and Subrata Chattopadhyay

Contents

xv

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic Vulnerability and Necessary Interventions by Local Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433 Basudatta Sarkar, Sumitro Bhaumik, Haimanti Banerji, and Joy Sen 19 Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459 Srikanta Patnaik, Siddhartha Sen, and Sudeshna Ghosh

Editors and Contributors

About the Editors Dr. Srikanta Patnaik is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) University, Bhubaneswar, India. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering with a focus on Computational Intelligence from Jadavpur University, India, in 1999, and has supervised 12 Ph.D. dissertations and more than 30 M.Tech. theses in the areas of Computational Intelligence, Soft Computing Applications, and Re-Engineering. He has published around 60 research papers in international journals and conference proceedings. He is the author of 2 textbooks and has edited 12 books and a few invited book chapters, published by leading international publishers such as SpringerVerlag, Kluwer Academic, etc. He was the Principal Investigator of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)-sponsored TAPTEC project “Building Cognition for Intelligent Robot” and University Grants Commission (UGC)-sponsored Major Research Project “Machine Learning and Perception using Cognition Methods.” He is one of the Editors-in-Chief of International Journal of Information and Communication Technology and International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics published from Inderscience Publishing House, England, and also one of the Editors-in-Chief of the book series on “Modeling and Optimization in Science and Technology” published by Springer, Germany. Dr. Siddhartha Sen is a Professor of City and Regional Planning and Associate Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University (MSU), Baltimore, USA. He is a recognized scholar on Indian urbanization and the nonprofit sector in India. His articles have appeared in journals such as Third World Planning Review (now known as International Development Planning Review), Development and Change, Cities, Voluntas, Journal of Urban Technology, Michigan Sociological Review, Journal of Planning History, and Journal of Planning Education and Research. He is the author of several book chapters published by leading

xvii

xviii

Editors and Contributors

publishers such as Manchester University Press, University of Toronto Press, Routledge, John Wiley and Sons, Sage Publications, and Praeger. His 2017 book—Colonizing, Decolonizing, and Globalizing Kolkata: From a Colonial to a Post-Marxist City—published by the Amsterdam University Press has been widely acclaimed in the field. His most recent co-edited book, Smart Village Technology: Concepts and Developments, has been published by Springer: Cham, Switzerland, in 2020. He has been involved in many editorial activities, including serving as the book review editor of the Journal of Urban Technology since 2005. He has also served as a reviewer for many international journals as well as publishers such as Routledge and Fordham University Press. He has managed over $4 million worth of research contracts and grants for agencies such as the Economic Development Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Highway Administration, Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Baltimore Urban League, and the National Transportation Center at MSU. Dr. Sudeshna Ghosh is an Associate Professor of Regional Planning in the Department of Geography and Regional Planning at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA. She earned her Ph.D. in Regional Development Planning from the University of Cincinnati, USA, and her Master’s degree in City Planning from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. She has published several articles and book chapters in the areas of economic development planning, land use modeling, smart city and smart living strategies in the US, and planning in the developing world, specifically India and Brazil.

Contributors Sunil Agarwal Black Olive Ventures, Noida, India Mary Anne Alabanza Akers School of Architecture and Planning, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA Henri Audirac-Lass CartoData, Guadalajara, Mexico Ivonne Audirac University of Texas, Arlington, USA Sreenandini Banerjee Center for Digital Governance, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India Haimanti Banerji Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India Nandini Bhattacharya Center for Digital Governance, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India Sumitro Bhaumik TCS Research and Innovations Lab, Kolkata, India

Editors and Contributors

xix

Stanley D. Brunn Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA Sweta Byahut Graduate Community Planning Program, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA Subrata Chattopadhyay Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India Xueming Chen L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA Travis Decaminada Verisk Analytics, Jersey City, USA Mani Dhingra Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India Sudeshna Ghosh Department of Geography and Regional Planning, Indiana University, Indiana, PA, USA Dinesh Harode Ecorys India Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, India; Smart Cities, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India John Hasse Department of Geography, Planning and Sustainability, School of Earth and Environment, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, US Christina Kakderi URENIO Research, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Tej Karki School of Architecture and Planning Department, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India Eva Kassens-Noor School of Planning, Design and Construction, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA Nicos Komninos URENIO Research, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Ioannis Kompatsiaris Centre for Research & Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece Ming-Chun Lee School of Architecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, USA Sangam Malla Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Siksha O Anusandhan Deemed to Be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Katrina McCarthy Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability, School of Earth and Environment, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, US Mahbubur Meenar Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability, School of Earth and Environment, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, US

xx

Editors and Contributors

Jay Mittal Graduate Community Planning Program, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA Spiros Nikolopoulos Centre for Research & Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece Angel Paniagua Spainsh Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Madrid, Spain Srikanta Patnaik International Relation and Publication, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Siksha O Anusandhan Deemed to Be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Alenka Poplin Community and Regional Planning Department, College of Design, Iowa State University, Iowa, USA Prabhat Kumar Sahu Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Siksha O Anusandhan Deemed to Be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Dhananjaya Sarangi School Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

of

Management,

Birla

Global

University,

Mayank Saravagi Data Analytics and Management Unit, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India Basudatta Sarkar Department of Planning and Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India Joy Sen Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India Siddhartha Sen School of Architecture and Planning, Morgan State University, Baltimore, USA Ioannis Tsampoulatidis URENIO Research, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Mark Wilson School of Planning, Design and Construction, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA

Chapter 1

Introduction Srikanta Patnaik, Siddhartha Sen, and Sudeshna Ghosh

Abstract The chapter presents an overview of the literature on Smart Cities and Smart Communities, and the evolution of planning practices and implementation under the Smart City and Smart Community theme. The chapter argues that few studies explore and compare the distinctive approaches adopted for implementing Smart City and Smart Community goals in the Global North and Global South. Hence, there can never be a ubiquitous model of a Smart City or a Smart Community. The theme is presented for the transdisciplinary book, which explores Smart Cities and Smart Communities from citizens’ empowerment perspectives and investigates how the models of “smartness” can be achieved through intelligent technologies from various stories and cases of big cities representing the Global North as well as the Global South. This is followed by a description of the organization of the book around five topics: (1) conceptual framework for smart cities and communities; (2) technical concepts and models for smart cities and communities; (3) civic engagement and citizen participation; (4) case studies from the Global North; and (5) case studies from the Global South.

1.1 Smart Cities and Communities: An Overview In the past two decades, “Smart City” has become one of the most dominant urban agendas for local governments worldwide, subsequently gaining increased attention in the scientific literature too. The rapid urbanization rate and unprecedented growth S. Patnaik (B) Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India e-mail: [email protected] S. Sen School of Architecture and Planning, Morgan State University, Baltimore, USA e-mail: [email protected] S. Ghosh Department of Geography and Regional Planning, Indiana University, Indiana, PA, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_1

1

2

S. Patnaik et al.

of megacities in the twenty-first century sparked drastic changes in traditional policies for urban development. As cities explored innovative ways to improve their urban services, reliance on new and advanced Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) seemed to be a viable approach, leading to an influx of digital computing applications for fast and efficient urban management. With the rising popularity of making cities “smart,” several aspects of urban management, infrastructure, and services have witnessed widespread use of smart interfaces, smart control systems, and smart database resources [1] that optimize and control functioning of day-to-day urban systems. With the scope of ICT use becoming more pervasive in day-to-day urban management and services on the one hand, on the other hand the understanding, definitions, and applications of Smart Cities also tend to become more ambiguous. As such, there is no standardized model of “Smart City” adoption in cities or communities whether large or small. Nevertheless, scholars and policymakers concur on the underlying functioning of Smart Cities as essential digital networks that obtain large-scale real time data on urban systems, process them, and make decisions on how to manage them efficiently. The Internet of Things (IoT) emerged as a growing concept referring to a smart, yet invisible network of devices (e.g., smart tags, phones, sensors, etc.) connected through the Internet that can be programmed and controlled [2]. It is estimated that there were 8.74 billion IoT connected devices in 2020, which is projected to grow to 25.44 billion by 2030 [3]. The true potential of IoT to make decisions and implement them to achieve desired goals is still being realized. Undisputedly, the Covid-19 pandemic increased our dependence on digital technology and reinforced the argument that ICT and IoT will drive our future, from managing our day-to-day lives to managing our cities and communities. The question is how we can apply ICT and IoT to achieve equity, inclusion and sustainability goals, or whether ICT and IoT will introduce more divisions, inequality and conflicts within our societies. The foundation of the recent Smart City notion can be traced back to the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s when a significant amount of work was published by eminent scholars and urban thinkers arguing for technology, information, data, and knowledge flow as complementary to urban development. Technological changes in that era and the advent of computer-based urban data modeling enabled visioning of informationbased societies in grander ways [4–8]. Large-scale urban models, such as those for transportation and land-use (e.g., Chicago Area Transportation Study), of that generation guided the urban planning profession in reducing its urban design and “architectonic” bias and becoming more scientific [9–11]. While significant concerns surfaced in academia about the limited capacities of large-scale models [12], the accelerating technological advancement of the 1990s and emerging Geographic Information Systems (GIS) paved the way for significant progress in large-scale urban data analysis, simulation and modeling in the next two decades [10, 13, 14]. By the 1990s visions of smart city were growing in the scientific and planning literature with several terms such as “wired cities,” “cyber cities,” and “virtual cities,” becoming popular [15]. The expansion of the world wide web (www.) facilitated the faster transfer of information and data over the Internet during that time, leading to further speculations of ICT dominance in urban management, neutralization of

1 Introduction

3

distance, possible demise of spatial agglomeration in urban functions and changing urban spatial structures in the twenty-first century [16, 17]. The term “Smart City” also first emerged in the 1990s with connections to the growing “Smart Growth” and “New Urbanism” movement in the United States. While Smart Growth and New Urbanism movements emerged as a reaction to suburbanization and sprawl, the “Smart City” concept increasingly implied the significance of ICT applications for modern infrastructure planning within cities. Although other parallel terms emphasizing “Smart City” notions—such as “Intelligent City,” “Ubiquitous City,” “Digital City” and “Information City” were used in the 1990s, the more user-friendly term “Smart City” that could appeal to a broader audience received wider acceptance for marketing modern cities [18, 19]. By the 2000s, the “Smart City” concept was deemed to be a kind of “urban labelling” phenomenon [20] and criticized for being too technologically dependent and failing to recognize the “people” component. Thus, policymakers advocated for an increased government-oriented approach in smart city planning that focused on human and social dimensions of urban strategies [18, 21]. Consequently, the idea of “Smart City” diffused over multiple dimensions and the concept was applied within a broader planning and policy framework to transform urban functions in significant ways. Nevertheless, the lack of any precise or mutually agreeable definition also led to confusion among policymakers over how cities can become smart or what strategies should form the basis of smart city [18, 21, 22]. The ambiguous concept of “urban smartness” further led to applications of broader and more diversified strategies that became part of the growing “Smart City” phenomenon. As such, the “Smart City” phenomenon gradually turned into a new paradigm of urban and sustainable development in the twenty-first century that focuses on how cities can function optimally and make better use of their resources while promoting the ideas of socio-economic growth and equity [22, 23]. “Smart City” entails a wide range of meaning and definitions. The scientific literature on “Smart City” that attempted to illustrate various dimensions and domains of “Smart City” applications also increased in the past decade and highlighted distinct approaches to “Smart City” models. From a technological context, “Smart City” involves over-dependency on ICT and automatic computing systems for management of critical urban infrastructure as well as various aspects of urban life [18, 24]. Smart technology, smart devices, and smart sensor systems can potentially transform a space into a smart space, which can also be extended to the scale of an entire city or region [25]. However, enormous computing capacity is required for large-scale data collection, real-time data processing, modeling, visualization, optimization, and decision making [21, 26]. Such technological dimension necessitates a top-down and corporate-driven approach to “Smart City” for efficient urban management at a citywide or regional scale. In an urban planning context on the other hand, “Smart City” includes an “ideological” dimension that stresses a “strategic” approach to achieve sustainability, equity and quality-of-life goals. Human and social dimensions to the “Smart City” approach that focuses on intellectual capital, cultural enterprise, social connections, etc., are as essential as technological dependency. Policymakers and scholars in this

4

S. Patnaik et al.

context argue that pure dependence on ICT systems cannot transform a city into “Smart City” without the help of its “people.” Citizen participation and empowerment is key to “Smart City” implementation, and ICT systems should only play a complementary role to human and organizational capital [22, 27]. Arnstein’s influential “Ladder of Citizen Participation,” which argued that true citizen participation and engagement necessitates redistribution of power [28], is even more relevant today in this context. While the twenty-first century cities are increasingly becoming technologically advanced and smart, inequality and digital divide issues are persistent, with a significant share of the world’s population having no or limited access to modern technology. In this scenario, to achieve higher “degrees of citizen power,”— i.e., as delineated in Arnstein’s model as “Delegated power,” the 7th of participation and “Citizen Control,” the 8th of participation [28]—is crucial so that the public as a whole, including the underrepresented population, hold significant power and voice in management, control and allocation of resources pertaining to smart city applications. Therefore, “Smart City” in this urban planning context is far from smart technology, computing devices or artificial intelligence, as these technological aspects are only a means to achieve greater community goals [18, 22]. The Smart Communities movement also originated in the 1990s, closely related to the Smart Growth and New Urbanism movement, to emphasize institutional roles and partnerships among numerous stakeholders for transforming local communities in significant ways through advanced ICT applications [29]. The California Institute for Smart Communities [30] first elaborated on the concept of smart communities, explaining how communities can implement ICT and become smart. They defined “Smart Community” as “a community in which government, business, and residents understand the potential of information technology (IT), and make a conscious decision to use that technology to transform life and work in their region in significant and positive ways.” A smart community acts in an inclusive, collaborative, and integrated manner to make conscious decisions about its resource utilization and cater to its social and business needs [18, 19]. The “Smart Community” approach, therefore, mandates a bottom-up community and local government-driven approach to urban development. While the smart growth movement was essentially a response to urban sprawl in the U.S., “smart city” and “smart community” ideas are now widely applied in cities and communities around the world [31]. Potentially, numerous dimensions can assess urban smartness, and this can vary from city to city, region to region, and country to country, depending on their specific socioeconomic and demographic conditions, resource availability, urban structure, and institutional and governance factors. Numerous scholars have attempted to classify various components and dimensions of “Smart City” and “Smart Community” based on their applications in cities worldwide [18, 21, 22, 24, 32–36]. Washburn et al. [24] stressed the technological component that includes smart computing capacities as the basis of a “Smart City.” Giffinger et al. [32] outlined four components of a “Smart City”—industry, education, participation, and technical infrastructure. The list was further modified and expanded by Giffinger and Gudrun [33] to outline six components—smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart people, smart living, and smart governance. This illustrates how human and quality-of-life

1 Introduction

5

objectives gained further momentum over time within “Smart City” initiatives, while scholars also argued that quality-of-life components should be emphasized within all dimensions or components of “Smart City” models [37]. Lombardi [34] related the six components of “Smart City” with various aspects of urban life: smart economy is linked to industrial aspects, smart mobility is linked to infrastructure, smart environment is linked to sustainability, smart people is linked to education, smart living is linked to quality-of-life, and smart governance is linked to e-democracy. Nam and Pardo [18] categorized various dimensions of “Smart City” initiatives into three broad dimensions—technology, human, and institutional or community. While the scientific literature in the past decade has demonstrated that there is no consensus on the definition of “Smart City” or “Smart Community,” some scholars have also assessed varying degrees or levels of smartness in cities or communities based on the extent of ICT use, compared to distinct classification or categorization of “Smart City” components. This is based on the argument that many of the “Smart City” approaches and strategies within various dimensions or components can overlap. Some urban functions or services, especially the hard infrastructure and physical capital, exhibit extensive use of ICTs to achieve urban smartness. These are energy use, electric supply, streetlights, water supply, waste disposal, transportation and mobility, commercial buildings and housing, where ICT dependency is deemed crucial. Policymakers agree that optimal and efficient functioning of these services may not be possible without advanced ICT systems. Neirotti et al. [22] classify them as “hard domains” of “Smart City” initiatives. On the other hand, ICTs can only play a limited role in other aspects of urban functions and services, classified as “soft domains.” These areas include public welfare, social inclusion, innovation and entrepreneurship, public participation and engagement, equity and social justice [22]. It is widely accepted that ICTs alone do not have the potential to yield effective and successful outcomes in these areas without substantial participation of urban residents or the community as a whole. Nevertheless, recent trends in smart cities and communities demonstrate that they are increasingly investing in these softer domains to varying levels and degrees to achieve their “smart city” goals. Figure 1.1 presents the conceptual difference between top-down and bottom-up approach to smart cities and communities discussed above. What we have learned from two decades of “Smart City” strategies is that cities and communities need to find the right balance between ICT dependency and community participation to achieve ideal “smartness.” While the use of ICT systems in varying degrees is expected to remain critical in all dimensions and components of “Smart City” models, there are several challenges to achieving “Smart Community” goals: social inclusion, social justice, citizen participation, empowerment of minorities, and others. Additionally, various members and stakeholders of a community should also feel the need for participating in, working together, and adopting “smart” strategies for transforming their city [18]. Community participation indicators are also important in measuring the successes and failures of smart city outcomes. Otherwise, distinguishing between hypothetical vs. actual outcomes can be difficult for policymakers [38]. The recent Covid-19 pandemic illustrated how vulnerable and dysfunctional our cities can become, without fast and efficient “smart” solutions.

6

S. Patnaik et al.

Fig. 1.1 Conceptual difference between top-down and bottom-up approach to smart cities and communities. Source Compiled by the Authors

However, a large segment of the population, especially minorities, the elderly, and the unskilled, still have not been well integrated within various aspects of urban smartness. Future endeavors that emphasize Smart City goals must also find ways to bring citizens together, facilitate communications among multiple actors and organizations, enable efficient participation from stakeholders, and provide access to technology for all citizens, as well as increasing technological literacy and engaging citizens in meaningful ways in the decision-making process about urban functions.

1.2 Purpose of the Book As is evident from the above discussion, a huge amount of scientific literature— scholarly articles, books, reports—has explored the topic of Smart Cities and Smart Communities from various disciplinary backgrounds. However, not many studies explore the distinctive approaches adopted for implementation of Smart City and Smart Community goals in the Global North and Global South from a comparative spectrum. The Smart City and Smart Community challenges are distinctly different for the Global North and Global South. Hence there can never be a ubiquitous model of a Smart City or a Smart Community. Nevertheless, Smart City and Smart Community models continue to dominate the urban development arena to address the twentyfirst century urban challenges, specifically for megacities and global cities from both the Global North and Global South. Policymakers should be cautious about the

1 Introduction

7

convenience of access to smart infrastructure, and services for people from various racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, demographic, and educational background. Our book uniquely explores Smart Cities and Smart Communities from citizens’ empowerment perspectives and investigates how the models of “smartness” can be achieved through intelligent technologies from various stories and cases of big cities representing the Global North as well as the Global South. The transdisciplinary book brings together scholars from various fields such as engineering, information science, architecture, urban planning, public policy, geography, and social and behavioral sciences as well as practitioners to discuss the above issues.

1.3 Organization of the Book There are 19 chapters in the book including this one, which are organized around five topics: (1) conceptual framework for smart cities and communities; (2) technical concepts and models for smart cities and communities; (3) civic engagement and citizen participation; (4) case studies from the Global North; and (5) case studies from the Global South. Four chapters explore the conceptual framework for smart cities and communities. Although some of them refer to cases to explain the concepts, they are grouped under this subtopic as their primary focus is on conceptual frameworks. Chapter 2, by Mark Wilson, Travis Decaminada, and Eva Kassens-Noor, entitled “Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities,” sets the tone for the book. It starts by discussing the evolution of the smart city concept and its common uses in language and media. In particular, the chapter explores the social media use of #smartcity and #smartcities, where the term has a far broader use. The authors analyze 5 million tweets sent between 2017 and 2020 to inform us about the geography and languages of the concept, along with common associations and the people and countries most using the term. The results of their analysis clearly illustrate that Twitter messaging is driven by technology and industry interests with a focus on vendors and the promotion of smart city technologies. These results have significant policy implications. These include: a need for broader engagement, addressing issues of ownership and control of technology, governance and oversight, privacy issues, and the promotion of social justice. The chapter illustrates that while smart cities have the potential for greater community engagement around urban life, this role needs to be established if we are to realize the full benefits of the technologies. Chapter 3, by Nicos Komninos, Ioannis Tsampoulatidis, Christina Kakderi, Spiros Nikolopoulos, and Ioannis Kompatsiaris, entitled “Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence and Innovation Driving the Radical Transformation of Cities,” sheds light on projects that make cities smart and on the drivers of city intelligence or city smartness. They argue that the smart city transformation is multidimensional and the drivers are mainly systemic. Smart city transformation is determined by systems integrating physical infrastructure, platforms for user engagement, digital technologies, and e-services rather than technology. As the chapter illustrates,

8

S. Patnaik et al.

although the concepts of “smart city” or “intelligent city” appeared in the mid-1980s, with the subsequent emergence of a plethora of articles and reports on the topic since 2009, there is still ambiguity about what projects make cities “smart.” They argue that such ambiguity is attributable to complexity arising from smart technologies, IoT infrastructure, crowd sourcing platforms, user engagement, co-design, and new decision-making processes that overlap, thereby creating hybrid systems and complex environments. The authors employ a mixed method to enhance our understanding of projects that make cities smart. First, they conduct a literature review of “supply chain of the smart cities,” that they define as inputs, components, and projects that contribute to the production and delivery of smart city data, infrastructure, and digital and non-digital services. Second, they analyze survey data from a large number of smart city projects planned by city authorities. Third, they examine projects for the development of e-services, the most usual form of smart city projects created by companies and the private sector, and delve further with case studies to assess factors of success and failure. The chapter defines drivers of smart city projects and city smartness along three axes namely—city ecosystem, connected intelligence, innovation and nine properties of those axes. Chapter 4, by Angel Paniagua, entitled “The Histories of New (Geo)politics of Smart Villages Communities in a Global World: A Contribution to Geographical Debate,” presents the concept of a smart global rural community. The author does so by reviewing the literature on different geographical orientations of smart communities and the impact of ICTs in rural areas, with special attention to marginal and remote communities. First, the author explores the debate on the new global countryside and the different trajectories and manifestations of globalization in the histories of rural communities. He then analyzes the literature on the origins of the concept of Smart Cities and Smart Communities, and smart growth. Finally, the chapter analyzes the literature on the emergence of new rural communities associated with the impact of ICTs. The author concludes that the incorporation of remote and peripheral areas through ICTs may result in differences among different rural areas and between rural and urban areas. ICTs are an element of change in local life, which is uniquely adapted to each rural community. The author further argues that while smart villages can generate a more inclusive and cohesive community, they can also reinforce processes of socioeconomic exclusion and marginalization of the most vulnerable populations. Chapter 5, by Stanley D. Brunn, entitled “Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities and Digital Divides: Hyperlink Variations in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Cities,” examines “smartness” of cities in the context of information bases related to the production of knowledge or information about major cities in a country. The source that the author uses to examine these features is the Google Scholar search engine, which provides hyperlinks about a place. The author posits that the volume of those hyperlinks can be used to provide an index about the importance of a specific city. The chapter examines Google Scholar hyperlink volumes for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cities in 43 European countries to compare the importance of information economies of cities in a country’s urban hierarchy. The results indicate significant differences between the Primary cities and the Secondary

1 Introduction

9

and Tertiary cities in most European countries. Primary cities have 63% of the total population of cities in the study and 72% of all hyperlinks; Secondary cities have 23 and 17%; Tertiary cities have 13 and 11%. The continent’s largest Primary cities are in the Core Smartness category, but some Secondary and Tertiary cities are also in this category. The mix between ranking in population and hyperlink volumes exists in Core, Semiperipheral, Peripheral and Deep Peripheral categories. The chapter maps these “smart” or information/knowledge divides. The study also shows that while distinct regional variations exist, there is also much complexity across the continent. The author concludes with directions for further research. There are two chapters on technical concepts and models for smart cities and communities. Although some of these chapters refer to case studies, they have been grouped under this topic since they focus on technical concepts. Chapter 6, by Sangam Malla, Prabhat Kumar Sahu, Dhananjaya Sarangi and Srikanta Patnaik, entitled “Role of Smart Dustbin in Creating a Smart Environment,” discusses recent developments in IoT that have significantly changed modern lifestyles through linkages of smart objects and smart applications that can be controlled anytime anywhere in the world. As postulated in the chapter, the autonomous nature of IoT brings an opportunity for virtual representation and unique identification of devices, applications, and services. The crux of the chapter lies in describing a model of a smart dustbin designed and configured by the authors, and explaining how the smart dustbin model can be applied efficiently to achieve smart environmental goals. The smart dustbin developed by the authors can be adopted by cities and communities to improve public health and hygiene measures in smarter ways. The device can also curb negative impacts on public health in global pandemics such as Covid-19. Chapter 7, by Xueming Chen, entitled “Smart Technologies and Aging Society,” presents the application of smart technologies in aging societies in the Global North. The author discusses two types of smart technologies in the chapter: smart home technologies and smart mobility technologies. As postulated in the chapter, smart home technologies directly help older adults age in place when they purchase and apply different smart home technological products. Although such technology is not very expensive, it takes time for older citizens to become familiar with using it. Despite this difficulty, there are numerous products that would help older adults with different types of disabilities to live comfortably and independently. The potential benefits of using such products include security and safety, companionship and socialization, and convenience. As the chapter concludes, smart mobility technologies not only can improve mobility and independence for older adults, but also raise economic efficiency and reduce operating costs for public entities as well. Public entities such as transit operators could also deploy and operate smart mobility-related technologies, such as public transit-related intelligent transportation systems, and assistive technologies to improve efficiency and reduce costs. In addition, the elderly can also purchase some smart products to assist their individual travel. There are two chapters on civic engagement and citizen participation. As in the previous sections, some chapters that present case studies are grouped here as their focus is on civic engagement and citizen participation. Chapter 8, by Alenka Poplin,

10

S. Patnaik et al.

entitled “Conceptual Model of Mixed-methods Community Engagement Infrastructure using Cloud-based Computing combined with on-site Engagement and Action Projects,” sets the tone for the section. It introduces a conceptual model of civic engagement using mixed-methods. It has a novel approach that can enable city officials and urban planners to engage underrepresented and marginalized residents. The model is built on the several principles of successful community engagement. These include: mixed-methods engagement, technology-based participation, incorporation of playful elements, action projects and cloud-based computing. The chapter stresses the importance of building trust, enabling two-way communication between the public officials and residents, and respecting context factors in influencing the success of civic engagement and public participation. As the author states, future research needs to provide additional evidence of the potential implementations of this model, its successes, and conduct more case studies. Chapter 9, by Mary Anne Alabanza Akers, entitled “Digital Placemaking: An Analysis of Citizen Participation in Smart Cities,” posits that the research on smart cities has focused on areas such as embedded computing technologies in physical spaces, ICT, and big data analytics. The concern is that such a myopic approach, which focuses solely on technology, does not address the complex and multidimensional needs of cities. This chapter examines Arnstein’s “Ladder of Citizen Participation,” through the use of advanced ICT. The chapter poses three research questions (1) Does the traditional ladder of citizen participation apply to digital placemaking; (2) What are the commonalities and differences among digital placemaking initiatives around the world and what lessons can be learned from these practical experiences of digital citizenship; and (3) Is digital citizenship participation inclusive and equitable for all citizens? The chapter’s contribution to the book lies in its analysis of digital placemaking that encompasses world cities and their contextual conditions. A major take-away from this analysis of Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation and the current digital culture is that there are disadvantaged groups that continue to be excluded from participation. The author recommends that local governments undertake strategic initiatives to address this issue. There are two chapters on case studies from the Global North, both from the U.S. Chapter 10, by Ming-ChunLee, entitled “Historian for a Day: A Use Case of Augmented Reality in Civic Engagement,” explores the use of Augmented reality (AR), to promote civic engagement. As argued by the author, AR offers an interactive way to expand visualization and communication techniques in public participation. It generates distinctive experiences by combining the real physical world with a digital or simulated reality. The chapter discusses three mobile AR applications (apps) developed by a partnership among four community-based organizations and educational institutions in the City of Charlotte, USA. These apps use AR to overlay current streetscapes in the physical world with digital images that show the historical views of the exact physical locations. They also help the public understand neighborhood characteristics by presenting quantitative socio-economic data as three-dimensional digital infographics. These AR apps were employed at a series of community events including an open-street event and several indoor exhibits that focused on neighborhood history. These events were aimed at expanding

1 Introduction

11

overall public participation and civic engagement with a goal of increasing awareness of neighborhood history through data visualization and story-telling. Surveys and interviews conducted during these events show that a majority of event participants gained new knowledge about the history of their neighborhoods with the information provided by these AR experiences. Chapter 11, by Katrina McCarthy, John Hasse and Mahbubur Meenar, entitled “Web Mapping Platforms for Community Planning and Engagement: Lessons Learned from NJ MAP,” presents a brief background on and examples of web mapping. The chapter focuses on a case study of an award-winning web mapping project known as NJ MAP. NJ MAP is an interactive web mapping platform for ecological resources, environmental education, and sustainable communities, created and maintained by Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA, since 2011. The platform was created to connect New Jersey citizens, municipalities, and advocacy groups with real-time geospatial tools to support informed planning and conservation efforts. Intended users include municipal planning boards, environmental commissions, community groups, land trusts, watershed organizations, and concerned citizens. The platform demystifies and democratizes geospatial data for the public interest in support of environmental education, planning, and sustainability. The map-based platform is designed to be responsive and up to date so that it may be used in the field or during public meetings. The chapter also provides a brief historical overview of the project, elaborates on a few map collections endeavors, and explains the ways the project has evolved over time through community engagement. Finally, the authors discuss lessons learned from this project. There are seven chapters on case studies from the Global South. One of them is in Mexico and the rest are in India. Chapter 12, by Ivonne Audirac and Henri Audirac-Lass, entitled “One More in the Family,” begins with a brief discussion on the Smart Village movement across the Global North and South. This chapter draws on the Smart Village model to describe a smart application for tree-planting in the small rural town of Talpa de Allende in Mexico in the State of Jalisco. The core of the strategy relies on a cadastral geo database platform and uses crowd sourcing. The approach encourages tree planting and survival, giving yearly property tax rebates for every new tree planted or outlived. Citizens can visually inspect the trees they and others have planted in their lots by using smartphones, enabling transparency and accountability in the subsidy. Talpa de Allende’s smart village solutions were made possible by two large initiatives of the Mexican State of Jalisco that can serve as good model for developing smart villages in the Global South. The chapter also discusses the relevance of cadasters within the conception of smart villages, and additional environmental applications of cadasters, including urban tree planting. It concludes with a discussion on the limitations and lessons learned from this case study. Chapter 13, by Tej Karki, entitled “How Inclusive are the Indian Smart City Projects Implemented in India?” is a good introduction to the government of India’s Smart Cities Mission (SCM). SCM was launched in June 2015 to create 100 “smart cities” in the country. As pointed out by the chapter, the mission aims to promote core infrastructure, a decent quality of life, and a clean and sustainable environment in the selected cities by applying “smart solutions.” Its goal is to create role model

12

S. Patnaik et al.

cities that are replicable to all the regions of the nation. According to the smart city mission guidelines, the mission would follow inclusive, citizen-engaging, and grievance-redressing policy while dealing with people’s issues. The chapter evaluates to what extent the smart city projects followed the guidelines in the three Smart City Mission selected cities: Bhubaneshwar, Indore, and Vadodara. This study found a big gap between the Indian policy intent and its actual implementation in the highly touted SCM. The author contends that smart city authorities have violated most of the inclusive planning principles. The chapter concludes with some policy recommendations that can improve SCM. Chapter 14, by Jay Mittal and Dinesh Harode, entitled “Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Smart Cities: ABD and PCS cases from Bhopal, Indore, and Satna, India,” is also about SCM in India. The chapter focuses on smart planning initiatives undertaken by three cities in the state of Madhya Pradesh (MP), India, as a part of SCM. The first section presents the background and context of the SCM in India. This is followed by the three case studies of Area-Based Development (ABD) initiatives and the Pan-City Solutions (PCS) for these cities. The ABD and PCS are two spatial scales of the interventions for all 100 cities under the SCM. The ABD impacts only a factional area of the city and focuses on high-quality urban infrastructure investments to attract new businesses and investments. The PCS on the other hand, is a technology-dominant initiative that is designed to have a citywide impact through investments in ICT, cloud computing, mobile computing, artificial intelligence, and other smart technologies. The chapter discusses the two spatial scales for the three cities and lessons learned from the case studies, and offers takeaways. The chapter is insightful for planners, public administrators, policymakers, and scholars interested in similar smart initiatives in other parts of the Global South. Chapter 15, by Sreenandini Banerjee, Nandini Bhattacharya and Mayank Saravagi, entitled “Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable Action Plans for Indian Smart Cities to re-define Public Engagement,” also concerns SCM in India. The chapter examines whether citizens’ inputs to create smart communities in the proposed Smart Cities were incorporated in the final Smart Cities projects. The authors draw from their work at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on a yearlong action research project with the goal of creating sustainable, scalable citizen engagement plans for cities. They implemented 14 strategies in 2019 in Chandigarh, selected as a pilot project for a duration of two months, that are discussed in the chapter. The authors developed a stepwise implementable action plan for Indian cities to enhance citizen participation for smarter community planning. This action plan broadens our understanding of smart and sustainable governance and the ability to determine citizens’ needs. The toolkit that the authors developed should be useful before planning any engagement activity in the cities by the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in India. Chapter 16, by Jay Mittal, Sweta Byahut, and Sunil Agarwal, entitled “Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing: A Proposal for Land-Based Financing using Smart ICT Systems,” is a case study on four Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) corridors in Gurgaon, which is part of the National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The chapter presents changes in the land-use regulations and their effects on the

1 Introduction

13

supply side characteristics (housing size and price) within TOD corridor development in the city of Gurgaon. The chapter highlights the need for a robust Land and Property Development Information System (LPDIS) and develops a conceptual framework for implementing such systems that helps monitor Land Value Capture (LVC). The proposed LPDIS is an integrated computerized system that uses land and property taxation data, information on planning proposals, infrastructure investments, and building construction activities. It draws information from multiple sources to form a decision support system. Once integrated with the smart city intelligent infrastructure technology initiatives, the LPDIS can assist in systematically planning community development; advancing fairness, transparency, and empowerment for property owners; and accounting for the LVC effects. The chapter outlines a framework for a robust LPDIS tied to land data, zoning, and land-use regulations, and status of land/development permissions to assist in monitoring and developing policy change scenarios for policymakers using smart technologies. Chapter 17, by Mani Dhingra and Subrata Chattopadhyay, entitled “Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban Attributes of Traditional Neighborhood-level Communities in India,” argues that traditional communities have continued for generations and inherit a unique living and residential culture bestowing them with an inherent smartness quotient. They identify a strong need to merge the two concepts of traditional communities and urban smartness for a holistic approach to build smart communities. The study assesses the smart spatial attributes of the traditional neighborhood-level urban communities such as compactness, walkability, and diversity in the walled city of Alwar, Rajasthan, India, through household surveys. The case study reveals that indigenous spatial elements such as squares (chowks), markets (bazaars), and streets (gali) are crucial community gathering places for these traditional settlements. The chapter posits that assessing existing socio-cultural and spatial attributes will enable appropriate integration of intelligent technologies into our urban systems. The authors recommend harnessing the untapped potential of traditional communities in culturally rich countries like India to achieve the goals of smart communities. Chapter 18, by Basudatta Sarkar, Sumitro Bhaumik, Haimanti Banerji, and Joy Sen, entitled “ICT Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-Economic Vulnerability and Necessary Interventions by Local Government,” develops a methodology to assess socio-economic vulnerability using districts which are administrative subdivision in India, as units of analysis. The chapter also presents an example of employing the methodology by using three districts in West Bengal, India, namely Malda, Murshidabad and Birbhum. The methodology can be used as a computer application to generate a Vulnerability Index (VI). The methodology has three steps: (1) identification of indicators, (2) assessment of socioeconomic vulnerability using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) as a tool, and (3) formulation of the algorithm for computer application as a toolkit. The application can be installed in a computer with a Windows operating system with relative ease and can be helpful in calculating the district subdivision wide vulnerability score and visual identification of vulnerable pockets. This application can help local governments in India monitor the degree of socio-economic vulnerability at the district subdivision level. It can also identify

14

S. Patnaik et al.

the areas of intervention that will be needed based on the indicators. As the chapter posits, this application would help formulate practical strategies and possible interventions in the vulnerable districts to mitigate socioeconomic vulnerability through smart governance. Chapter 19, by the editors, provides concluding remarks for the book, including salient themes that emerge from the chapters as well as policy recommendations.

References 1. Al-Hader, M., Mahmud, A.R., Sharif, A.R., Ahmad, N.: SOA of smart city geospatial management. In: Proceedings of EMS—Third UKSim European Symposium on Computer Modeling and Simulation, Athens, Greece, 25–27 Nov 2009 2. Chase, J.: The evolution of the internet of things. Texas Instrum. 1, 1–7 (2013) 3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1183457/iot-connected-devices-worldwide/ 4. Gottman, J.: Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States. The Twentieth Century Fund, New York (1961) 5. Mumford, L.: The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects. Harcourt, Brace & World (1961) 6. Zenetos, T.: Electronic urbanism. Archit. Themes (Greek Archit. J.) 3, 114–125 (1969) 7. Hall, P.: Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century, 3rd edn. Wiley-Blackwell (2002) 8. Castells, M.: The Network Society: A Cross-cultural Perspective. Edward Elgar (2004) 9. Lee, D.B.: Retrospective on large-scale urban models. J. Am. Plann. Assoc. 60(1), 35–40 (1994) 10. Klosterman, R.E.: An introduction to the literature on large-scale urban models. J. Am. Plann. Assoc. 60(1), 41–44 (1994) 11. Hutchinson, B., Batty, M. (eds.): Advances in Urban Systems Modelling, vol. 15. North Holland. 12. Lee, D.B., Jr.: Requiem for large-scale models. J. Am. Inst. Plann. 39(3), 163–178 (1973) 13. Harris, B., Batty, M.: Locational models, geographic information and planning support systems. J. Plan. Educ. Res. 12(3), 184–198 (1993) 14. Batty, M.: Can it happen again? Planning support, Lee’s Requiem and the rise of the smart cities movement. Environ. Plann. B. Plann. Des. 41(3), 388–391 (2014) 15. Angelidou, M.: Smart cities: a conjuncture of four forces. Cities 47, 95–106 (2015) 16. Aurigi, A.: New technologies, same dilemmas: policy and design issues for the augmented city. J. Urban Technol. 13(3), 5–28 (2006) 17. Yousefi, Z., Dadashpoor, H.: How do ICTs affect urban spatial structure? A systematic literature review. J. Urban Technol. 27(1), 47–65 (2020) 18. Nam, T., Pardo, T.A.: Conceptualizing smart city with dimensions of technology, people, and institutions. In: The proceedings of the 12th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research, College Park, MD, USA, 12–15 June 2011. Available at: https://intaaivn.org/images/cc/Urbanism/background%20documents/dgo_2011_smartcity.pdf 19. Alawadhi, S., Aldama-Nalda, A., Chourabi, H., Gil-Garcia, J.R., Leung, S., Mellouli, S., Nam, T., Pardo, T.A., Scholl, H.J., Walker, S.: Building understanding of smart city initiatives. Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 7443, 40–53 (2012) 20. Hollands, R.G.: Will the real smart city please stand up? City: Anal. Urban Trends Culture Theory Policy Action 12(3), 303–320 (2008) 21. Albino, V., Berardi, U., Dangelico, R.M.: Smart cities: definitions, dimensions, performance, and initiatives. J. Urban Technol. 22(1), 3–21 (2015) 22. Neirotti, P., De Marco, A., Cagliano, A.C., Mangano, G., Scorrano, F.: Current trends in smart city initiatives: some stylised facts. Cities 38, 25–36 (2014)

1 Introduction

15

23. Mora, L., Deakin, M., Zhang, X., Batty, M., de Jong, M., Santi, P., Appio, F.P.: Assembling sustainable smart city transitions: an interdisciplinary theoretical perspective. J. Urban Technol. 28(1–2), 1–27 (2021) 24. Washburn, D., Sindhu, U., Balaouras, S., Dines, R.A., Hayes, N.M., Nelson, L.E.: Helping CIOs Understand “Smart City” Initiatives: Defining the Smart City, Its Drivers, and the Role of the CIO. Forrester Research, Cambridge, MA (2010) 25. Liu, P., Peng, Z.: Smart cities in China. IEEE Computer Society Digital Library (2013). Available at: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2013.149 26. Harrison, C., Eckman, B., Hamilton, R., Hartswick, P., Kalagnanam, J., Paraszczak, J., Williams, P.: Foundations for smarter cities. IBM J. Res. Dev. 54(4), 1–16 (2010) 27. Ghosh, S., Byahut, S., Masilela, C.: Metropolitan regional scale smart city approaches in a Shrinking city in the American rust belt—case of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In: Kumar, T.M.V. (ed.) Smart Metropolitan Regional Development, pp. 979–1021. Springer, Singapore (2019) 28. Arnstein, S.R.: A ladder of citizen participation. J. Am. Inst. Plann. 35(4), 216–224 (1969) 29. Industry Canada: Report of the Panel on smart communities. Ottawa, Canada: Government of Canada (1998); Nam, T., Pardo, T.A.: Conceptualizing Smart City with Dimensions of Technology, People, and Institutions (2011) 30. California Institute for Smart Communities: Smart communities guide book (2001); Albino, V., Berardi, U., Dangelico, R.M.: Smart cities: definitions, dimensions, performance, and initiatives. J. Urban Technol. 22(1), 3–21 (2015) 31. Benfield, F.K., Terris, J., Vorsanger, N.: Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth in Communities Across America. National Resources Defense Council, New York (2001) 32. Giffinger, R., Fertner, C., Kramar, H., Kalasek, R., Pichler-Milanovic, N., Meijers, E.: Smart Cities: Ranking of European Medium-Sized Cities. Centre of Regional Science, Vienna (2007) 33. Giffinger, R., Gudrun, H.: Smart cities ranking: an effective instrument for the positioning of cities? ACE Archit. City Environ. 4(12), 7–25 (2010) 34. Lombardi, P., Giordano, S., Farouh, H., Yousef, W.: Modelling the smart city performance. Innov. Eur. J. Soc. Sci. Res. 25(2), 137–149 (2012) 35. Anthopoulos, L.G.: Understanding the smart city domain: a literature review. In: Transforming City Governments for Successful Smart Cities, pp. 9–21 (2015) 36. Cocchia, A.: Smart and digital city: a systematic literature review. In: Smart city, pp. 13–43 (2014) 37. Shapiro, J.M.: Smart cities: quality of life, productivity, and the growth effects of human capital. Rev. Econ. Stat. 88(2), 324–335 (2006) 38. Lim, Y., Edelenbos, J., Gianoli, A.: Identifying the results of smart city development: findings from systematic literature review. Cities 95, 102397 (2019)

Dr. Srikanta Patnaik is presently working as Director of International Relation and Publication of SOA University. He is Full Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SOA University, Bhubaneswar, India. He has received his Ph.D. (Engineering) on Computational Intelligence from Jadavpur University, India, in 1999. He has supervised more than 25 Ph.D. theses and 60 Master theses in the area of computational intelligence, machine learning, soft computing applications, and re-engineering. Dr. Patnaik has published around 100 research papers in international journals and conference proceedings. He is Author of two textbooks and 52 edited volumes and few invited chapters, published by leading international publisher like SpringerVerlag, Kluwer Academic, etc. Dr. Srikanta Patnaik is Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Information and Communication Technology and International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics published from Inderscience Publishing House, England, and International Journal of Computational Intelligence in Control , published by MUK Publication, Editor of Journal of Information and Communication Convergence Engineering, and Associate Editor of Journal of Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems (JIFS), which are all Scopus Index journals. He is also Editor-inchief of Book Series on “Modeling and Optimization in Science and Technology” published from

16

S. Patnaik et al.

Springer, Germany, and Advances in Computer and Electrical Engineering (ACEE) and Advances in Medical Technologies and Clinical Practice (AMTCP), published by IGI Global, USA. Dr. Patnaik has visited more than 20 countries across the globe and been Visiting Professor to some of the universities. Dr. Siddhartha Sen is Professor of City and Regional Planning and Associate Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University, Baltimore, USA. He is Recognized Scholar on Indian urbanization and the nonprofit sector in India. His articles have appeared in journals such as Third World Planning Review (now known as International Development Planning Review), Development and Change, Cities, Voluntas, Journal of Urban Technology, Michigan Sociological Review, Journal of Planning History, and Journal of Planning Education and Research. He is Author of several chapters and presented in numerous international conferences. His most recent co-edited book, Smart Village Technology: Concepts and Developments, has been published by Springer: Cham, Switzerland, in 2020. He has been active in many editorial activities, including serving as Book Review Editor of the Journal of Urban Technology since 2005. He has also served as Reviewer from many international journals as well as publishers such as Routledge and Fordham University Press. Dr. Sudeshna Ghosh is Associate Professor of Regional Planning, in the Department of Geography and Regional Planning at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA. She earned her Ph.D. in Regional Development Planning from University of Cincinnati, USA, and her Master’s degree in City Planning from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. She published several articles and chapters in the areas of economic development planning, land use modeling, smart city and smart living strategies in the USA, and planning in the developing world, specifically India and Brazil.

Part I

Conceptual Framework for Smart Cities and Communities

Chapter 2

Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities Mark Wilson, Travis Decaminada, and Eva Kassens-Noor

Abstract Smart cities employ information and communication technologies to manage urban functions such as transportation, environmental quality, water and waste systems, and for community engagement. As a recent phenomenon of three decades, we investigate the evolution of the smart city concept and its common uses in language and media. Using the social media use of #smartcity and #smartcities we analyze 4.7 million tweets sent between 2017 and 2020 to reveal the geography and languages of the concept, along with common associations and influences. Results show how Twitter messaging is driven by technology and industry interests with a focus on vendors and the promotion of smart city technologies. Implications of the results include a need for broader engagement, addressing issues of ownership and control of technology, governance and oversight, privacy issues, and the promotion of social justice. Smart cities have the potential for greater community engagement around urban life, but this role needs to be established if the full benefits are to be realized.

2.1 Introduction The term “Smart Cities” increasingly is used to promote the next generation of autonomous management systems that monitor and run our cities. Smart cities use information and communication technologies to capture information that can then be used to organize, manage, and plan for urban services and infrastructure. The term is aspirational in its appeal to the desire for order and efficiency in the complex systems now needed to support urban life. At the same time, implications for privacy, equity, and accountability are often absent in the narratives presented to the public. Smart cities have the potential for enhanced urban management and greater community M. Wilson (B) · E. Kassens-Noor School of Planning, Design and Construction, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA e-mail: [email protected] T. Decaminada Verisk Analytics, Jersey City, USA © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_2

19

20

M. Wilson et al.

engagement, but this will only occur if implementation is transparent and informed by the public. Smart cities emerged because of the convergence of communication and computing technologies in the 1990s, aided by sensors, software, and an appreciation for large scale systems [1–4]. These systems could be applied to the many problems of urban management by providing data and control capacity. Common applications of smart city technologies include mobility (traffic and congestion management, public transit supply and demand); utilities (energy and water supply, waste management); environmental quality (pollution monitoring, water quality, public health) and community engagement (alerts to change behavior, feedback to officials and managers). The term as a technological phenomenon is relatively young—around 30 years old—but conveys a future image of the city attractive to urban leaders and residents; a call for order and control as modern megacities now exceed 15 million residents and span hundreds of kilometers. For all the significance and appeal of smart cities, the concept is often seen as utilitarian and disconnected from the very people that cities serve, the engineering is well chronicled, but the social context is often missing [5]. If smart cities are to succeed, it is important for us to heed the words of Jane Jacobs [6, p. 238], “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” To understand the nature of smart cities, this chapter uses social media to explore how people see, understand, and use the term. The chapter starts by discussing the evolution of the smart city concept and its common uses in language and media. In particular, we explore the social media use of #smartcity and #smartcities through analysis of 5 million tweets sent between 2017 and 2020. These tweets reveal the geography and languages of the concept, along with common associations and the people and countries most using the term. Results show a global use of the term in both developed and developing countries, and an industry/vendor dominance of messaging. Implications include a need for broader engagement of urban residents in the roll out and use of smart city technologies to promote transparency and equity, especially around areas of ownership and control of technology, governance and oversight, privacy issues, and the promotion of social justice.

2.2 Background A smart city initially referred to sophisticated and fashionable urban residents, but over the past decades the term has evolved to refer to the technology laden infrastructure often essential to the running of cities. In the nineteenth century, smart cities reflected the fashionable and sophisticated residents of London, Chicago, New York, and Boston [7, 8]. Then, the use of the term smart city combined envy with a wariness about wily business leaders using their urban skills to take advantage of the unprepared “…the smart city men, with the flowers in their button-holes” [8,

2 Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities

21

p. 73]. In some ways, our findings from Twitter today suggest a similar element of self-promotion around the smart city concept. The term is often found among a range of adjectives used to connote the next technological incarnation of the city. Titles such as Digital City, Creative City, Virtual City, Information City, Knowledge City, Intelligent City, and Ubiquitous City (UCity) try to capture changes in the economy to one driven by information and knowledge, or to embed ideas of the technology itself into our reconceptualization of space. Common across the language is an effort to recognize change combined with an appeal to the benefits of technology. In one way, however, the meaning has not changed since the nineteenth century, as Söderström et al. [9] note that the current narrative exemplifies corporate storytelling. Firms such as IBM, Cisco, and Siemens adopt a technocratic rather than social perspective on cities. Also evident in many of these applications is technological determinism, that Wyatt [10] sees as having two elements: First, the portrayal of technology as outside society, disconnected from people and institutions and therefore an independent force, and second, that technological change causes social change, usually with the assumption that change equals progress. Smart cities as a modern term arose in the scholarly and technology sector literature starting in the early 1990s, starting with the 1992 publication of papers from a 1990 conference in San Francisco [11]. Another 30 articles using the term were published in the two decades to 2010, when the concept received a boost as IBM announced the Smarter City Awards. IBM sought to promote new technologies by recognizing leading examples of applied ICT used to collect data, and the analysis of that data to improve city management [12]. As the potential of communications and technology for urban management was recognized, there was a dramatic increase in interest and academic publication, reaching almost 1000 articles per year by 2015. The concept received a further boost when applied ICT was adopted as a way to achieve some of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals that were established in 2015 [13], with the literature increasingly acknowledging the link between sustainability and smart cities [14]. For almost 20 years, the term was concentrated in the computer science and engineering literature, and even by 2017 our research discovered only 14 articles and 10 books that used a predominantly social science perspective. The nature of smartness was discussed by Albino et al. [15], who found that the term was expanding in its meaning, beyond ICT and technical applications to also embrace the technology workforce and human capital. They conclude that smart cities are seen in many ways and that one clear definition is not used, rather, the user applies meaning to the term. Confusion over the language of new technologies and a similar lack of nuance was observed more recently in the language of autonomous technologies [16], with a range of terms being used by different interests and the public. Similarly, De Jong et al. [17] noted the proliferation of terms being used to describe the next generation of cities, and the merger of technology and environment in the language used. Their study considered use of 12 terms: sustainable city, eco-city, low carbon city, livable city, green city, smart city, digital city, ubiquitous city, intelligent

22

M. Wilson et al.

city, information city, knowledge city, and resilient city. They found that while having distinct meanings, there was a lack of accuracy in their use and a failure to recognize the nuance of each expression. Also evident was a decline in use of “knowledge city” and the rise of “smart city” in its place. In their extensive bibliometric analysis, Mora et al. [18] found research on the topic to be fragmented and often disconnected, with strong influence by the business media. The literature fails to see smart cities holistically, but as a collection of disparate parts, each with its own constituency and technology, that is further disconnected from residents by a focus on technology alone. Mora et al. [18] note a split in the literature between a technocratic view of smart cities against growing interest in a holistic view. In our research, we find much more evidence of the techno-centric perspective than a social orientation to the city. Today, smart cities are global phenomena, with many communities adopting ICT to manage urban services. The term in English is widely used, as well as commonly found in other languages such as French (ville intelligente), German (intelligente Stadt), Spanish (ciudad inteligente), and Portuguese (cidade inteligentes). In advanced economies, smart cities represent a continuation of development and expression of science and technology expertise, while in developing economies, smart cities are aspirational and represent possible futures or platforms for future growth. Prasad and Alizadeh [19] note, however, that there is a tendency to overlook the achievements and applications of smart city technologies in the global South and the need to use “contextually informed definitions” rather than use concepts focusing on the experience of the global North. The evolution of smart cities from concept to reality necessarily engages with communities and a wide range of residents’ views. Martin et al. [20] note several emerging tensions over smart cities, including: (1) reinforcing neoliberal economic growth; (2) serving affluent residents; (3) disempowering and marginalizing citizens; (4) neglecting environmental protection; and (5) failing to challenge prevailing consumerist cultures. While oriented to urban services and management, smart city rhetoric often represents the supply side of the technologies rather than the demand by cities and residents. This view is recognized by Halegoua [21, p. 3], “At present, the smart city concept and even the term itself are almost inseparable from corporate visions of what digital media, data, and urban space might be.” These tensions, observed in both North America, Europe, and Asia, illustrate the social challenges of implementing technological change and the implications of a determinist approach. The embrace of the new is a common theme in the rhetoric of emerging technologies and driven by those with a financial interest in its implementation. It is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide a global review of smart cities, although in the following paragraphs we offer some insights into the concept before proceeding with our social media analysis. European smart cities are analyzed by Caragliu et al. [22] who find that smart cities were most aligned to wealthy areas with creative professionals, advanced human capital, efficient transport systems, information technology infrastructure, and egovernment functions. The role of policy is recognized by Manville et al. [23], with smart cities found across all European Union countries, especially in Italy,

2 Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities

23

Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, and Slovenia. The locations indicate either advanced economies, policy initiatives, or agile countries with foundations in emerging technologies. Cardullo and Kitchen [24], however, raise concerns over the neoliberal context of smart cities in Europe, especially the rhetoric of citizen engagement that fails to meet the reality of smart city operations. Unlike Europe, where strong policies were in place to promote ICT and smart cities, the United States’ decentralized urban governance tended to focus on city and state initiatives that lacked some of the scale and momentum found in other countries. Studying smart city initiatives in over 300 US cities, Araral [25] identified the importance of leadership, state funding, and desire for city branding to have positive effects, while negative forces included reliance on legacy systems and a lack of understanding of ICT. In the IMD Business School [26] Smart City Index, only two US cities were ranked in the top 25, with New York ranked 10th and Washington DC 12th. The remaining cities were from Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Smart cities in India emerged as a policy force by the Modi government in 2014, and the financial impetus led to significant applications of new technologies and the development of 100 smart cities [27, 28]. In achieving this goal, Das [29] argues that successful implementation will require changes in India’s systems of urban governance and that smart cities be seen in a politico-cultural context, a sentiment echoed by Rana et al. [30]. India is not alone in its political adoption of new technology without always tailoring it to local needs and conditions. China also promotes a smart city policy, that Yu and Xu [31] see driven by the need for environmental management and sustainability, that is also seen as a factor by Li et al. [32], Zhu et al. [33] and Wang et al. [34]. One observation by Hu and Zheng [35] in their comparison of US and Chinese smart cities was how China experienced a hierarchical model led by government, in contrast to the US experience that was led more by stakeholders. Smart cities tend to be discussed mainly in the engineering and computer science fields and took many more years to appear regularly as a feature of the urban planning and city management literature. There is, however, a gap between the ideal implementation of new technologies and the communities that receive them, with or without engagement and consultation. One cause of tension is that smart city technologies are found in most urban areas yet remain somewhat invisible in the minds of the public and academic media. The main urban planning journals rarely contain articles that even mention the term, let alone use it as their primary focus. Our analysis of social media use of smart cities shows how contemporary use defines the meaning and relevance of the term, yet the field of interests remains somewhat narrow.

2.3 The Social Media Rhetoric of #Smartcities There is little research on the intersection of smart cities and social media, although Yigitcanlar et al. [36], in their study of Australian geo-tweets (n = 3073), found

24

M. Wilson et al.

content to focus on innovation, sustainability, the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and autonomous vehicles. More common is the use of social media as a part of the smart city, through its role as an aggregator of sentiment and forum for discussion [37] or use of location based social media to model human behavior [38]. Some cities use Twitter and social media engagement as a sign of their smartness and an engaged population [39]. To gain insights into the use and meaning of the concept of smart cities we analyzed social media posts on Twitter between 2017 and 2020. Twitter is a microblogging platform started in 2006 that is today one of the major elements of social media along with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, and Snapchat. Twitter has over 350 million monthly users, although has slower growth forecasts in comparison to many other platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. By focusing on language, source, and content as used with Twitter we can understand some of the aspects of smart cities in terms of how they are marketed, perceived, and discussed. Tweets were collected using an online aggregation platform (TweetArchivist) capturing both #smartcity and #smartcities hashtags. In total, we collected 4,964,169 tweets between July of 2016 and February of 2020, for an average rate of 3875 tweets per day. The TweetArchivist algorithms identified the language of tweets but did not use geotags. We can incorporate the geography of smart city use on Twitter by secondary analysis of the most prolific users to trace their location and organization/affiliation. The resulting elements of the analysis discussed in this chapter include language, content (words and hashtags appearing more than 50,000 times), websites mentioned more than 1000 times, and the use of bots to spread information and amplify messaging.

2.3.1 Language The majority of the smart city tweets (80.99%) were written in English, followed by French (6.62%), Spanish (4.58%), Italian (1.59%), and German (1.13%). There were 63 languages identified in the dataset, but beyond the six listed, no other language exceeded a 1% presence in the dataset. One challenge with analyzing tweets is that it is often difficult to identify a language as they frequently blend languages, include terms and hashtags in different languages, as well as images and URLs. Many tweets are a polyglot statement on a subject that spans more than one language. The dominance of English was not surprising given the language of the subject hashtag and the wide use of English terms in the technology community. When considering use of the term smart cities in other languages, the tweets frequently were combined with English and were used only occasionally. When encountering hashtags such as #villeintelligente, #intelligenteStadt, #ciudadinteligente, and #cidadeinteligentes they were often associated with many English terms and hashtags, and the frequency of non-English hashtag activity was far lower, from several tweets per day to several per week.

2 Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities

25

2.3.2 Content: Keywords and Hashtags The focus of smart city tweets can be interpreted based on the keywords that appeared most often in the database. The results are presented in Table 2.1, which shows the rank, term, and number of uses in the almost five million tweets analyzed. The top five terms associated with smart cities were IoT (Internet of Things), smart, AI (artificial intelligence), big data, and cities, with several of these terms appearing more than once in different forms. Many tweets would be considered specialized or technical, illustrated by the frequent use of acronyms and shortened forms known within an industry but not among the public, such as fintech (financial applications of technology), IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things, the production side of IoT); ML (machine learning); digital transformation (integration of technology into organizations); infosec (information security); and DX (digital transformation). The content spoke to the technology and its applications while generally avoiding city resident or consumer interests. The main themes evident in the top 30 terms include the Internet of Things, the business of technology, related technologies (5G, blockchain, data analytics), and security as a solution and not a concern. The content seems directed to people who understood the technology sector and those interested in leveraging ICT for application. The smart city tweets spoke to those who knew and understood the technology and did not explain the concept or issues to the public. Table 2.1 Frequent terms associated with #smartcities Rank

Term

Count

Rank

Term

Count

1

IoT

1,380,542

16

Smartcities

167,668

2

Smart

767,486

17

Data

163,341

3

AI

712,738

18

Future

152,905

4

Bigdata

689,003

19

5G

136,106

5

Cities

395,488

20

Security

109,065

6

City

392,519

21

Opendata

100,954

7

VIA

238,627

22

healthcare

99,800

8

Cybersecurity

237,199

23

ML (machine learning)

85,242

9

FINTECH

234,653

24

Digitaltransformation

82,998

10

Tech

231,955

25

Analytics

80,853

11

IIoT

205,731

26

Infosec

78,773

12

Smartcity

202,405

27

Internetofthings

76,470

13

Technology

190,783

28

Machinelearning

62,082

14

Blockchain

184,142

29

Startups

60,134

15

Innovation

172,920

30

DX

51,462

Note Acronyms include IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), VIA (Virtual Interface Architecture), IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), FINTECH (Financial Technology), ML (Machine Learning) and DX (Digital Transformation)

26

M. Wilson et al.

Twitter is a medium to communicate internally with those familiar with the field and not a way to educate consumers or urban residents. Tweets usually include many hashtags in addition to the core message of the tweet to drive visibility, in fact, many tweets include more hashtag terms that narrative. The most common hashtag in our data was #IoT, which was used over 1.5 million times, essentially appearing in one third of all smart city tweets. The hashtags mirrored the keywords noted above, with additional terms including healthcare, infographic, cloud, industry 4.0, and devops (development and operations for software/IT). The combination of keywords and hashtags in many messages reinforces the technology market orientation we observed in the #smartcity field in general and from other descriptors in the dataset.

2.3.3 Websites Tweets are often used to convey links to websites, so analyzing the most common websites appearing in our dataset shows how smart cities relate to other concepts and ideas. Liu [44] notes that links to websites add an interactive capability to tweets to engage users, while URLs can be used to add legitimacy to a message by offering external validation of an idea. Our dataset showed that of the 1202 most tweeted URLs, the top 35 represented only 2.99% of the websites listed but 44.9% of URL mentions. Some websites clearly build on commercial and government smart city initiatives, technology firms, and consultants but there are also sites totally unrelated to the concept that use the hashtag to drive business to their site. The most linked set of websites were for a Washington DC based consulting firm, Wiomax, that claimed 9 of the top 10 URLs in the dataset with over 91,000 counts. The Wiomax sites all contained positive articles or blog posts about smart cities. Among the other often mentioned URLs were consulting firms in technology, marketing and social media consultants (twinybots, parqtoken, Agile World), technology blogs (Forbes, zdnet, Facebook, Internet of Things Agenda, Irish Tech Times, Data Science Central, IoT Central, Wired UK), networks and associations (Mobile Technology Association of Michigan, Urban and Regional Innovation Research) and two rankings for a Miami skincare firm, Zakia, seeking to drive business through links in unrelated forums. Many of the links were to articles that were consistently positive about the benefits of smart city technologies. Common topics included the Internet of Things, transportation, informatics, and big data. The language and tone of the articles promoted new technology as being transformative, having great potential, and making cities better places to live. The rhetoric of the high-ranking tweets seems to be selling readers on the advantages of the technology, with little or no acknowledgment of some of the challenges that such systems create, as noted later in our discussion. Twitter appears to be a platform for selling technology but not a forum for engagement or discussion of its merits and issues.

2 Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities

27

Common across the most frequently listed websites is the promotion of technology firms and interests, traffic for articles on smart cities and technology, or the promotion of trade events and marketing. The leading websites tend to uncritically support the use of technology and avoid addressing many of the issues associated with smart city systems such as privacy, bias, accountability, and cost. The website analysis reinforces our thesis of Twitter as a vehicle for smart city promotion but not citizen communication.

2.3.4 Bots and #Smartcities Bots are automated software agents commonly used on social media platforms to amplify messages and expand the reach of information. Bots also serve to elevate the source of information in social media algorithms to raise the profile of individuals, firms, and organizations using them. These programs tend to range from the malicious to spam, as evidenced by their message and repetitive content [40]. While there is a growing field of social bot detection, it may be difficult for the general user to identify the origin of the tweets they are reading. Of the almost 5 million tweets analyzed, a little over half (51%) were generated by general users, with professional social media services accounting for a further 13.2% of the data set. The remaining tweets could not be verified, with some sources identified as bots due to the repetitive nature of messages, scale of messaging (hundreds of tweets per day) or sourced from marketing services that promote bot applications. Yigitcanlar et al. [36] found that 38% of their dataset was original with the remainder retweeted. While bots are often associated with malicious political messaging [41– 43] or brand distortion [44], in the case of smart cities the content did not damage competitor interests but promoted a positive view of smart city technologies that seems like the original message content. The result is not a balanced discourse on smart cities but accelerated content dispersion, yet there is little evidence of malicious manipulation via social media.

2.4 Discussion and Conclusion Analysis of Twitter use of #smartcity and #smartcities shows one dimension of the discourse around the concept, with emphasis on the benefits of technology applied to urban services and management. The terms, sources, and websites that emerged in our analysis show a Twitter community of industry users and vendors promoting their business interests. A small number of active participants and associated bots account for a significant amount of #smartcity traffic on the platform and illustrate how one group can amplify their message so that it appears widespread and diverse. Our analysis did not use geo-tagged tweets but was able to identify the source of many messages as being from North American and European technology interests

28

M. Wilson et al.

and consultants. We did not have data on gender, race, or age of Twitter users, which may influence our findings. Industry insiders and younger users may seek, or be more open to, messaging around #smartcities and technology topics, while the absence of women and nonwhite participants may also distort results. Any absent voices reinforce our finding that Twitter speaks loudly in favor of smart cities and does not seem to listen to dissenting views. Common terms found with #smartcities, such as IoT, artificial intelligence, big data, innovation, and technology speak to the production and adoption aspects of smart city technologies. The positive messaging is strengthened by significant use of retweets and possible use of bots to further the reach of influencers. This result mirrors the business drivers of smart cities cited by several studies noted earlier [5, 9, 18, 21, 45]. The profile of #smartcity promoters echoes the first use of the term “smart city” and the warning about smart city men and their wily ways. The overall impression gained from the 5 million tweets analyzed was that the social media community around #smartcity comprises vendors, promoters, consultants, and technology media. Rose and Willis [45, p. 422] express smart city tweets as the “commodification of smart” using images and concepts that reinforce the benefits of new technologies. Similarly, Bian et al. [46] note the positive view held by the public about the Internet of Things, oriented to business and technology, with some undercurrents of concern for privacy. As commonly occurs for emerging technologies, the messaging is conducted by and for the creators of technology while dissenting views lack the resources and opportunities to counter their well-funded opponents. Another revealing aspect of our analysis, in addition to the business orientation of #smartcities, is what is missing from social media rather than what is evident in the smart city tweets. The implications of the results suggest a one-sided Twitter community that has a positive perspective on smart city technologies speaking to those who agree and share the same perspective. Absent from the dataset were tweets around some of the challenges associated with smart cities, such as accountability, privacy, cost, and algorithmic bias. One subject often cited as important in definitions of smart cities is sustainability and environmental applications, yet these themes did not appear highly ranked in our analysis. None of the top 30 terms we identified referred to the environment, while the cited websites focused on consulting, transportation, marketing, and media. Within some of these sites there were references to sustainability as an application, but the casual urban resident reading Twitter would not immediately find any sustainability or environmental themes. Unlike Yigitcanlar et al. [36], we did not see a significant presence of sustainability themes, although we shared their findings of a smart city Twitter focus on technologies such as IoT, innovation, and artificial intelligence. Social media references to smart cities seems to crowd out the social context in favor of technology. Voices around engagement, privacy, and citizen participation are missing from the dataset, supporting Monachesi [47] who argues for an alternate discourse that includes a wider range of perspective. The uniform discourse of positivity we found reveals private interests that see technology as a solution to societal

2 Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities

29

problems. It harkens back to past urban eras that proposed utopian settlements as a solution to the industrial city, or the desire for new suburbs to solve urban misery. There are several reasons for our concern over the use of social media to promote smart cities. First, the immense rhetorical power of social media as a vehicle for shaping opinion, emotion, and mindset [48], and the political role of social media and manipulation [49]. Second, the absence of significant current ideas (transparency, social justice) from the online discussion of smart cities means that only partial information is disseminated. Finally, as Thomas Hughes [50] notes, technological systems gain momentum that can be difficult to change, so the head start held by commercial interests in setting the smart city agenda means that marginalized interests may not be heard and lack the resources to catch up with alternate messages. The covid pandemic has shown the importance of technology as a mediator of urban life, which overlays ongoing efforts to use information technology and smart systems to manage cities. In observing the role of technology in urban society we do not condemn its application but raise concerns around how it will be employed and whether a technical solution alone will be sufficient. One factor in evaluating emerging technologies is information and public awareness of its performance. The popularity of social media as a source of information allows unfiltered opinion to dominate with the loudest voices being those with the greatest presence online. Our analysis of smart city tweets was prompted by an interest in how information is disseminated about smart city systems and how urban planners can engage with the public over change. In closing we leave the last word to Jane Jacobs and her call for everyone to be included in the creation of cities. Acknowledgements The authors thank the editors and two anonymous referees for their constructive feedback on the first draft of this chapter.

References 1. Graham, S., Marvin, S.: Telecommunications and the City: Electronic Spaces, Urban Places. Routledge (2002) 2. Castells, M.: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, 3 vols. Blackwell (1996) 3. Wilson, M., Corey K. (eds): Information Tectonics: Space, Place, and Technology in an Electronic Age. Wiley (2000) 4. Inkinen, T., Yigitcanlar, T., Wilson, M.I. (eds): Smart Cities and Innovative Urban Technologies. Routledge (2021) 5. Glasmeier, A.K., Nebiolo, M.: Thinking about smart cities: the travels of a policy idea that promises a great deal, but so far has delivered modest results. Sustainability 8(11), 1122 (2016). https://doi.org/10.3390/su8111122 6. Jacobs, J.: The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Random House (1962) 7. Thornbury, G.W.: Art and Nature at Home and Abroad. Hurst and Blackett (1856). https://www.google.com/books/edition/Art_and_Nature_at_Home_and_Abroad/nkK xlB1FMtgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&kptab=overview 8. Wright, J.S.: Chicago: Past, Present, Future. Chicago Board of Trade (1870). https://www.goo gle.com/books/edition/Chicago_Past_Present_Future/wnwUAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1& kptab=overview

30

M. Wilson et al.

9. Söderström, O., Paasche, T., Klauser, F.: Smart cities as corporate storytelling. In: Willis, K.S., Aurigi, A. (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Smart Cities. Routledge (2020). https://doi.org/ 10.4324/9781315178387 10. Wyatt, S.: Technological determinism is dead; long live technological determinism. In: Hackett, E.J., Amsterdamska, O., Lynch, M., Wajcman, J. (eds.) The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, pp. 165–180. MIT Press (2008) 11. Gibson, D.V., Kozmetsky, G., Smilor, R.W. (eds.): The Technopolis Phenomenon: Smart Cities, Fast Systems, Global Networks. Rowman & Littlefield (1992) 12. Wiig, A.: IBM’s smart city as techno-utopian policy mobility. City 19(2–3), 258–273 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2015.1016275 13. Min, K., Yoon, M., Furuya, K.: A comparison of a smart city’s trends in urban planning before and after 2016 through keyword network analysis. Sustainability. https://www.mdpi.com/20711050/11/11/3155 14. Silva, B.N., Khan, M., Han, K.: Towards sustainable smart cities: a review of trends, architectures, components, and open challenges in smart cities. Sustain. Cities Soc. 38, 697–713 (2018) 15. Albino, V., Berardi, U., Dangelico, R.M.: Smart cities: definitions, dimensions, performance, and initiatives. J. Urban Technol. 22(1), 3–21 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2014. 942092 16. Kassens-Noor, E., Wilson, M., Cai, M., Durst, N., Decaminada, T.: Autonomous vs self-driving vehicles: the power of language to shape public perceptions. J. Urban Technol. (2020). https:// doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2020.1847983 17. De Jong, M., Joss, S., Schraven, D., Zhan, C., Weijnen, M.: Sustainable—smarter— resilient— low carbon—eco—knowledge cities: making sense of a multitude of concepts promoting sustainable urbanization. J. Clean. Prod. 109, 25–38 (2015) 18. Mora, L., Bolici, R., Deakin, M.: The first two decades of smart-city research: a bibliometric analysis. J. Urban Technol. 24(1), 3–27 (2017) 19. Prasad, D., Alizadeh, T.: What makes Indian cities smart? A policy analysis of smart cities mission. Telematics Inf. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101466 20. Martin, C.J., Evans, J., Karvonen, A.: Smart and sustainable? Five tensions in the visions and practices of the smart-sustainable city in Europe and North America. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang. 133, 269–278 (2018) 21. Halegoua, G.: Smart Cities. MIT Press (2020) 22. Caragliu, A., Del Bo, C., Nijkamp, P.: Smart cities in Europe. J. Urban Technol. 18(2), 65–82 (2011) 23. Manville, C., Cochrane, G., Cave, J., Millard, J., Pederson, J.K., Thaarup, R.K., Liebe, A., Wissner, M., Massink, R.A., Kotterink, B.: Mapping smart cities in the EU (2014). https://op. europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/78882e80-fc4a-4a86-9c39-2ad88ab89f9b 24. Cardullo, P., Kitchin, R.: Smart urbanism and smart citizenship: the neoliberal logic of ‘citizenfocused’ smart cities in Europe. Environ. Plan. C Polit. Space 37(5), 813–830 (2019) 25. Araral, E.: Why do cities adopt smart technologies? Contingency theory and evidence from the United States. Cities 106, 102873 (2020). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/ pii/S026427512031221X 26. IMD Business School: Smart City Index 2020. https://www.imd.org/globalassets/wcc/docs/ smart_city/smartcityindex_2020.pdf 27. Hoelscher, K.: The evolution of the smart cities agenda in India. Int. Area Stud. Rev. 19(1), 28–44 (2016) 28. Chatterjee, S., Kar, A.K., Gupta, M.P.: Success of IoT in smart cities of India: an empirical analysis. Gov. Inf. Q. 35(3), 349–361 (2018) 29. Das, D.K.: Exploring the politico-cultural dimensions for development of smart cities in India. Int. Rev. Spat. Plan. Sustain. Dev. 5(3), 79–99 (2017) 30. Rana, N.P., Luthra, S., Mangla, S.K., Islam, R., Roderick, S., Dwivedi, Y.K.: Barriers to the development of smart cities in Indian context. Inf. Syst. Front. 21(3), 503–525 (2019)

2 Technology Talks: The Evolution and Rhetoric of #Smartcities

31

31. Yu, W., Xu, C.: Developing smart cities in China: an empirical analysis. Int. J. Public Adm. Digital Age 5(3), 76–91 (2018) 32. Li, X., Fong, P.S., Dai, S., Li, Y.: Towards sustainable smart cities: an empirical comparative assessment and development pattern optimization in China. J. Clean. Prod. 215, 730–743 (2019) 33. Zhu, S., Li, D., Feng, H.: Is smart city resilient? Evidence from China. Sustain. Cities Soc. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101636 34. Wang, Y., Ren, H., Dong, L., Park, H.S., Zhang, Y., Xu, Y.: Smart solutions shape for sustainable low-carbon future: a review on smart cities and industrial parks in China. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang. 144, 103–117 (2019) 35. Hu, Q., Zheng, Y.: Smart city initiatives: a comparative study of American and Chinese cities. J. Urban Aff. 43, 1–22 (2020) 36. Yigitcanlar, T., Kankanamge, N., Vella, K.: How are smart city concepts and technologies perceived and utilized? A systematic geo-Twitter analysis of smart cities in Australia. J. Urban Technol. 28(1–2), 135–154 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2020.1753483 37. Nummi, P.: Social media data analysis in urban e-planning. In: Management Association (eds.) Smart Cities and Smart Spaces: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. https://doi. org/10.4018/978-1-5225-7030-1.ch028 38. Yuan, Y., Lu, Y., Chow, T.E., Ye, C., Alyaqout, A., Liu, Y.: The missing parts from social media-enabled smart cities: who, where, when, and what? Ann. Am. Assoc. Geogr. 110(2), 462–475 (2020) 39. Sáez-Martín, A., Haro-de-Rosario, A., Caba-Perez, C.: A vision of social media in the Spanish smartest cities. Transforming Gov. People Process Policy 8(4), 521–544 (2014) 40. Assenmacher, D., Lena, C., Lena, F., Thorsten, Q., Heike, T., Grimme, C.: Demystifying social bots: on the intelligence of automated social media actors. Soc. Media + Soc. 6(3), 1–14 (2020) 41. Howard, P.N., Woolley, S., Calo, R.: Algorithms, bots, and political communication in the US 2016 election: the challenge of automated political communication for election law and administration. J. Inform. Tech. Polit. 15(2), 81–93 (2018) 42. Woolley, S.C.: Automating power: social bot interference in global politics. First Monday 21(4). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i4.6161 43. Al-Rawi, A., Groshek, J., Zhang, L.: What the fake? Assessing the extent of networked political spamming and bots in the propagation of #fakenews on Twitter. Online Inf. Rev. 44(1), 53–71 (2019) 44. Liu, X.: A big data approach to examining social bots on Twitter. J. Serv. Market. 33(4), 369–379 (2019) 45. Rose, G., Willis, A.: Seeing the smart city on Twitter: colour and the affective territories of becoming smart. Environ. Plan. D Soc. Space 37(3), 411–427 (2019) 46. Bian, J., Yoshigoe, K., Hicks, A., Yuan, J., He, Z., Xie, M., Guo, Y., Prosperi, M., Salloum, R., Modaveet, F.: Mining Twitter to assess the public perception of the “internet of things.” PLoS ONE 11(7), e0158450. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158450 47. Monachesi, P.: Shaping an alternative smart city discourse through twitter: Amsterdam and the role of creative migrants. Cities (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102664 48. Wahl-Jorgensen, K.: Emotions, media and politics. Polity Press (2019) 49. Aral, S., Eckles, D.: Protecting elections from social media manipulation. Science 365(6456), 858–861 (2019) 50. Hughes, T.P.: Technological momentum. In: Marx, L., Smith, M.R. (eds.) Does Technology Drive History: The Dilemma of Technological Determinism, pp. 101–113. MIT Press (1994)

Mark Wilson is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning in the School of Planning, Design and Construction at Michigan State University and Program Director for the Ph.D. in Planning, Design, and Construction. Research and teaching interests address urban planning, disruptive technologies, mega-events, and economic development. Current projects include the urban implications of autonomous technologies; planning for industrial parks in Africa and the Middle East;

32

M. Wilson et al.

mega-event planning for world’s fairs and Olympics; and the role of innovation, knowledge, and information technology in urban development. Travis Decaminada is Senior Analyst at Verisk Analytics, specializing in emerging issues as they pertain to insurance, financial, and energy markets. Some of Travis’ professional work has appeared in notable industry magazines including Carrier Management and The Big I. Travis holds both a B.S. in geography from Eastern Michigan University as well as a Master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Michigan State University. Travis’ research interests center around novel technologies like autonomous vehicles, drones, and smart city devices, exploring how such technologies impact the urban form. Perhaps expectedly, when Travis is not reading or writing, he can often be found playing city-building video games. Eva Kassens-Noor, Ph.D., is Professor of Transportation, Urban, and Regional Planning in the School of Planning, Design and Construction, holding a joint appointment with the MSU Global Urban Studies Program (GUSP). She is also Adjunct Professor in the MSU Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering as well as Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences. Her research focuses on how people perceive, cope with, and understand extreme events. These extremes range from our transition toward living with artificial intelligence and how we interact and adapt to autonomous technologies to how our transportation system enables resilience to cope with disasters, pandemics, and hazards. She is working to enable livable communities in an autonomous, sustainable, and resilient society, so that people can influence what autonomous systems can do and how they affect the world around them.

Chapter 3

Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence and Innovation for the Radical Transformation of Cities Nicos Komninos, Ioannis Tsampoulatidis, Christina Kakderi, Spiros Nikolopoulos, and Ioannis Kompatsiaris Abstract The aim of this paper is to shed light on projects transforming cities through smart systems, digital technologies, and e-services. The concepts of “smart city” or “intelligent city” appeared in the mid-1980s and since then an extensive array of articles and reports have been published. However, there is still fuzziness about what projects exactly make cities “smart”. This is primarily due to complexity, as smart technologies, IoT infrastructure, crowdsourcing platforms, user engagement, co-design, and new decision-making processes overlap, creating hybrid systems and complex environments in which humans, communities, and machines interact. To understand the projects that make cities smart, we combine a literature review of the smart city supply chain, surveys on smart city projects, and case studies of projects to whose design or development we have contributed. Using data from 20 smart city reviews, we identify how different cities have organised their smart city transformation through projects, tease out the core features of smart city projects, relationships between projects and technologies, and the typology of projects and architectures of integration. In the conclusion, we define the drivers of smart city projects and city smartness along three axes (city ecosystem, connected intelligence, innovation) and nine properties of those axes. We argue that more so than technology, the smart city transformation is determined by systems integrating physical infrastructure, platforms for user engagement, digital technologies, and e-services. System integration rather than smart technologies is the major driver for a radical transformation of city routines.

N. Komninos (B) · I. Tsampoulatidis · C. Kakderi URENIO Research, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece e-mail: [email protected] C. Kakderi e-mail: [email protected] S. Nikolopoulos · I. Kompatsiaris Centre for Research & Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece e-mail: [email protected] I. Kompatsiaris e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_3

33

34

N. Komninos et al.

3.1 Introduction Intelligent cities or smart cities1 are shaped bottom-up, through e-services deployment, crowdsourcing and user engagement over digital platforms, and top-down through strategies and projects organised by national, regional, and local authorities. Yet despite the long-time which has elapsed since the concept of “smart city” and “intelligent city” appeared in the 1980s [1], there continues to be uncertainty about the drivers that make cities smart. There are misconceptions that smart cities will be produced through the automation of urban infrastructure, and the unsystematic deployment of digital applications, and e-services. There is no doubt, digital solutions contribute very much to smartness, but they need to connect to the non-digital fabric of cities, their physical and social space, and to their planning and governance procedures to generate a radical transformation. The purpose of the paper is to shed light on projects that make cities smart and on the drivers of city intelligence or city smartness. We argue that the smart city transformation is multidimensional and the drivers of city smartness are mainly systemic. As W. Michell has put it “our cities are fast transforming into artificial ecosystems of interconnected, interdependent intelligent digital organisms” [2]. This does not mean that technology is not important, but the quest for the smart city is a quest for the integration of digital technologies with the non-digital assets of cities that are related to human intelligence, institutions, and communities. To this end, we look into smart city projects, small and large initiatives that actively engage authorities, citizens, stakeholders, public and private organisations, introduce innovation into city routines, change key indicators, and contribute to the digital transformation of cities [3]. Besides the importance of smart city projects to the making of cities, there is limited literature on their variety, typology, structuring, and factors in their success and failure. Our hypothesis is that city smartness is systemic, emerging into ecosystems from the convergence of numerous projects. Innovation as an outcome of city smartness comes from the integration of projects and is heavily dependent on institutional settings for collaboration in city ecosystems. Smart cities are networked cyberphysical-social spaces with strong connections between humans, digital systems, communities and institutions, which enhance learning, innovation, and optimisation. Smart city projects enable such systems to form and operate better. Their success or failure depends on factors that propel or constrain connected intelligence, in other words, the integration between human, collective, and machine intelligence to be found in city ecosystems. In the smart city literature, there is some evidence corroborating this hypothesis. Kogan and Lee [2] for instance, argue that the most important factor that governs the success of a smart city project is not the smart infrastructure or the digital technology 1

The terms “intelligent city” and “smart city” describe the same transformation of cities with digital technologies, though there are differences in the technologies used (platforms vs. IoT), impact (empowerment vs. automation), and innovation introduced. Hereafter, we use the terms alternately as denoting the same phenomena.

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

35

used but the level of citizen engagement. The contribution of stakeholders enables different perspectives to be balanced and a shared vision of the city to be formed. However, the dynamics of stakeholder engagement are also a source of complication and uncertainty in decision-making. Having studied smart city projects in the city of Amsterdam, Van Winden et al. [4] argue that success comes along with rollout, expansion, and replication. These are forms of upscaling pilot experiments and small demo projects. In rollout, the technology or solution that is successfully tested and developed in the pilot project is commercialised and brought to market (market rollout); expansion takes place by adding new partners, enlarging the geographical area covered by the pilot project, by adding new functionalities; in replication, the pilot solution is replicated elsewhere, in another community, city district or another city. Rollout, expansion, and replication engage the entire context and institutional setting of cities. In other studies, smart city projects have been considered within the interests of stakeholders and city organisations; though those interests turn out to be conflicting [5]. Success and failure come from a collective learning endeavour, in which digital technologies, e-services, data and analytics, interact with background processes, the local history, governance structures, and dynamics of cities [6]. To assess this hypothesis, we develop a methodology on three levels. First, we look at the relevant literature related to the supply chain of the smart city over which numerous projects are combined and through which the digital transformation of cities is channelled. Studying the supply chain allows one to develop a holistic view of smart city making, taking into consideration small and large projects, designed and developed by private companies, non-profit organisations, communities of users, as well as local and national authorities. Second, we analyse survey data from a large number of smart city projects planned by city authorities. Here, the questions are about the verticals or ecosystems in which projects are placed, the diversity and standardisation of projects, their digital and non-digital components, the engagement of citizens and stakeholders, as well as the impact on improving or innovating city routines. Third, we look at projects for the development of e-services, the most usual form of smart city projects created by companies and the private sector, and we go deeper with case studies to assess factors of success and failure. The structure of the paper follows the deployment of this methodology. Following this introduction and problem statement, section two refers to the literature on the smart city supply chain. We discuss the theoretical framework of the intelligent/smart city as a new urban paradigm that enables and facilitates processes of digital transformation, optimisation, and innovation; the concept of the supply chain for the smart city; and the relationship between projects and strategic planning that makes cities smart. In section three, we look at empirical data from many cities all over the world. We analyse smart city projects from 20 cities, their typology, cyber-institutionalphysical dimension, the ecosystems of cities in the process of digital transformation; and where available, the impact this transformation is having. Section four is about projects related to technology development and e-services, their factors of success and failure. It is based on smart city experiments carried out by URENIO Research and ITI-CERTH developed over recent years, focusing on rollout, expansion, and replication challenges. Section five is about the lessons learnt from smart city projects

36

N. Komninos et al.

in light of the literature, survey data, and case studies discussed. Our conclusions discuss the core properties of smart city projects, and the integration of human, institutional, and machine capabilities, and the role of institutions in making complex ecosystems for smart cities.

3.2 Literature: Projects and the Supply Chain for the Smart City Projects and planning are major drivers in the creation of smart cities. Understanding their contribution, success and failure factors, requires one to consider the fundamental entities, structure, and operation of the smart city, in particular the supply chain which gathers and interconnects all types of projects involved in the making of a smart city. In any industry, the supply chain connects all components and inputs from the raw materials to the manufacturing of finished products, promotion and distribution to the final product reaches the user. The supply chain is both a product-based and an operations-based perspective. In the case of smart cities, the supply chain includes all inputs, components, and projects that contribute to the production and delivery of smart city data, infrastructure, digital and non-digital services. The supply chain of a smart city, as depicted in the respective ontology, is extremely broad, extends over the entire city as a system of systems, includes bottom-up and top-down processes, projects and planning, as well as inputs from many fields of science and technology.

3.2.1 Intelligent/Smart City: A New Urban Paradigm The intelligent/smart city is a new city planning and development paradigm. It has emerged as a disruptive approach at the convergence of (a) digital technologies and the capabilities they offer, (b) the knowledge and innovation-led development of cities, and (c) challenges faced by contemporary cities, such as urbanisation and growth, ageing of buildings and infrastructure, traffic congestion, use of fossil energy and environmental pollution, personal safety and security, citizens’ quality of life and health [7–9]. In response to the challenge to provide urban environments free of crime, cities that are safe, inclusive and innovative, cities without traffic congestion and private cars, free of pollution and environmental degradation, the models of sustainable urban development, represented by the “green city”, the “creative city”, “smart urban growth” and others, evolved into a new paradigm, the intelligent or smart city [10]. Currently, the smart city is considered a hegemonic phenomenon in the contemporary metropolis transforming all subsystems of cities [11–13]. There is strong

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

37

evidence supporting the argument that the smart city should be understood as an emerging holistic paradigm [14–16]. The smart city refers to a new reality, a new digital-physical-institutional architecture replacing the physical-social reality of cities [17]; a new set of technologies for making cities, with digital technologies added on to construction technologies and management science guiding city planning [18, 19]; a new way of operating for cities based on e-services that transfer activities from the physical space of cities into the digital space; new functionalities deriving from multidisciplinarity [20]; new externalities provided over platforms and the Internet changing the way innovation is produced and diffused [21–24]; and above all, new data becoming available along with e-services that transform cities into measured systems thereby enabling computation [25]. Even those critical appraisals which view the smart city as a technocratic construction made of disconnected pieces of the urban fabric and unsuccessful experiments generated by a forced union of incompatible elements do not deny the magnitude and disruptive character of this paradigm [26]. The significance of these transformations for cities is paramount: the theories of city organisation and growth that prevailed in the past, and the twentieth century in particular, are not adequate to describe, explain, and forecast how cities work and evolve today under the new functionalities offered by and impact of digital technologies. The intelligent/smart city paradigm fills this gap and offers a new understanding of the dynamics of cities in the twenty-first century. A comprehensive understanding of the smart city paradigm and the respective supply chain can be obtained by looking into the ontology of the intelligent/smart city and the major classes and properties that compose this ontology. In a recent paper [27] we outlined three major groups of entities that compose the smart city ontology: (a) physical, social, and digital entities structured in communities and subsystems, (b) knowledge and innovation processes shaped by data and innovative eservices, and (c) processes of transformation for both urbanisation and city planning. These groups are depicted in Fig. 3.1. On the left side is the “community hub” containing spatial, social, and digital elements organised in city subsystems into a cyber-physical city. On the right side is the “urbanization and city planning hub”, containing processes related to urbanisation, challenges, environmental processes, city planning, governance, and digital system design. At the centre is the “data and eservices hub” with its knowledge-supporting and innovation architectures, functions, and outputs. From these first level classes derive many other entities and relationships at successive levels of detail, giving a total of 1231 entities. The ontology makes clear that the core and driving forces of the new paradigm are “data”, “e-services”, and “innovation”, which transform both the urbanisation and planning of cities. The diagram showing the first level classes and the detailed smart city ontology also shows that projects from the private sector (in the form of e-services) and projects from public authorities (in the form of smart city planning) are placed in a nexus of relationships that connect challenges the cyber-physical city faces, urbanisation processes undergoing digital transformation, governance, and digital systems design. The digital and non-digital entities of the smart city ontology are interwoven in these types of projects, which in turn transform urbanisation and city planning.

38

N. Komninos et al. Cyberphysical city forms

Context

Element creates belongs to

Community forms

has

adds

emerges Architect ure

drives

has

contains

supports

defines

Subsystem Data produces

depends on

Func on

Challenge produces e-Service innova on Urbaniza on transforms produces regulates addresses makes Output Smart city Digital enables planning informs

system design

changes

controls Environment al process

shapes

Governa nce

Social movement

Fig. 3.1 Projects occupy a central place in the smart city ontology. Source Adapted from [27]

3.2.2 Subsystems: The Smart City as a System of Systems Previous work and literature have documented that the smart city development, including the supply chain and projects, are fragmented into vertical subsystems. The system-of-systems view of the smart city is widely accepted, but there is no agreement about the granularity of its subsystems, their typology, the number of subsystems to be transformed in order for a city to be considered as smart. Giffinger and Gudrun [28] have identified six major smart city subsystems: smart economy, smart environment, smart governance, smart living, smart mobility, and smart people. In a step further, Arroub et al. [29] consider these dimensions as interrelated smart city paradigms creating smart economies, smart environment, smart governance, smart mobility, smart healthcare, smart living. URENIO Research [30] classifies smart city solutions into 5 major domains (innovation economy, living in cities, city infrastructure and utilities, city governance, generic) and 17 subdomains. Frost & Sullivan [31] define a smart city as one that has an active plan and projects in at least five out of eight functional areas (subsystems), such as infrastructure, buildings, energy, healthcare, mobility, technology, governance, and citizens. Thus, depending on the level of granularity, a smart city may have a few or a dozen subsystems. Bottom-up and top-down processes shaping the smart city are more clearly defined. Bottom-up here refers to all market-mediated processes for the supply of products and services composing a smart city. The provision of e-services by companies is the dominant form of bottom-up smart city development. Top-down here refers to central and local authority actions, including, policies, regulations and standards, plans, and projects for making a smart city.

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

39

Along the supply chain of the smart city, inputs come from various fields of science and technology, information and communication technologies, engineering, policy and management, geography and planning. The description of digital technologies for smart cities given by Frost & Sullivan covers a wide range of fields, such as smart grids, smart meters, broadband networks, sensor networks, digital management, e-services, as well as sector-specific technologies related to renewable energy, transport, health, government, and education [31]. The variety of subsystems, processes, and technologies that are used in the making of the smart city reveal a supply chain that is extremely complex. Apart from vendors of digital products and services, the supply chain also includes suppliers offering engineering services, building technologies, construction materials, developers of city infrastructures, and multiple providers of services related to city planning and design, consulting, innovation and knowledge management, civic services, finance, standards and regulations, and many others. This landscape is far wider than just digital technologies and broadband services. The smart city is not a digital city only, but a fully-fledged physical, social, and digital system. The physical space, the standards and regulations, the social mix and activities are just as important as the digital technology. The same goes for context and skills. The city and the smart city are not objects, but complex cyber-physicalsocial systems emerging from individual actions and projects of the private and public sectors, and planning that coordinates and gives coherence to projects.

3.2.3 Smart City Projects The smart city supply chain includes multiple digital and non-digital components in the form of projects. The report from the ITU-T Focus Group on Smart Sustainable Cities [32] provides good technical specifications of the digital entities and the ICT architecture of the smart city. From bottom to top this architecture is structured in four layers: • the sensing layer, including sensors, actuators, cameras, RFID readers, GPS trackers, and the connecting sensor network • the network layer with xDSL, FTTx, WiFi, metro network, 2G/3G/4G [5G] networks • the data and support layer, including computing and cloud computing, various databases, application support servers, and data processing services • the application layer with multiple applications for e-government, transport, healthcare, environment, safety, district and many other applications. This architecture defines a digital system as a collection of components. Each component has a specific role within the system (i.e., authentication, data repositories, etc.), while all components interact to establish a coherent system. In turn, this digital architecture connects to non-digital entities of cities, such as activities, land uses,

40

N. Komninos et al.

buildings, regulations, governance, and other elements of the physical, social and institutional context of cities. All digital and non-digital components of a smart city can be considered as the outcome of a project. It may be a small project, such as installing a group of sensors to collect information or a web application to support an e-service; or, a larger project, such as developing a crowdsourcing platform with rules, complementors, and a community of users. Or, even larger, such as designing and developing a netzero CO2 smart district in which a group of smart systems, energy-saving solutions, building technologies, renewable energy production and nature-based solutions are orchestrated. Thus, we concur with Bosch et al. [3, p. 7] that “a smart city project is a project that has a significant impact in supporting a city to become a smart city […], actively engages citizens and other stakeholders, uses innovative approaches, is integrated, combining multiple sectors”. This process of integration between digital and non-digital elements in smart city projects is also reflected in the integrative framework for understanding smart city initiatives proposed by Chourabi et al. [33]. The eight components of the framework, derived from the exploration of an extensive array of literature, are depicted in two circles: the internal one includes technology, organisation, and policy. The external one includes people & communities, the economy, built infrastructure, national government, and governance. Each smart city initiative or project is defined by those eight axes that compose the integrative framework. Another multi-dimensional taxonomy of smart city projects, which also shows the integration of digital, physical, social, and institutional components, has been proposed by Perboli et al. [34]. It is based on a trend analysis of Italian and European projects, includes three axes (description, business model, and purpose) and multiple categories per axis (Table 3.1). These taxonomies show that smart city projects may be simple with a few components only or extremely complex. Projects can be undertaken by any actor, person, company, non-profit organisation, community, local central state authority. Their features can be digital, physical, social, and institutional, in multiple combinations. Their context, which is decisive in their success and failure, becomes part of their features, as technologies and tools are applied over the pre-existing physical background and activities. Three major types of projects we can distinguish are those related to (a) information provision, creation of datasets and analytics, such as smart metering and data repositories, (b) the creation of applications and e-services, such as online transactions, e-government, health and education services, and (c) more complex projects combining physical, social, and digital elements of cities, such as smart districts, smart campuses, and smart city ecosystems. This complexity of projects has one important implication. The impact of smart city projects seems to depend on their complexity. This has been studied in [35, 36] who define the operation of smart city projects along three circuits: c1—digital

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence … Table 3.1 Taxonomy of smart city projects

41

Description

Business model

Purpose

Objectives:

Management:

Client:

Governance, energy, security, etc.

Private, public, mixed

Private, public

Tools:

Infrastructure financing:

Product:

Cloud, database, legal tools, etc.

Private, public

Specific, no specific

Project initiator:

Financial resources:

Geographical target:

Public, private, mixed

Private, public

Urban, national, international

Stakeholders: City, citizen, SMEs, administrators, Source [34]

services and data deployment; c2—optimisation/innovation on the city’s production side, related to choices of private and public investments; and c3—optimisation/innovation on the city’s consumption side, related to the behaviour of citizens and organisations. The associated impact may be simple digitalisation, digitalisation leading to optimisation, or digitalisation leading to innovation. Simple projects initiate digitalisation only. Some activity is transferred from the physical to the digital space without any changes in its features. The case is usual in e-transactions. While a transaction becomes digital, the underlying routine (actors, objectives, business model) remains the same. For instance, you can play chess over a physical table or an online digital table, but the rules, logic, and tactics remain the same in both cases. When digital deployment (c1) does not alter the related routines, the process is simple digitalisation. There is impact, but it is usually low. More complex projects initiate optimisation together with digitalisation. An activity is transferred from the physical to the digital space, but together with digitalisation some features or performance are optimised. Within the limits of the underlying routine, performance may take the max. or min. value, depending on what is optimal. Automation, analytics, and guided behaviour can optimise activities along with their digitalisation. This is very usual in smart systems for mobility, energy, and utilities. Then, highly complex projects may initiate, together with digitalisation, radical changes to underlying routines, introducing new operating models. This is the case for instance with Vision Zero, a combination of engineering, design, training, law enforcement and digital technologies to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe

42

N. Komninos et al.

injuries in cities, or with Net-Zero Energy Districts, which combine smart grid solutions, building refurbishment, spatial, financial, legal, social and economic interventions, and nature-based planning toward annual net-zero energy imports and net-zero CO2 emissions. Reducing the smart city supply chain and projects to vendors of digital technologies, e-services and e-infrastructure, is equal to reducing the impact of smart cities to digitalisation only. The supply chain of smart cities contains both digital and non-digital projects in tandem. The introduction of digital elements changes the specifications of non-digital ones. Web-based work from home, for instance, also changes the need for office space, housing, and transport. Defining the supply chain of the smart city by digital projects alone is extremely narrow, as it only records suppliers of the digital components of smart cities. On the contrary, the full supply chain of the smart city comprises projects for the physical, institutional, and digital space of cities, engages users and stakeholders in information sharing and participatory decision-making, transforms the operation model of city ecosystems, and can have a high impact through the replacement rather than optimisation of city routines.

3.2.4 Smart City Projects and Planning “One swallow does not make a spring”. It is not uncommon for a company to introduce a project, such as bike-sharing or scooter-sharing, or carpooling. Equally it is not unusual for a local authority to draw up an action plan and start implementing the projects contained in the plan. However, a single smart city project is not enough to change a city’s subsystem, whether it is wide like the mobility ecosystem or narrow like the water infrastructure. Each smart city ecosystem needs a group of projects in order to be transformed. The smart city evolves from the execution of specific projects to the implementation of plans and strategies through which it becomes possible to tackle wider challenges; it becomes necessary to develop strategies that articulate projects to achieve a holistic and comprehensive city-wide change [37]. But looking into groups of projects having common objectives, we enter the domain of strategic planning or planning through projects [38]. Understanding the planning of intelligent/smart cities through the accumulation of e-services and projects, which are heterogeneous, and many times experimental and incomplete is far from the usual concept of coordinated and well-organised city planning. Thus, intelligent city planning is closer to making smart cities through evolution than through planning and implementation of detailed action plans. It is planning under conditions of complexity based on a rather chaotic interaction of simultaneous actions and decisions taken by many organisations each of which has its logic and own plan. The outcome is more guided by market forces through opportunities that arise over time, with the overall result being unpredictable and uncontrollable in advance. Strategic planning through smart city projects reveals the complex character of the smart city as a synthesis of technologies, spatial and institutional elements, user

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

43

engagement, and windows of opportunity which are fuzzy at the start of the planning process. The evolutionary features of cities, which until now were ascribed to the functioning of markets, are now shaping planning for smart cities [39]. The project dimension, with dynamics that combine strengths and resources from the private and public sectors, prevails over the strategy and planning dimensions of smart cities.

3.3 Smart City Projects from Around the World There are a host of reviews on smart city plans and projects that can be used as material for meta-analysis. Such analysis can be performed on studies that address the same question, but the level of accuracy of each study may be questioned and the reports may have some degree of error. Meta-analysis is an established method that overcomes some of the problems accounted for in narrative reviews [40]. Detailed methodologies for synthesising research using meta-analysis have developed very rapidly in the medicine and health research sectors. Meta-analysis has also been used in ecology, education, marketing, and other fields of science. The dominant methodology for systematic reviews is based on randomised controlled trials. But some reviews have also combined data from observational studies and data from qualitative research [41–43]. To assess the drivers of smart city projects, we use the reviews in the book “Smart City Emergence”, which allow one to understand some fundamental features of these projects. As stated in the introduction the aim of that book is “to collect and present information from several cities around the globe with regard to their SC development. More specifically, it presents how different cities have approached the SC; the vision that they defined for their SC and the problems they wanted to solve with the corresponding smart solutions; the projects that were launched and the timeline for their development; the corresponding budgets and the implementation methodologies, etc.” [44, p. xxi]. After a chapter on project management, the book includes twenty city reviews highlighting how different cities have organised their smart city transformation. Forty-five authors contributed to the reviews and the cities are from all continents. While some projects are relatively simple and refer to the development of e-services, others include complex efforts of articulation between the public sector, private sector, and citizens. Regeneration of urban areas, intelligent lighting, automation of traffic lights, solutions for the development of a creative economy, co-working spaces and projects for start-ups are among them. An overview of the cities, projects, and the domain or ecosystem of reference is given in Appendix 3.1. Appendix 3.1 does not account for projects related to broadband networks, wi-fi, and open wi-fi which are offered additionally. These networks are present in all cities and together with cloud computing form the basic infrastructure on which all smart city services operate.

44

N. Komninos et al.

3.3.1 Structuring by Ecosystems A very clear message that comes across from the twenty cases relates to the setting of smart environments by ecosystems. In most of the twenty cities reviewed, the authors describe projects per ecosystem or sector (energy, environment, economy, etc.). We prefer to use the term “ecosystem”, instead of sector or vertical market that are also in use, because of the emphasis given in ecosystems to networking and interaction among actors. The objectives of projects are either relevant to a specific ecosystem or common objectives that can be found across ecosystems. In the case study on Korea for instance, a common model for all smart cities is described, promoting an ICT-based growth of city ecosystems to sustain the innovation economy and support the fourth industrial revolution with sandboxes for experimentation [45]. Table 3.2 shows the city ecosystems in which projects are implemented. We have identified sixteen ecosystems, which are classified into three blocks, those related to (a) areas, (b) activities, and (c) networks. These three major types of ecosystems have quite different locational behaviour: area-based ecosystems cluster spatially to form city districts, activity-based ecosystems spread throughout the city, and networkbased ecosystems locate along axes and transport networks. The number of ecosystems we identified is double the number of vertical markets mentioned in the Frost & Sullivan report [31] and more than double those mentioned in the grounding study by Giffinger et al. [28]. Most frequently cities focus on ecosystems related to networks and utilities (broadband, mobility, energy, etc.), followed by interest in ecosystems related to activities (economy, health, safety, etc.) and a few cities only work with area-based ecosystems, such as district renewal, or port and university campus renovation. Network optimisation seems to be the principal concern and objective in transport and utility ecosystems. Some ecosystems garner a great deal of attention: governance (in 64.70% of cases), mobility (in 58.82% of cases), energy (47.02%) and health (35.29%). If we consider safety as an aspect of quality of life, then this group also garners a lot of attention (58.82%). Overall, most frequent is the digital transformation of governance, economy, and health in activity-based ecosystems; and broadband communication, mobility, and energy in network-based ecosystems. The missing cases are very significant with there being an absolute absence of digital transformation for areas such as the historic city centre, technology districts, housing districts, and activities such as manufacturing and culture. But this may be a random outcome of the sample used.

3.3.2 Diversity and Standardisation of Projects Per Ecosystem There is a high diversity of smart city projects and solutions across ecosystems. But inside each ecosystem, the diversity is low and similar projects are to be found in the same ecosystem across cities, regardless of the city geography, size, or level of

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

45

Table 3.2 Most common projects per sector or city ecosystem Type of ecosystem

City ecosystems

Frequency in sample cities No of cities

Area-based ecosystems (3.49% of all ecosystems)

Activity-based ecosystems (45.35% of all ecosystems)

Network-based ecosystems (51.16% of all ecosystems)

%

1. District renewal-Multi-use districts

1

5.88

2. Hub district (port / rail / airport)

1

5.88

3. City centre / historic centre





4. Technology district





5. campus

1

5.88

6. Housing





7. Public space/natural ecosystem





8. Governance

11

64.70

9. Health

6

35.29

10. Startups, innovation, skills

5

29.41

11. Safety

5

29.41

12. Living, quality of life

5

29.41

13. Education

4

23.53

14. Tourism, hospitality, shopping

3

17.65

15. Manufacturing





16. Culture, recreation

-–



17. Telecom, broadband

17

100.00

18. Mobility

10

58.82

19. Energy

8

47.05

20. Environment

4

23.53

21. Water

3

17.65

22. Circular economy, recycling, waste

2

11.76

Source Data from Appendix 3.1

prosperity. Table 3.3 shows the most usual projects in two ecosystems (governance and energy) in which smart systems have been implemented in most cities examined. As we can observe, eight projects are the most usual one in both cases. Government and energy transformation takes place with a small number of projects mainly. On the other hand, comparing ecosystems, projects differ considerably, besides the fact that the same digital technologies of sensing, network, data processing, cloud computing, and application development are used. The significance of this observation is paramount. The same digital technologies deployed in two different ecosystems lead to totally different projects and solutions for digitalisation, optimisation, or innovation. The diversity of context, actors, physical infrastructures, and social processes prevail over the homogeneity of digital technologies. The challenge for smart city projects inside each ecosystem is on the side of project design and innovation rather than on the use of technology.

46

N. Komninos et al.

Table 3.3 Standardisation of smart city projects per ecosystem Smart city governance projects

Smart city energy projects

1. Online administrative services to citizens 2. Co-design of public services 3. Citizen reporting, complaints, requests to city administration 4. Citizen database and profile platform 5. Open data, data sharing with citizens and entrepreneurs 6. GIS data centre 7. Digital payments 8. Integrated city management system, command centre

1. Smart metering in buildings, energy control and saving 2. Energy integrated: retrofitting, PV panels, RES, and other solutions 3. Smart grid and use of renewable energy 4. District cooling and heating 5. Smart public lighting 6. Public electric vehicle charging 7. Energy-related platform and transactions 8. Data collection, mapping, and modelling of the energy system

Source Data from Appendix 3.1

3.3.3 Projects and Technology However, the role of technology is not neutral. The technology used is specific to the ecosystem of reference and the type of project. This becomes evident by looking into another survey on IoT-based smart city use cases. IoT Analytics [46] carried out a survey of 50 city decision-makers from the world’s leading smart city initiatives and classified the smart city vendors into six categories with respect to the products and technologies they offer: (1) sensor and end-devices, (2) network equipment and infrastructure, (3) connectivity and network-related services, (4) edge/core computing hardware and software, (5) software platforms and apps, and (6) professional services. Table 3.4 shows the top smart city use cases concerning IoT related projects. As one might expect, projects for mobility, environment, energy and building infrastructure are most usual, because the deployment of IoT and sensor Table 3.4 Top 10 smart city IoT-based use cases Rank

Use case

1

Connected public transport

74

Mobility and transportation

2

Traffic monitoring and management

72

Mobility and transportation

3

Water level/flood monitoring

72

Environment

6

Weather monitoring

68

Environment

7

Air quality/pollution monitoring

68

Environment

10

Water quality monitoring

64

Environment

5

Connected streetlights

68

Energy and utilities

8

Smart metering—Water

66

Energy and utilities

4

Video surveillance and analytics

72

Public safety

9

Fire/smoke detection

66

Building and infrastructure

Source IoT analytics, cited by [47]

Share (%)

Ecosystem of reference

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

47

networks mostly takes place in these domains. Uses cases in ecosystems related to governance, the economy or health, which are top in the “Smart City Emergence” survey, do not figure among the top places in the IoT Analytics survey. There is a correlation between the technologies used and the ecosystem for their deployment.

3.3.4 Typology of Projects and Architectures of Integration We classified the projects in Appendix 3.1 into the three categories we mentioned in Sect. 3.2: (a) projects developing digital applications and e-services, (b) projects for data repositories, monitoring, metering, and analytics, and (c) cyber-physical projects with interventions on the digital, physical, and institutional space of cities. The allocation of projects in these three categories appears in Table 3.5 with the figures for the development of e-services and complex cyber-physical projects being close to each other. The cases for data creation, monitoring, and analytics are less frequent. Project types tend to follow the ecosystem of reference: in ecosystems related to economy, government, education, and health it is the creation of e-services that prevail. Cyber-physical systems and IoT solutions prevail in ecosystems related to mobility, energy, and the environment. Projects for data creation, monitoring, and analytics are found in all ecosystems. However, there is no exclusion, and all three types of projects can be found in every city ecosystem. Within each ecosystem, smart city projects can agglomerate but lack connectivity and integration. We have called this architecture “the agglomeration of digital applications and solutions” and it marks the lower level of spatial intelligence that can be found in smart cities [48]. It is usual in the starting phase of smart cities in the same way that the spatial agglomeration of activities is the starting phase at the beginning of urbanisation. More integrated architectures are found in the domain of energy where a combination of smart grids, renewable energy production, building refurbishment, smart home solutions, and smart metering projects work together and form a very efficient system in energy usage and reduction of CO2 emissions. Smart campuses and smart districts also follow similar architectures of integration. But their presence in cities is still rather limited. Table 3.5 Allocation of smart city projects per type Projects for smart city e-services

Projects for data creation monitoring, analytics

Complex cyber-physical projects

All projects

96

28

82

206

46.06%

13.59%

39.81%

100%

Source Data from Appendix 3.1

48

N. Komninos et al.

Overall standalone projects prevail over more complex and integrated ones. This is probably a trait indicating low maturity at the initial stage of smart city development.

3.4 Smart City Projects: Drivers and Barriers We turn now to another type of evidence related to smart city projects that were designed and developed bottom-up. We refer to three projects started by two research organisations, URENIO Research, a lab at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the Informatics and Telematics Institute of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (ITI-CERTH). These started as experimental projects, in the framework of Horizon 2020 and other EU consortia, and were adopted and scaled up by cities. They are rather small projects focusing on the deployment of smart city services and technologies, but representative of the type of projects developed by companies and the private sector. Besides their size, they allow challenges in projects developed bottom-up and barriers due to the institutional inertia of the urban system to be identified.

3.4.1 Improve-My-City: Collective Intelligence and Reward for User Engagement The application and the respective e-service is a direct mechanism for citizengovernment communication and collaboration. It is available through the web (https://www.improve-my-city.com/) and android and iPhone smartphones. The service enables citizens to report non-emergency problems and the city government to respond to their requests, and provide solutions and feedback to users. Citizen requests submitted are displayed on the city map and are accompanied by comments, pictures or video, and suggestions for solutions. Requests are classified into categories defined by the city administration and each request is transferred to the department responsible, which takes action to address it. Additionally, the backend of the application, deploys data on the cloud and provides analytics to aggregate and visualise data, identify areas where city problems are most frequently reported, and assess the performance of the city’s administrative departments [16]. ImproveMyCity (IMC) promotes the participatory government of cities and acts as a medium for the engagement of citizens in the management and planning of cities. IMC is an application and e-service in the field of social innovation. These innovations do not conform to the dominant concept of innovation as a new product and business development, but are innovations social both in their ends, serving social objectives, and in their means, based on collective action. IMC serves collective objectives, as citizens report issues to improve the city as a space of public goods

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

49

and commons; introduces a bottom-up participatory government in which citizens direct and prioritise public action. IMC is an open-source scalable software solution, initially launched in 2012 in the context of the EU’s “PEOPLE” research project (EU-CIP). The PEOPLE project included a series of experiments in social innovation at the level of smart city districts in four pilot urban areas: the cultural district of Bilbao (Spain), the university campus and technology park of Bremen (Germany), the central commercial district of Thermi, a city within the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki (Greece), and the housing district of Vitry-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris (France). The first version of IMC was developed by URENIO Research. ITI-CERTH then went on to develop the smartphone versions. The e-service was initially provided by the town of Thermi to enable those who live, work or visit the city to report local problems such as discarded garbage, burned out light bulbs, broken pavement slabs, illegal billboard posters, illegally parked vehicles, and so on. Citizens made suggestions for improving the city’s infrastructure, but also commented on and voted in favour of existing requests. On a larger scale, the service was introduced by the city of Thessaloniki to manage the daily problems of citizens, providing a platform for submitting, managing, and analysing such requests. Requests are submitted under clear terms related to the operation of the service, the submission of requests in predefined categories, the posting of non-emergency requests, the posting of content that is not untrue, defamatory, inaccurate, aggressive, offensive, threatening, or detrimental to the privacy of a person. Entries are personal views and experiences of their authors. The administrators of the service do not guarantee the accuracy of the information published and also retain the right to delete inappropriate content. Requests are free, but the user remains solely responsible and accountable for the content of the entries. To date, more than 60,000 requests have been submitted in Thessaloniki and 3000 in Thermi, which is a much smaller community. The application is multilingual and is already used in 30 other cities across Europe, the US, Mexico, Brazil, Angola, Indonesia, India, and Russia. The two municipalities, Thessaloniki and Thermi received awards for the implementation of Improve-my-City from the Council of Europe at the inaugural event of the “European Badge of Excellence in Good Governance” Programme. The success of this type of e-service can be attributed to several factors [49]: • IMC includes a recommendation/reward system in which citizens raise demands and suggestions and the public authority respond to these demands. • IMC is interactive and provides a solution that incorporates best practices towards user experience such as keyboard-friendly interfaces and offline use of mobile devices. • IMC offers analytics documenting fields of concern for citizens, weaknesses in the urban system, as well as the public authority’s performance in responding to these demands. • IMC relies heavily on the principles of openness and transparency, which we found to be fundamental for the smooth operation and adoption of smart city

50

N. Komninos et al.

services. Municipalities that try to limit transparency by displaying to users only their submitted issues and not showing issues reported by other citizens tend to receive a negative assessment [50]. All-in-all, Improve-my-City is a smart city service that introduces innovation into the mainstream city top-down administration, offers a digital platform that can be adapted to the challenges faced by each community, works as a crowdsourcing aggregator of citizen requests and ideas, rewards citizens for engagement, and promotes collective intelligence in setting priorities for city planning and management.

3.4.2 CUTLER’s Smart Parking: New E-Services Over Data The city of Thessaloniki is densely populated, and many city districts host mixed land uses of residential and professional spaces, hotels, shops, entertainment areas, hospitals, and others. There is high level of commuting and strong demand for public parking spaces. Since both residents and visitors must be served, the available parking space needs to be controlled and allocated accordingly. Since November 2017, a new controlled smart parking system has been introduced in three municipal districts in which the available parking space is divided into blue and white areas, intended for the parking of residents and visitors. Visitors pay a fee to park their vehicles in white sectors. Residents can freely use any blue sector in their district. The system is supervised by the Municipal Police which carries out daily patrols of the city streets, scanning car plates, and issuing tickets in case of illegal parking by either visitors or residents. The need to optimize Thessaloniki’s Controlled Parking System (CPS) has motivated the development of solutions to improve the following aspects. First, optimal allocation of parking sectors: When the CPS started operating in November 2017, an initial allocation of residents’ and visitors’ sectors was decided upon. The main criterion for the allocation was land use, thus more white (visitors’) sectors were assigned to streets close to shops while more blue (residents’) sectors were assigned to streets around residential blocks. Moving from decision-making through intuition to decision-making based on data, the Municipality of Thessaloniki has decided to rely on the CUTLER platform for the optimal allocation of white and blue sectors based on the following data: GIS data on land use, census data on population and number of cars per block, environmental data on air pollutants and traffic emissions, social data on citizens’ complaints about the existing allocation of on-street parking space and, finally, data on revenues of the system and the legal or illegal behaviour of CPS users from the date the CPS began operating until the date of a new intervention to the system. By resolving the parking problem and the traffic generated by the parking problem, the expectation has been a decrease in air pollution in the city centre, improved quality of life for both residents and visitors, and increased municipality revenues from visitor tickets. In this context, the goal was to examine the problem of optimally allocating public parking space to city

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

51

centre residents and visitors (white & blue sectors), considering economic, social, and environmental aspects. Second, optimised patrol routes: Every day, based on the available numbers of municipal police officers, patrols in pairs are organised to monitor the CPS. The CUTLER platform was customised so it would recommend patrol routes that cover as many CPS sectors as possible with the aim of reducing illegal parking. The decisionmaker can set a maximum number of kilometres that a pair of police officers can walk during their shift, while the recommended patrol routes are of similar distances so that all available personnel are treated equally. The aim is to handle the available workforce as efficiently as possible to save working hours that can be assigned to other tasks. After deciding on the patrol routes, the decision-maker can monitor the effect of that decision on the CPS (revenues, legal and illegal scans, etc.) and finally evaluate that decision based on parking-related and social KPIs. In this process, the goal is to specifically examine the design of optimal patrol routes to supervise the CPS and reduce illegal parking, taking into account economic, social, and environmental aspects. The aforementioned technical solutions have been decided on and designed in collaboration with the policymakers of the Municipal Police and enjoyed their full support during implementation. Nevertheless, they have confronted several barriers that hinder their fully successful implementation. These include: Data exists but is not always readily available: The volume and diversity of the data generated daily in cities by citizens, businesses, and the public administration are constantly increasing. City administrations struggle to fully exploit this data and improve governmental processes. While data is out there, public administrations cannot always access it. This is due to data openness, with data belonging to or managed by private organisations, civil society organisations, or other government departments within the same organisation. It becomes necessary for the cities to open up communication channels allowing them to negotiate with new partners to gain access to information that can greatly enrich urban planning and dialogue. This has been the case for a significant amount of CPS-related data that were hosted by a private company. Despite the existence of a contract stating that the data generated through the CPS system is the property of the municipality, it has proved extremely difficult to obtain the necessary amount of data at the necessary level of granularity. Legal issues hinder data collection & processing: Legal issues impede the acquisition and processing of available data, especially third-party data and sensitive/personal data. Different datasets adhere to different sets of rules of usage, thus making it extremely difficult for the data managers in the public administration to know how to handle them. This has been particularly relevant in the case of the CPS, since data like car plates, GPS locations of cars and penalty notices should be treated as sensitive data, with strong anonymisation measures being required. Change management for key stakeholders to move away from intuition-based decision making: Despite the success of the aforementioned technical solutions to collect the necessary data, insightfully present them and extract the necessary pieces of evidence, we were frequently confronted with a situation where it was impossible to convince some key stakeholders about trusting the system and accepting

52

N. Komninos et al.

suggestions that were not aligned with their intuition. Building an accurate system is as important as convincing its end users to put their trust in it, and their early involvement in the design phase is an effective way to achieve the necessary change management. Non-technological factors can always be a reason for cancelling out a certain solution: Even in cases where everything works as expected a smart city solution may still be confronted with socio-cultural or political conditions that render its value minimal. This has been the case for the application of the CPS in municipal districts outside the city centre, where the opposition from permanent residents to the controlled parking system has forced the authorities to suspend its application.

3.4.3 STORM Cloudfunding: Organisational and Institutional Barriers Cloudfunding is a web application that supports civic crowdfunding, enabling cities to collect funds for social and charitable purposes. The application can support funding of various city projects, such as those related to the improvement of the urban environment, social entrepreneurship, youth startups, and others. The service entails donation-based crowdfunding and offers multiple benefits to city authorities, as it raises public participation and brings flexibility into the funding of small-scale projects for urban regeneration [51, 52]. The service was designed in the context of EU’s STORM project which aimed to address public authorities’ need to shift to a cloud-based paradigm in e-services provision. The project provided a set of guidelines to public authorities and policymakers based on direct experimentation in many European cities. The project also delivered a consolidated cloud-based services portfolio validated in four pilot cities (Valladolid, Thessaloniki, Agueda, Miskolc). Following an open call for cities, the experimentation of cloudification was carried out in three more cities: Athens, Veria, and Guimaraes. The Cloudfunding application has been tested in the city of Thessaloniki to support co-funding of three types of projects: (a) projects for the improvement of the city environment (i.e. the creation of parks and playgrounds, restoration of monuments, expansion of bike lanes, etc.), (b) projects for social entrepreneurship (i.e. the creation of non-profit enterprises to promote objectives that improve city life or strengthen its social capital) and (c) projects for knowledge-intensive and technology-based youth entrepreneurship. In all categories, the city administration would act as a mediator of the whole funding and implementation process. The main technologies used for the cloudification of the service were (a) OpenStack, the most popular and most adopted opensource, for the implementation of the IaaS layer, (b) Cloud Foundry for the implementation of the PaaS layer, (c) LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) for applications, and (d) MySQL/MariaDB and PostgreSQL database engines for the implementation of the Database Services

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

53

Module. Although Cloudfunding seems a straightforward smart city application, its implementation revealed significant legal and institutional barriers. An initial set of challenges were confronted during service development. The initial aim was to develop the service over the opensource application CrowdTilt. However, installing the application on the Linux platform was not sufficiently well documented and was very difficult to achieve, but most significantly, it could not accept contributions/payments in Euro but only in US dollars through a payment processor company called “Balanced Payments”. Altering the CrowdTilt source code so that another payment processor could manage payments in Euro was a possible yet difficult and lengthy process. As an alternative, other similar opensource solutions were reviewed (among which, Catarse, an opensource crowdfunding platform for creative projects, and IgnitionDeck, a plugin for the WordPress platform) but finally, Goteo was chosen, and a branch of it was developed for the city of Thessaloniki. Goteo (https://en.goteo.org/) is a web application and service that allows collective campaigns for crowdfunding to be published, offering dynamic visualisation and classification of initiatives and campaign tracking. The most difficult set of challenges, however, were not technological but related to the legal and institutional framework of operation by the city administration. First, was the ability to process payments without the use of an automated payment system that would temporarily withhold the money until the project on the crowdfunding platform achieved its funding goal (or not). The municipality could retain donations for a limited time period and, even more so, return them in case the crowdfunding project did not achieve its goal. This problem could be solved using a payment processing company like Paypal, although the Municipality faced significant organisational limitations in creating and validating a Paypal account. The second was the ability to process a high volume of small-scale transactions. The Municipality is legally allowed to receive money from donations, yet it has to provide receipts for each of these donations, no matter how small they are. If the funding target is not met, all contributions must be reimbursed. This created a significant administrative burden on the administration which was already characterised by a low level of flexibility and a rigid organisational structure. Third, was the freedom to allocate municipal resources to a specific action that would be decided on through the crowdfunding platform. Based on existing legislation, the financial resources of the Municipality are gathered, and an annual budget is approved, to be distributed to mostly predetermined services and activities. These rules are the opposite of the Cloudfunding service’s logic for short-term decisionmaking about project acceptance and the allocation of resources based on successful projects whose details are not known beforehand. These challenges, and many similar smaller ones, were magnified in the case of Thessaloniki which was criticised for economic mismanagement and had to undergo a very strict monitoring process for all its financial operations. As a response, it was proposed that the management of Cloudfunding would be undertaken by the Metropolitan Development Agency of Thessaloniki, a non-profit development agency set up by the Municipality, which has greater flexibility and less strict rules for financial management and operations. Despite the efforts made, the service was never initiated.

54

N. Komninos et al.

3.5 Discussion Smart city projects can address all challenges faced by cities, day-to-day usual problems or wicked problems and the grand challenges of growth, poverty, sustainability, and safety. Projects may be deployed top-down in the framework of smart city strategies by public authorities, or bottom-up for the creation and offering of e-services by private organisations and companies. A review of the literature and the cases we analysed in the previous sections allow three major drivers that shape smart city projects to be identified. First, the ecosystem in which projects are located: The city is a system of (eco)systems, and challenges, problems, stakeholders, and activities differ from one ecosystem to another. Ecosystems define the context and the dynamics of change. Smart city projects are organised by ecosystems, and usually many projects, whether independent or integrated, are necessary to change an ecosystem. Still, the smart city domain is very fragmented in vertical markets (energy, mobility, governance, real-estate) with little interoperability and exchange. Smart city projects follow this fragmentation, and the ecosystem of reference defines the know-how available and the potential for change. Second, the connected intelligence mobilised by projects into the respective ecosystem: Smart city projects and experiments reveal various architectures of connectivity between digital and non-digital components and competences of the smart city, ranging from simple agglomeration of solutions over a common platform to orchestration of input–output and the flows between projects. Yet, digital technologies deployed by smart city projects may impact all types of intelligence to be found in cities. Human intelligence through learning and use of software that simplify complex methods and tasks, collective intelligence through online collaboration and crowdsourcing, and machine intelligence through data, analytics, AI, and prediction. These types of intelligence in combination, which we call connected intelligence, enable optimisation and innovation, and the aims and impact of projects to be realised. Third, the innovation introduced by smart city projects: Projects may produce (a) simple digitalisation, (b) digitalisation and optimisation, (c) digitalisation and innovation. In all cases, digitalisation is the baseline, and then optimisation or innovation or both can occur. Many projects just transfer activities from the physical to the digital space. This is the lowest level of innovation that can be achieved. In other cases, digitalisation, automation, and sharing lead to optimisation in the use of resources. Sensors and smart metering allow for energy savings and mobility. Sharing can optimise the deployment of effort, capital, and infrastructure. More complex, cybersocial-physical projects, integrating digital and non-digital technologies, can radically change the operation model of an ecosystem. Such radical changes affect sectors of the city economy with the development of platform-based ecosystems (hospitality, real estate, financial services), the city governance with forms of direct democracy,

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

55

Innova on

Fig. 3.2 Intelligent City Cube—drivers of smart city projects

the mobility ecosystem with Mobility-as-a-Service (car sharing, carpooling, selfdriving cars), the energy ecosystem with the deployment of distributed renewable energy. Identifying these conditions suggests that the major drivers of smart city projects and city smartness are those of the ecosystem of reference, the project’s connectivity and architecture, and the impact on optimisation/innovation of city routines. This allows one to define a typology of smart city drivers by those three dimensions. The outcome is an “Intelligent City Cube”, presented in Fig. 3.2, that allows projects to be classified by three broad properties (1) ecosystem of reference, (2) connected intelligence, and (3) innovation, and in three alternative forms per property, as below: Ecosystem of reference

(1.1) Area-based

(1.2) Activity-based

(1.3) Network-based

Connected intelligence

(2.1) Data-based

(2.2) E-service-based

(2.3) Cyber-physical-social

Innovation

(3.1) Digitalisation

(3.2) Optimisation

(3.3) Innovation

In the Intelligent City Cube, 27 combinations of drivers can be defined, though some types are non-consistent, such as cyber-physical-social projects having a digitalisation-only impact. Among these combinations some are indeed the most common, such as “area-based ecosystem” + “cyber-physical-social entities” + “innovation” in projects for smart districts; “activity-based ecosystem” + “e-service” + “innovation” in platform-based ecosystems; “network-based ecosystem” + “eservice” + “optimisation” in smart transport and smart utilities; “activity-based ecosystem” + “e-service” + “digitalisation” in smart marketplaces.

56

N. Komninos et al.

3.6 Conclusion Through a literature review, data from surveys on smart cities from around the world, and case studies on the development of smart city services, it becomes possible to identify the main features, drivers, and barriers in projects being implemented to make cities smart. A fundamental conclusion is that city authorities organise the smart city transformation by vertical markets or vertical ecosystems. We have identified 16 different city ecosystems in which smart city projects are deployed. However, each city develops smart city projects into a limited number of ecosystems, ranging from 1 to 7, on an average into 4 ecosystems. Smart city projects differ substantially per ecosystem of reference. On the contrary, within ecosystems the similarity of projects, as we move from one city to another, is high. Moreover, within an ecosystem, a limited number of projects is used to turn it smart. Given the organisation of smart city projects per ecosystem, the project dimension seems to prevail over planning. The latter is closer to strategic planning (or projectbased planning) than to full control of cities through master planning. Smart city projects fall into three major categories related to the design and development of e-services, the creation of datasets, monitoring and analytics, and complex projects combining physical, institutional and digital elements. Most usual is the deployment of e-services, however the impact of complex cyber-physical-social projects is higher. Digital technologies on which smart city projects rely are standardised in a few segments such as the cloud, IoT, network, applications development, and data analytics. However, the same digital technologies used in different city ecosystems produce very different projects. The ecosystem context and sectoral technologies make the difference. The project design brings together digital technologies, sector-specific technologies, physical and institutional contexts. Integration is just as important as technologies. Usually, smart city projects are disconnected and lack integration. Connectivity within projects, linking digital and non-digital features, and connectivity across projects is low, especially in eservices. However, the connectivity of resources and capabilities among human actors, communities, and digital technologies is a prime factor for innovation and impact. Together with the above drivers, our analysis also revealed some major barriers to the success of smart city projects. The main barriers are financial, legal, and institutional. This is due to the social and institutional inertia of cities and defensive behaviours of city actors against novelties, especially when a radical change of the existing city routines is introduced. Looking at the transformation of cities with smart systems and technologies from the perspective of routines allows one to understand the rise of city smartness from an innovation theory perspective, depending on innovation systems that are also becoming hybrid, cyber-physical-social [53].

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

57

Appendix 3.1: Smart City Projects by City and Ecosystem Source Based on city reviews included in the book “Smart City Emergence: cases from around the world”. City

Sector/ecosystem

Projects

Evora (Portugal) Smart City of Evora

Energy

• Smart meters, smart homes • Smart grid • Public lighting • EV charging • Data collection & modelling of energy system

Environment

• Reduction of CO2 emissions • Building retrofitting • Solar thermal and solar PV • Recycling • Promotion of cycling • Traffic restrictions • Biofuel buses

Torino (Italy) Smart City of Torino

Mobility

• Bike-sharing • Plan bicycle path • EV sharing • Car-sharing service • Car-pooling • Traffic zone regulation (restriction) • monitoring

Environment

• District renewal • Smart squares

Startups, innovation, skills

• Social innovation/startup support • Youth employment • Support for public goods and services

Living, safety, health

• Citizen awareness solutions • Safety solutions • Active aging

Tourism

• Information sharing • Points of interest, city tourism • Torino as a platform (continued)

58

N. Komninos et al.

(continued) City

Leuven (Belgium) Smart City Leuven

Sector/ecosystem

Projects

Governance

• Health services from home • Opening of public spaces to citizens • Co-designing public services

Energy

• Energy action plan: retrofitting, PV panels, RES, LED • IoT in schools for energy metering and saving

Mobility (under optimization of streams)

• Last mile delivery vehicles • Semi-autonomous bus shuttle • Bike-sharing • Policing of shop and parking by sensors

Energy (under optimization of streams)

• Smart city lights and sensor network

Governance

• Data platform for city administration

• Smart energy grid—interoperability • Smart energy in building

• Open data to share data with citizens and entrepreneurs • Digital Citizen: a digital profile of each citizen Health

• Living Lab for health(care) innovations • E-Health site • Vital City-innovative initiatives for active lifestyle • Testing wearables to improve health

Education

• University student collaboration • Working environment for knowledge workers • Startups in residence

Vienna (Austria) Smart City of Vienna

Energy

• ICT integration for buildings and electrical grid Wien-Aspern (Grid, RES, and storage) • Wien energy. Use of block-chain for transactions • Clean heat, stable power grid. Excess electricity to heat (continued)

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

59

(continued) City

Sector/ecosystem

Projects • Energy monitoring and intelligent plant control in Airport • Urban Cool Down. Summer cooling in urban districts

Education

• Make your city smart: toolkit for do-it-yourself building • Vocational orientation of future jobs, robotics, apps, RES • Digital agenda Vienna. Interactive development of ideas • Digital city: ICT education

Governance

Sag’s Wien application. Report to the city administration • e-Government online services, registration, e-signature

Mobility

• Smart traffic lights

District renewal

• Renovation of former industrial sites, central station, Danube bank, residential areas, and other

Digital city

• IoT and sensors

• Car sharing, e-cars

Amsterdam (The Netherlands) Amsterdam Smart City (hundreds of initiatives at https://amsterdamsmartcity. com/ A few are included)

• Digital infrastructure • Promotion of various advanced technologies (Blockchain, 5G, AI, Drones) Energy

• Energy atlas. Open data map and RES usage • Energy transition • Smart grid • Energy saving at home in city neighbourhoods • Next-generation renewable energy digital platform

Mobility

• Mobility as a service • City logistics • Bicycle sharing • Autonomous vehicles • Crowd monitoring • Electric vehicles

Circular city

• Building and construction (continued)

60

N. Komninos et al.

(continued) City

Sector/ecosystem

Projects • Public awareness • e-Waste • Make the circular economy and the upcycle visible • Design-driven solutions to waste and consumerism • New products from used pieces of plastics & metal

Governance and education

• Transition from smart to inclusive city • Up-scaling • Input–output modelling for smart city development

Citizen and living

• Public participation • Living labs • Healthy urban living • Sharing economy • Social entrepreneurship • Clean air monitoring

Trikala (Greece) Smart City of Trikala

Mobility

• Smart parking and parking analytics • Municipal fleet management • Fleet analysis with vehicles position and routes • Traffic lights monitoring for malfunction

Energy

• Smart lighting, upgrade to LED and motion sensors

Waste

• Smart bins with sensors installed

Water

• Smart water metering

Environment

• Sensor-based monitoring and metering

Governance

• Public wi-fi • End-to-end city management system • GIS geospatial information • Complaint registration and mobile app • Public consultation • Digital payments

Smart Cities in Korea Governance A common model for all cities: ICT based growth ecosystems in cities

• Gov with government agents (continued)

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

61

(continued) City

Sector/ecosystem

Projects • Citizen cooperation • Public–private partnership • Integrated policy legal system

Startups, innovation, skills

• Innovation led sustainable growth • Innovative start-up • Spaces for innovative job creation • Clustering • Spread of innovative ideas

Education

• Innovative education

Mobility

• ICT infrastructure • Smart city technologies • Integrated infrastructure with ICT • Open data • Big data • Data sharing and integration

Energy & Environment Health Safety Welfare Hangzhou (China) Dream Town Internet village

Startups, innovation, skills

• Attraction of high-quality overseas talents in ICT, biomedicine, RES, financial services • Applications of e-business, software design, information services, big data, security, animation design • Start-up support • Start-up incubators and mentoring • Grants: creative digital tickets (vouchers) • Angel village, interaction with VC • Collaboration and use of Alibaba infrastructure

Changsha (China)

Government

• e-Services for social insurance, taxation, police

Mobility

• e-Services for information and ticketing • Transport cloud for information, coordination, service delivery

Commerce

• e-Services for shopping and online payment (continued)

62

N. Komninos et al.

(continued) City

Sector/ecosystem

Projects

Health

• e-Services in hospitals for medical service, payment

Tourism

• Hotel reservation, tourism venues, e-payment

Safety

• Fire protection • Police cloud big data platform • Police analytics and prediction

Pune (India) Smart City of Pune

Energy

• Smart grid and solar panels

Water

• Smart metering

Mobility

• e-Buses • Electric Rickshaw/Electric Tuk-Tuk in Pune • ICT-enabled bus • Smart parking • Adaptive traffic management

Safety

• CCTV • IT connectivity

Nara (Japan) Smart City of Nara

District renewal

• Smart campus • Smart housing district • Smart grid and solar panel • Solar thermal • Energy management platform • Data centre

Singapore (Singapore) Smart City of Singapore

Health

• Elderly mobility using robotics • App citizen wearables encouraging exercise • Health monitoring at home • Health related analytics

Living

• App: User engagement on environmental issues • App: Understand living conditions at home

Mobility

• Access to public transportation • Mobility analytics • Smart parking • Autonomous mobility testing

Government

• Citizen database platform-interaction with gov • Access to numerous public services (continued)

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

63

(continued) City

Sector/ecosystem

Projects • Open datasets • Platform for sharing ideas

Startups, innovation, skills

• Financial database of business opportunities • Digital transactions for citizens and businesses • Digital training programs and fellowships • Digital tools for innovative development • Platforms for academic collaboration • Business grants portal

Newark (US) Smart city of Newark

Government

• Data analytics platform (B2B, B2C, open gov data, crime, vacant lots, employment) • Industrial analytics platform • Smart city governance analytics

Quayside Toronto (Canada) Sidewalk Labs’ Waterfront Toronto (before being abandoned)

District renewal

• Self-driving shuttles • Robot delivery • Spaces showcasing new technologies • Dynamic, reconfigurable pavement, allowing different uses and activities throughout the day • Building envelope technologies (raincoats) • Responsible Data Use Framework

Porto Alegre (Brazil) Porto Alegre Smart City

Governance

• Integrated command centre • GIS data centre • Bio-monitoring (trees, plant, pollutants) • Training telecentres for literacy and digital inclusion • Smart city innovation centre

Health

• Real-time monitoring of hospital bed occupation • Sharing patient information • Telemedicine, primary diagnoses (continued)

64

N. Komninos et al.

(continued) City

Sector/ecosystem

Projects

Johannesburg (South Africa) Smart city of Johannesburg

Safety

• Crime reporting application • 911 response application • Kitestring—check-up and emergency alert

Mobility

• Intelligent Transport System • Interactive application—real time transport

Tunis (Tunisia) Smart City of Tunis

Startups, innovation, skills

• Digital entrepreneurship • Digital innovation services • Offshoring—place promotion • IT promotion

Governance

• Administrative services to citizens • User-centric governance • Platform for data exchange and interoperability

References 1. Komninos, N., Mora, L.: Exploring the big picture of smart city research. Scienze Regionali 17(1), 15–38 (2018) 2. Kogan, N., Lee, K.J.: Exploratory research on the success factors and challenges of Smart City projects. Asia Pac. J. Inf. Syst. 24(2), 141–189 (2014) 3. Bosch, P., Jongeneel, S., Rovers, V., Neumann, H. M., Airaksinen, M., Huovila, A.: CITYkeys indicators for smart city projects and smart cities. CITYkeys report (2017). https://nws.euroci ties.eu/MediaShell/media/CITYkeystheindicators.pdf. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 4. van Winden, W., Oskam, I., van den Buuse, D., Schrama, W., van Dijck, E.J.: Organising smart city projects: Lessons from Amsterdam (2016). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310 451169_Organising_Smart_City_Projects_Lessons_learned_from_Amsterdam. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 5. Angelidou, M.: The role of smart city characteristics in the plans of fifteen cities. J. Urban Technol. 24(4), 3–28 (2017) 6. Tran Thi Hoang, G., Dupont, L., Camargo, M.: Application of decision-making methods in smart city projects: a systematic literature review. Smart Cities 2(3), 433-452 (2019) 7. Komninos, N.: Intelligent Cities: Innovation, Knowledge Systems and Digital Spaces. Routledge (2002) 8. Andrisano, O., Bartolini, I., Bellavista, P., Boeri, A., Bononi, L., Borghetti, A., Brath, A., Corazza, G.E., Corradi, A., de Miranda, S., Fava, F., Foschini, L., Leoni, G., Longo, D., Milano, M., Napolitano, F., Nucci, C.A., Pasolini, G., Patella, M., Cinotti, T.S., Tarchi, D., Ubertini, F., Vigo, D.: The need of multidisciplinary approaches and engineering tools for the development and implementation of the smart city paradigm. Proc. IEEE 106(4), 738–760 (2018) 9. Gaffney, C., Robertson, C.: Smarter than smart: Rio de Janeiro’s flawed emergence as a smart city. J. Urban Technol. 25(3), 47–64 (2018)

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

65

10. Greco, I., Bencardino, M.: The paradigm of the modern city: SMART and SENSEable Cities for smart, inclusive and sustainable growth. In: International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications, pp. 579–597. Springer, Cham (2014) 11. Rodrigues, N., Costa, P.: Urban experimentation and smart cities: a Foucauldian and autonomist approach. Territory, Politics, Governance (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2020.177 7896 12. De Falco, S., Angelidou, M., Addie, J.P.D.: From the “smart city” to the “smart metropolis”? Building resilience in the urban periphery. Eur. Urban Reg. Stud. 26(2), 205–223 (2019) 13. Picon, A.: Urban infrastructure, imagination and politics: from the networked metropolis to the smart city. Int. J. Urban Reg. Res. 42(2), 263–275 (2018) 14. Kunzmann, K.R.: Smart cities: a new paradigm of urban development. Crios 4(1), 9–20 (2014) 15. Foth, M.: The next urban paradigm: cohabitation in the smart city. IT-Inf. Technol. 59(6), 259–262 (2017) 16. Kakderi, C., Komninos, N., Tsarchopoulos, P.: Smart cities and cloud computing: lessons from the STORM CLOUDS experiment. J. Smart Cities 2(1), 4–13 (2016) 17. Komninos, N.: The Age of Intelligent Cities: Smart Environments and Innovation-for-all Strategies. Routledge (2014) 18. Yigitcanlar, T.: Technology and the City: Systems, Applications and Implications. Routledge (2016) 19. Petrolo, R., Loscri, V., Mitton, N.: Towards a smart city based on cloud of things, a survey on the smart city vision and paradigms. Trans. Emerg. Telecommun. Technol. 28(1), e2931 (2017) 20. Ricciardi, F., Za, S.: Smart city research as an interdisciplinary crossroads: a challenge for management and organization studies. In: From Information to Smart Society, pp. 163–171. Springer, Cham (2015) 21. Kourtit, K., Nijkamp, P.: Smart cities in the innovation age. Innov. Eur. J. Soc. Sci. Res. 25(2), 93–95 (2012) 22. Frenken, K., Schor, J.: Putting the sharing economy into perspective. In: A Research Agenda for Sustainable Consumption Governance, pp. 121–135. Edward Elgar Publishing (2019) 23. Nieuwland, S., Van Melik, R.: Regulating Airbnb: how cities deal with perceived negative externalities of short-term rentals. Curr. Issue Tour. 23(7), 811–825 (2020) 24. Komninos, N.: Smart Cities and Connected Intelligence: Platforms, Ecosystems and Network Effects. Routledge (2020) 25. Kourtit, K., Nijkamp, P., Steenbruggen, J.: The significance of digital data systems for smart city policy. Socioecon. Plann. Sci. 58, 13–21 (2017) 26. Cugurullo, F.: Frankenstein urbanism: Eco, Smart and Autonomous Cities, Artificial Intelligence and the End of the City. Routledge (2021) 27. Komninos, N., Panori, A., Kakderi, C.: The Smart City Ontology 2.0. URENIO Research Discussion Papers (2020). https://www.urenio.org/2020/12/24/smart-city-ontology2-0/. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 28. Giffinger, R., Gudrun, H.: Smart cities ranking: an effective instrument for the positioning of the cities? ACE: Archit. City Environ. 4(12), 7–26 (2010) 29. Arroub, A., Zahi, B., Sabir, E., Sadik, M.: A literature review on smart cities: paradigms, opportunities and open problems. In: 2016 International Conference on Wireless Networks and Mobile Communications (WINCOM), pp. 180–186. IEEE (2016) 30. URENIO Research: ICOS. An Open Repository of Solutions for Intelligent Cities (n.a). https:// icos.urenio.org/. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 31. Frost & Sullivan: Smart Cities—Frost & Sullivan Value Proposition (2019). https://ww2.frost. com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/SmartCities.pdf. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 32. ITU-T FG-SCC: Setting the framework for an ICT architecture of a smart sustainable city. Focus Group Technical Specifications (2015). http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/ssc/ Documents/website/web-fg-ssc-0345-r5-ssc_architecture.docx. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 33. Chourabi, H., Nam, T., Walker, S., Gil-Garcia, J.R., Mellouli, S., Nahon, K., Pardo, T.A., Scholl, H.J.: Understanding smart city initiatives: an integrative and comprehensive theoretical framework. In: Proceedings of the 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, pp. 2289–2297 (2012)

66

N. Komninos et al.

34. Perboli, G., De Marco, A., Perfetti, F., Marone, M.: A new taxonomy of smart city projects. Transp. Res. Procedia 3, 470–478 (2014) 35. Komninos, N., Bratsas, C., Kakderi, C., Tsarchopoulos, P.: Smart city ontologies: improving the effectiveness of smart city applications. J. Smart Cities 1(1), 1–17 (2015) 36. Komninos, N.: Intelligent cities and the evolution towards technology-enhanced, global, and user-driven territorial systems of innovation. In: Doloreux, D., Shearmur, R., Carrincazeaux, C. (eds.) Handbook on the Geography of Innovation, pp. 187–200. Edward Elgar (2016) 37. Monzon, A.: Smart cities concept and challenges: bases for the assessment of smart city projects. In: 2015 International Conference on Smart Cities and Green ICT Systems (SMARTGREENS), pp. 1–11. IEEE (2015) 38. Carmona, M., Burgess, R., Badenhorst, M.S.: Planning Through Projects. Moving from Master Planning to Strategic Planning. Techne Press (2009) 39. Komninos, N., Kakderi, C., Panori, A., Tsarchopoulos, P.: Smart city planning from an evolutionary perspective. J. Urban Technol. 26(2), 3–20 (2018) 40. Gates, S.: Review of methodology of quantitative reviews using meta-analysis in ecology. J. Anim. Ecol. 71(4), 547–557 (2002) 41. Kulik, J.A., Kulik, C.L.C.: Meta-analysis in education. Int. J. Educ. Res. 13(3), 221–340 (1989) 42. Timulak, L.: Qualitative meta-analysis. In: The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis, p. 481 (2014) 43. Stall-Meadows, C., Hyle, A.: Procedural methodology for a grounded meta-analysis of qualitative case studies. Int. J. Consum. Stud. 34(4), 412–418 (2010) 44. Anthopoulos, L.: Smart City Emergence: Cases from Around the World. Elsevier (2019) 45. Yong Lee, J., Chang, J.: The evolution of smart city policy in Korea. In: Smart City Emergence, pp. 173–194. Elsevier (2019) 46. IoT Analytics: Smart City Use Cases & Technology Report 2020 (2020). https://iot-analytics. com/product/smart-city-use-case-adoption-report-2020/. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 47. Wray, S.: Public transport emerges as the top use of IoT in cities. Cities Today (2020). https:// cities-today.com/public-transport-emerges-as-the-top-use-of-iot-in-cities/. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 48. Komninos, N.: Architectures of Intelligence in smart cities: pathways to problem-solving and innovation. ArchiDoct 11(6), 17–35 (2018) 49. Tsamboulatidis, I., Ververidis, D., Tsarchopoulos, P., Nikolopoulos, S. Kompatsiaris, I., Komninos, N.: ImproveMyCity—an open source platform for direct citizen-government communication. In: MM ‘13, Proceedings of the 21st ACM International Conference on Multimedia, pp. 839–842 (2013) 50. Tsampoulatidis, I., Nikolopoulos, S., Kompatsiaris, I., Komninos, N.: Geographic citizen science in citizen-government communication and collaboration: Lessons learned from the Improve My City application. In: Geographic Citizen Science Design: No One Left Behind, pp. 186–205. UCL Press. (2020) 51. Gabison, G.: Understanding crowdfunding and its regulations: how can crowdfunding help ICT innovation? European Commission, JRC Science and Policy Report (2015). https://public ations.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC92482. Accessed 24 Sept 2021 52. Sedlitzky, R., Franz, Y.: What if we all chip? Civic crowdfunding as alternative financing for urban development projects. Built Environ. 45(1), 26–44 (2019) 53. Panori, A., Kakderi, C., Komninos, N., Fellnhofer, K., Reid, A., Mora, L.: Smart systems of innovation for smart places: challenges in deploying digital platforms for co-creation and data-intelligence. Land Use Policy, 104631 (2020)

Nicos Komninos is Researcher and Author. His research interests relate to two fields, intelligent/smart cities, and cyber-physical systems of innovation. He has published extensively in these areas, including the trilogy “Intelligent Cities: Innovation, knowledge systems and digital

3 Projects for Smart Cities: Ecosystems, Connected Intelligence …

67

spaces” (Routledge 2002), “Intelligent Cities and Globalisation of Innovation Networks” (Routledge 2008), and “The Age of Intelligent Cities” (Routledge 2014). He has also edited five special issues for smart cities. His most recent books are “Smart Cities in the Post-algorithmic Era: Integrating technologies, platforms and governance” (Edward Elgar, 2019) and “Smart Cities and Connected Intelligence: Platforms, ecosystems and network effects” (Routledge 2020). He is a Professor Emeritus at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Director of URENIO Research, holds a Master’s degree in Architecture-Engineering from Aristotle University and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Research from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales, Paris (more at https://www.komninos.eu). Ioannis Tsampoulatidis received his B.Sc. in Computer Science from University of Portsmouth, in 1998 and his second B.Sc. in Informatics from Hellenic Open University, in 2013. Currently, he is a Ph.D. candidate at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, doing research on open cities, inclusion, participation, and universal access in the context of ICT. Since late 2000, he has been engaged in R&D as Research Associate at the Information Technologies Institute (ITI) in the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH). Since 2014, he is Managing Director and Co-founder of INFALIA, a spin-off company of CERTH focusing on transforming research results to market solutions. He has actively participated in more than 20 European and national research projects on a wide range of research areas such as eGovernment, smart cities, big data analysis and visualization, open web and accessibility standards, semantic web, software patterns, and medical imaging. Christina Kakderi, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Spatial Development and RTDI Policies in the EU at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), School of Spatial Planning and Development. Her teaching courses include, among others, ‘Smart Cities and Innovation Ecosystem’ and ‘Spatial Strategies for Innovation and Development’. She holds a degree in Economics from the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, an MSc from the School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University, UK, and a PhD on innovation systems analysis from the Faculty of Engineering of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. During her studies, she has received fellowships from the State Scholarship Foundation and the Research Committee of AUTH. Christina is also a Marie-Curie Fellow. As a member of URENIO (www.urenio.org), she has been involved in numerous EU and national-funded research projects focusing on systems of innovation and smart innovation environments (more at www.kakderi.com). Spiros Nikolopoulos received his Diploma degree in Computer Engineering and Informatics from the University of Patras in 2002, while in 2004 he received the MSc degree in Computer Science and Technology from the same university. In 2012, he was awarded a Ph.D. by the Electronic Engineering Department of Queen Mary, University of London, for his doctoral thesis on Semantic Multimedia Analysis using knowledge and context. He has been actively engaged in research and development activities from 2000, initially as Research Assistant in the University of Patras (2000–2004) and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2004–2005), and later on as Research Associate (2005–2012) and Postdoctoral Researcher (2012–2020) when he joined the Multimedia Knowledge and Social Media Analytics Laboratory (MKLab) of the Information Technologies Institute (ITI) in the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH). As of mid-2020, he holds the position of Researcher (Grade C) in the same institute. Ioannis (Yiannis) Kompatsiaris is Research Director at CERTH-ITI, Head of Multimedia Knowledge and Social Media Analytics Laboratory, and Deputy Director of the Institute. His research interests include AI/machine learning for multimedia analysis, semantics (multimedia ontologies and reasoning), social media and big data analytics, multimodal and sensors data analysis, human–computer interfaces, e- Health, cultural, media/journalism, environmental, and security applications. He is Co-author of 178 papers in refereed journals, 63 chapters, eight patents,

68

N. Komninos et al.

and 560 papers in international conferences. He has been Co-chair of various international conferences and has served as Regular Reviewer, Associate, and Guest Editor for a number of journals and conferences. He is Member of the National Ethics and Technoethics Committee, the Scientific Advisory Board of the CHIST-ERA funding program, and Elected Member of the IEEE IVMSP-TC. He is Senior Member of IEEE and ACM.

Chapter 4

The Histories of New (Geo)Politics of Smart Villages Communities in a Global World. A Contribution to Geographical Debate Angel Paniagua Abstract Currently, in the globalized rural world, different socioeconomic orientations coexist that affect the usual consideration of the rural community. The rural community is currently a contested and debated concept. In the context of smart villages it is possible to relocate and rebuild the traditional concept of rural community. Usually, especially in geographic literature, the notion of community has been present in political and academic debate. The (social) community has had its spatial expression associated with locality and its cultural dimension articulated with identity. This traditionally closed notion of community associated with a local space and community and an agrarian economy of the place can be definitively transformed in the context of smart villages. In the current debate, smart cities and towns are linked in regional and spatial approach, where urban and rural categories are complementary. The notion of a smart village can host the idea of a standardization of the (rural) community, but it can also give it originality in the form of community implantation, orientation and local governance. Smart towns are part of broader concepts of smart communities through the participation of local populations and the adaptation of ICTs to the social, economic and organizational characteristics of each (rural) community. It can generate a more inclusive and cohesive community, but it can also reinforce processes of socioeconomic exclusion and marginalization of the most vulnerable populations.

4.1 Introduction In the globalized rural world, different socioeconomic trends coexist with repercussions on the usual consideration and meaning of the rural community. The traditional rural community is currently a contested and disputed academic concept around the world. In the context of the new ideas of smart villages it is possible to rebuild the concept of global rural community across the global north and the global south. A. Paniagua (B) Spainsh Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Madrid, Spain e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_4

69

70

A. Paniagua

The application and usability of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the context of each village does not appear clearly in the literature and remains under discussed in the research agenda [1]. The very idea of smart village, its contours and borders are contested terms and concepts and determine the very dimension of countryside or rural spaces. The smart village idea has a significant influence on the geographical and topographic concept of community. The smart village concept has two parallel circuits or debates between policy making and academic [2], which interact and feed each other. The flexible implementation of the smart village concept—without topographic borders—must comply with a series of recommendations: that it be implemented in small communities, that are associated with rural revival processes, that provide at least basic access to the Internet, that integrate locals leaders, that generate smart solutions for the people of the communities, that help small farms and that integrate smart ideas and new technologies for rural communities [3]. Research usually has an empirical dimension, based on the case study. There is currently a geographical debate on the new global rural that influences the traditional consideration of rural communities histories. In this theoretical context, this contribution reviews the different geographical orientations on smart communities and the impact of ICTs in rural areas, with special attention to marginal and remote communities. In this orientation the approach is mainly theoretical. In the first place, the geographical debate on the new global countryside and the variable trajectories and manifestations of globalization processes in the histories of each rural community in the world are exposed. Secondly, it exposed the geographical debate on the origins of the concept of smart cities, smart communities and smart growth in order to contrast it. Thirdly, its analyzed the manifestations and dissemination of the smart village and the emergence of new rural communities associated with the impact of ICTs. The text aims to collect the main theoretical perspectives of the geographical debate and the contribution of the dissemination of ICTs to the generation of new rural communities histories in the context of a globalized world. This argumentative orientation has led the collection of theoretical contributions.

4.2 Global Countryside, Rural Community Histories and People The incorporation of ICTs can recompose the traditional geographical relationship between global processes and local dynamics. The traditional articulating axis of the geographical debate on global processes would be their unequal local expressions. Usually the community and the locality have been considered geographic categories in relation to global change processes. Each community adopts a differentiated orientation due to the combination of local and global processes. Recently, the geographic debate on rural globalization has been revitalized in the theoretical context of hybrid or flexible orientations on space. This boom coincides with the diffusion of the smart

4 The Histories of New (Geo)Politics of Smart Villages … Table 4.1 ICTs and global countryside

71

Global countryside

Smart cities

Smart villages

One global countryside Hybrid spatial processes Spatial manifestations Multiple communities

Multiple narratives Relevance of place context Dynamic element Scalar politics

Multiple histories Fluid and open communities Inclusive-exclusive villages Resistance processes

Source Own elaboration

villages concept in rural areas and the diffusion of ICTs [4]. The new rise of the rural global seeks to compensate for the plot dominance of the global city. This global countryside would not be homogeneous but would manifest itself in each place with its own expressions and rhythms [5]. This new argument about the rural global would not be generated around binary categories—such as the urban–rural relationship, but rather on hybrid processes that encompass urban and rural areas. One of the hybrid processes that would amalgamate the urban and rural worlds would be the processes of diffusion, adaptation and resistance in relation to ICTs. The new technologies would be one of the new and key components of the globalization processes that would unite the global and local spheres in a hybrid, fluid and flexible way, generating nuanced spatial and community (final) products. These hybridization processes do not have to be shown in the form of balanced or neutral urban–rural flows, but they can also express unequal or unbalanced territorial power relations [6]. On the other hand, the renewed relationship between the global rural and local communities cannot overshadow the heterogeneous social and economic nature of each community. Differences are not only established between communities in relation to global processes, but within each community. The usual distinction between locals and newcomers no longer adequately identifies intra-community (micro) social relations. The different individual trajectories within each community establish contrasted micro-scenarios [7, 8], for the insertion of ICTs (Table 4.1).

4.3 Smart Cities, Smart Communities and Smart Growth Currently, the smart cities concept can be framed in global cities and the smart villages concept in global rural areas. There is an ambivalence or gap between smart cities and smart villages, which reflects an unbalanced between smart cities (urban) research and smart villages (rural) research in the context of global processes. In response to an initial regulatory development, smart cities have been generated multiple narratives [9, 10], which aim to place the originality of each smart city in the context of change where they originate. The smart city concept adapts to different paths and is diffuse, but it must be adapted to the community established by citizens [11].

72

A. Paniagua

In the context of the global mobile phenomenon, an ideal vision of smart cities has been generated, which contains distinctive contextual interconnected narratives [12]. Global discourses on smart cities would have a dynamic adaptation to the characteristics of the various places with different responses or complementarities. ICTs in smart cities do not operate in isolation and must be positioned as a dynamic and transforming element in the lives of citizens. For this reason, it is possible to point out experiences of smart cities that respond to different visions and priorities of each urban setting. In particular, to place smart urban initiatives in the context of social issues of equity, well-being and citizen participation that materializes in each place around original scalar politics [10]. From the different geographical narratives, it is possible to configure collaboration networks in the form of networks of smart cities, from a relational perspective of space. In short, despite the normative origins of smart cities, the research has placed the concept in a holistic, scalable and humancentered context that remarkably depends on the context [13]. In this perspective the geographical research need to integrate smart village’s concept(s) in the academic discussion (Table 4.1). There is no clear definition of smart community and it has usually been associated with the different socioeconomic circumstances and environmental contexts of each community in urban and rural areas. It is a contested and disputed concept [14]. It is necessary to reposition the concept of smart villages in the context of a selective and progressive digital transformation of rural areas, under the criteria of smartness. The idea of smartness has been regularly integrated into urban polity discourses [15]. But, the concept of smartness associated with the smart city must be repositioned in a broader and malleable spatial context [16]. As indicated, the smart cities and spatial concept has adopted a normative perspective based on the possibilities of technology for economic growth. This dimension must be repositioned in the hybridization processes between rural and urban areas [6, 16], which combines the interaction between both areas and recognizes the territorial heterogeneity and the new dynamic forms of urban–rural (products) interaction. As Murdoch suggests ‘the connections between urban and rural areas became more important that the divisions’ [17: 127]. But, as Torre et al. [18] smart development policies are better adapted to developed or intermediate regions where urban and rural areas are combined, but they do not have the same function in remote rural areas dominated by the rural world. The incorporation of remote and peripheral areas through ICTs participation processes that avoids the polarization of rural areas must have a relational character between different rural areas and between rural and urban areas. In this context, it is necessary to pay more attention to the social dimension and the daily life of individuals in smart spaces. However, there are authors who argue that the problems of urban and rural areas are different and, consequently, the implementation processes must respond to the problems of each area. For example, one of the problems of rural areas in decline is the loss of population to urban or metropolitan areas [3]. In any case, the power of the urban over the rural is an unequal form of hybridization [6]. The concept of smart growth emerged in the 1990s and has been included among the goals of numerous local planning and management programs [19]. The concepts of smart and inclusive growth are related to regional specialization and the lack

4 The Histories of New (Geo)Politics of Smart Villages …

73

of convergence between core and peripheral regions [20] from the perspective of planning policies and urban sprawl. Smart growth implies the development of an economy founded on knowledge and innovation. In this context, one line of argument suggests that regional and place-based policies are necessary to generate smart growth processes. As Naldi et al. [20] smart specialization is based on place-specific innovation politics and connectivity. Consequently, smart growth acquires a spatial dimension. In remote rural areas it is less efficient and more appropriate for cityclose rural areas. The balance between goals and implementation processes reflects the tensions in the adaptation paths of smart politics in local communities. Many local policies include smart goals but not a set of smart regulations that ensure these goals are implemented. In this sense, the implementation of smart (rural) local goals is uneven in each community, but usually low [19], especially compared to cities or urban areas. This implies that in rural communities smart politics must be specific or adapted [4]. Nuances could even be raised between large and small rural communities. The application and usability of ICT in the context of each village appears clearly in the academic literature [1].

4.4 Smart Spatial Politics and Communities Histories Smart communities act spatially between centers and peripheries and within rural communities [4]. By generating new knowledge economies, they alter the relationships between business and communications [21]. ICTs are an element of intense change in local politics, which adapts to each community, by uniting and dividing individuals and social groups in parallel. E-voices can reinforce the vulnerability of certain social groups that may be marginalized from smart processes. ICTs can join and divide. For this reason, the design of smart communities must adapt to the socioeconomic reality of each community. Many government agencies settle on a comfort level that consists of maintaining web-based resources [21]. In this perspective, it is necessary to increase the dialogue between municipalities and ICT developers. In the case of smart villages in depopulated areas, there are short-term actions associates with local basic services for people (health and medical care…), medium-term associates with infrastructures of communications and mobility (basic infrastructures…) or long-term actions associates with the transformation of material and immaterial heritage (cultural heritage…) [1]. ICTs can reduce emigration from towns to cities, by helping to generate small businesses and social enterprises in small rural communities and by promoting ecommerce of local products and handicrafts. On the other hand, it also increases the possibilities of move in urban populations in rural areas. Smart villages contribute to the cultural transition in rural areas and the generation of new alternative communities. This transition is more complex in sparsely inhabited areas. The difference between urban and rural communities by Willians [22] based on direct knowledge— knowable communities—of small rural communities would be limited and reconstructed. Smart communities generate new discourses and relational strategies. Smart

74

A. Paniagua

villages can provide a framework for local populations that encourage their participation at the local level and improves their living conditions by relocating their community more flexibly in global contexts [23]. In this sense, ICTs contribute to increasing the resistance of individuals and their rural communities [24]. Currently, the digital issue is a new key part of the resistance of rural communities and their processes of inclusion and exclusion within and between communities. The resistance of the community in its spatial context takes on new diffuse and porous contours and is established at different scales and integrates the participation of the members of each (global) community. ICTs suggest an elastic, fluid and non-topographic community that connects all its members digitally regardless of their global location. ICTs can contribute to reinforcing and transforming the resistance processes of the open community by connecting locally on a daily basis its members scattered around the world. But, the digital issue within each community acquires a singular dimension expressed in interdependences and interactions by/between classes, age, disadvantaged or gender and contributes to individual vulnerability. Thus, the digital issue generates new opportunities and vulnerabilities in the same way. Not all social groups such as creative classes, older populations or rural services providers are integrated into ICTs in the same way [25]. The normative implementation processes [24] that offer technocratic solutions do not generate clear inclusion mechanisms for all individuals in each rural community. Currently, uneven access to digital resources by social groups and individuals goes beyond simple urban–rural divide or users and non-users and there are notable nuances and processes of intersection and differentiation within the community. The normative and technocratic processes reinforce the undifferentiated spatial colonization processes and the standardization of rural (remote) areas from the urban world and the loss of control of local populations over their future [26]. Placing digital connection processes in the needs of marginalized local communities facilitates the creation of small local businesses and community organizations. The appropriation of ICTs must be original in each community to increase internal resistance processes. ICTs can interact with rural communities in different ways and generate new forms of digital social relationships [27]. The introduction of ICT introduces new forms in social relations and builds heterogeneous realities through digital interactions. The new digital communities have a mobile character among residents, with diffuse borders that require a reconsideration of community social cohesion. The relationships between locals and newcomers are blurred and transformed by generating mobile communities with flexible contours in new spaces of multiplicity. The traditional division between newcomers and locals would be overcome by the implantation of super heterogeneous virtual and global communities that would have a dynamic behavior with two faces offline and online. Social cohesion in rural communities could be reconstituted with ICTs adapted to the socioeconomic characteristics and realities of each (rural) community. The different social groups of each community interact in different ways in relation to ICTs and the new social cohesion resulting from the introduction of Internet facilities is due to the wider circumstances of each place. ICTs and communities co-evolve by generating a new sense of place. The new ‘others’ are established in the community according to the current and future

4 The Histories of New (Geo)Politics of Smart Villages …

75

possibilities of access to new technologies. In addition, digital communications can contribute to remaking the virtual and material image(s) of the community toward the outside world and generate new identities, by offering new dimensions to imagine the online community and its particular identity in the global context.

4.5 Smart Connectivity and Communities Histories On the other hand, currently access to basic digital technologies through telephone lines is only one aspect of digital (rural) connectivity. The complexity of most recent ICTs generate a lack of services in rural areas and that populations living in remote rural areas are penalized [28]. The spatial debate of digital inclusion is complex and goes beyond those who have or do not have access. The most recent communication technologies are cumulative in place [29] and generate spatial differences due to the use of different latest generation technologies. Connectivity issues and the risks of (not) accessing services need to be placed in marginal and remote rural areas. Connectivity has been associated with telecommunications markets, technologies in rural areas, and policy or regulations. National or regional public policies usually ignore specific geographic and socioeconomic particular contexts and generate generic initiatives for rural areas, as a spatial container. This contributes to an exclusion of remote areas and digital divisions in the countryside with different speeds [30]. There are digital processes of relative disadvantage between different rural dwellers located in different geographical contexts that make it extremely complex to draw the real contours of the smart divide (intra rural) [31]. The digital processes of inclusion must be designed and oriented to the real and daily life of people where various educational and cultural elements and individual attitudes within each community acquire relevance. It is necessary to think about communities and intra communities in parallel. This approach is necessary for appropriate inclusion within remote rural locations [26]. Thus, the Scottish government suggests that ‘a smart village is a super connected community, either based around a settlement, a cluster of settlements or a community of interest’ [32]. ICTs can constitute a new and relevant element of intra community differentiation by readjusting the relationships between individuals and social groups in each community (Table 4.1). In the case of isolated communities, the introduction of ICTs promotes new opportunities and social interactions in the community and slows down emigration processes. But, the literature shows that the introduction of new technology is not enough for the adoption of ICTs and requires a complex process of inclusion that explores the personal, positional characteristics and the material and social resources of the people of each remote community [33]. The provision of the technological infrastructure is the first stage of the complex process of digital adoption and social inclusion [34]. Personal and individual factors such as innovative character, personality or motivations, and contextual factors contribute to ICTs adoption. The interaction between personal and socio-cultural contextual factors of the place

76

A. Paniagua

determines the individual adoption of ICTs [34]. In remote and isolated rural communities the context is decisive for any (individual) action. The weight of the elderly or young population is relevant in the ICTs adoption process. Young populations act as facilitators in the adoption of new technologies by other age groups. The type of economic activity also influences the adoption process. Consequently, rural communities are remarkably heterogeneous in the process of adopting new communication technologies and there may even be misgivings, fears or rejections. Non-users of new technologies have a negative opinion about their inclusion in daily life that can even cause addictions that alter the traditional values of family and community life [35]. Thus, in the same remote rural community, not all people would appreciate the introduction of ICTs, even generating processes of resistance due to the alteration of traditional community rural life. These new alternative ‘others’ would be ‘Robinsons’ or hermits with respect to the world and would try to selectively block the intrusion into their daily lives and into ‘their’ local community from the outside world through ICTs. The integration of the real needs of the community in the process of adopting new technologies can help limit social misgivings. In short, ICTs contribute to establishing (biographical) trajectories of individuals and places in the rural world. For traditional or new socioeconomic groups ICTs acquire different meanings in the context of a renewed rural community. Two clear and opposite examples of the social community spectrum are farmers and new creative activities: (1)

(2)

Digitization and automation take on considerable relevance for the future of farmers’ work, but also for other social and environmental issues such as income inequality and change climate [36]. Furthermore, ICTs create new employment opportunities among farmers, but they can exacerbate historical exclusion problems by marginalizing small farmers for the benefit of corporations. On the other hand, ICTs can generate processes of (re)flexibilization of agricultural work and the need for adequate training of marginalized workers to continue their activity in digital time. In the case of creative activities, the introduction of ICT and the Internet has also been considered a key element for their diffusion and resistance in the place. These activities generate a new economy in rural areas, but they are highly dependent on new technologies and Internet connection. Individual creative activities and mass creative activities have two dimensions. Both depend essentially on the Internet and new technologies for their establishment and development in rural areas [37]. New technologies expand the possibilities for the installation of new creative populations in rural areas and promote a selective reconfiguration of rural communities. The installation of these populations contributes to the resistance and durability of the rural community by notably increasing the diversification of activities under new socio-economic patterns and contributes to broadening the social base of the communities and, in this sense, they constitute an element of stability. These effects are more notable in remote rural areas due to the low dynamism and aging of the small local populations [38]. Creative classes have a remarkable sense of place and are highly

4 The Histories of New (Geo)Politics of Smart Villages …

77

adaptive to the chosen environment, but have a high attraction to peripheral rural areas [20]. His capacity for social roots and identification with the environment is remarkable. But, they require ICT policies relative to each locality for their settlement and the development of their activities. In addition, these types of activities promote the development of cultural events in the place that reinforce the collective identity [37] and the generation of cultural resistance places through the implementation of digital-heritage projects.

4.6 Conclusion The debate on the rural global currently dominates the geographic literature. The usual articulation of the geographical discussion on the great global processes of change would be their unequal local expressions around the world. In this academic context, the implementation of ICTs in the life of rural communities can readjust the binary geographical relationship between global socioeconomic processes and local responses. In the current geographical debate on the rural global [5], one of the hybrid transformation processes that would connect the urban and rural spheres would be the dynamics of implementation, adaptation and community response to ICTs. The diffusion of smart local goals is different between communities, but usually low in relation to urban areas. The urban–rural hybridization processes can be expressed in a neutral way, but also in an unequal way when manifesting relations of territorial power [6]. The renewed relationship between the rural and local global spheres cannot overshadow the heterogeneous nature of the trajectories of social groups and individuals within each rural community. The incorporation of remote and peripheral areas through ICTs must have a relational character within the community, between different rural areas of different orientation or location, and between rural and urban areas. ICTs are an element of change in local life, which is uniquely adapted to each rural community, by generating a new social architecture. ICTs are a new element of intra community differentiation by reconfiguring the dynamic relationships between individuals and social groups in the context of the daily life of each community. Consequently, the digital issue generates opportunities and vulnerabilities in the same way among rural communities, but also within a local community. Some groups like the creative classes see their interests favored, but others like older populations or rural services providers can reinforce their social marginalization.

78

A. Paniagua

References 1. Visvizi, A., Lytras, M.D.: It’s not a fad: smart cities and smart villages research in European and global contexts. Sustainability 10(2727), 1–10 (2018) 2. Visvizi, A., Lytras, M.D., Mucdri, G.: Smart villages: relevance, approaches, policymaking implications. In: Visvizi, A., Lytras, M.D., Mucdri, G. (eds.) Smart Villages in the EU and Beyond, pp. 1–12. Bingley, Emerald (2019) 3. Komorowski, L., Stanny, M.: Smart villages: where can they happen? Land 9, 151 (2020) 4. Paniagua, A.: Smart village in depopulated areas. In: Patnaik, S., Sen, S., Mahmoud, M. (eds.) Smart Village Technology. Concepts and Developments, pp. 399–409. Springer, New York 5. Woods, M.: Engaging the global countryside: globalization, hybridity and the reconstitution of rural place. Prog. Hum. Geogr. 31(4), 485–507 (2007) 6. Whatmore, S.: Hybrid Geographies. Sage, London (2002) 7. Massey, D.: For Space. Sage, London (2005) 8. Paniagua, A.: An individual rural geography. Prof. Geogr. 68(3), 511–518 (2016) 9. Hoffken, J.I., Limmer, A.: Smart and eco-cities in India and China. Local Environ. 24(7), 646–661 (2019) 10. Evans, J., et al.: Smart and sustainable cities? Pipedreams, practicalities and possibilities. Local Environ. 24(7), 557–564 (2019) 11. Albino, V., Berardi, U., Dangelico, R.M.: Smart cities: definitions, dimensions, performance, and initiatives. J. Urban Technol. 22(1), 3–21 (2015) 12. Joss, S., et al.: The smart city as global discourse: Storylines and critical junctures across 27 cities. J. Urban Technol. 26(1), 3–34 (2019) 13. Visvizi, A., Lytras, M.D.: Rescaling and refocusing smart cities research: from mega cities to smart villages. J. Sci. Technol. Policy Manage. 9(2), 134–145 (2018) 14. Lindskog, H.: Smart communities initiatives. In: Proceedings of the 3rd ISOneWorld Conference, Las Vegas, April 14–16. Available at http://www.heldag.com/articles/Smart%20comm unities%20april%202004.pdf 15. Wathne, M.W., Haarstad, H.: The smart city as mobile policy: insights on contemporary urbanism. Geoforum 108, 130–138 (2020) 16. Matern, A., Binder, J., Noack, A.: Smart regions: insights form hybridazation and peripheralization research. Eur. Plan. Stud. 28(10), 2060–2077 (2020) 17. Murdoch, J.: Post-structuralist Geographies. Sage, London (2006) 18. Torre, A., et al. (eds.): Smart Development for Rural Areas. Routledge, London (2020) 19. Edwards, M.M., Haines, A.: Evaluating smart growth. implications for small communities. J. Plan. Educ. Res. 27, 49–64 (2007) 20. Naldi, L., et al.: What is smart rural development? J. Rural. Stud. 40, 90–101 (2015) 21. Sealy, W.U.: Empowering development through e-governance: creating smart communities in small island states. Inth. Inform. & Libr. Rev. 35, 335–358 (2003) 22. Willians, R.: The Country and the City. Vintage, London (2016 original 1975) 23. Zavratnik, V., Kos, A., Duh, E.S.: Smart villages: comprehensive review of initiatives and practices. Sustainability 10(2559), 1–14 (2018) 24. Roberts, E., et al.: A review of the rural-digital policy agenda from a community resilience perspective. J. Rural. Stud. 54, 372–385 (2017) 25. Roberts, E., et al.: Rural resilience in a digital society: editorial. J. Rural. Stud. 54, 355–359 (2017) 26. Young, J.C.: Rural digital geographies and new landscapes of social resilience. J. Rural. Stud. 70, 66–74 (2019) 27. Wallace, C., et al.: Information technology and social cohesion: a tale of two villages. J. Rural. Stud. 54, 426–434 (2017) 28. Salemink, K., Strijket, D., Bosworth, G.: Rural development in the digital age: a systematic literature review on unequal ICT availability, adoption, and use in rural areas. J. Rural. Stud. 54, 360–371 (2017)

4 The Histories of New (Geo)Politics of Smart Villages …

79

29. Cowie, P., Towsned, L., Salemink, K.: Smart rural futures: will rural areas be left behind in the 4th industrial revolution? J. Rural. Stud. 79, 169–176 (2020) 30. Philip, L.J., Cottrill, C., Farrington, J.: ‘Two-speed’ Scotland: patterns and implications of the digital divide in contemporary Scotland. Scott. Geogr. J. 131(3–4), 148–170 (2015) 31. Li, R., Chen, K., Wu, D.: Challenges and opportunities for coping with the smart divide in rural America. Ann. Am. Assoc. Geogr. 110(2), 559–570 (2020) 32. Smart Village Scotland: What is a smart village? https://www.smartvillage.scot/about/. Accessed 28 Sept 2020 33. Correa, T., Pavez, I., Contreras, J.: Beyond access: a relational and resource-based model of household internet adoption in isolated communities. Telecommun. Policy 41, 757–768 (2017) 34. Correa, T., Pavez, I.: Digital inclusion in rural areas: a qualitative exploration of challenges faced by people from isolated communities. J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun. 21, 247–263 (2016) 35. Pavez, I., Correa, T., Contreras, J.: Meanings of (dis)connection: exploring non-users in isolated rural communities with internet access infrastructure. Poetics 63, 757–768 (2017) 36. Rotz, S., et al.: Automated pastures and the digital divide: how agricultural technologies are shaping labour and rural communities. J. Rural. Stud. 68, 112–122 (2019) 37. Roberts, E., Townsend, L.: The contribution of the creative economy to the resilience of rural communities: exploring cultural and digital capital. Sociol. Rural. 56(2), 197–219 (2016) 38. Paniagua, A.: Counterurbanisation and new social class in rural Spain: the environmental and rural dimension revisited. Scott. Geogr. J. 118(1), 1–18 (2002)

Angel Paniagua has received undergraduate degree (1986) and Ph.D. (1990) in Human Geography at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Angel Paniagua is first Spanish Researcher with publications in Land Use Policy or Journal of Rural Studies. Angel Paniagua is Referee of more than 40 journals around the world, Scientific Editor (in association), in the year 1999 of special issue on Environmental Policies and Sustainability (Revista Internacional de Sociologia); in the year 2006 (in association) of the special issue on Public policies, Sustainability and Rural Geography of the journal Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles; Editor in the year 2007–08 of the special issue on Qualification of Space of the journal Arbor edited by CSIC; Author or Co-author of more 150 papers and chapters; Member of editorial board of some relevant journals (ISI, SCOPUS) in sociology and environmental studies and is currently Member of Editorial Advisory Group, Environmental Studies book series. Cambridge Schol. Publs., book quality proposals are welcome. Between 2015 and 2017, he was the first representative of the CSIC— Spanish Council for Scientific Research—in the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture. Angel Paniagua’s research focuses on four areas of interest: (1) social, environmental, and cultural dimensions of geographical rural change in depopulated rural areas, (2) the socio-environmental qualitative research, (3) the history and theory of rural geography, (4) the relationship between nature and society, and (5) geographies of urban agriculture.

Chapter 5

Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities and Digital Divides: Hyperlink Variations in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Cities Stanley D. Brunn Abstract Knowledge industries and services are key features of emerging serviceoriented cities and those transforming from an industrial to a smart city base. Various economic criteria that identify the importance of knowledge cities include universities, health care providers, media publishers, STEM services, high tech companies and consultants. Google Scholar hyperlinks are used to compare the importance of information economies of cities in a country’s urban hierarchy and illustrate the importance of linkages between pairs of cities within a country and across Europe. Primary and/or capital cities dominate a state’s hierarchy and are favored in research arenas. Neglected are the role and importance of Secondary and Tertiary cities. This study fills this void by examining the hyperlink volumes for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cities in 43 European countries. The results clearly identify significant differences. For the region, Primary cities in the study have 63% of the total population and 72% of all hyperlinks; Secondary cities have 23 and 17%; Tertiary cities have 13 and 11%. The continent’s largest Primary cities are in the Core Smartness category, but some Secondary and Tertiary cities are also in this category. The mix between ranking in population and hyperlink volumes exists in Core, Semiperipheral, Peripheral and Deep Peripheral categories. The discussion focuses on mapping these “smart” or information/knowledge divides. Some distinct regional variations exist, but there is also much complexity across the continent.

5.1 Introduction Smart city concept is still evolving and not mainstreamed through the globe due to technological, economical, and governing factors. Silva et al., 2018, p. 697 [1]

S. D. Brunn (B) Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_5

81

82

S. D. Brunn

In a knowledge-information world it is useful at times to step back and observe what we know about a new subject and what might be desirable to know as we move forward. When we examine the knowledge base in an urban system in a specific country or region, three questions are worth addressing. First, what do we know about the country’s urban hierarchy—in this case, the major population centers in Europe? Second, what data might we use to look at cities in a contemporary knowledgeproduction and urban world? Third, what do the results reveal about the knowledge base, or volume of information, about the largest urban centers in a country or region? The answers to these questions are worth examining in an individual country, such as France or Italy or Slovenia, but also are worthy of study in a region such as southeast or western Europe. A standard answer to a question about the importance of a city in a country might be answered by looking at the population. We might assume that the city with the largest population is most important, the second largest is second in importance, and so on. Obtaining this demographic information is not difficult as one can use the most recent national census, or some United Nations source or Demographia, which annually publishes data on urban area populations, territory, density and ranking. While population data are important and valuable in many studies, they reveal little about the importance of a city or metropolitan area in an economic, cultural or political context. Information of this kind is especially important in a service-oriented urban world where service economies are key ingredients to an urban economy in the contemporary world. In retrospect, a half century ago one would have looked at industrial production and employment as being most important in a city’s economic well-being and standing. Today’s urban world is best considered as the locus for a variety of personal, professional and governmental services. The economic base is one where a wide variety of services in a city itself and beyond its borders determines its importance. These services might include finance, real estate, health care, education, tourism and recreation, and an assortment of consumer services. The services may be linked to related services locally, regionally or internationally. Underlying the number and density of services is a knowledge or information base; that is, information that is produced, consumed, marketed and networked at local, regional and global scales. New and expanded urban economies are developed based on existing services or new services to serve ever larger urban populations and more urban systems. The structure of cities in any country reflects previous as well as emerging processes in their location, functions and role in an overall system. Cities that emerged in agricultural, mining, fishing and primary sector economies would have a different set of functions than those that appeared during industrial histories. The Information Age has a distinctly different set of geographies and geometries than those attributed to heavy and light industrial centers as well as rail and port facilities. Growth in the information economies occurs not only in the public sphere, but in private and personal services and well-being. Much of the growth in the contemporary world also relates to technological advances in information skills, production and exchange at local, regional and international scales. Linkages and connections evolve with places nearby but also places at a distance. The scale and densities of

5 Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities …

83

these linkages at personal, corporate, government and intergovernmental and nongovernmental levels define an individual city’s or metropolitan area’s importance in a country’s urban functions, hierarchy and linkages which are much different than economies dominated by agriculture, mining or manufacturing. Mapping and analyzing these linkages in a smart city context will reveal something about a city’s place in a local, national and global context.

5.2 What Is a Smart City? The overriding focus of this study is the nature of smart cities. This is an important and emerging research arena that has been applied by social and policy scientists and those in design and engineering fields to look at a specific city or a specific feature of a city’s economy. While singular indices are useful, such as service sector employment, it is also important to explore the meaning of “smartness” in a broader context. While smartness might best be defined and associated with the emergence and growth of high-tech firms, investments and employment, looking at networks and linkages also merits exploration in an increasingly information-oriented world. This study examines “smartness” in the context of information bases related to the production of knowledge or information about major cities in a country, viz., about distinct features of information/knowledge economies and about the linkages with other cities. The source we use to examine these features is the Google Scholar search engine which provides hyperlinks about a place. The volume of those hyperlinks can be used to provide an index about the importance of a specific city. Smartness in this thinking is not defined with a single variable or feature such as employment or investment, but in a broader context looking at electronic information available for a city and how that city is linked with other cities in the same country and beyond its borders. As the quote at start of this chapter acknowledges, smart cities as a concept, associated with technology advances, government and planning, is an emerging field for those studying information and communication technology (ICT), architecture and design, planning and policy. The smart city concept is also used to study cities and countries experiencing economic transition. A framework for many of these initiatives seeks to define the term “smart city” and place these distinguishing features and developments in broader contexts. Especially useful in this regard are the following recent studies [1–10]. What emerges from the recent literature is the need for those in technology, architecture, planning, government and the social sciences to explore definitions of the term and the intersections between various fields and subfields that seek to measure and map smart cities in a country or a region. Geographers are included in the mix of social and policy scientists, engineers and design professionals that explore some specific measures to define “smartness,” to prepare maps showing those results and to interpret how smart cities fit into a larger framework of urban and regional economies, often using big data sets [11–13] for planning and designing sustainable economies, green energy projects, and humane development.

84

S. D. Brunn

A number of geography contributions have used hyperlinks as a measure to explore the emergence and role ICTs play within individual cities and regions. These include early work on classifying world cities [14, 15], Central Asian cities [14], Eurasian cities [16, 17], Southeast Asian cities [10], European cities [18, 19], and Caribbean cities [20]. Similar studies using hyperlinks have been published [21–23]. Not yet addressed by geographers and others are studies on the dominance of Primary cities or the importance and linkages of Secondary and Tertiary cities in an urban system. The purpose of this study is to examine the “smartness” of major cities in Europe in a contemporary context by using Google Scholar hyperlinks. In looking at Europe, we address four questions. First, how can we measure the importance of information in a contemporary urban world, that is, what data can we use? Second, what does the answer reveal about major cities in European countries? Third, what kinds of linkages exist within European countries and with other cities in Europe? Fourth, what are the distinguishing differences, if any, between the cities themselves and their histories, economies and societies? Answers to these questions will be useful in addressing the existing state of Europe’s urban structure and presenting challenges for additional research. We focus on the three largest cities in each European country; we use the terms Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cities and explore the relationships not only within all Primary and Secondary and Tertiary cities, but also the linkages between these sets.

5.3 City Selection and Methodology A question that needs to be addressed in looking at smart cities is what data to use to analyze, map and discuss the questions stated above. There is no standard, published international database that exists; national censuses are only useful in part. Furthermore, national census results on economic activities and population structure are uneven and appear in varying years which would complicate any large scale inquiry. One might also look at the number of books or articles in a library’s collection or articles published about a city in professional journals. But using these data has shortcomings. Another data source is the Google Search Engine since it includes a wide variety of sources about an individual city or region. Google Scholar includes articles, chapters and books written by scholars, a much different database than the generic Google Search Engine which includes advertisements, tourist events and personal travel reports. Each Google hyperlink points to an electronic piece of information about that subject. It may be a hyperlink about a recent item in national or global news, such as a health report on disease outbreak or some new corporation producing a new technology for distance education or a new tourist attraction. Hyperlinks are basically “information data” that can be associated with a place. There will be numerical data on a wide variety of events and activities about economic health, culture, society and politics, and many stories from scholarly and government sources and reports

5 Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities …

85

about demographic groups, internal and external politics, and on environmental wellbeing. There are three advantages in using Google as a database. One is that it is constantly updated, so the number and ranking of hyperlinks today may be different from tomorrow or the day after. Second, one can request specific information in Google about a given cultural or demographic topic, such as environmental law, Roman population or elderly transportation services. Third, one can search a city for some specific feature, such as “Helsinki, Finland and tourism” or “Istanbul, Turkey and culture.” Google Scholar is more than just a source of information on population numbers and growth. All hyperlinks attach to pieces of data about a place that can be used to compare a city with others within the same country or across Europe. This inquiry looks at the hyperlink volumes for the largest, second largest and third largest cities in population, that is, the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cities, in each country (Fig. 5.1). In most cases the Primary city is also the capital city. Once we access Google Scholar, we enter the name of the city and country in the search bar, such as, “Oslo, Norway”; “Athens, Greece”; or “Nicosia, Cyprus.” Instantly, we see the number of electronic entries or hyperlinks available for that city in Google Scholar. We did the same for each Primary, Secondary and Tertiary city in the 43 countries in the first two weeks of June. The list includes the volume of hyperlinks for the three largest cities in each country, that is, the very large countries such as Germany, France, Spain and Ukraine as well as small countries such as Cyprus, Malta, Moldova, Estonia and Kosovo. We excluded the ministates of Andorra, San Marino and Vatican City and the three states in the Caucasus. We included the largest cities in European Russia, that is, those west of the Urals as they are more linked to cities in Europe than cities in Central Asia or the Russian Far East. We performed the search in English, realizing that the number of hyperlinks would be different if we used German, French, Italian, Spanish or some other European language. Next, we measured the information about pairs of cities, as we sought to answer the question, “what was the volume between each Primary city and all other Primary cities” for example, “Helsinki, Finland + Istanbul, Turkey.” We followed the same procedure in looking at all the linkages of each Secondary city, such as “Milan, Italy + Maribor, Slovenia,” and each Tertiary city, such as “Valencia, Spain + Varna, Bulgaria.” These “paired hyperlinks” would reveal which cities are linked the most with others in the Primary, Secondary or Tertiary sector. One would expect that there would be some major differences not only in the volume of hyperlinks between paired cities, but also that some cities would have many more links than others. A third question looked at the volume of hyperlinks about specific subject matter for the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cities in each country. We also sought to look at the amount of unevenness in the results for a given city and for cities in the three city categories. Eleven subject categories were explored: economic, agriculture, industry, advertising, tourism, health, culture, historical, political, the environment and the European Union. Using again Google Scholar, we entered the name of each Primary city and a given category, for example, “Stockholm, Sweden + agriculture” and “Warsaw, Poland + agriculture.” We did the same for each Secondary and Tertiary city in each category. The final question investigated was comparing the number of hyperlinks of a city and its population. One would expect there would be

86

S. D. Brunn

Location of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Cities ICELAND

FINLAND RUSSIA

NORWAY SWEDEN EST. LATVIA

DEN.

LITHUANIA

IRE. U.K.

BELARUS POLAND

NETH. BEL.

GERMANY

LUX.

UKRAINE

CZECH SLOVA.

FRANCE

LIEC. AUSTRIA SWITZ.

MOLDOVA

HUNGARY ROMANIA

SLOVE. CRO. B&H SERBIA ITALY MONT.

PORT. SPAIN

KOS.

BULGARIA

MAC. ALB. TURKEY

GREECE

Primary Country Albania Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia & Herz. Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Liechtenstein

Secondary Primary Tirana Vienna Minsk Brussels Sarajevo Sofia Zagreb Nicosia Prague Copenhagen Tallinn Helsinki Paris Berlin Athens Budapest Reykjavik Dublin Rome Pristina Riga Schaan

Secondary Durres Graz Gomel Antwerp Banja Luka Plovdiv Split Limassol Brno Arhus Tartu Espoo Marseilles Hamburg Thessaloniki Debrecen Kopavogur Cork Milan Prizren Daugavpils Vaduz

Tertiary Tertiary Elbasan Linz Mogilev Ghent Tuzla Varna Rijeka Larnaca Ostrava Odense Narva Tampere Lyon Munich Patras Miskoic Hafnarfjordur Limerick Naples Mitrovica Liepaja Triesen

MALTA Country Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey UK Ukraine

CYPRUS Primary Vilnius Luxembourg Skopje Birkirkara Chisinau Podgorica Amsterdam Oslo Warsaw Lisbon Bucharest Moscow Belgrade Bratislava Ljubjana Madrid Stockholm Zurich Istanbul London Kiev

Secondary Kaunas Esch-sur-Alzette Bitola Qormi Balti Niksic Rotterdam Bergen Krakow Porto Cluj-Napoca Saint Petersburg Novi Sad Kosice Maribor Barcelona Gothenburg Geneva Ankara Manchester Kharkiv

Fig. 5.1 Location of primary, secondary and tertiary cities in each of the 43 countries

Tertiary Klaipeda Dif ferdange Kumanovo Mosta Tiraspol Pljevlja The Hague Trondheim Lodz Braga Timisoara Novosibirsk Nis Zilina Celje Valencia Malmo Basel Izmir Birmingham Odessa

5 Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities …

87

some differences among the 129 cities (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary for 43 countries) based on those with strong national and international economies and networks. These ratios would reveal another dimension of a city’s smartness.

5.4 Country-Level Analyses 5.4.1 Hyperlink Volumes, by Country The 43 countries had a total of 72 million hyperlinks. The numbers ranged from 6.9 million for the three cities in Germany to only 19,700 for the three in Malta. This variation is not unexpected since a few European countries have large populations and some very small. We ranked the countries from 1 to 43 looking for sharp divisions in preparing meaningful classes. We identified four distinct classes: Core, Semiperiphery, Periphery and Deep Periphery (Fig. 5.2). There are 7 countries in the Core; each which had more than 4.5 million hyperlinks; the Semiperiphery had 14 countries from 1.1 to 4.5 million; the Periphery had 11 countries from 250,000 to 1.0 million and the Deep Periphery had 11 countries, all less than 250,000. The dozen countries in the last category were small countries scattered across the continent. The 3rd and 4th classes (Periphery and Deep Periphery) include cities where there is little or very little information about them in Google Scholar. On the other hand, the volume of information about the Core cities is significant and substantial, even compared to the results in the Semiperiphery.

,

, us pr

d, an rk, a

Portugal , Finland,

Malta nia, cedo , Ma Mo , , S a ldo i lovak in Serb i a te , , a i Sl an o Swe m a, de ssi n u R ce, Hungary , , e re

,

and Herzegov ina snia , Bo Cy , ch Republic, E us Cze sto nia ia, at Norway, P lgium, De ol Be nm

Alban egro, ia, nten Mo Be , B e n u i l a g la aria , Ukr r , va Cr ia, n o y, e k r ve I re Tu , Aus land land tria e c I , Germany France Spain Switzerland Netherlands Italy U.K. G

Latvia, ovo, Li Kos e c hte Luxembo ns nia, u r g, hua Lit Ro

Fig. 5.2 Total number of hyperlinks for each country

All 43 Countries Ranked by Number of Hyperlinks Core More than 4.5 million Semiperiphery 1.1 million to 4.5 million Periphery 250,000 to 1.0 million Deep Periphery Less than 250,000

88

S. D. Brunn

The Core countries, all wealthy West European countries, have a combined total of 35.6 million or 47% of the total of all 43 countries, whereas countries in the Deep Periphery have only 859,000 in total or slightly more than 1% of the total. That total number was less than the total number of the three cities in Hungary and only a shade more than the total for Cyprus.

5.4.2 Comparing Hyperlink Volumes and Population The combined population of the 129 Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cities in all 43 countries was 113 million; the percentages in the three categories were Primary (64%), Secondary (23%) and Tertiary (13%). The combined hyperlink volume was 74.7 million. The percentages in the different categories were similar to those for population: Primary (62%), Secondary (23%) and Tertiary (15%). The countries with the most city hyperlinks were Germany (6.9 million), France (6.7 million), Spain (6.4 million), Switzerland (5.5 million), the Netherlands (4.9 million), Italy (4.7 million), United Kingdom (4.5 million) and Russia (3.4 million). These countries had 58% of all hyperlinks. The combined totals of population and hyperlinks in the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cities revealed that some cities had more people than hyperlinks (Fig. 5.3). In 18 countries the Primary city had more Google Scholar hyperlinks than population; the number for Secondary cities was 10 and for Tertiary cities it was 8. In 5 countries all three cities, viz., the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary, had more hyperlinks than population; they were Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland. The 18 Primary cities that had more hyperlinks than population were in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, Switzerland. Most of these were capital cities. Four other countries had two cities (Primary and Secondary) that had more hyperlinks than population; these were Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Portugal. In some countries the total city populations and hyperlink numbers were similar, such as Hungary with 2.2 million population and 1.1 million hyperlinks, Poland with 3.2 million population and 2.3 million hyperlinks. A few well-connected countries exhibited vast differences in population of the three cities and hyperlink totals; these include Switzerland (690,000 population and 5.5 million hyperlinks), Liechtenstein (15,000 population and 25,000 hyperlinks) and Luxembourg (123,000 population and 258,000 hyperlinks). At the other end of the spectrum were countries with very few total hyperlinks for the three cities and many more people living in them; examples include Turkey (21 million population and 2.5 million hyperlinks), Ukraine (5.2 million population and 530,000 hyperlinks), Montenegro (215,000 population and 23,000 hyperlinks) and Bosnia & Herzegovina (1 million population and 101,000 hyperlinks). In most cases the largest city had the most hyperlinks, the second largest city had the second most and the third largest had the fewest. However, exceptions to these

5 Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities …

89

Cities with More Hyperlinks than Population

ICELAND

FINLAND RUSSIA

NORWAY SWEDEN EST. LATVIA

DEN.

LITHUANIA

IRE. U.K.

BELARUS POLAND

NETH. BEL.

GERMANY

LUX.

UKRAINE

CZECH SLOVA.

FRANCE

LIEC. AUSTRIA SWITZ.

MOLDOVA

HUNGARY ROMANIA

SLOVE. CRO. B&H SERBIA ITALY MONT.

PORT. SPAIN

KOS.

BULGARIA

MAC. ALB. GREECE

Primary More Hyperlinks Fewer Hyperlinks

Secondary More Hyperlinks Fewer Hyperlinks

TURKEY

Tertiary More Hyperlinks Fewer Hyperlinks

MALTA

CYPRUS

Fig. 5.3 Number of hyperlinks compared to population size for primary, secondary, and tertiary cities in the study

rankings occurred in about ten countries. For example, in France, Lyon was second largest in hyperlinks, but third in population (after Marseilles). In the Netherlands, Rotterdam was second in population but third in hyperlinks and The Hague was third in population, but second in hyperlinks. In Switzerland, Zurich was first in population, but third in hyperlinks; Geneva was second in population and first in hyperlinks and Basel was third in population and second in hyperlinks. Small countries also exhibited some variation. In Kosovo, Prizren was second in population and third in hyperlinks and Mitrovica was third in population and second in hyperlinks.

90

S. D. Brunn

5.5 Primary, Secondary and Tertiary City Hyperlink Volumes Primary Cities. The Primary cities with the largest number of hyperlinks were Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam which had 4.1 million, 3.6 million and 3.3 million hyperlinks, respectively (Fig. 5.4). These six cities, in order, had from 2.0 to 2.9 million hyperlinks: Rome, Vienna, London, Madrid, Moscow and Stockholm and these nine cities had between 1.0 and 1.9 million hyperlinks: Helsinki, Athens, Copenhagen, Zurich, Istanbul, Brussels, Dublin, Oslo and Budapest. Altogether these 18 cities had 40 million or 87% of all Primary city linkages. The Primary cities in most cases were the largest cities in their countries and usually had the most hyperlinks. Cities in Malta and Portugal were exceptions where the largest cities had the second largest number of hyperlinks. In Malta it was Birkirkara which had fewer hyperlinks than Qormi and in Portugal, Porto had more hyperlinks than Lisbon. The Primary cities with the smallest volumes of hyperlinks were Pristina, Kosovo (19,000); Podgorica, Montenegro (18,100); Tirana, Albania (17,000); Schaan, Liechtenstein (14,300); and Birkirkara, Malta (790). These five cities had a combined total of only 63,000 hyperlinks which was only slightly less than the total for Sarajevo. These countries had over 90% of their hyperlinks in the Primary category: Austria, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia and Luxembourg. Another eight had 81–90%; they were Belarus, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Moldova, Slovenia and Sweden. These countries have one dominant city which is the political capital and also the major economic and cultural center. At the other end of the Primary city continuum were eight cities that had 51–60% of the urban hyperlinks for the country (Albania, Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Poland, Turkey and United Kingdom) and

, Tirana

n, Mins urg, o b k, xem Lu N Vilnius, Wa rsa ic , t a w s n n I b , i u n k l, O lsin sl He Stockholm, ,

Schaa

Paris Berlin Amsterdam

a, kar rki Po Bucharest, Bi a, d Ch lav Saraj tis Riga, evo isin ra , ls, Budapest, , sse C Madrid, ru , M on

Belgr gue, ade Pra , , b e Rey , r ia ag s kja B Z o vik rich, Athens , u Z , o, enna, Lon B d Vi

,

Pri sti na a, Lisbon, , v, ric L j u Kie bja go Sof i a , na , je, Ta au Skop n, lli hage Dub in l en , op cow, Rom e os

Fig. 5.4 Primary cities classified by number of hyperlinks

Primary Citie s Ranked by Number of Hyperlinks Core More than 3 million Semiperiphery 1.0-2.9 million Periphery 20,000-999,000 Deep Periphery Less than 20,000

5 Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities …

sic, Pri Nik zre Qormi, Spl n, , v i i t , d v o T l , o o a Gom P rtu Esp el, , te, r a K k t ow, e rk, Co R S t . , Pe rto t o P

Secondary Cities Ranked by Number of Hyperlinks Core More than 2 million Daugavpils,

Geneva Barcelona

Kosice, L i ma iv, ark ss Clu ol, j Kh N a a, poc Luk , a, , Antw nja kara erp An , Manc he rg, bu

, Vaduz Bi , Graz, i k i alon Ka tola ess u h Balti na , T urg, , enb s h , t Ba , Go A m a a rhu d ter s, ot , Ha g r u m sb r e

91

Semiperiphery 1.0-1.9 million Periphery 200,000-999,000 Deep Periphery Less than 200,000

Kopav ogu r, s, e i l l s e r s a , M rre No r, vi_ Du ibo S Esc ar h cen, s M ur- ad bre Al De z rgen, Brno, Be Milan, er, st

Fig. 5.5 Secondary cities classified by number of hyperlinks

five Primary cities with less than 50% of the hyperlinks (Estonia, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Sweden). The latter countries have more balanced numbers of population in their largest cities. Secondary Cities. Two Secondary cities, Geneva and Barcelona, form the Core with more than 2 million hyperlinks each (Fig. 5.5). Another five cities, Hamburg, Milan, Manchester, Porto and St. Petersburg, had 1.0–1.9 million hyperlinks and form the Semiperiphery. Eight cities had between 200,000 and 999,000 and form the Periphery. These included Ankara, Rotterdam, Aarhus, Bergen, Cork, Krakow, Antwerp and Brno. All 15 of these cities together totaled 16.1 million hyperlinks or 88% of all Secondary city hyperlinks. Of the remaining cities, seven had less than 10,000 hyperlinks: Durres, Albania: Kopavogur, Iceland; Vaduz, Liechtenstein; Bitola, Malta; Niksic, Montenegro; Prizren, Kosovo; and Daugavpils, Latvia. Their combined hyperlink total was 950,000 or slightly less than Ankara, Turkey. While 24% of all hyperlinks in the study were Secondary cities, there were some significant departures. Seven countries had more than 35% of all country hyperlinks, again a reflection of Primary and Secondary cities not having vast differences in population. These countries were Estonia, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Malta, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. Nine countries had 10% or less of all hyperlinks in Secondary cities; these included Belarus, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Moldova and Sweden. Tertiary Cities. The Tertiary cities varied markedly, and as expected, had much smaller populations than the Secondary cities. Most (25) of the countries had less than 10% of all hyperlinks in this sector. Those with the highest percentages had large

92

S. D. Brunn en, Tries

Pljevlja , m i , e h d T n u zla Tro , Nis, No , ol, arva V v sp N aipeda, Lie osib a pa i Kl v, j a, r, The ,

, gue Ha Basel Lyon Munich Valencia

dur, rfjo fna , Rijeka, Ha tras K Pa Lodz, Ma Stov l m o rolo , l, , va rpoo , Differdange M , e lje E Ce mingham Bir ,

Odessa a, , Zilin ense, Linz Os d , , tr O a n , L a Brag r k, erick a, iv rs Lim

Tertiary Citie s Ranked by Number of Hyperlinks Core More than 1 million Semiperiphery 500,000-1 million Periphery 5,000-499,999 Deep Periphery Less than 5,000

Mo o, ov sta ere, Timisoara an , mp , v o i r c t a i , M Ta um Mo Tir , gil a Ghen s, oic t , isk san, Izm e i lba Nap les

Fig. 5.6 Tertiary cities classified by number of hyperlinks

cities, not too different in size from Secondary cities or even those in the Primary category. The highest percentages were for Tertiary cities in Germany, Kosovo and the United Kingdom, all above 20%. One city, Basel, had more than 2 million hyperlinks and three cities had from 1.0 to 1.9 million (Lyon, Munich and Valencia) (Fig. 5.6). Three had from 500,000 to 1 million (The Hague, Birmingham and Naples). Together, these seven Core and Semiperiphery cities had 6.4 million hyperlinks or 59% of all Tertiary city hyperlinks. There were 32 cities which had 5,000–500,000 hyperlinks. At the other end of the Tertiary cities were five with less than 5,000 hyperlinks: Kumanovo, Macedonia; Hafnarfjordur, Iceland; Mosta, Malta; Pljevlja, Montenegro; and Triesen, Liechtenstein. The combined hyperlinks for all Tertiary cities was 10.9 million, roughly one-quarter of the combined number of the Primary cities in the 43 countries.

5.5.1 Hyperlinks Per Capita Another perspective on the population/hyperlink mixes is obtained by looking at the hyperlinks per capita in the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary categories. Figure 5.7 displays the variations within each category; in some countries the largest city and capital city have many hyperlinks per capita and in other places the ratio is low. Compare the maps for Spain and Switzerland with Montenegro and Latvia.

5 Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities …

93

Primary Cities Population / Hyperlink Ratios >1.00 .50-1.00 .10-.49 80%)

Geneva, Tartu, Split, Vaduz, Milan, Porto, Maribor (30–45%)

Basel, Celje, Odessa, Ghent, Liepaja (20–33%)

History

Luxembourg City, Vienna, Copenhagen, Paris, Helsinki, Budapest, Reykjavik, Dublin, Riga, Warsaw, Stockholm, Athens (all > 80%)

Vaduz, Geneva, Porto, Split, Barcelona, Tartu (30–55%)

Basel, Liepaja, Odessa, Ghent (21–33%)

Health

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, Sarajevo, Vienna, Athens, Budapest, Riga, Skopje, Chisinau, Stockholm, Helsinki (all > 80%)

Geneva, Tartu, Porto (all 40–60%)

Liepaja, Basel, Odessa, Rijeka, Ghent (20–27%)

Cultural

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, London, Vienna, Dublin, Paris, Minsk (all > 80%)

Vaduz, Geneva, Porto, Tartu. Ankara, Split, Kaunas, Novi Sad (30–66%)

Basel, Ghent, Munich, Liepaja, Timisoara, Odessa, Tiraspol (22–40%)

Industry

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, London, Paris, Vienna, Athens, Budapest, Dublin, Chisinau, Riga, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin (all > 80%)

Geneva, Porto, Kaunas, Tartu, Split (all 35–45%)

Basel, Liepaja, Timisoara, Trondheim (all 20–30%)

EU

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, Paris, Budapest, London, Vienna, Riga (all > 88%)

Vaduz, Geneva, Qormi, Tartu, Split (all 45–75%)

Odessa, Liepaja, Tuzla, The Hague, Braga, Nizhny Novgorod (all 20–25%)

(continued)

5 Identifying, Mapping and Measuring Europe’s Smart Cities …

105

Table 5.1 (continued) Information category

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

Economic

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, London, Budapest, Vienna, Minsk (all > 80%)

Qormi, Geneva, Tartu, Porto, Split, Novi Sad (all 30–60%)

Basel, Odessa, Liepaja, Rijeka, Timisoara, Varna, (20–30%)

Political

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, Paris, Brussels, Budapest, Athens, Berlin, Riga (all > 80%)

Vaduz, Geneva, Split, Odessa, Liepaja, The Tartu, (all 40–80%) Hague, Tampere, Varna (20–25%)

Agriculture

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, Paris, Vienna, Minsk, Helsinki, London, Budapest, Riga (all > 85%)

Vaduz, Geneva, Tartu, Split, Kaunas, Porto (30–77%)

Basel, Odessa, Liepaja, The Hague, Trondheim, Ghent, Timisoara, Lodz, Izmir (20–29%)

Advertising

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, Vienna, London, Skopje, Podgorica, Riga, Chisinau (all > 80%)

Tartu, Geneva, Cluj-Napoca, Milan, Kumanovo, Porto, Banja Luka, Ankara (35–60%)

Basel, Lyon, Valencia, Larnaca, Munich, Rijeka, Liepaja, Ghent, Izmir, The Hague (20–43%)

Tourism

Luxembourg City, Reykjavik, Paris, London, Vienna, Minsk, Riga, Budapest (all > 80%)

Vaduz, Geneva, Tartu, Thessaloniki, Porto, Split, Novi Sad (34–74%)

Linz, The Hague, Odessa, Liepaja, Tampere, Trondheim, Zilina (21–36%)

mixtures, the international heritages of the countries and hyperlinks per capita. There were consistencies in what might be termed “core smart cities,” that is, those with many Google Scholar hyperlinks and linkages to other cities in Europe. Paris, London and Berlin are this list as are Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Geneva. We also discover in looking at paired hyperlinks and volume of maps and photos that other cities might be in a top category. Hyperlink pairs of European cities might also be considered “core smart cities.” These would include Brussels, Dublin, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Madrid, Copenhagen and Vienna. These fourteen cities would qualify as “smart” cities, but so might others that are smaller and emerging as major players in certain European national and regional economies. They would include some cities in the same countries as those just mentioned; examples would be Hamburg and Munich in Germany, Cork in Ireland, Milan in Italy, Basel and Zurich in Switzerland, Linz and Graz in Austria, Rotterdam and the Hague in the Netherlands; and also Tampere, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden and newcomers such as Istanbul, Praha, Warsaw and Athens. A question that remains is what label to assign the remaining European cities, some which are Primary cities and others are Secondary or Tertiary cities. Examples of

106

S. D. Brunn

Primary cities are Oslo, Tallinn, Ljubljana, Bratislava, Bucharest, but also Schaan, Sofia, Nicosia and others. One might be tempted to label them as “dumb cities” because they have far fewer hyperlinks and fewer hyperlinks per capita than those in a “core smart” category. That would be an unfortunate term because many of these cities also have strong and emerging information roles in their own national economies and regions. A better term would be “semiperiphery smartness” because it reflects their standing as a stage below those in the “core.” A similar question remains about what to label the other Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cities in Europe. As we have seen, there are many variations among cities in the Secondary and Tertiary categories. Some are in western Europe, others in southern, eastern and southeastern Europe. We would assign them into a “peripheral smartness” category, realizing that there might even be a “deep peripheral smartness” category. Cities in the peripheral category currently might have only a small amount of information hyperlinks in Google Scholar or small numbers per capita. It is clear in looking at the results that being a Primary city does not ensure a city is in a “smart” or “very smart” category, nor can we assume if a city is in a Tertiary category it automatically falls into a “deep” smart category. To give more precision to “smartness,” we use number of hyperlinks per capita and define four levels: core smartness, semiperipheral, peripheral and deep peripheral smartness. The categories are: >1.00 person per hyperlink, 0.50–1.00, 0.10–0.49 and 1.00. In the other three categories, we also find a mix of cities. Another graphic of this pattern is shown in the same figure. The cities with ratios >1.00 are in a Core Smartness category, those with ratios 0.50–1.00 in a Semiperiphery category, cities with 0.10–0.49 in the Periphery and 1.00

.50-1.00

.10-.49

50 acres) of the city area, city improvement via retrofitting for (>500 acres) of the city area, and a city extension via greenfield development for an area that is in the suburban area of the city (>250 acres) [30]. The redevelopmentbased ABD plans attempted to replace the existing built environment while enabling the creation of a new layout with enhanced infrastructure and are later discussed in the Bhopal case. Their redevelopment strategies included promoting mixed land uses, supporting higher densities, and proposing a new supply of real estate development projects in the form of housing and commercial development. The retrofitting-based ABD plans were intended for improving the already built-up area, such as congested downtowns or old city areas, to achieve the smart city objectives and are discussed later in the Indore case. These plans were for historic old cities with congested, but economically vibrant CBD areas of the city. The third kind, the greenfield-based ABD plans, were aimed to implement smart city solutions in an undeveloped vacant greenfield site.2 This ABD intervention used a bit more innovative planning, plan financing, and implementation techniques (e.g. land pooling/land reconstitution, PPP, etc.), as discussed in the Satna case. While all three types of ABD plans aimed to attract new private capital for occupying these newly created areas with quality infrastructure and amenities, provisions for adequate affordable housing for the poor were also required [21]. The ABD planning area was geographically small, and its site location and intervention typology were chosen by engaged citizens via active city-wide community outreach. Given its limited size, the ABD plans were initially aimed to directly benefit only a very small geographical area of the city, and the ABD plan proposals would benefit only a small fraction of the city’s population. There were three types of ABD plans as per the SCM guidelines.

14.3.2 PCS Plans Were Smart ICT Solutions Benefiting the Entire Municipal Area As per the SCM guidelines, the geographic scope of the PCS interventions was citywide. Unlike ABD plans that were construction and physical planning-heavy and geographically limited in scope, the PCS interventions were technology-heavy and employed city-wide smart solutions. The PCS plans were IT-dominated plans, utilizing smart information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to improve city-wide urban services and benefit all citizens in the municipal area. These smart solutions included emerging web technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, mobile computing, artificial intelligence (AI), etc. [14]. The PCS was like a smart add-on layer, intelligently layered over the traditional hard infrastructure of the city using advanced technologies. In the PCS component of the smart 2

The newly planned Gift City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat was the first model of a greenfield SC site, which was developed from ground up.

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

281

city plans, cities strived to enhance the quality and performance of the municipal services and utilities by employing emerging trends of ICT, benefiting the entire municipal population. In the next two sections of this chapter, the three smart city case studies chosen from the state of Madhya Pradesh provide finer-grain details of the two spatial scales of smart city interventions for the ABD and PCS plans. The three case study cities were chosen to present the differences among the three types of ABD smart city planning strategies used in Indian smart cities.

14.4 Three Types of Area-Based Development (ABD) in Smart Cities—Cases This section presents the three types of Area-Based Development (ABD) smart city initiatives using case studies from three cities in the state of Madhya Pradesh. As part of the ABD initiative, the city of Indore chose city improvement (via retrofitting), the City of Bhopal chose city renewal (via redevelopment), and the City of Satna chose city extension (greenfield development) as a key strategy for their ABD planning proposals. Table 14.1 provides a comparison of key features of the three ABD plans of the case study cities. The three ABD case studies presented here include: (1) (2) (3)

Bhopal ABD—A case of redevelopment initiative of 332 acres in Bhopal for ABD, also known as the “Old Government Housing in Bhopal”. Indore ABD—A case of retrofitting and redevelopment of 742 acres in Indore for ABD, also known as the “Rajwada Area of Indore”. Satna ABD—A case of greenfield site development of 662 acres in Satna for ABD, also known as the “PULSE-ABD” or “Satna township”.

14.4.1 Bhopal ABD—A Case of Redevelopment Bhopal is the 14th largest and the 3rd greenest city in India [4]. It is the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh (MP) with an estimated population of 2.4 million. Bhopal has a diverse economic base ranging from the manufacturing of electronics, chemicals, and aeronautics, as well as engineering and service industries. The city also serves as a regional tourism destination. Several institutes of higher education and research are also located here. The city came into the global limelight in 1984, after the major industrial disaster of a poisonous gas leak from the Union Carbide pesticide plant, which has claimed upwards of 15 thousand lives over the years.

282

J. Mittal and D. Harode

Table 14.1 Key features of the ABD plans of the three case study cities City

Bhopal ABD

Indore ABD

Satna ABD

Spatial scale/size

> 50 acres

> 500 acres

> 250 acres

ABD type

Urban renewal via redevelopment

Urban improvement via retrofitting and redevelopment

Urban extension via greenfield site development

Goal

Making existing area efficient and livable while using underutilized prime public land

Retrofitting an existing densely built central city, congested with traditional economic activities and poor building stock, planning for improved efficiency, aesthetic facelift via installing infrastructure, and preserving historic landmarks

Economic diversification, development of a new area, planning and installing quality infrastructure, use smart technologies and ICT solutions in a new township

ABD Planning Area

Old Government Housing in TT Nagar, Bhopal

Rajwada Rejuvenation Land pooling scheme Area in CBD of Indore (LPS) based Township in Suburbs of Satna

ABD Site Size

342 Acres

742 Acres (578 for retrofit and 164 for redevelopment)

ABD direct beneficiary population

The current population The ABD area is low but anticipated population is 125,000 to become 200,000 (5.5% of city population)

Conditions before the – Well connected with SCM the rest of the city – 3100 old, dilapidated government housing units – Underutilized prime land – Some degree of private developments – Slum encroachments, schools, etc – ABD land under single ownership (government)

– The heart of the city center, including the CBD with historic monuments – Fully built out with low-rise three-floor structures – Traditional wholesale and retail markets – Narrow congested streets with encroachments – Slums and lack of open spaces and recreational spaces – Underutilized land, and dated development regulations

662 Acres

The ABD population is anticipated to be 72,600 post-development – Underutilized prime land, – Currently under farms and fallow land – Ripe for development in a suburban area – Over 1000 private landowners own 1230 small parcels (296 acres –35%) and 341-acres of land are government-owned

(continued)

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

283

Table 14.1 (continued) City

Bhopal ABD

Key ABD area – Replacement of planning features and government housing interventions in the ABD area – New mixed-use residential areas, commercials – Land for outright sale – Green public spaces, bike-friendly – Smart road with underground utility ducts – Smart light poles equipped with multiple sensors

Indore ABD

Satna ABD

– Retrofitting – SC proposals Rajwada (17 story included LPS to structure), Gopal address private temple, Jinsi Haat lands in the ABD, – Riverfront and returning 25% development on the to landowners eastern periphery – Proposed – Modification of mixed-use, development walkable, and regulations for the inclusive ABD area development that – Increased FAR with addresses economic higher ground land uses and coverage and Housing for the building heights poor – Redevelopment plan in 76 acres over 10 sites in the ABD – Clearing encroachments to regain road’s ROW

Key ABD area plan – Selling 43 – Primarily via – Heavy reliance on financing mechanism developed land revising the local the LPS to parcels (sectors) regulations, where appropriate private having a total area development pays land (this tool has of 117 acres, with for itself, using the been used in the anticipated revenue smart city Gujarat state of |2621 Crores development cess, extensively) ($352 million), FAR bonuses, additionally, leasing impact fees, parking developed spaces for charges, selling sites retail, commercial for redevelopments, offices, and other and PPP establishments

i.

Location and current features of the Bhopal ABD

Bhopal was selected as one of the top 20 cities in the first round of the national smart cities competition held in March 2016. It opted for the “Redevelopment” model of the ABD initiative for a 342-acre site in Tatya-Tope (TT) Nagar in the heart of the city. The Bhopal ABD site was a government-owned land. It was a grossly underutilized public asset, free from any legal title disputes, and is very well connected with the larger BRTS routes of the city, with major roads, highways, rail, and the airport that connected the ABD site with the rest of the city and larger region. The proposed mass rapid transit (MRT) line also passes through here, and three metro stations were proposed within the ABD site. Figures 14.1 and 14.2 show the before and after aerials of Bhopal’s ABD.

284

J. Mittal and D. Harode

Fig. 14.1 Aerial image showing Bhopal ABD area before planned development

Fig. 14.2 Aerial image showing Bhopal ABD area after the proposed development

Prior to planning the Bhopal ABD, most of the ABD site area had very old and dilapidated government-owned housing units (3100 units) and offices in four-storied buildings. Some of these units were occupied and others were abandoned. In addition to these, there were 11 schools, and 50 temples, as well as shops, and slums located within the site. As mentioned earlier, this site is a publicly-owned land asset, but

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

285

public authorities had failed to realize its potential market value by not utilizing its assets to their highest and best use. ii.

Planning features of the Bhopal ABD plan

Bhopal’s ABD plan proposal focused on redevelopment and rehabilitation using the government-owned land in the heart of the city. As a first step, the entire 342 acres of ABD land was transferred from the GoMP to Bhopal’s smart city SPV—Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Ltd. (BSCDCL), with the condition, that the ABD redevelopment plan would include a similar number of government housing units be constructed [32]. The plan included replacing the old government-owned housing stock with modern multi-storied development with smart features under the smart city plan. Given clear land ownership for the entire ABD site area, the master planning for Bhopal’s ABD was relatively easy, with some amount of rehabilitation and relocation involved. The ABD area master plan envisaged a vibrant mixed-use development with 24/7 activities, and fitted with green infrastructure with bike-friendly, walkable, and inclusive development. Recognizing the future presence of three mass transit stations in the ABD site, the ABD master plan followed TOD-based principles of compact and mixed-use development. The ABD master plan is presented in Fig. 14.3. The site was divided into developable chunks of land parcels (as sectors) and as different land use zones. The majority of the ABD land use was under the knowledge and IT-based infrastructure. It also had institutional uses for sports, tourism, cultural activities, residential, and commercial uses that formed the core of the ABD. The ABD plan had a modern commercial zone along with high traffic nodes, and the area was planned as rectangular sectors with wide well-designed roads with

Fig. 14.3 Bhopal ABD master plan land use

286

J. Mittal and D. Harode

Fig. 14.4 Map showing for-sale parcels by use for the Bhopal ABD

green infrastructure services installed to attract businesses investments and improve economic and employment opportunities. The two major commercial nodes were planned in an arc form as shown in Figs. 14.3 and 14.4. This arc was planned to act as a catalytic corridor for initial real estate investments in the ABD area. The commercial areas consisted of retail, financial institutions, a convention center, galleries, offices, hotels, and other entertainment uses. The residential areas consisted of high-rise apartments, replacement government housing units, affordable housing, and housing for the poor [3]. The development regulations for the ABD encouraged higher floor area ratio (FAR), taller building heights, and larger ground coverages. As per the master plan, residential density in the ABD is anticipated to reach 195 persons per acre, and a total population of approximately 200,000 people over 20 years. The ABD area could accommodate about 60,000 residential population, 56,000 commercial population, along with a floating daily population of approximately 80,000 people [3]. As presented in Fig. 14.3, the ABD area is planned as a group of parcels zoned for various uses, such as 33% of the ABD site area was zoned for residential use (113 acres), 16% for commercial use (55 acres), and 8% for the public, semi-public uses, and utilities (27 acres). A sizable 26% of the ABD area was dedicated to roads, which included a 45-m (148 feet) wide boulevard and other internal arterial and local streets. The area assigned to roads in the ABD is significantly high as compared to the rest of the Bhopal city, which has a much lower percentage of land dedicated to road usage. The recreational land uses and green belt area occupied 7.7 and 9.2% of the ABD area, respectively in the master plan. As part of the green infrastructure within the ABD area, a rainwater-harvesting system was also planned in 12 locations. The oval-shaped land area, as shown in

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

287

Figs. 14.1 and 14.2, was traditionally used as a recreation field for public festivals— “Dussehra Maidan” in the ABD area. This field is now planned as a multi-purpose recreational space to hold public events such as fairs, festivals, exhibitions, and sports, attracting local and regional populations. This place is also planned to accommodate an assortment of other activities such as open spaces with plazas, seating areas, and active sports areas with advanced design. The “Haat” in India is a traditional open-air type shopping space, like a farmer’s market, and is open to the public. The ABD plan expands the Haat concept into multiple activity zones such as food streets, arts, and craft lanes, and is further divided into various zones such as a textile zone, a jewelry zone, as well as metal crafts, terracotta, and woodwork areas. [32]. iii.

Financial and smart technology in the Bhopal ABD plans

One of the expectations from the smart city plan proposals was that all participating cities must make efforts to innovate in planning the ABD sites. They must formulate plans that generate financial resources using land-based financing tools [15], create innovative development regulations, and foster public–private partnerships (PPP) to leverage private investments for public infrastructure. The smart poles in Bhopal were installed via PPP and were a revenue-generating partnership for the city. The PPP for smart poles was one of the initial initiatives undertaken by any of the 100 smart cities. Multi-level parking was another source of revenue for Bhopal. As the ABD plan evolved and was implemented, several corrections were undertaken in designs features and the revenue model of the ABD projects. As part of the financial planning, the Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Ltd. opted to sell 43 parcels in the ABD. These for-sale parcels form a third of the ABD area, comprising a total of 117.1 acres of developed parcels. See Table 14.2 and Fig. 14.4 for details of the for-sale parcels. The auctioning of these forsale parcels was the key land monetization strategy that Bhopal adopted to raise funds. The revenue generated from the sale was planned to cross-fund the smart infrastructure works such as smart roads, smart poles, green developments, services, and buildings in the planned ABD site. Table 14.2 shows projected capital revenue from for-sale parcels to be approximately |2621.7 crores ($350 million). This was estimated based on the government prescribed circle rates for land in this area. While Table 14.2 Details of for-sale land parcels in Bhopal ABD Land use of saleable parcels

Total land parcels (Nos.)

Commercial parcels

24

68.31

Residential parcels

14

36.09

731.80

Ppublic/ semi-public)

05

12.71

142.50

Total

43

117.11

2621.70

Source Bhopal smart city report

Areas of ABD plots by Projected realized use (Acres) capital value from land sale (|Crores) 1747.40

288

J. Mittal and D. Harode

this is a sizable financial opportunity, it is a bit ambitious to raise such large sums that are subject to market demand for real estate space. While a feasibility report from the consultant, Tata Consulting Engineers [36], estimated sizable demand for housing and commercial real estate, as of the time of writing this chapter, despite several efforts by real estate advisory firms assisting the city only three of the 43 lots had been auctioned. As part of the smart IT infrastructure, the Bhopal ABD also implemented an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) that gathers real-time data and videos from surveillance devices and sensors to regulate traffic. The sensors are supported with fiber-optic connected “Smart-Poles” in the ABD that serve as multi-use communication towers. These energy-efficient, remotely controlled light-poles are fitted with wi-fi hotspots, surveillance cameras, and sensors to monitor traffic, air quality, ambient temperature, and humidity. Some other smart features such as electric vehicle charging points and emergency SOS phones are yet to be integrated with smart poles but could be added later as the area develops.

14.4.2 Indore ABD—A Case of Retrofitting and Redevelopment Indore is located in the heart of India in the state of MP on the southern edge of Malwa plateau on the banks of rivers Kahn and Saraswati. The city is known as the financial capital of central India and has a population of 3 million living in a 505 km2 area. Indore is famous for its historic and architectural splendor, narrated by the splendid historical monuments such as the “Rajwada” built over 250 years ago, which casts a magical spell on the visitors (See Fig. 14.5). The Rajwada and surrounding areas symbolize the medieval age grandeur of the Maratha Holkar dynasty ruled by Princess Ahilyabai Holkar. Over the years, the Rajwada area witnessed urban decay, with collapsing historic structures that were constructed in wood and limestone.

Fig. 14.5 Historic Rajwada area of Indore

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

289

Like Bhopal, Indore’s smart city proposal was also one of the first top 20 smart cities selected in round 1 of the smart cities challenge in 2015 by the Government of India. Indore’s ABD plan chose retrofitting and redevelopment as a model for its area planning and included the Rajwada area and the surrounding areas of the old city. The SCM projects undertaken in the ABD area cleaned, sanitized, and revived the entire CBD area as per Indore’s master plan of 2021. The impact of these exercises is visible with widened and well-serviced road networks with advanced underground utility ducts, urban scaping, placemaking features, and design principles. Despite the temporary inconvenience caused to the local citizens, this surgical move to retrofit the core area was well received by its residents. The path to implementation was smoothened by clearing legal hurdles in a phased manner. The area was facelifted with better-organized shopping and walkways in addition to a smoother traffic flow. i.

Location and current features of the Indore ABD

Indore’s ABD plan chose retrofitting and redevelopment as a model for its 742 acres of ABD area plan. Since the land parcels for any new development in the ABD were scarce, Indore chose to retrofit 578 acres of the city center and also redevelop 164 acres of public lands abutting the retrofit areas. This was to generate surplus funds via real estate development and support the retrofitting plan. It included an approximately 3 km2 area located in the heart of Indore in its historic city center and CBD area that included Rajwada area. The Rajwada area is known for a 17-story historic structure in the core city area of Indore. The ABD area is also known as the “Rajwada Rejuvenation” area and is bounded by roads on the north, west, and south and by the River Saraswati and the River Kanh on the east. The geographical area of Indore ABD is 742 acres and is presented in Figs. 14.5 and 14.6. This includes the redevelopment area comprised of slum land (101.36 acres) and non-slum land (63.09 acres). This chapter focuses on the retrofitting efforts in the Indore ADB to explain how it is different from the redevelopment. The ABD area is part of a vibrant historic core comprising a population of over 125,000, which is nearly 5% of the city’s total population. The retrofit ABD area included a typical old city area of an historic Indian city and can be characterized as a high-density and congested area, with commercial developments, specialized wholesale, and retail markets selling conventional jewelry (Sarrafa Bazar), utensils, fairly priced apparel, etc. The entire land under the ABD is fully developed with generally three-storied buildings, congested and organically developed. The area traditionally has been the trading/cultural hub of Indore. Being the historic center of Indore, most housing stock and commercial development is old and in poor structural condition. Most of the ABD area also lacks urban infrastructure services, community facilities, and while the land is prime and highly valuable, it is sub-optimally utilized with lots of illegal encroachments or shop extensions [13]. The current land use of the ABD area is presented in Fig. 14.6. This land-use represents development prior to any smart city interventions. The land use reflects typical CBD functions with 14% of the land under commercial use, 22% under residential, 22% under mixed-use (with commercial retail on the ground and residential above),

290

J. Mittal and D. Harode

Fig. 14.6 Current land use map of Indore ABD

16% under transportation, and the rest for public and semi-public uses. The residential types in the Indore ABD area can be classified into three categories: homes on plotted development, slum areas, and homes in mixed-use buildings. The ABD area is densely built and lacks recreational spaces with a meager 2% of ABD land area, 2% under a body of water, and 6% under unplanned, underutilized, and encroached open spaces (ibid; Indore Smart City 2021). The age-old infrastructure in Rajwada was congested with encroached streets, and old almost collapsing buildings posing safety and security hazards for the area residents. ii.

Planning features of the Indore ABD plan

The Indore ABD plan emphasized retrofitting and redevelopment for functional efficiency and aesthetic facelift of the densely built inner-city area. Indore chose a roster of initiatives to retrofit its historic city center and redevelop its public land sites as part of its ABD proposals. These ABD initiatives included a master plan and several modifications in the development regulations to redevelop the city center area. It allowed higher FAR, taller building height, and smaller ground coverage to clear the grounds. The ABD plan also included proactive redevelopment plans for 10 sites in the ABD, with a total land area of 309,868 m2 (77 acres), and proposed mixed-use developments in and along the edge of the core city [13]. Additionally, the ABD also included several landmark projects such as riverfront development along River Saraswati and River Kanh, and the redevelopment of Jinsi Haat, an informal local market, development of smart roads in the ABD, and a few other infrastructure investments.

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

291

To improve accessibility, and to remove the encroachments, the city also undertook major demolition drives to widen major roads and transform the ABD area by planning vehicle-free zones. Several streets in the historic core were zoned as pedestrian streets to preserve and enhance the heritage precinct area (ibid). More than 55 street sections were planned in several phases after clearing the ABD area roads’ right-of-way. The roads were widened, and encroachments were cleared to convert small 9-m roads to 30-m roads. On the eastern periphery of the ABD, a 3.9 km long riverfront was planned, which is under implementation. The riverfront proposal included walkable promenades, accessible public gardens, play areas, parks, and other amenities. To keep the river water free from untreated sewage, the plan included interception and diversion of sewer, as well as channelizing the river. For the historic buildings in the ABD area, such as Rajwada and Gopal Mandir, the ABD proposals included a restoration plan and a facade treatment plan. The ABD plan also promoted supportive policies to encourage adaptive reuse of Indore’s built heritage. The area near the Rajwada area underwent street improvements, which connected heritage resources and enhanced the public realm. To promote the traditional arts and crafts and to recreate traditional open sky markets, over 500 “Haat” type platforms were planned to accommodate local arts and crafts. These platforms were covered with tensile structures to form a safe and stable traditional style market. The plan also included rehabilitation of over 150 illegal shops and 58 kiosks in the Rajwada neighborhood. iii.

Financial and smart technology in the Indore ABD plans

The Indore ABD Plan primarily used regulatory land-use tools for retrofitting the ABD area. Additionally, it also used public–private partnership (PPP) projects for the redevelopment of projects on public sites. The proposed land-use plan for the Indore ABD area (presented in Fig. 14.7), used a multi-pronged strategy to retrofit and redevelop the congested ABD area. Several land-based financing tools helped generate funds for the long-term planning of the ABD area. This included the influence zone along major roads, additional FAR on payment, tax incentives, a premium on parking charges, and the amalgamation of parcels. Indore also granted transferable development rights (TDR) to properties that lost development rights during road widening or land acquisition. Indore also proposed creating a land value capture fund from properties in the “Influence Zone” of the ABD master plan. The influence zone is shown in Fig. 14.7 as a blue zone along the major roads. These zones are 60 m wide on either side of the RoW developed for the public transport system on roads of 18 m and above. The city also undertook two redevelopment projects on a PPP basis in the MOG3 lines area of the ABD (approx. 123 acres in size). This MOG lines project was proposed to be a mixed-use high-rise area. These MOG lines projects strengthened the revenue model for the ABD to generate a minimum of |800 Cr. ($108 million) to fund other projects. 3

Mog lines is a locality in Indore abutting the city center.

292

J. Mittal and D. Harode

Fig. 14.7 Proposed land use and road network plan for Indore ABD

The total estimated cost of the Indore’s SCP was |5100 Crs ($685 million), which included |4469 Crs ($600 million) for the Rajwada ABD. Indore has shown exemplary performance by successfully converging funds from various programs and steering them in the ABD area, such as funds from the Swacch Bharat Mission. It has streamlined its entire solid waste management chain to demonstrate the impact in the ABD area and has earned the cleanest city tag in India for four consecutive years in its size class. Indore is well recognized as a city of best practices and urban development, and other cities are learning and replicating it. In terms of smart technology initiatives, the Indore ABD plan shifted all overhead power cables and other peripheral electrical systems and gas utilities underground and laid fiber optic cable networks on major roads and pedestrian streets. It also introduced public wi-fi-hotspots, battery-operated E-Rickshaws in the historic pedestrian precinct, CCTV night vision cameras in public spaces, and solar-powered installations on terraces of redevelopment buildings. All ICT infrastructure projects were integrated with the city-wide PCS projects for seamless operation.

14.4.3 Satna ABD—A Case of Greenfield Development Satna is a small town in the NE Madhya Pradesh with a population of 300,000 people. It is a major commercial and industrial center of the Baghelkhand sociocultural region and is known as the “Cement capital” of India. Satna is one of the largest producers of cement, accounting for over 9% of total cement production in

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

293

India. The city of Satna and its nearby region are endowed with major dolomite mines and limestone reserves, with the top 10 cement producers of India are based in Satna. i.

Location and current features of the Satna ABD

The Indian smart cities mission (SCM) selected the city of Satna as one of the 100smart cities in the round 3 Smart City challenge in 2017, much later than the cities of Bhopal and Indore. Satna proposed an ABD plan for a 662-acre greenfield site, and additionally, it proposed ICT-based pan-city investments in civic technology and IT-based urban initiatives. The Satna ABD site is in the eastern suburb, located about 6 km from the city center. The ABD site comprises parts of three villages: Utaily, Sejahata, and Sonoera [12]. Unlike the retrofitting and redevelopment plans (as discussed in the cases of Bhopal and Indore), location-wise, the green-field ABD plans could be either within the city limits or in the peri-urban fringe areas, as per the SCM guidelines [29]. As per the SCM strategy, “the greenfield development introduces smart solutions in a vacant area using innovative planning, plan financing, and implementation tools (e.g. land pooling) with provisions for affordable housing, especially for the poor” (http:// smartcities.gov.in/content/innerpage/strategy.php). Land in the Satna ABD planning site is jointly owned by thousands of landowners and the government. The Satna ABD land ownership is shown in Fig. 14.8. The land Fig. 14.8 Land ownership in Satna green-field ABD site. Source Adapted from Inception Report [37]

294

J. Mittal and D. Harode

is currently unoccupied and undeveloped, and a large area of the site could be either categorized as farmland or as wasteland. As shown in Fig. 14.8, nearly 65% of the Satna ABD site was government-owned land (341 acres) and the rest was private. This also includes the area under the canal. The government land in the ABD area includes 116 parcels. The average private landholding in the ABD is quite small, with 1019 private landowners owning 1230 parcels of a 296-acre area [37]. This means that the average parcel size is 0.24 acres, and the average land ownership is quite small. ii.

Planning features of the Satna ABD plan

According to the original Smart city proposal for Satna, its ABD initiative is titled “PULSE”. The acronym PULSE signifies that the ABD area would “Provide Uber Living and Sustainable Economy” (PULSE) in Satna, and the ABD will be well equipped with modern amenities. The PULSE–ABD area of Satna, as per the proposal, would serve as an “Engine of Economic Diversification” for Satna and was targeted to pursue incremental development and investment for a period of 15 years. The vision of the Satna Smart City is to, “Restructure Satna into a smart, compact and vibrant regional hub, providing diverse economic opportunities for varied skill levels by leveraging its resource-based economy and harnessing potential investments in the industrial sector.” The Satna ABD site was envisioned to be a new state-of-the-art township equipped with smart infrastructure features. The ABD area addressed Satna’s need for economic diversification, and the plan offers a platform for high-value investments while providing affordable living. Figures 14.9 and 14.10 show the master plan of Satna ABD. The plan included 67 acres of walkable TOD-based mixed-use plotted area, 47 acres of multi-product industrial park, 113 acres of inclusive mediumdensity residential neighborhoods, and 113 acres of city-level recreational green infrastructure. This city-level recreational zone is unique for Satna when compared with the two cases of Bhopal and Indore. It also zoned 37 acres of the local recreational zone, networks of interconnected greens on contiguous lands, and zones for economic, institutional, and social infrastructure. The Satna ABD area was equipped with smart physical and IT infrastructure, such as utility ducts, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)-based water, and electric power distribution, recycling of waste and sewerage, solar energy, wi-fi hotspots, etc. to name a few. Some features of the technological intervention in the Satna ABD Plan are presented in Fig. 14.10 [26], (From the Satna Scoring Checklist, p. 24). The ABD proposal for Satna submitted to the SCM in 2017 proposed the use of a land pooling scheme (LPS) to develop the privately owned lands in the ABD area. The proposal on LPs included appropriating 75% of private land for ABD planning purposes and returning the rest to the original landowners. The initial idea was to procure private land from 1019 landowners by employing the available LPS instrument in the MP state and generate larger funds through the sale of the re-appropriated serviced land within the ABD following the land monetization principles of the SCM guidelines. The SCM proposal also proposed active participation and consultation with the public before the ABD proposal development stage, including input from

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

295

Fig. 14.9 Proposed Satna ABD Plan. Source Adapted from Satna ABD Area—Inception Report [37]

Fig. 14.10 ICT based technological interventions in Satna ABD master plan

the affected private landowners. From the Satna SCP submitted, it appears that at the stage 2 proposal, the location of the ABD and implementation of the LPS idea both received a seemingly positive public response. iii.

Financial and smart technology in the Satna ABD plans

296

J. Mittal and D. Harode

The Satna plan envisaged a target population of approximately 72,600 people in the ABD area, requiring |4500 Crs. ($604 million) of investment. The plan creates 18,500 jobs, provides 10,500 housing units for the economically weaker section (EWS) and low-income groups (LIG) by 2032. Satna’s smart city SPV envisaged investing approximately |1200 Crs. ($160 million) in the core trunk infrastructure for providing the initial impetus for the proposed ABD area, targeting to achieve intermediate results with one-third of the targeted population, jobs, and housing units by 2022. This impetus would attract private, social, and corporate sector participation/investment in the venture to ultimately achieve the 2032 goals of the PULSE–ABD. As discussed earlier, since little over one-third of the ABD area is on privately owned lands, the land readjustment (LR) based land pooling scheme (LPS) was proposed for planning and integrating private lands in the ABD plan. The process of LR / LPS has been practiced quite successfully in other parts of India, such as Gujarat, and illustration of land poling mechanism in Gujarat is explained in Fig. 14.11 [5, 6, 20], (Satna Scoring Checklist, p. 33), and so the model already exists for Satna. As part of the smart city proposal, LPS was proposed for planning the Satna ABD project. This was proposed to expedite the development of the ABD plan area and to avoid the otherwise costly, and highly coercive, traditional land acquisition process. Land acquisition requires large upfront costs of compensation, and typically causes property disputes, legal delays, and causes painful displacements with involuntary resettlements [12, 18].

Fig. 14.11 Illustration of land pooling mechanism used in Gujarat

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

297

The smart infrastructure in the Satna ABD included 24X7 SCADA-enabled power supply and water supply systems with smart meters for both, 100% coverage of stormwater and sewerage system with decentralized wastewater treatment facility, and re-using of treated wastewater. Satna also emphasized solar power generation on the rooftop of buildings in the ABD and also on the canal top, and solar-powered energy-efficient street lighting, installation of smart security surveillance systems, public wi-fi hotspots, and a plan for underground utility ducts for all utilities.

14.5 Pan-City Solutions (PCS) in the Case Study Cities This Pan-City Solutions (PCS) in the case study cities included several IT interventions such as SCADA enabled automation of water supply and wastewater networks, data transfer via fiber optics, mobile apps offering city services at one platform, and a physical one-stop control room called Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) for intelligently coordinating all urban services. Many functional ICCCs had the provision of real-time monitoring of various urban services such as utility management, GIS tracking for solid waste management, sensor-based realtime monitoring and management of traffic, e-citation of traffic defaulters, crowd management during the special events, emergency services (fire and police), localized concierge services (for pumping, carpentry, electrician, etc.), mobile apps, and incubation centers for start-up initiatives.

14.5.1 PCS Initiatives in Bhopal Bhopal initiated over 23 PCS projects to improve urban services across the municipal area and completed several of them. The ICCC, an integrated cloud-based command, and control center of Bhopal strategically worked to connect, monitor, and facilitate all the smart services offered in the city. A few examples of the PCS initiatives in Bhopal include: • The B-NEST, an incubation center, set up as a 24/7 well-equipped co-working facility to aid startups and entrepreneurs in Bhopal. • Smart parking solutions and an integrated traffic management system (ITMS), an artificial intelligence-based system with cameras and sensors to keep an eye on the city traffic, were built. A local vehicle registration database was connected with the surveillance system, which helps with the paperless ecitation for traffic violators. The city also initiated an alpha-numeric digital door (Lot/property) numbering system citywide, which included information about location coordinates, ownership, physical attributes, and tax information. • Bhopal established three renewable energy solar plants, a waste management system, a bio-methanization plant, and several smart poles with cameras and

298

J. Mittal and D. Harode

sensors mounted on top. The city saved time and money via real-time tracking and fuel tracking of municipal solid waste management vehicles. • The Bhopal-Plus App served as a single digital platform for the citizens to engage with the government, utilize municipal services, and learn about government plans, projects, and initiatives. • The Bhopal smart city also started information dissemination, COVID health and related advice, and resource links as part of its public outreach during Covid19. It also started free yoga training programs for Covid-19 infected patients via its ICCC and smart technology systems, including several public awareness drives for health, sanitation, and cleanliness, remotely. Recently, in May 2021, during the second wave, Bhopal SC prepared a  Niramaya Bhopal mobile app that provides information about the availability of oxygen, ICU beds, and other services in hospitals on the app for Covid-relief. They also started help centers outside major hospitals in the city. The ICCC provided real-time tracking alerts for the supply chain of oxygen cylinders. Covid-19 patients also had access to remote medical consultation by doctors, and those home-quarantining were monitored at the ICCC [33].

14.5.2 PCS Initiatives in Indore Indore focused on three key areas as part of its citywide PCS initiative. It focused on the intelligent integrated transportation system that covered all modes and aspects of public transportation, traffic, and parking management systems. It also focused on an integrated solid waste management system and a command center. A little over |388 Crs ($52 million) were allocated for the pan-city proposals (PCS) for Indore to establish the above Indore Intelligent City Management Systems (IICMS) [11]. Along the lines of Bhopal, Indore also established an ICCC, equipped with multipurpose backbone communication networks, with a 10 Gig bandwidth and a 25 km range of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and Intelligent Solid Waste Management (ISWM) applications. The City Dashboard was used for real-time data collection, collation, and analysis and was used for information dissemination. Additionally, as per [11], several PCS initiatives were proposed for the entire city area of Indore, which included: • An automated traffic control system, pedestrian-activated signals at crosswalks, bicycle signals, lane monitoring and control signs, dynamic message displays, and web/mobile applications with route information for traffic management • Electronic sensors and hardware for the management and collection of transit fares (for metro, standard Bus), including taxi, auto-rickshaws, public parking meters, and tolls • Sensors and cameras for data collection on parking lot capacity and availability • Intelligent transit management provided a real-time vehicle tracking and fleet management system, passenger information dissemination [On Board, at-Stops, at-Stations], and video surveillance (in vehicles, and on stops)

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

299

• An intelligent waste management system which included GIS-based asset management. It included RFID-based geo-referenced wastebins, vehicles, and personnel tied to a waste transportation routing system and a GPS-based vehicle tracking management system. • Indore, like Bhopal, planned over 500 Smart Poles with multiple utilities mounted on them. These included LED lights, telecom equipment, Wi-Fi access points, surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, digital billboards, and public announcement systems, all integrated with the ICCC. • The Indore Smart city like other 45 cities, repurposed and renamed its ICCC to emergency ‘COVID-19 war rooms,’ and assisted local and state public agencies in monitoring the geographic spread of the pandemic, contact tracing, mapping, and identifying viral isolation or containment zones including help with the information dissemination.

14.5.3 PCS Initiatives in Satna Satna chose a solar-powered ICCC that saves energy costs. It is called Satna Synergy lab and is a comprehensive facility that aggregates all ICT-enabled services. As per [27], several PCS initiatives were proposed for the entire city of Satna, which include: • Create ICT-based infrastructure, such as web portals for citizen engagement and information dissemination on service delivery along with mobile apps integrated with municipal services • Automated traffic signals and control system with monitoring at 25 intersections and automated traffic violations detection system with sensors and cameras • Solar-powered LED streetlights with ambient light sensors • Emergency response and incident management with CAD-AVL for emergency and police vehicles in addition to firefighting and disaster management system • Learning and skill development infrastructure for educational institutes, smart classrooms with wi-fi hotspots for 16 government-owned schools to aid e-learning and skill development, ICT infrastructure for 4 colleges, establishment of a city livelihood center for skill management. During the pandemic, Satna’s ICCC played a crucial role. Satna smart city like 45 other cities, repurposed and renamed its ICCC to emergency ‘COVID-19 war rooms,’ and assisted local and state public agencies in monitoring the geographic spread of the pandemic, contact tracing, mapping, and identifying viral isolation or containment zones, and helping with information dissemination. It developed a liveCovid-19 heat map showing the location of positive cases, updates on hospitals with beds and their locations, information on critical Intensive Care Units (ICU), oxygen availability, and location of testing centers, etc. [26]. The ICCC also shared a list of grocery stores that offered home delivery services during lockdown periods in

300

J. Mittal and D. Harode

the containment zones. It offered medical consulting services, connected Covid-19 help centers with those in need, shared vaccine registration information, and other health-related information utilizing the Satna Smart City ICT infrastructure and the smart city website.

14.6 Discussions 14.6.1 Smart Cities PCS Plans Engaged Citizens and Improved Cities’ Efficiency As discussed earlier, one of the preconditions of the smart cities funding was to actively engage citizens’ groups in the initial conceptualization and planning stages of the smart cities. All three case study cities used a multi-modal citizen engagement process in conceptualizing, developing, and shaping their smart city vision, goals, and strategies. This also included the selection of the ABD area locations. While citizens were involved, the stakeholders ranged from residents to subject experts and covered a diverse geo-demographics of the city. During the planning process, to increase citizens’ participation and to seek diverse community inputs, an array of survey tools were used. These survey tools included seeking inputs via paper essays and via conducting online surveys using social media tools and the MyGov.in website. As per the SC proposal of the three cities, Bhopal received over 300,000 responses, Indore received 591,965 and Satna received 133,488 interactions from these stakeholders through various citizen outreach and consultative programs. Cities also organized a range of public events such as kite festivals, cyclotron, educational street plays to promote cleanliness, bicycle challenge rallies, ‘pick-ating’ (plastic waste picking while skating), yoga classes, etc. These were undertaken by the three cities to improve citizens’ participation, increase awareness, and improve civic engagement in the Smart Cities initiatives [33]. These citizens’ engagements became more relevant, useful, and directly benefited the citizens during the pandemic with the use of ICCCs. The PCS initiative of smart cities initiative and its ICCCs were proven to be most useful during the Covid-19 pandemic management. As many as 45 smart cities including Bhopal, Indore, and Satna repurposed and renamed their ICCCs to ‘COVID-19 war rooms.’ They assisted local and state public agencies in monitoring the geographic spread of the infection, contact tracing, mapping, and identifying viral isolation or containment zones. The containment zones were geographies with the most severe restrictions on movements and interactions to contain the virus and break the chain of future transmissions. The ICCCs were also very useful in collecting, collating, and analyzing data and disseminating useful information on the pandemic. These Centers assisted in planning for quarantine via planning mass quarantine centers, mapping the viral containment zones, and locating health facilities and infrastructures. Some cities even used CCTVs, drones, and other smart technologies to monitor the movement of crowds (in case of special events), and

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

301

used contact tracing and monitored quarantining activity using cell phone apps with pixelated geotagged face images [8]. The three case study smart cities also established help centers, conducted periodic public-gathering events, activated medical support systems, and initiated remote yoga classes utilizing the ICT infrastructure during Covid-19. The ICCCs improved the local response mechanisms in the current pandemic and information dissemination.

14.6.2 ABD Benefits Only Fraction of the City, Have Potential to Become Islands of Prosperity The geographical scope of the ABD planning was just a few hundred acres representing a small fraction of the city’s overall area and population. The ABD area prosperity is likely to become exclusive, unmatched with the socio-economic and demographic fabric of the rest of the city. Once the ABD plans of the case study cities are fully developed and operational as envisaged, these small geographies will potentially become the hotspots of wealth and prosperity. Since the infrastructure development in the ABD area is world-class, the ABD site would likely be attracting high-value capital investments which also bring elite workforce and highvalue businesses. A critique, [2], has called smart cities of India, “Modi’s technocratic nationalism and the engaged consulting firms’ technological utopia.” The ABD plans especially in redevelopment sites of Bhopal appear to be elite-led urban planning initiatives, creating pockets of exclusive spaces, with well-equipped high-quality green infrastructure, green mobility features promising sustainable urban development principles and higher levels of ease of living. Since land-based financing was one of the explicit expectations by the SCM, ABD plans also potentially attempt to legitimize privatization of urban spaces (often using public lands such as in the case of Bhopal and Satna) in a relatively sophisticated and well-coordinated way. Indore appears to be a more pragmatic and replicable plan since it doesn’t require a large sum of upfront capital infusion. A few other critics [10], Das 2020, [2, 7] believe that as technology has dominated the smart cities initiatives, the underlying theme of a smart city appears to be, “that just being wired and connected with technology will enable the area to function smartly.” Per these critiques, smart cities were expected to act as entrepreneurs and were planned as economically polarized geographies. As these smart cities become occupied, there is a fear of divided society (economically, culturally, and spatially) by the growing contrast between elite newcomers and poor existing residents. Hollands [10] called global smart cities mere ‘urban labeling’. Smart cities in ABDs are patches of prosperity, characteristically promoted as ‘innovation habitats’, or marketed as ‘entrepreneurial cities with elements of placemaking’, which do not at all match with the rest of the city. He is fearful that such self-designated localities could emerge as patches of prosperity. Chakraborthy [7] called smart cities a cosmetic treatment, where smart cities are attempting to provide a technological solution to urban social problems, which need

302

J. Mittal and D. Harode

not have technological fixes. Critics of smart cities also feel that SCIs potentially cater to interests of the real estate development and the IT industries.

14.6.3 Revenues from Land-Based Financing Must Be Grounded in Realistic Estimates Land-based financing provides a promising opportunities for fiscally constrained, rapidly growing cities to strategically monetize private lands to recover and reinvest value gains from public investments or actions. They also formulate strategies to redevelop any underutilized publicly owned real estate assets to bring them to greater economically productive use. Several forms of land-based monetization tools exist; such as Tax-Increment Financing (TIF), Land Readjustment (LR) or Land Pooling (LP), Transferable Development Rights (TDR), Development Exactions and Impact Fees (DE&IF), FAR bonus, etc. [15–17]. There are also several forms of public–private partnerships that cities formulate to partner with the private sector for investments and expertise. The applications and estimation of benefits from these land-based financing tools must be backed by data that demonstrates market demand, these tools should be statutorily supported, and most importantly, revenue projections must be grounded in realistic estimates. All three case cities in this chapter have used an array of PPP options for IT-based services and ICT infrastructure citywide. The three case studies cities also used at least one form of land-based financing tools in their ABD plans. For example, Bhopal ambitiously relied on the outright sale of select developed land parcels—that way nearly one-third of the planned ABD area was up for sale. Indore, on the other hand, used more innovative land-use regulations to generate funds in its retrofitting efforts. It also established PPP in its redevelopment plans for 164 acres of sites in the ABD. Satna chose to use the land pooling scheme to accommodate the private landowners in the ABD. If these land-based financing tools are successfully implemented in Bhopal, Indore, and Satna, they offer financial independence and have the potential to be replicated in other parts of the city as well. However, it is important to note that as part of the smart city challenge, in the competitive process, one of the conditions was, that cities were required to highlight their financial capacity, demonstrate their effective administration and management ability from previous projects, and propose innovative ideas for projects that generate funds via LVC or innovative land monetization mechanisms. To comply with the SCM guidelines, participating cities seem to have displayed a slightly inflated perception of themselves and their ability to self-finance urban developments in the ABD plans. For example, Bhopal projected an IRR on completion of 19% for its commercial housing, 18% for retail, 16% for housing, and 15% each for office and hospitality [35]. In Bhopal, the initiative of upfront selling the governmentowned land was a significant deviation from the past approach of leasing for 99 years. To market these saleable parcels and recruit businesses, Indore has conducted several

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

303

investors meetings and organized marketing workshops with national and international real estate developers, investors, and consultants in Mumbai, Bhopal, and Indore. Bhopal recently sold its one land parcel in January 2021, and it did receive a 10.5% premium above the reserved bid price. Parcel number 83 was zoned for commercial use and was auctioned for |81.7 Cr ($11.3 million) for 2.75-acres [34]. While there are anecdotal cases of premium bids for land sales, despite several attempts to sell the parcels, anticipated sales have not materialized. The plan is yet to see success as envisaged to generate a whopping |2621 Cr. ($352 million) from the sale of 117-acre land at an average price of |22 Crore/acre ($3 million/acre). These inflated projections also have their roots in meeting the conditional expectations at the proposal stage from the SCM.

14.6.4 The Retrofit Based ABD Are More Replicable and Have a Greater Impact The retrofitting process is quite challenging and time-consuming, and often the results of the retrofit interventions are not immediately visible. However, retrofitting does not require huge capital-intensive investments upfront, as are needed for a greenfield site or a redevelopment project site. The retrofitting-type interventions have greater replicability potential in most Indian cities as their city center challenges are similar to those faced by Indore. If Indore ABD is successful in their retrofitting and development efforts, it could serve as a model for other cities to replicate. The “Rajwada Rejuvenation” of Indore was presented as a self-funded retrofitredevelopment ABD project that was proposed to recover its investments with the smart city cess, enhanced property taxes, real estate sales, and sales of bonus FAR to the developers. It is expected to transform the core of Indore into a vibrant central business district. It will combine intelligent regeneration and conservation of the historic inner city, market areas, and riverfront and public spaces with the redevelopment of select land parcels for creating compact, mixed-use, and sustainable neighborhoods. Indore, in its SCP, made highly optimistic revenue return estimates. It is estimated that |6340 Crores ($ 845 million) will be raised from two sources: by land monetization and by the sale of FAR bonuses in the ABD area. It is estimated that 9.4 million sq ft of built-up space will be available for monetization from the 146-acre government land in the ABD. The overall financial model of the Indore project has a 13% project-level IRR and 22.2% IRR on equity in the SCP [11].

304

J. Mittal and D. Harode

14.6.5 Success of Land Pooling Schemes Have Prerequisites Satna opted for a land pooling system (LPS) for its ABD, which is a multi-step planning process with certain pre-requisites. It requires vibrant real estate markets, institutional capacity and statutory support, transparent communication of the process, and relatively larger land parcels than what Satna ABD has. Implementation of LR/LPS requires a solid legislative framework. The enabling law for the LPS is the Madhya Pradesh Town and Country Planning (MPTCP) [24] u/s 50/56, does provide provision for the town development schemes or the reconstitution of land and land assembly in agreement with private landowners [24, 39]. It is possible to implement this tool in Satna. The latest amendment to the MPTCP Act in 2019 potentially provides further direction for the speedy progress of projects through the LPS process in the state [12], however, this has yet to be confirmed at this time. The private landholding in the Satna ABD area is small with an average parcel size of 0.24 acres, owned among 1019 landowners who jointly own 1230 parcels for the 296-acre area of the ABD [37]. This type of fragmented landholding becomes truly challenging for lot reconstitution in the LPS. With 75% appropriation planned for Satna, the net size of the returned lots would be extremely small after reconstituted and development would not be feasible. In that case, the choices are limited, and landowners may not be willing to participate in the redevelopment efforts. Initially, the PULSE-ABD area had 25 projects planned at a cost of approximately |1171.4 Cr. ($ 157 million), but due to delays in approval of the master plan from the state government, and the only accessible land government-owned, only two of the ABD projects could be initiated. The LPS is a complex, multi-step process that requires the rigorous participation of landowners and local and state planners. It also requires highly accurate and reliable land records, an equitable, transparent, and creative LPS plan layout, and sound and transparent financial planning. For any LPS process to be successful, it must have a few prerequisites [19]. For example, LPS requires a robust and active local real estate market demand, strong statutory support to implement LPS, relatively sizable private landholdings, and involvement of a manageable number of landowners for conflict-free planning [18]. In the Satna ABD however, given limited experience with the LPS by the city planning team as well as the state planning team of MP, the LPS in its current form could be a major challenge. Furthermore, Satna ABD’s private land parcels are significantly smaller in size for the LPS purposes, and there are a large number of landowners involved. This may potentially result in legal complications, conflicts, and delays in the due process of the LPS mechanism. It also appears the Satna LPS in its current form could pose a serious challenge, and the revenue projected in the SCP may not be generated as anticipated. On most greenfield projects, with a few exceptions in the Indian context (such as those in Gujarat, where statutory tool exit and cities have the experience), LPS takes a long time to evolve due to private land involvement and associated litigation.

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

305

14.7 Conclusions and Policy Recommendations The chapter concludes that among the three case studies and two spatial scales of interventions, the most effective PCS component of the smart city with IT-based smart city intervention that benefits the entire city population, and improves the efficiency of urban services. The ABD is just a small area development plan with the infusion of massive infrastructure investments to attract new capital in the name of a smart city. Among the three types of ABD proposals, Bhopal and Indore have already achieved quite a success both in the implementation of ABD and PCS plans, but Satna faces the biggest challenge of its private holdings and its lack of experience in the LPS. Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) released a ranking of 100 smart cities in 2020. Bhopal was ranked first, Indore seventh, and Satna was not on the list at all. The ranking was based on the number of projects completed, transparency and efficiency of the contracting process, and the proportion of allocated funds utilized, among other parameters. Incidentally, Bhopal’s top ranking came just a few days after the inauguration of several initiatives including the Smart Park, Arch Bridge, the Sadar Manzil heritage conservation project, Smart Road, Boulevard Street in ABD, and other projects of the ABD [38]. Another measure used was Municipal Performance Index (MPI), conducted by MOHUA in 2020. MPI measures cities’ performance in five sectoral areas: services, finance, planning, technology, and governance [23]. Indore and Bhopal ranked 1st and 3rd, while Satna 54th among 111 cities on the MPI in 2020. Satna, in a separate ranking of fewer than a million population cities, ranked 38th among 60 cities. A slightly different measure, the Ease of Living Index (EoLI), is a composite index used to measure the quality of life (health, education, housing, safety, wellbeing, etc.), economic ability and opportunity, sustainability, and citizen perception indicators. EoLI was also conducted by MOHUA in 2020. Among 111 cities, Indore ranked 9th on EoLI, Bhopal 19th, while Satna was near the bottom [9]. Cities must explore land-based financing tools as they reduce budgetary constraints and offer alternative financing options. It’s important to note that such tools are not necessarily successful in all situations and cases. The three case studies and the discussions presented above suggest that revenue estimates for all landbased financing must be supported on the ground realities of the local market. Since the market conditions are dynamic, the plans and their financial strategies should be resilient in responding to unanticipated changes. All land-based financing plans must also formulate alternative strategies and contingency scenarios. The case studies also reveal a need for frequent review of the ABD plan proposals and progress tracking of these plans. The reviews must be conducted in light of the changing market conditions. Land-based financing is still a bit new to India. Not all cities have the experience of responding to change in market demand, growth trends, and how it could potentially affect the revenues and success of land-based financing projects. Periodic review and adjustments helps in improving reliability of the plan proposals and provides a check on potentially overly optimistic, self-proclaimed,

306

J. Mittal and D. Harode

self-financing plan proposals. Reviews allow making adjustments to the plans and increase probability of success. The land is a state subject in India. Any land-based planning tools that change the nature of private landholdings and reconfigure the land titles, such as LPS, require robust enabling legislation for easy plan implementation. Satna seems to be on hold for lack of clarity on the land based planning tool. Planners involved in planning as well as city, and state government facilitating urban development, must ensure that such enabling statutory tools exist before implementing a land-based strategy tool. It’s the authors’ hope that this chapter is insightful for planners, public administrators, policymakers, and scholars interested in similar smart initiatives in other parts of the developing world.

References 1. Ahluwalia, I.J.: Urban governance in India. J. Urban Aff. 41(1), 83–102 (2019). https://doi. org/10.1080/07352166.2016.1271614 2. Basu, I.: Elite discourse coalitions and the governance of ‘smart spaces’: politics, power, and privilege in India’s Smart Cities Mission. Polit. Geogr. 68, 77–85 (2019) 3. Bhopal ABD Master Plan: “ABD Master Plan Report” (March), Tata Consulting Engineers Limited, TCE.10339A-CV-3000-MP-3001 (2017) 4. Bhopal SCP: “Smart city challenge, stage-2, round 1: smart city proposal, Bhopal. Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, 2015. MP-01-BPL (2015) 5. Byahut, S., Mittal, J.: “Can haphazard growth in urban villages be prevented? experience from the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar region.” In: Ch. 7 in Patnaik, S., Sen, S., Mahmoud, M. (eds.) Smart Village Technology. Modeling and Optimization in Science and Technologies, vol. 17, 135–156. Springer (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37794-6_7 6. Byahut, S., Mittal, J.: “Using land readjustment in rebuilding the earthquake-damaged city of Bhuj, India.” J. Urban Plan. Develop. 143(1), 05016012 (2017), ASCE Journal. https://doi.org/ 10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000354 7. Chakraborty, A.: Smart mischief: an attempt to demystify the Smart Cities craze in India. Environ. Urban. 31(1), 193–208 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247818769234 8. Datta, A.: Self(ie)-governance: technologies of intimate surveillance in India under COVID-19. Dialogues Hum. Geogr. 10(2), 234–237 (2020) 9. EoLI: “Ease of Living INDEX 2020.” Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) (2020). Accessed on 25 Mar 2021, https://livabilitystore175634-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/pub lic/docs/Ease_of_Living_Report.pdf 10. Hollands, R.G.: Will the real smart city please stand up? City 12(3), 303–320 (2008). https:// doi.org/10.1080/13604810802479126 11. Indore SCP: “Smart city challenge, stage-2, round 1: smart city proposal, Indore. Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, 2016. MP-02-IND (2015) 12. InSitu Enviro Care: “Environmental Impact Assessment for Satna Smart City,” InSitu Enviro Care. (August) (2020) 13. Knight Frank and REPL: Indore Smart City ABD Master Plan (Final) (2018), Accessed on 25 Mar 2021, from https://www.smartcityindore.org/development-control-regulation/ 14. Malhotra, C., Manchanda, V., Bhilwar, A., Basu, A.: “Designing inclusive smart cities of the future: the indian context,” In: Vacca, J.R. (ed.) Solving Urban Infrastructure Problems Using Smart City Technologies: Handbook on Planning, Design, Development, and Regulation, Chapter 29, 631–659. Elsevier Inc., NL (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816816-5. 00029-2

14 Two Scales of Planned Interventions in Three Smart Cities of India

307

15. Mittal, J. and S. Berson. 2022. (In Press) “Self-Financing Urbanism in Developing Countries: A Ready Reckoner for Land Value Capture (LVC) Instruments,” Chapter 9 in Uday Chatterjee et al. (Eds), Sustainable Urbanism in Developing Countries, Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003131922 16. Mittal, J. and Byahut, S.: “Planning initiatives and best practices in Ahmedabad.” In: Ch. 26. in Rukmana, D. ed., The Routledge Handbook of Planning Megacities in the Global South, Routledge (2020). https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003038160/chapters/ https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003038160-26 17. Mittal, J., Forson, L., Byahut, S.: “Creating higher density property development opportunities in fringe areas of Surat—a case of Surat Outer ring-road using land readjustment and density bonuses.” In: Ch 11 in Das, P. et al. (eds.) Real Estate in South Asia, Routledge, UK (2019). https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351233194/chapters/https://doi.org/ 10.1201/9781351233194-11 18. Mittal, J., Kashyap, A.: Real estate market-led land management strategies for regional economic corridors—a tale of two megaprojects. Habitat Int. 47, 205–217 (2015) 19. Mittal, J.: Self-financing land and urban development via land readjustment and value capture. Habitat Int. 44, 314–323 (2014) 20. Mittal, J.: Extending land readjustment schemes to regional scale: a case of regional ring road via mosaicking neighborhood-level plans. Real Estate Finance 30(2), 62–73 (2013) 21. MOHUA: “Annual Report 2019–20,” Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA), Government of India (2020). Accessed on 24 Mar 2021, from http://mohua.gov.in 22. MOHUA: “Schemes/Programs,” Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA), Government of India (2021). Accessed on 24 Mar 2021, from http://mohua.gov.in/cms/swachh-bha rat-mission.php 23. MPI: “Municipal Performance Index2020.” Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA), Government of India (2020). Accessed on 25 Mar 2021, https://livabilitystore175634-prod.s3. amazonaws.com/public/docs/MPI_Report.pdf 24. MPTCP Act: (Hindi Ver) (1973). Accessed on 22 Mar 2021, from https://mphed.nic.in/tcp-act 1973.pdf 25. Praharaj, S., Han, J.H., Hawken, S.: Urban innovation through policy integration: critical perspectives from 100 smart cities mission in India. City Cult. Soc. 12, 35–43 (2018) 26. Satna “COVID-19 Status” Live. 2021. Accessed on 26 May 2021, from https://datastudio.goo gle.com/reporting/32fc04bd-5535-434a-89d1-391f88d7b4c9/page/q63DC 27. Satna SCP: Smart city challenge, stage-2, round 3: smart city proposal, Satna. Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, 2017. MP-06-SAT (2017) 28. SCM Dashboard (2021) Accessed on May 20 and March 24, 2021, from https://smartcities. gov.in/dashboard 29. SESEI: “Report on Smart City Mission in India (2018),” report accessed on March 22, 2021, from http://www.sesei.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Report-on-Smart-Cities-Mis sion-in-India_July_2018_Final.pdf 30. Smart Cities Mission: “Strategy.” (2020). Accessed on 22 Oct 2020, from http://smartcities. gov.in/content/innerpage/strategy.php 31. Smart Cities Mission: “Making A City Smart Learnings from the Smart Cities Mission—a workbook for decision-makers,” New Delhi, Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, March (2021). Accessed on 23 Mar 2021, from https:// smartnet.niua.org/sites/default/files/resources/making_a_city_smart_mar2021.pdf 32. Smart City Bhopal: “Area based development—TT nagar” (2021). Accessed on 25 Mar 2021, from http://15.207.4.202/projectdetails/MTM%3d.html 33. Smart City Indore: “ABD (Retrofitting)” (2021). Accessed on 25 Mar 2021, from https://www. smartcityindore.org/existing-scenario/ 34. SmartCity Bhopal (2021), Accessed on 26 May 2021, from https://www.facebook.com/smartc ity.bhopal.79 35. TCE: Bhopal Smart City— Business Plan Report (February) Tata Consulting Engineers Limited, Report number TCE.10339A-AC-1000-BS-03 (2017)

308

J. Mittal and D. Harode

36. Tata Consulting Engineers Limited: “Feasibility Report” Tata Consulting Engineers Limited (2017). Report number TCE.10339A-CV-3000-FR-30001 (R1), April. 37. TCE and CBRE: “Satna Smart City Project,” PowerPoint Presentation (April) (2019) 38. TNN: In the new ranking system, Bhopal tops the smart city list,” Times of India (Feb 7) (2021). Available from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/in-new-ranking-sys tem-bhopal-tops-smart-city-list/articleshow/80729896.cms. Accessed on 10 Feb 2021 39. United Nations: World urbanization prospects: highlights, United Nations (2019). Accessed on 18 June 2019, from https://population.un.org/wup/Publications/Files/WUP2018-Highlights. pdf

Jay Mittal is Associate Professor in the Master of Community Planning Program (MCP) at Auburn University. He has received his Ph.D. in Regional Development Planning; Real Estate from University of Cincinnati, USA. He also earned his MBA from University of Cincinnati, USA, along with a Master of Technology in Urban and Regional Planning from CEPT University, India. He brings over 22 years of professional experience in private consulting, research, and academia. Prior to joining Auburn, he taught at the University of Cincinnati (UC) in the Planning Program at DAAP and in the Real Estate development program at Carl Lindner College of Business. He received a prestigious fellowship from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA for his doctoral research, and has published in notable planning and real estate journals: Environment and Planning B, Habitat International, J of Sustainable Real Estate, Real Estate Finance, and Journal of Urban Planning and Development. He is frequently invited to speak at major academic and professional meetings and peer institutions in the Americas, India, China, and Europe. Dinesh Harode is the Director and Sustainable Cities Specialist of Ecorys India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India. He has been Former Team Leader, Smart Cities, Madhya Pradesh, India. He is an Urbanist and Urban Management/Reform Specialist with expertise in urban policy advocacy, Smart Rejuvenation and Social and Environmental safeguard policies of capital intensive infrastructure projects. His key sector experience is varied and includes Smarter Cities/Communities, Urban Infrastructure—Placemaking, Roads and Highways, Water Supply, Municipal Solid Waste Management, Health, Poverty Reduction, Affordable Housing, Anthropogenic Disaster Management, E-Governance, and Strategic Institutional Frameworks/Design— Strengthening and Building Capacities etc. He has made enormous contributions in the field of policy formulation and implementation of City Development Vision/ Strategies, Urban Reforms, Social Development, Local Economic Development, Policy and Planning.

Chapter 15

Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable Action Plans for Indian Smart Cities to Re-define Public Engagement Sreenandini Banerjee, Nandini Bhattacharya, and Mayank Saravagi Abstract The issues of building and managing sustainable cities are compounded by inefficient service delivery by ULBs, incorrect targeting of solutions to citizens, and grievance resolution. Although there have been previous attempts at institutionalizing citizen engagement, the India Smart Cities Mission launched in 2015, implemented a distinct methodology for the selection of cities, wherein cities were evaluated with Citizen Engagement as one of the scoring criteria in its “Challenge” phase. In spite of the directive to engage a minimum of 1% population for consultation activities in this stage, lacunae were observed in the media, tools, and citizen engagement strategies. With the intention of verifying whether citizens’ inputs to create smart communities in the proposed Smart Cities were incorporated into the final Smart Cities projects, the authors worked at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on a year-long action research project. Toward the goal of creating sustainable, scalable citizen engagement plans for cities, the authors implemented 14 strategies in 2019 in Chandigarh (selected as the pilot) for a duration of 2 months, while targeting stakeholders and citizen partners among the populace. With these primary findings and successful worldwide best practices, the authors created stepwise implementable action plans for Indian cities on enhancing civic participation for smarter community planning of projects. These action plans intend to deepen any reader/user’s understanding of smart and sustainable governance which will aid them in mapping citizens’ needs. In the course of building these plans, the authors have devised a toolkit that will be useful before planning any engagement activity in the city by the ULBs.

S. Banerjee (B) · N. Bhattacharya Center for Digital Governance, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India e-mail: [email protected] M. Saravagi Data Analytics and Management Unit, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_15

309

310

S. Banerjee et al.

15.1 Introduction Citizen engagement acts as both a means and an end for government programs to achieve results for public services, social inclusion, and other benefits. Programs, where citizen engagement is mainstreamed via two-way interactions between citizens and governments, give such citizens an incentive in decision-making to improve outcomes in public programs. In India, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act paved the way for people’s participation in urban and rural processes. The passage of these acts is a recognition of the importance of citizen engagement as the building blocks of democratic governance at grass-roots level. As a two-way process, citizen engagement enhances officials’ sense of responsibility toward vocal and active citizens, while reinforcing the sense of civic duty among the latter. Finally, citizen engagement is the first course of action for the mainstreaming of marginalized groups such as women, youth, and minorities, whose inputs might otherwise be missed. While the immense importance of citizen engagement has been recognized in public administration, in the implementation of the Indian Smart Cities Challenge Phase, it was emphasized that citizens’ inputs should be carefully recorded and appropriately reflected in the choice of projects selected for cities and that such projects can be used by citizens across social and economic strata. Thus, a fundamental value of the study was that of inclusion and horizontal continuous engagement with citizens across the city level. Since the conclusion of the Challenge phase, it is worthwhile questioning whether citizen engagement and inputs have only been sought in the preliminary phase of the project cycle in the Indian Smart Cities Mission, without confirming whether such projects are useful or relevant to the citizens themselves. Thus, without a continuous engagement loop between local authorities and citizens, there may be a very real risk that the efforts put into creating Smart Cities may not even reach their ultimate users—the citizens. To mitigate such risks, the authors proposed that it is important to institutionalize continuous citizen engagement processes that close the feedback loop. The key questions relevant to issues of citizen participation in Smart City planning within Indian context are: How do citizens participate in today’s most ambitious urban planning exercise under the aegis of the futuristic Smart Cities Mission? How do people see their futures in India’s rapidly urbanizing landscape? The authors focus on these broad questions in this chapter and identify that despite existence of multiple channels of communication between citizens and civic associations, sustained and meaningful engagement beyond grievance redressal is minimal in Indian urban planning context. The specific research question posed in this chapter is: How can we promote meaningful and sustainable channels of engagement between citizens and their local governments? To respond to this question, the authors have devised a citizen engagement toolkit for the urban administrators which will support them in engaging with their citizens to deliver better outcomes and build people-centric cities in India. Currently, citizen engagement is recommended through government policies and programs as part

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

311

of the standard operating procedure or guidelines. While engagement policies have been incorporated into such policies at multiple levels, there is a lack of self-reflexive improvement to the policy on the basis of the public participating in the creation of such policies. The implementation, efficacy, and monitoring of such policies do not take into account the role of public grievances or feedback to improve the design of the policy post-implementation. These gaps in program design, implementation, and evaluation are addressed through the devised toolkit. By providing easy-to-use tools, the toolkit aims to build acceptance of citizen engagement practices at every level of bureaucracy. Aside from similar toolkits promoted by international aid and regulatory agencies, this toolkit is one of the first indigenously built toolkits built entirely to interface with bureaucrats. In addition to proselytizing the benefits of citizen engagement, EPIC breaks down what such engagement means, and how it can be employed sustainably.

15.2 Civic Engagement in India Smart Cities Mission With the launch of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2005, the government institutionalized and promoted citizen participation at ward and neighborhood levels [21]. Under JNNURM the formation of structures like the Technical Advisory Group (TAG-national level), City Technical Advisory Groups (CTAGs), and the City Volunteer Technical Corps (CVTCs) enhanced the involvement of the civil society organizations. These groups supported the municipalities in ensuring transparency and accountability [35]. With the growth of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in metropolitan cities, citizen participation in India has also witnessed greater representation of civic interests. RWAs are not official organs of government but they are registered through Co-operative Societies’ Acts. Civil society organizations have made an effort to mobilize or rally citizens around the cause of engagement of public policy, to make citizens actively engage with public administration to ensure that their voice is heard in making decisions relevant to their everyday lives. For instance, Janaagraha in Karnataka launched a ward-level works campaign in Bengaluru in 2001 to get citizens to participate in the allocation of wardlevel funds. Over 5000 citizens across 65 wards took part and actively negotiated with the Bangalore Mahanagar Palika for their needs. Similarly, in 2003 in Odisha, the Center for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) sought to gain greater citizen participation in the state budget. There is a critical requirement for inclusive urban infrastructure in India. This need has been addressed by the several missions and programs introduced on urban infrastructure since the early 2000s. However, a top-down approach has always been adopted for the functioning of projects, with limited space for citizens’ voices which are otherwise pivotal in creating pressure on the government for delivery of services [27].

312

S. Banerjee et al.

The India Smart Cities Mission launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (M/o HUA) is a unique urban renewal and retrofitting mission which incorporated the aspirations of citizens through participatory planning. It was the first of its kind to emphasize people’s participation in a “bottom-up”, planning approach, making it a critical component in its process (India Smart Cities Mission Guideline). To continue with this auspicious beginning, the Smart Cities Mission now has citizen engagement platforms to build inclusive cities by fostering meaningful and sustainable local government and citizen partnerships. Thus, citizen engagement is a crucial component of the Mission. This study is based on the premise of citizen participation in the Indian Smart Cities Mission specifically outlined in the Stage II challenge to engage a minimum of 1% population of all participating cities through consultative activities. 15% of the marks under the scoring criteria in the Smart City Proposals were allocated for the citizen engagement section. This was a mandate laid down by M/o HUA which was used as a scoring parameter for the selected 100 smart cities. The authors developed a toolkit on Citizen Engagement, which is explained in this chapter.

15.3 Review of Literature In order to develop a Citizen Engagement toolkit, the authors took a systematic approach to literature review. The following flow diagram gives a brief overview of the phase-wise review of literature. Some of the important concepts and narratives which will build the premise of the following subsections have been cited here (Fig. 15.1). Citizen engagement processes employed in planning, implementation, and utilization of urban infrastructure projects and services in the Smart Cities Mission present a unique opportunity to critically analyze civic participation in India. However,

Fig. 15.1 Phase-wise literature review plan. Source Authors

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

313

the history and corresponding literature on citizen engagement and participation in planning, governance, and development has a much longer and more global history. The study seeks to nest itself in this wider literature on civic participation and engagement, particularly in the models and use cases that have been piloted across the world. Previous Theories, Models, and Implementation of Citizen Engagement The following Indian and Global theories and models of citizen engagement were identified as relevant to the project’s goals (Table 15.1). A review of the above yielded the following principles for the design and implementation of successful citizen engagement processes: • Three ingredients are required for successful and effective citizen engagement initiatives: (i) a solid understanding of the broader social economic and political context in which citizen engagement is to be nested, (ii) an assessment of the capacities of the local citizens and local authorities to engage with each other, and (iii) an assessment of the incentives available and the willingness of the stakeholders to engage with each other (Learn Behavioral Science, Ideas42). • Citizen engagement initiatives at the city level must be realistic. That means that they must be results-oriented and implementable given capacities of both urban local bodies and city systems. Table 15.1 Indian and Global frameworks of citizen engagement Indian frameworks

Global frameworks

(i) Smart Cities Mission Guidelines (http://sma rtcities.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/SmartC ityGuidelines(1).pdf) (ii) NIUA-CIDCO Smart City Lab Citizen Engagement Strategy (https://cidco-smartcity. niua.org/category/research-page/page/3/) (iii) DeitY Framework for Citizen Engagement in e-Governance, 2012 (https://meity.gov.in/ writereaddata/files/Framework%20for%20Citi zen%20Engagement%20in%20NeGP.pdf) (iv) TERI Public Participation and Area Sabhas Report Prepared for MoUD, [21] (http://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/ TERI_Sabhas_Report28.pdf) (v) JNNURM Recommendations for Participation (http://mohua.gov.in/upload/upl oadfiles/files/1Mission%20Overview%20Engl ish(1).pdf) (vi) World Bank India Citizen Engagement and Development Outcomes Learnings Report, 2017 (http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/ en/534171505972670075/pdf/119848-WP-P15 1154-PUBLIC-OMeally-et-al-PSR-Rev-2017web.pdf)

(i) World Bank Citizen Engagement Evaluation Findings (https://ieg.worldbankgroup.org/eva luations/engaging-citizens-better-develo pment-results) (ii) World Bank Citizen Engagement Mainstreaming Strategy (http://documents.wor ldbank.org/curated/en/266371468124780089/ pdf/929570WP0Box380ategicFramework forCE.pdf) iii) Public Participation Handbook, James Creighton, SmartNet NIUA (https://smartnet. niua.org/sites/default/files/resources/Public% 20Participation%20Handbook.pdf) (iv) Ladder of Citizen Participation, Sherry Arnstein (https://www.participatorymethods. org/sites/participatorymethods.org/files/Arn stein%20ladder%201969.pdf) (v) OECD Citizen Engagement Learnings part of OECD Better Life Index (http://www.oec dbetterlifeindex.org/topics/civic-engagement/)

314

S. Banerjee et al.

• Aside from working with present contexts and incentives, citizen engagement processes must also have a built-in goal and mechanism for building capacities of the stakeholders over time by promoting innovation and learning within existing systems. • In order to be sustainable, citizen engagement initiatives must have good organizational fit with local governance structures. • Citizen engagement initiatives must be inclusive and sensitive to diversity in cities, particularly in multicultural, multi-ethnic, and socio-economically stratified societies such as India. By design, they must mitigate elite capture, and take special care of under-represented voices. • Truly democratic and participatory citizen engagement processes must move from a “Stakeholder Management” approach to a “Multi-stakeholder Engagement” approach. • Any entity designing and implementing citizen engagement processes must design “thick” citizen engagement, which is regular and continuous (having multiple entry points in the Operational and Project Cycle), comprises multiple tools and channels, is embedded in context, and engages with citizens at multiple levels: individuals, associations, and civil society organizations. • For citizen engagement, both breadth and depth are critical and must be selected strategically. • Localization is key for citizen engagement processes. They must be relevant to local needs, aspirations, and capacities. • Finally, citizen engagement processes must possess the ability to track tangible outputs and outcomes of citizen engagement at city level for two objectives. One, is to ensure transparency and accountability in the processes themselves. Two, to reinforce among stakeholders the benefits of continued communication and build trust between citizens and their local governments. The pyramid of citizen engagement types along with a ladder of the values they generate for cities was designed based on the Indian and Global Frameworks. The depiction of these concepts in a pyramid conveys that those processes at the bottom are critical and must reach all citizens are non-negotiable, that they operate at scale, whereas processes on the top strategically select a sample of citizens for more indepth citizen engagement. Therefore, this pyramid has been used as the foundation for designing the action plans for the urban administrators. In this section, the authors have provided an overview of the literature and existing practices of citizen engagement. Using this as a backdrop, the following sections expand on the methods and practices of citizen engagement that civic authorities can easily adopt and incorporate into their existing as well as future projects.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

315

15.4 Design and Development of EPIC Toolkit: A Model for Sustaining Civic Engagement Using the “pyramid” of citizen engagement developed in the previous section, a series of citizen engagement modules have been developed, which cater to every type of engagement method and the purposes it serves. This section delves into the key offering for public policy practitioners and government authorities who encounter the need for citizen engagement in the course of their activities. A web toolkit on Citizen Engagement named EPIC (Engaging People for Inclusive Cities) was designed and implemented (now hosted on M/o HUA website1 ) as a product of a government initiative, Project Involve. Project Involve is an initiative to help city officials stay grounded with respect to their citizens’ needs and aspirations and propose dynamic, sustainable solutions to improve the usability of citizenfriendly projects across cities in India. It seeks to mainstream citizen engagement at all stages of the project cycle in urban development. The EPIC toolkit2 comprises an Integrated Dashboard which integrates data at the city level, a City Evaluation Audit on citizen engagement for government officials— with the facility to compare and reflect on multiple cities at once—known as the City Index along with the tailored Action Plans for various consultation types. EPIC was created through an intense effort of data integration from various sources, and consultations with Smart City officials, as well as over 30 start-ups, civil society organizations, think tanks, and citizens groups. EPIC provides a thoroughly tested implementation plan, budget and operation, organizational fit, human capacity map, and best practices that are relevant to city context. The EPIC toolkit was designed based on numerous case studies reviewed by the authors; best practices from India, Global cases like Canada Brazil, etc. The designed action plans have been adopted by the authors after thorough review of these examples. Table 15.2 shows some of the examples and these have been categorized as per the citizen engagement ladder (Fig. 15.2).

15.4.1 Design of the EPIC Toolkit This section details the stages of design and course corrections adopted by the authors in order to create the toolkit of engagement practices. Previous sections have dealt with the lack of reflexive improvements to citizen engagement methods in existing government policies. The implementation, efficacy, and monitoring of such policies do not take into account the role of public grievances or feedback to improve the design of the policy post-implementation. 1

Link of the official MoHUA website where EPIC is hosted: https://smartnet.niua.org/smartcode/ solutions/epic.html. 2 Link of the YouTube Video on the concept of EPIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1n5kx JlJig.

Indian case [name of the city]

Chandigarh

New Delhi Municipal Council

Bengaluru

Category

Routine G2C Services

Grievance Redressal

Feedback Collection

Global case [name of the city]

Main learnings Citizen Centered Governance and Response Management—Use of different platforms for building a “learning city”

Nigeria (https://reboot.org/wor dpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/ 03/Enabling-Citizen-Driven-Imp rovement-of-Public-Services_ 2015.pdf)

Cambodia (https://giz-cambodia. com/inauguration-of-one-win dow-service-offices-at-districtlevel-in-kampong-speu-pro vince/)

Maternal Health Project (https://www.sabrangindia.in/ article/how-karnataka-improv ing-childrens-health-focusingmothers)—Real-time feedback from illiterate pregnant mothers through a handheld device

(continued)

Designated Service Centers—One Window Service Offices support local government to better meet citizens’ needs thereby ensuring dialogue with district authorities

ICT for Social Accountability—World Bank’s initiative to strengthen their own accountability to their beneficiaries by collecting citizen feedback on their experiences with public services

Victoria (https://www.victoria.ca/ Customer Service Response assets/Departments/Communica Program—Citizens’ feedback on tions/Documents/Civic_Engagm engineering department projects ent.pdf)

Boston (https://www.victoria.ca/ assets/Departments/Communica tions/Documents/Civic_Engagm ent.pdf)

Third Citizen Report Card (https://www.slideserve.com/ niel/third-citizen-reportcard)—The Citizens’ Report Card to monitor government services in terms of efficiency and accountability

“Suvidha Camp”—Bi-monthly meetings between HoDs and Citizens to resolve issues

“e-sampark” centers—single umbrella to give the citizens of Chandigarh a “multi-service” “single-window” experience

Main learnings

Table 15.2 Referred Global and National cases for designing the toolkit

316 S. Banerjee et al.

Solution Co-creation

Inputs Soliciting

Information Sharing and Awareness Generation

Category

Table 15.2 (continued)

Indian case [name of the city]

Main learnings

Global case [name of the city]

Main learnings

(continued)

“Municipal Citizen Councils”—a collective citizen body for consultation, analysis, participation, and supervision in matters of public security and justice

“Action Research”—three-year collaborative project of community economic development

New Zealand (https://www.new zealand.com/int/maori-culture/)

Mexico (https://www.facebook. com/160606330681891/photos/ a.576276232448230/299575023 0500806/?type=3&is_lookas ide=1)

“Smarticipate Planning”—Developing a knowledge-based citizen participation platform

“Toward Q2”—2020 vision was framed through citizen engagement on various mediums

Hamburg, Rome and London (https://www.mdpi.com/20782489/8/2/47)

Queensland (https://wildlife.org. au/toward-q2-tomorrows-queens land/)

Norway (https://www.opengovpa Electronic Public Records rtnership.org/members/norway/ (OEP)—Every citizen can access commitments/NO0039/) the public records database and make searches in the public journals

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable … 317

“Participatory Neighborhood Planning”—improvisation of shared community infrastructure by augmenting social and technological capacity to achieve the goal of a “slum-free” Puducherry “Participatory Service Delivery”—Altruistic citizens decided to help during the lockdown as part of the Covid-19 response

Puducherry (https://citiis.niua. org/sites/default/files/SCM_CiI TIIS%20Book_23%20Feb_0. pdf)

Ahmednagar

Citizen Co-management

Main learnings

Indian case [name of the city]

Category

Table 15.2 (continued)

“OpenStreetMap”—pilot in Jakarta relied on community participation and stakeholder engagement to collect detailed information about local infrastructure

Jakarta

Hague

“Neighborhood development corporations”—aligning redevelopment plans according to the resident welfare associations’ plans

“Machizukuri” Community Planning—An urban planning technique involving the communities to build up their public spaces on their own with the funding from the government

“Participatory Budgeting”—practice involves neighborhood, regional and city-wide assemblies in which participants identify priorities of spending

Brazil (https://www.occupy.com/ article/rebel-cities-13-porto-ale gre-brazil-shows-how-participa tory-budgeting-works%23sthash. MKn5TVpj.yNdBTbga.dpbs)

Kobe (https://www.tandfonline. com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09386491. 2002.11826881?needAccess=tru e&)

Main learnings “Greenway Plan”—establish a human-powered transportation network

Global case [name of the city] Victoria, British Columbia and Canada

318 S. Banerjee et al.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

319

Fig. 15.2 Citizen engagement ladder developed by the Team based on Arnstein’s Ladder (1970). Source Authors

These gaps in program design, implementation, and evaluation are addressed by the EPIC toolkit. By providing easy-to-use tools, the toolkit aims to build acceptance of citizen engagement practices among every level of bureaucracy. Aside from similar toolkits promoted by international aid and regulatory agencies, EPIC proselytizes the benefits of citizen engagement and explains what such engagement means, and how it can be employed sustainably. The project was executed in five main stages, wherein the results of each stage fed into the inputs of the next. Stage 1, the team critically analyzed the citizen engagement processes employed in planning, implementation, and utilization of urban infrastructure projects and services in the Smart Cities Mission in order to identify a well-defined problem. This was conducted through a review of all the Smart City Proposals, consultation with experts involved with the mission as well as with urban planning, as well as a review of existing literature on citizen engagement. In Stage 2, the team was immersed in primary research—mainly by way of observation of the working of a special purpose vehicle for the Smart City Mission. In this case, Team Involve selected Chandigarh as the pilot city to execute the strategies. However, to test the tools and recommended media of engagement before the main pilot, the authors selected NDMC to conduct test consultations. This stage also included interviews with officials at the special purpose vehicle [Chandigarh Smart City Limited]. Stage two involved identification of relevant stakeholders among citizens and local government, and multi-stakeholder consultation at the city level in order to take stock of the presently existing engagement channels between the two sets of stakeholders. Once these channels were identified, a thorough SWOT analysis was carried out on the selected cities in order to map the strengths and weaknesses in their current citizen engagement policies.

320

S. Banerjee et al.

Fig. 15.3 Project methodology. Source Authors

In Stage 3, the team designed pilot strategies as viable interventions in citizen engagement in the pilot city—Chandigarh. The following factors were kept in mind while designing the pilot interventions: 1. 2. 3.

The pilot interventions on citizen engagement must address real problems of citizens and government officials as identified in the previous stage. They must be contextually appropriate and viable for the city to fund and implement given its priorities, budget, and manpower. They must be scalable to other cities.

Stage 4 involved monitoring the interventions of the piloted strategies. Each pilot strategy carried out in the previous stage had an in-built feedback component for the participants from among both sets of stakeholders (local government and citizens). The feedback gathered from the stakeholders as part of the monitoring process was evaluated in order to assess the successes and challenges of the project and opportunities for scaling up to other cities through the EPIC Toolkit. Finally, with the learnings from the piloted strategies and the intensive secondary research in Stage 1 and Stage 2, Stage 5 involved the designing and the completion of the EPIC toolkit. This stage also included UAT testing of this toolkit by significant stakeholders. The infographic in Fig. 15.3 summarizes the Project Methodology in five stages.

15.4.2 Implementation of EPIC in Chandigarh as Pilot Study A detailed and rational process was followed to identify which city would be the most suitable to carry out the pilot strategies. After conducting an in-depth literature

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

321

review, preliminary interviews with smart city CEOs, sector experts, and analyzing Smart City Proposals (SCPs), Census of India, and MIS data of 100 smart cities, four cities were shortlisted for conducting primary research. NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council) was selected as a city to test out research tools and hypotheses. The various offline and online citizen engagement mediums of NDMC were studied after meetings with the Smart City Ltd., and ULB officials. After testing out the hypothesis and the tools in NDMC, Chandigarh was selected as the most appropriate pilot city to conduct the project pilot for several reasons. Chandigarh had employed a good mix of online and offline media for citizen engagement strategies in the Smart City Challenge phase; it had reported over 30 types of stakeholder groups were consulted in this phase; the city’s population was fairly diverse in terms of population, slum population and literacy. Finally, it presented a unique opportunity to the team to work with a Union Territory Administration, along with a Municipal Corporation and Smart City—which allowed the team to execute various cases of citizen engagement strategies.

15.5 Identifying Typology of Cities for EPIC Implementation Using the statistical tool of cluster analysis, the authors evolved a typology of cities. Cities were clustered on certain characteristics such as population and demographics, literacy rates, and slum population in the 100 sample cities, among others. This exercise led to the division of all 100 sample cities into four clusters. The rationale used was that solutions that work in a particular city can be scaled to other cities similar to it grouped under one cluster. The literature review conducted prior to this exercise revealed that any intervention requires three ingredients for success— context, capacities, and incentives. The typology created by the team will be useful beyond this project for any urban intervention that wishes to scale up in a modular manner.

15.5.1 Use of the Socio-Demographic Parameters for the Dashboard The following four socio-economic-demographic parameters have been used for analyzing and developing city clusters. The data for all of the following parameters have been collected from the Census of India for all the 100 smart cities (Fig. 15.4). Total Population: The population of these cities is the most crucial element of demography to assess and develop any plans which can be sustainable in nature. The population class size of cities forms the first basis for preparing city typologies.

322

S. Banerjee et al.

Fig. 15.4 Framework developed by team for developing city clusters. Source Authors

Slum Population: The percentage of slum population in urban areas can be calculated from the proportion of urban population living in slum households. Cities with more than 25 percent of slums will have different mediums/tools for capturing the inputs and feedback for city projects. Slum-dwellers are a heterogeneous population, but a diverse group of people with different interests, means, and backgrounds. General Literacy Rate: The general literacy rate of the individual cities determines the use and architecture of many online mediums like e-governance applications, online websites for feedback, or registering complaints. Slum Literacy Rate: Various representative groups like Slum Associations, SelfHelp Groups, and Area Level Federations convey the rate of literacy in slums during consultation activities which becomes useful for planning various offline activities by the government.

15.5.2 Integrated Dashboard This is a web-based tool in the EPIC toolkit wherein data from the 100 Smart Cities has been collected, analyzed, and displayed. It has two parts; first, the authors have collected data on citizen engagement from the Smart City Proposal documents of all 100 Smart cities. Second, it also has Demographic data of all 100 Smart Cities. The SCP data includes forms and magnitude of Citizen Consultation, Government and Citizen Segments consulted, and Engagement Strategy. These data have been collected, analyzed, and represented graphically on the dashboard. The dashboard also allows one to compare two cities and give a detailed analysis. The Dashboard will help the urban administrators understand the sociodemographic profile of their cities while designing the action plans for their city and planning various offline and online citizen consultation activities as specified in Sect. 15.6. The authors have used the city typologies to design city-wise action plans on the Toolkit. The city clusters have been made on the basis of population class sizes and

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

323

Table 15.3 City typologies developed by the team Population class sizes

Cities

Cities like you

PI (First Quartile)—11,000–290,000

Panaji

Kavaratti, Dharamshala, Diu, Pasighat, Itanagar, Dahod, Silvassa, Gangtok, Port Blair, Shimla, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Thanjavur, Thoothukudi, Puducherry, New Delhi, Imphal, Sagar, Satna, Karnal

Erode Gangtok Tirupati

P2 (Median Class)—290,001–6,00,000

Kakinada Ajmer Jhansi Shivamogga

P3—600,001–11,80,000

Kochi Chandigarh Bhubaneswar Thiruvananthapuram

P4—11,80,001 & above

Thane Indore Pimpri Chinchwad Chennai

Aizawl, Bihar Sharif, Tumakuru, Bilaspur, Muzaffarpur, Agartala, Bhagalpur, Davanagere, Tirrupur, Udaipur, Tirunelveli, Belgaum, Mangalore, Jammu, Ujjain, Karimnagar, Dehradun, Rourkela Saharanpur, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, Jalandhar, Aligarh, Moradabad, Bareilly, Hubli-Dharwad, Solapur, Guwahati, Kota, Madurai, Warangal, Coimbatore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ranchi, Allahabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad Srinagar, Varanasi, KalyanDombivali, Rajkot, Faridabad, Nashik, Agra, Ludhiana, Vadodara, Patna, Bhopal, Indore, Vishakapatnam, Nagpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jaipur, Pune, Surat, Chennai, Ahmedabad

classified into four classes as shown in the Table 15.3. From the entire set population of the 100 cities Median, Q1, Q3 and Q4 have been computed. From each of the class sizes, four cities have been selected, totaling into 16 cities for which the action plans have been designed on the EPIC Toolkit. It is hypothesized that the action plans will hold true for the entire class and can be replicated. In this book chapter, the authors have used the same action plans as described previously, as it will be easier for any professional/practitioner to understand. The primary findings from Chandigarh have been explained in detail along with practical resources in 15.6 for academicians researchers or any city official to relate and have a hands-on understanding.

15.6 Sustainable Action Plans: EPIC Framework This section forms the primary component of the toolkit, made for urban administrators to execute different offline and online activities involving their citizens. As

324

S. Banerjee et al.

mentioned in Sect. 15.3, adapted from the Arnstein’s Ladder of Engagement framework (1969), this adapted version of the engagement ladder expands the horizons of citizen engagement. This pyramid forms the main foundation of the entire study work and especially while designing the action plans as it will help the city officials stay grounded with the needs of their citizens. This pyramid ranges from routine engagement services which the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) may provide already (information on project type and frequency), complaints and grievance redressal. It moves all the way up to citizen co-management as a concept for sharing a vision for your project and service with the ultimate stakeholders—the citizen users (refer to Fig. 15.2 for the pyramid). This section discusses each of the seven strategies in detail starting with explaining its concept and significance. Appropriate case studies have been identified both globally and nationally, on the basis of which 14 online and offline activities were planned and executed in Chandigarh (pilot city). The designed action plan has outlined four main elements which are most useful for urban administrators to understand—(i) Targeted Stakeholders—based on specific time duration (2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and continuous/longer time duration), the list of both government officials and citizen clusters have been mentioned (ii) Tools Required—the list of both online and offline elements required for executing the particular strategy (iii) Logistics Required— based on the same time duration as for targeted stakeholders, manpower and other essential things to be kept prepared before the implementation of the strategy (iv) Financial Resources—the heads under which a cost will be incurred. At the end of each strategy, the activities pertaining to the particular strategy, have been showcased briefly with major focus on the execution process. This adds a realistic value to each of these strategies and will aid the urban administrators in relating it with their city scenario.3

15.6.1 Routine G2C Services Routine government to citizens (G2C) communications form the first rung of the engagement ladder. Routine communication between the government and citizens tends to be a one-way flow of information. Examples like information regarding a vaccination drive, announcements regarding waste pick-up, or information regarding a routine service from the horticulture department strictly fall under these daily activities of the government/ULBs. Importance There exist multiple channels of registering complaints by citizens and a lack of integration of all this data with proper analysis leads to improper and inefficient service delivery to the people. Therefore, proper analysis of grievance data and sending it to correct departments for resolving is necessary. 3

All tables, photographs, maps have been made/clicked by the authors in this section.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

325

Designed Action Plan Targeted stakeholders Tools required Continuous: NGOs, consultants, school and college students, teachers, college professors, and youth associations, RWAs, MWAs, senior citizens, community representatives, vendors and slums associations, professional associations, and PPP partners

Logistics required

Financial resources

Main kinds of tools • In existing human • The main heads of include traditional resources in any expenses will be methods of government body covered in the information already - staff project expenses dissemination from managing the under information government agencies departments, and awareness to the public like posters, and generation notice boards, posters, signboards about the • This will include items such as and information services provided, website desks/kiosks at the among others • The changing assets maintenance, ULB office. Also, required include a promotional items online platforms such well laid out website for awareness, and as eGov apps, online that incorporates others or digital information • This is a continuous information for kiosks, social media cost that will every department, posts, and periodical continue if the contact details in informational articles project or service is case of queries, and in newspapers provided a project regarding projects or implementation services schedule for citizens • Instructions on how to use such services especially in local languages and in both online and offline mediums. Have audio recordings and translations in Braille

Supporting Activity in Chandigarh Activity name: Multifunctional kiosks spatially distributed in Chandigarh. Pilot Brief: In Chandigarh “e-Sampark” centers provide services that include all the departments under one single umbrella and give citizens of Chandigarh a “multi-service” - “single-window” experience by eradicating the undue harassment met by the citizens due to lack of transparency in government services. Services and Departments Include (i) (ii)

Payment of taxes VAT/CST Collection—Excise and Taxation Issue of Bus Passes—Chandigarh Transport Undertaking

326

S. Banerjee et al.

(iii)

(iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) (ix) (x) (xi)

Issue of Senior Citizen Card Issue of Disability Identity Card Disbursement of pension for old age persons, widows and disabled persons— Social Welfare Department Payment of Electricity Bill Booking of Tube well for irrigation in Rural Area—Engineering Department Issue of Birth and Death Certificates—Births and Deaths Registration Department Payment of Water and Sewerage Bills Open Space Bookings Community Hall Bookings—Municipal Corporation Doctor’s Appointment for GMSH and GMCH—Health Tenant Registration Domestic Servants Registration General, Sticker, and Postal Challan—Chandigarh Police Sale of Stamp Papers Sale of Stamps and Special Adhesive Stamps— Treasury Sale and Receipt of Forms All deposits for dwelling Units of CHB— Chandigarh Housing Board Passport Application Submission—GOI Services.

The e-sampark centers are found in these sectors/areas of Chandigarh; Sector 10, Sector 15, Sector 17, Sector 18, Sector 21, Sector 23, Sector 40, Sector 43, Sector 47, Mani Majra, Industrial Area, Phase-I, PGI and Punjab and Haryana High Court (Fig. 15.5).

Fig. 15.5 The e-sampark Centre in Chandigarh

Service Provided by: UT Administration of Chandigarh (directly under the central jurisdiction).

15.6.2 Grievance Redressal Grievance Redress Mechanism is part and parcel of the machinery of any administration. No administration can claim to be accountable, responsive, and user-friendly unless it has established an efficient and effective grievance redress mechanism. The grievances of the public are received at various points in the Government of

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

327

India. Grievance Redressal typically covers three types of complaints; (i) Service Unavailability (ii) Non-delivery against Commitment (iii) Excessive Delays. In an urban local government, complaints get registered through various channels/mediums, and there is a need to conduct timely analysis to maintain and improve the delivery of routine services. Importance There exist multiple channels of registering complaints by citizens and a lack of integration of all this data with proper analysis leads to improper and inefficient service delivery to the people. Therefore, proper analysis of grievance data and sending it to correct departments for resolving is necessary. Designed Action Plan Targeted stakeholders

Tools required

Logistics required

Financial resources

Continuous: Complaint Cell, Monitoring Cell of the Urban Local Body, various departments of the ULBs like Public Health, Horticulture, Transportation, etc. Citizens will be the major stakeholders irrespective of the time duration and RWAs, MTAs, and Slum Associations as Representatives will also have an important stake when service-related problems need to be registered collectively

Complaints Database, Final Excel sheet for spatial analysis after sorting data, GIS/mapping software, YouTube Video manual for making heat maps in GIS/mapping software

Many municipalities have an online platform for registering complaints; however many citizen groups find it convenient to explain complaints either, face-face or over the phone. Therefore, helpline numbers should always be active with operators who can escalate to the correct departments 2 weeks: Google Earth Pro and MS Office (Excel) 1 month: Google Earth Pro, ArcGIS, and MS Office (Excel), an operator with GIS operative knowledge is preferable 3 months and 6 months: Google Earth Pro, QGIS (optional), ArcGIS, and MS Office (Excel)

Finances will be required only in terms of the licenses for the mapping software, i.e., a licensed version of MS Office and ArcGIS to be used by the Complaint Grievance team of any municipal corporation

Supporting Activity in Chandigarh Activity Name: Analysis of Complaint Grievance Data through Spatial Analysis (Heat Maps).

328

S. Banerjee et al.

Pilot Brief: Mapping the Grievance data spatially received through municipality website according to project services. Time Period: 26th August to 3rd December 2019 (> 3 months). Purpose: Currently there are five different channels for registering complaints in Chandigarh—(i) Punjab Raj Bhawan Website, (ii) CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System) website, (iii) the complaint grievance portal of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) website, (iv) physical window of registering complaints in MCC and (v) multiple toll-free nos. A new channel has also been introduced, for complaining through a Whatsapp number of the municipality. However, as a matter of fact, there is no integrated system or means of analyzing these complaints from the five different channels. Therefore, team Involve has tried to carry out a spatial analysis, in form of heat maps, of the data received through the MCC Complaint Grievance Portal, for enhancing the existing complaint grievance mechanism. In this regard, the complaint data of the past 1 year (July 2018–August 2019) has been considered for preparing heat maps (Fig. 15.6).

Fig. 15.6 Complaint grievance cell in MCC

Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Complaint Cell, MCC

(i) All citizens of the city

(ii) Monitoring Cell, MCC

(ii) RWAs, MTAs, Area Level Federations, Slum Associations as representatives

(iii) MCC Departments like Public Health, Horticulture, Buildings and Roads, Health and Sanitation, Enforcement and Electrical

Execution Process (a)

(b)

Team Involve started to collect weekly data of the complaints registered through the municipality website, from the Complaint Cell of Municipal Corporation Chandigarh from 26th August 2019. Year-long data of complaints with addresses were received in the format shown in the screenshot. The same excel sheet is also available in the resources section of the toolkit.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

(c)

(d) (e) (f)

329

This excel sheet with 1-year data of complaints was then sorted for spatial analysis in mapping software—ArcGIS (10.3 Version) and Google Earth Pro. These complaints were marked spatially in Google Earth Pro to have a preliminary analysis and the same was informed to the MCC Officials. In ArcGIS, the interpolation of these locations have been done with the help of the IDW method, as a part of the Spatial Analyst Tool. The same data was also used to arrive at the final output of spatial analysis, through superimposition of all the IDW Layers derived from each project service type of registered complaints.

The final output can be observed in the Fig. 15.7. Spatial analysis can help the departments to understand the areas of recurrence in a city for each kind of complaint and plan for solutions to resolve the complaints at an expedited scale.

Fig. 15.7 Map prepared by the team through ArcGIS for total no. of registered complaints

330

S. Banerjee et al.

15.6.3 Feedback Collection There has been a rising demand by members of the civil society to have a more prominent stake in public decision-making, and a desire among many governments which are more inclusive and increasingly receptive to residents’ needs. Thus, there is the possibility of “close the Feedback Loop” among citizens and governments. There are four ways in which the government can work effectively toward hearing its citizens’ feedback—(i) leveraging existing touch points (routine services) (ii) the barrier to completion can be lowered, keeping fewer questions in feedback forms (iii) the surveys can be made simpler (iv) asking the right audience or appropriate population sample. Importance Collecting citizen feedback on how a municipality is doing with its strategic initiatives does, of course, take time and effort—but it offers myriad benefits. Not only will one get a better idea of how the city is performing, but the government will make people feel more connected to their community by ensuring that their voices are heard. Designed Action Plan Targeted stakeholders

Tools required

Logistics required

Financial resources

2 Weeks: Smart City and Municipal Corporation Officials—including the Municipal Commissioner, Public Relations Officer, RWAs, MTAs, Area Level Federations, Slum Associations 1 month: Above-mentioned stakeholders and Youth volunteers from organizations, citizens of the ABD Area (as pilot), School students, and teachers of ABD Area 3 months: stakeholders under 1 month and IT Department, Traffic Police, Officials of Education Department 6 months: stakeholders under 3 months and Mayor, MLAs, ward councilors

Different types of feedback from both in Hindi and English can be easily customized as per requirements. Posters and jingles for different events, dummy mobile applications for various project services

2 weeks: Official ULB email accounts for opening social media pages, an existing ULB website, feedback collection boxes at ULBs and other multifunctional kiosks 1 month: Logistics under 2 weeks and SMS, Online polls through ULB Websites 3 months: Logistics under 1 month and citizen perception surveys at commercial areas of the city 6 months: Logistics under 3 months and door-door surveys

2 weeks: Minimal expenditure for putting up boxes at the ULBs and other multifunctional kiosks 1 month: Financial Resources under 2 weeks and labor cost for hiring an operator for handling the feedback from website and SMS 3 months and 6 months: Logistics under 1 month and cost for hiring an agency to carry out citizen surveys

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

331

Supporting Activities in Chandigarh Activity I: Chandigarh Pedal (Live Demo of the Public Bike Sharing Project). Pilot Brief: A Live Demonstration of the proposed Public Bike Sharing project under Chandigarh Smart City in Sector 17 (City Center). Time Period: 23rd September 2019 (1 day). Purpose: To gauge the interest of the public in the proposed Public Bike Sharing (PBS) project; and gauge their ability to pay for the same through online transactions. Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Smart City and Municipal Corporation Officials—including the Municipal Commissioner, Public Relations Officer, IT Department, and others

(i) All citizens of the city

(ii) Chandigarh Traffic Police

(ii) Service providers such as the cycle vendors, caterers, printing companies, merchandising company

(iii) Youth volunteers from organizations such as Nehru Yuva Kendra, National Service scheme

Execution Process (i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

(v) (vi)

As the first step a rough budget was chalked out for the event. With the help of the prepared DPR of the Bike Sharing Project, the no. of recharge points was selected and the area identified Permission to run the event was sought from the Traffic Commissioner on the basis of the selected points. A youth group was involved as a set of volunteers for which approval was sought from the Secretary of the youth organization Vendors needed to be contacted and finalized to organize the requisite infrastructure and logistical requirements like cycle providers, printers (of banners and flexes), caterer The public was informed through advertisements in the local newspapers regarding the event before and after the event to keep them apprised of the opportunities to participate in such initiatives Arranged online and offline payment methods with the Smart City finance team and associated banks Designed and tested feedback forms also in Hindi and the local language for the participants in the demonstration to fill out

332

S. Banerjee et al.

(vii)

(viii)

On the day of the demo, the cycles needed to be transported to the venue. The launch of the demo was done after coordinating with visiting dignitaries and media persons Post-event analysis of the feedback and analysis was done. The important learnings were: (a) Out of 543 total attendees 36% owned a cycle and the rate of cycling was calculated as 32% using every day (b) 57% supported app-based services (Figs. 15.8 and 15.9).

Fig. 15.8 Press release post event

Fig. 15.9 Images of the public bike sharing demo in Sector 17

Outcome (a)

The Municipal Corporation and Smart City have multiple avenues to conduct projects such as these again. Similar user testing can be conducted for projects being implemented in public schools, colleges, parks, streets, and other spaces

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

(b)

333

Focus group discussions prior to the implementation of future projects is significant, to arrive at more specific targeting for their public projects and make projects more financially/operationally viable through rigorous testing.

Activity II: e-governance app testing. Pilot Brief: Conducting user testing of a dummy egov app to collect feedback from various targeted stakeholder groups (college students, RWAs/MTAs and Self-Help Groups) to improve the design of the egov app by Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL). Time Period: 2nd–6th December (> 1 week). Purpose: One of the first projects in the pipeline for CSCL was the egov app (combining 27 services) for municipal officials and users of the general public. To name a few of the services, payment of bills, e-Challans, booking public spaces and building permits, information related to certain emergency services, registering complaints and grievances relating to municipal services. Team “Involve” conducted these feedback sessions to improve the functionality of the proposed app by catering to the specific requirements of the intended users in the city. Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Smart City Officials

(i) Specific schools and colleges

(ii) Officials associated with the technical development of the app at the Smart City Limited

(ii) RWAs, MTAs, Area Level Federations, Slum Associations members

(iii) Vendor developing the egov App by CSCL

Execution Process (i)

(ii)

When conducting these events, it is useful to be in close communication with representatives of the targeted stakeholder groups. One team member was in constant communication with the RWAs throughout the pilot phase and was able to determine the availability, time, and venue of the location as per the convenience of the local residents. The event was conducted in the evening in a local park with the RWAs and similar feedback session was conducted with the students of Chandigarh College of Architecture and also Punjab Engineering College. The feedback session was held with the City Level Federations of Self-Help Groups—coordinated by the DAY-NULM staff. The event was conducted at a local community center, where the SHG members usually conduct meetings and events. The NULM staff invited the

334

S. Banerjee et al.

members, team “Involve” made arrangements for the pamphlets, meals/refreshments and water accordingly (Fig. 15.10).

Fig. 15.10 Feedback session with RWAs and college students on the dummy e-gov application made by the Team

(iii)

The team designed a focus group discussions format in preparation for the event. Questions included—number of mobile phone users, number of mobile application users, number of residents/RWA members who have registered complaints previously, among others. Another online questionnaire was created to be circulate among college students and RWA members for more detailed written feedback.

Outcome (i)

(ii)

The Smart City team and Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh can use this e-governance application user testing feedback to design a more customized mobile application for the city. Smart city officials can also use this module as a template for further user experience testing.

Activity III: Interactive feedback session in two schools for Smart Classroom Project. Pilot Brief: To conduct an interactive feedback session with students, parents, and teachers on Smart Classroom. Time Period: 20th September to 1st October (< 2 weeks). Purpose: To understand the usage of the upcoming project under Smart Cities Mission team “Involve” did a usability testing on Smart Classroom project with the students, teachers, and parents of public schools in Sectors 22

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

335

and 35. An interactive feedback workshop was organized in both schools to demonstrate the components of the project. Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Chandigarh Municipal Commissioner, General Manager, and other smart city officials

(i) Students, Teachers and Parents of Sector 22 Government Model Senior Secondary School

(ii) District Education Officer, UT Admin

(ii) Students, Teachers and Parents of Sector 35 Senior Secondary School

Execution Process (i)

(ii)

(iii)

In total 66 students, 23 parents, and 13 teachers attended the feedback session. The execution of the workshop happened in two days. The date, time, and venue for the events were arranged as per the convenience of the school teachers, parents, and students. In order to facilitate the process, a letter from the District Education Officer was sent to the school principals. A demo video of components of the smart classroom with the live demonstration was shown to respective stakeholders. Through a questionnaire and recorded video, the inputs were collected and analyzed with the present RFP. It helped in finding the gaps and amending the RFP with the necessary changes. It was observed that the teachers and parents did not enjoy or participate in the process as much as the students. In separate sessions with the teachers and principals, the feedback received indicated that along with the Smart Classroom project (which mostly included ICT components), it is important to strengthen essential infrastructure in the school. This includes reinforcing the building itself, which in many cases was in a complete state of disrepair, posing a threat to the lives of the students and other users of the building (Fig. 15.11).

336

S. Banerjee et al.

Fig. 15.11 Feedback session on smart classrooms in schools, Sectors 21 and 35

15.6.4 Information Sharing and Awareness Generation Information Sharing and Awareness Generation is not to be treated as a “standalone” activity but a “component” of project Ideation, Planning, Execution, and Implementation Stage for any project. The India Smart Cities Mission is largely about effective IEC strategy to nudge community and involve in various urban projects.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

337

Designed Action Plan Targeted stakeholders

Tools required

Logistics required

Financial resources

2 Weeks: NGOs, Consultants, School and College Students, Teachers, College Professors, and Youth Associations 1 month: RWAs, MTAs, senior citizens, Community Representatives, Informal Segment including vendors and slums 3 months: Various Associations and PPP Partners 6 months: Stakeholders under 2 weeks, 1 month and 3 months

Traditional methods of information dissemination from government agencies to the general public—including notice boards, posters, and information desks/kiosks at the ULB office among others. Platforms such as egov apps, online or digital information kiosks, social media posts, and periodical informational articles in newspapers

Continuous: Among human resources in the ULBs—staff managing the departments, posters, and signboards about the services provided among others. The changing assets require a well laid out website and social media pages that incorporates information for every department, contact details in case of queries, and a schedule that allows citizens to understand how soon they can expect the service/project to be implemented. It is necessary to ensure that all such information is available in the official language of the region as well as in Hindi and English. The internet penetration and digital literacy rate should be known before announcing online initiatives in your city

Continuous: The main heads of expenses in this strategy type will be covered in your project expenses—under information and awareness generation. This will include items such as website maintenance, promotional items for awareness, and others. This is a periodic cost incurred based on the scheme or mission during that particular time period

Supporting Activities in Chandigarh Activity I: Building a webpage for the Chandigarh Smart City. Pilot Brief: Opened a web portal for Smart City-related information and hosted it on the Municipal Corporation Website. The website is linked here (http://mcchandigarh.gov.in/?q=smart-city-chandigarh). Time Period: Ongoing (Launched on 9th September 2019). Purpose: During our pilot phase, CSCL did not have its independent website or webpage and this is one of the first things anyone searching for information on Chandigarh Smart City would have noticed. This activity developed a basic prototype of what a Smart City web portal must contain, in order to have an online presence. The components included—(a) an Organization Chart of the

338

S. Banerjee et al.

Smart City SPV structure and its Governance Structure (b) basic information on CSCL under an “About” Section (c) a list of projects under the Smart City SPV by Sector (d) a section for Announcements and News Ticker archiving of any news or social media reportage on the Smart City (e) a link for Contacting CSCL These components together form a basic set of information that a Smart City SPV must disclose to the citizens, in order for them to be cognizant of what is going on in their cities under the Smart Cities Mission. Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Chandigarh Commissioner cum Chandigarh Smart City CEO

(i) No citizen segments were directly involved

(ii) IT Department of MCC Chandigarh (iii) CSCL Officials

Execution Process: Information on the Chandigarh Smart City was collated from various sources including existing Smart City documents such as the Smart City Proposal, and any existing news coverage on the Smart City. Smart City Officials were also interviewed for the status and the type of smart city projects being developed in Chandigarh. This information was used to create the static segments of the webpage, such as “About Us”, Organization and Governance Structure, and “Sector Wise List of Smart City Projects”. Once the webpage was uploaded, dynamic content such as News presence and Announcements continued to be added. Outcome: A standardized minimum guideline can be created for all Smart Cities, listing a basic set of components necessary for information disclosure/sharing with citizens. Chandigarh Smart City Limited created their website 6 months later after our pilot where they integrated the webpage created by us. These segments and their use helped them in structuring their website and getting traction on the same (Fig. 15.12).

Fig. 15.12 Smart City Page developed by the Team and integrated in the ULB Website

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

339

Activity II: Awareness and Information Dissemination through social media. Pilot Brief: Opening pages on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as various Mediums of social media. Time Period: Ongoing (5th September for Facebook and Twitter, 15th September for YouTube). Purpose: In terms of information sharing and dissemination, there was no existence of social media pages pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City. As a matter of fact, on the basis of numerous focused group discussions (FGDs) and meetings with the residents of Chandigarh, Team Involve came to a conclusion that the citizens were unaware of the smart city projects and developments in the city. Therefore, smart city pages were created on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as mediums of social media to make the citizens aware of the projects. Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Chandigarh Municipal Commissioner, General Manager, and other smart city officials

(i) No citizen segments were directly involved but it catered to the entire public of Chandigarh

(ii) IT Department of MCC (iii) Public Relations Officer, MCC

Execution Process: An official gmail account, “[email protected]” was first created by Chandigarh Smart City Officials along with team “Involve” which was then used for opening pages in Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The pages opened on these three social media sites have been used for creating awareness and sharing information pertaining to events held by Chandigarh Smart City Limited. The links to the three pages are as follows: (i) (ii) (iii)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChandigarhSmart/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChandigarhSmart YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiYN11Rd36mvdyr5n XkJnJw

Outcome: The social media pages helped in disseminating information to the citizens of Chandigarh. Chandigarh Smart City uses these pages to promote and spread awareness to the public (Figs. 15.13 and 15.14).

340

S. Banerjee et al.

Fig. 15.13 Information dissemination for an event through Facebook

Fig. 15.14 Information dissemination for an event through Twitter

Activity III: Capacity Building Workshop with SHGs (Self-Help Groups), associated with Deendayal Awas Yojana—National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM). Pilot Brief: A Day-long capacity building workshop with Area Level Federation of SHGs by information sharing and informal feedback collection on upcoming projects. Time Period: One month (Sept-Oct 2019) of interaction with various officials, informal settlement, and members of SHGs. The workshop was conducted on 10th Dec 2019. Purpose: It was observed while interacting with the corporation officials, informal settlement, and SHGs that they were unaware of the projects that were being undertaken under Smart City Mission and were unaware of the procedures to address their grievances in the Corporation. For this purpose, a single-page awareness pamphlet was designed in English and Hindi for citizens to help them to approach the municipal corporation. Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Chandigarh Municipal Commissioner cum CSCL CEO and other smart city officials

(i) Area Level Federation, SHGs

(ii) Nodal officer, Day-NULM, Municipal Corporation (iii) District Consultant, Day-NULM, Municipal Corporation

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

341

Execution Process (i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

It is essential to spend a few days conducting informal interviews with the members of the SHGs to understand their concerns and recognize the issues which can meaningfully impact them. In Chandigarh, the NULM staff proved to be invaluable in coordinating such sessions. Similarly, prior to the event, it was necessary to check with the NULM officer in charge to select the time, date, and venue for the event (and other associated logistics such as number of attendees, projector device, issuing invitations to allied resource organizations, etc.) The pamphlet designed as the key takeaway from the event was vetted by the staff for consistency and ease of understanding, and a suitable number of pamphlets were printed as per their advice. In a day-long workshop, the team conducted a training session with the SHG members and discussed what are the challenges the members face in lodging complaints. The team also discussed forthcoming Smart City projects which might be useful for the SHG members in many ways. The SHG members were trained in the complaint grievance process, and many members made complaints right then to demonstrate the process to others. The Whatsapp number and the toll-free numbers were used, as it was established that the members are most comfortable with these methods. The team continued a discussion with the NULM members post-event on how such activities could be continued, and the NULM team decided to review the progress of this training in 15 days’ time. The team requested the NULM members to share the results of such monitoring activities (Fig. 15.15).

342

S. Banerjee et al.

Fig. 15.15 Information Pamphlet developed by the Team in English and Hindi for self help groups

Outcome: Capacity building workshop helps in generating awareness and providing information to the citizens in their local language. There is a possibility to conduct more such exercises for any of the forthcoming projects by the smart city, especially those incorporating ICT mechanisms that will be implemented in the pan-city area.

15.6.5 Inputs Soliciting Public Input is one of the major techniques of citizen participation or public involvement. This technique of taking inputs from the public, and soliciting ideas and citizens’ opinions is extremely crucial for designing and executing projects. They are most effective when combined with feedback mechanisms that inform participants of the extent to which their input has influenced project planning decisions. Every

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

343

effort must be made by local governments to encourage input from all groups and sections of the society. Importance Citizen participation provides the most significant feedback on needs and challenges facing service delivery at the input stage. Such an avenue for citizen participation in a quality management system is relevant for the ULBs to explore if it is committed to continuous improvement in service delivery. Public input is required for: (i) to gain ideas from the public (ii) to gain citizen input about alternatives and consequences of a proposal (iii) to give citizens wide decision-making powers (iv) to stay informed about the needs of certain neighborhoods or interest groups. Designed Action Plan Targeted stakeholders

Tools required

Logistics required

Financial resources

2 Weeks: Heads of Architecture, Medical and Engineering Colleges, Heads of Universities and other research institutes, Directors of Museums, Heads of Civic Associations like Engineers, Planners and Lawyers, Heads of Commercial Organizations 1 month: Stakeholders under 2 weeks and School and College students, city-wide population (for idea competitions) 3 months: School and College students, city-wide population (for idea competitions) 6 months: stakeholders under 2 weeks, 1 month and 3 months

Traditional methods of information dissemination from government agencies to the general public—including notice boards, posters, and information desks/kiosks at the ULB office among others. Platforms such as egov apps, online or digital information kiosks, social media posts, and periodical informational articles in newspapers

Continuous: Press releases/newspaper advertisements, Digital media posts, Posters, Flexes, Feedback survey forms, stationary, Location for holding meetings (such as conference rooms or community halls with seating capacity of 30 persons). For an ideas’ competition and an exhibition/workshop: Digital media posts, Municipal Corporation website, press releases, A community center/exhibition hall, newspaper advertisements, posters, flex, feedback survey forms, and stationery

Continuous: If there is space within one of the ULB offices, then no cost needs to be incurred for procuring a space. Approximately within Rs. 10,000 will be spent on stationery and posters/flexes

344

S. Banerjee et al.

Supporting Activities in Chandigarh Activity I: Chandigarh Live. Pilot Brief: Online and offline consultations were held with representatives of academic and industry associations, as well as live broadcast of this event was conducted on Youtube in order to invite public participation as well as suggestions for future collaborations with Chandigarh Smart City Limited. Time Period: 17th September 2019 (1 day). Purpose: In order to solicit expert suggestions to plan better projects for Chandigarh Smart City, the Smart City Corporation and Municipal Corporation held an event where the heads of colleges, research institutions, industry associations, and other professional groups were invited to a brief interactive session at the Municipal Corporation held in September. The team also decided to make the event open and interactive for the general public by broadcasting it live on YouTube. Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Chandigarh Municipal Commissioner, Special Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner

(i) Representatives from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh College of Architecture, CII, FICCI, PGIMER, SPIC, ITPI, Chitkara University, Chandigarh Bar Association

(ii) SE (Public Health), Assistant Engineer, MoH Official, Enforcement Department Head (iii) Complaint Grievance Department, Monitoring Cell (iv) Public relations officer and social media officer of the Municipal Corporation or Smart City Corporation

Execution Process (i)

(ii)

These items needed to be ensured for the smooth operation of the Chandigarh Live event—(a) receiving participants and ensuring their timely entry to the venue (b) ensuring the availability of feedback forms and other stationery required for the event (c) refreshments and other logistical details as required (d) creation of a YouTube Channel on which the broadcast of the event can be streamed. The event began with an address by the Smart City Corporation CEO who gave a general introduction on the essence of Chandigarh Live and the work of the Smart City Corporation and the Municipal Corporation in engaging with the citizens.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

(iii)

(iv)

345

In the course of a two-hour long discussion, the representatives discussed various ways the academic institutions and industry groups in Chandigarh could aid the Smart City Corporation’s agenda in making Chandigarh a premier Smart City. The officials also took some questions from the present participants and online participants regarding the functioning of the city. The image displays some of the comments received and moderated live on the platform during the event. The event closed with a vote of thanks from the team, and the collection of completed feedback forms (Fig. 15.16).

Fig. 15.16 The YouTube channel with the event to be broadcasted live

Outcome: The Smart City team can host such events regularly in order to receive insights and suggestions from members of the general public, as well as from experts from academic institutes and industry organizations. The agenda for such future events can be decided through online polls or written suggestions from previous invitees. Such events will strengthen ties between stakeholder segments as well as provide invaluable feedback and inputs for future Smart City projects. Activity II: Jal Sanrakshan Hackathon and Exhibition. Time Period: 1 month. Purpose: To solicit inputs from citizens on methods to reuse and conserve water in the city; work on methods of coordination between government missions.

346

S. Banerjee et al.

Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Smart City and Municipal Corporation Officials—including the Municipal Commissioner, Public Relations Officer, IT Department, and others

(i) All citizens of the city

(ii) SE (Public Health), Assistant Engineer, (ii) Printing agency MoH Official, Enforcement Department Head (iii) Complaint Grievance Department, Monitoring Cell

(iii) School students, college students, school and college principals

(iv) Public relations officer and social media officer of the Municipal Corporation or Smart City Corporation

Execution Process (i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

(v) (vi)

(vii)

The first step was ideating the perfect theme or issue on which public suggestions or ideas could be solicited, as well as the procedure for inviting such suggestions. Since the first phase of public engagement was ongoing in August for the Jal Shakti Mission in the form of the Jal Sanrakshan, it was decided to incorporate issues with themes in common between multiple missions. While funds for this initiative would be drawn from the IEC component of Smart City funds, the Nodal Officer for Jal Shakti mission would act as a judge for the competition and aid in implementing any likely ideas after the completion of the competition. The structure of the competition was designed by the team to be a month-long event, culminating in the exhibition and declaration of winners. A form was created in both English and Hindi for participants to send in their entries along with the poster The team decided to create three categories for participation—school students, college students, people of all ages. This was done to ensure maximum participation from Chandigarh residents, and also to ensure fairness in evaluating the subsequent entries. These entries could be submitted via email, online form or hard copies could be sent in to the Smart City office. Permissions from the Director of Public Institutions to approach schools and colleges to participate in the competition were sought Details of the competition were published in the Municipal Corporation website, advertisements printed in newspapers and radio channels hosted specially created jingles for this competition. At the end of the competition period, the team compiled all the entries received via email, online form submission and hard copies

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

(viii)

(ix)

(x)

347

collected at the Smart City office. Online submissions were printed and compiled into the relevant categories along with the completed forms. Once compiled, the entries were judged by the Smart City CEO, GM Technical, and the Nodal Officer—Jal Shakti Mission. Results were declared on the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh website on 2nd October 2019 through a press release. The venue for the planned exhibition was a community center in Sector 25 Chandigarh and was organized by the Municipal Commissioner and Senior Engineer, Complaints Grievance Department. The Director of Public Institutions was requested to allow students of nearby schools to attend the prize distribution ceremony and public interaction with the Smart City and Jal Shakti Missions officials. The team coordinated with the winners in each category to invite them to the exhibition, provide a summary of their ideas and collect their certificates. The winners were put in touch with the Municipal Corporation in order to facilitate discussions on the viability of implementation of their ideas. A press release was drafted and circulated after the exhibition in order to publicize the suggestions received during the competition.

Outcome: Along with a competition, an open forum—whether online or offline—may be created side by side for citizens who do not have a targeted solution, but do wish to share their feedback, communicate, or engage in any way with the local government on the given theme/issue. Similar competitions are currently being held by the Smart City team where the entire city of Chandigarh is being involved (Figs. 15.17 and 15.18).

Fig. 15.17 The Chandigarh Commissioner addressing the school students at the exhibition

348

S. Banerjee et al.

Fig. 15.18 The Poster created by the Team for the Jal Sanarakshan Ideas Hackathon

15.6.6 Solution Co-creation Citizens’ participation in public projects can be thought of as social innovations or solutions for products, services, and processes, where citizens’ inputs toward social needs are recorded to improve current processes, which can also lead to improved capabilities and relationships and/or better use of assets and resources. The most important feature of this activity is that it allows many people to participate in public processes and get involved in various ways, for example by fundraising, volunteering, and actually delivering services. Importance Solution co-creation is a strategy through which the promise of open government is unlocked. Through this participatory process, the citizens’ needs and interests are prioritized and amplified the needs of citizens in areas/processes which need most attention. Through this process, ULBs and civil society organizations can strengthen local capacities and ensure appropriate devolvement of funds.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

349

Designed Action Plan Targeted stakeholders

Methods/platforms used

Logistics required

Financial resources

2 Weeks: Head NGOs, Consultant, School and College Students, Teachers, College Professors, and Youth Association, RWAs, MWAs, senior citizens, Community Representatives, Informal Segment including vendors and slums 1 month: RWAs, MTAs, senior citizens, Community Representatives, Informal Segment including vendors and slums 3 months: Various Associations and PPP Partners 6 months: Human rights organizations, resource organizations dedicated to monitoring and evaluation, community budgeting, and other relevant stakeholders who can take effective decisions for the city

Citizens can participate in the following roles to discover specific issues and brainstorm solutions. (i) As explorers, identifying and defining emerging and existing problems (ii) as ideators, conceptualizing novel solutions to well-defined problems (iii) as designers, designing and developing implementable solutions to well-defined problems (iv) as diffusers, directly supporting the adoption and diffusion of public service innovations and solutions Employed through platforms such as participatory design workshops and online citizen forums. Methods used in this strategy can be online contests and competitions, surveys on mobile apps, e-petitions to seek feedback on municipal decisions, innovation competitions

2 Weeks and 1 month: Press releases/newspaper advertisements, Digital media posts, Posters, Flexes, Feedback survey forms. Stationary, Location for holding meetings (such as conference rooms or community halls with seating capacity of 30 persons) 3 months and Continuous: Location and logistics to organize community volunteers and representatives for designing and ideating solutions

2 Weeks: If there is space within one of the ULB offices, then no cost needs to be incurred for procuring a space. Approximately within Rs. 10,000 per activity will be spent on stationery and posters/flexes 1 month: Finance under 2 Weeks and for a city-wide competition and exhibition around 3,50,000 will be incurred including the space for the exhibition 3 months and Continuous: In the intermediate and long term, costs will be incurred on acquiring interactive platforms where ideas can be discussed and designed. This can be done at the ULB premises initially, but later an app or web platform can be developed for wider reach and dynamic sharing. This will incur some development costs on the software development

350

S. Banerjee et al.

Supporting Activities in Chandigarh Activity I: Digital Media Strategy Competition. Time Period: 5th Sept–25th Sept 2019 (1 month). Purpose: It was observed that Chandigarh Smart City was lagging in digital presence due to insufficient human resources. A time-bound media competition for 10 days was organized in eight Media Colleges, Chandigarh. The students were allowed to submit their proposals through the presentation with defined parameters. A total of 40 entries were received. Among these 40 entries, the top 10 candidates were selected through a scoring mechanism. These 10 candidates were called for an interview at the Smart City office, among those two candidates were selected as interns. Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Municipal Commissioner cum CSCL CEO

(i) Media College Students and Professors

(ii) DPI and DEO, UT Admin (iii) Public Relations Officer, Municipal Corporation Chandigarh (iv) Smart City Officials

Execution Process (i)

(ii)

(iii)

A letter from the Smart City Corporation CEO was sent to all media colleges with all the details of the competition. There was some amount of follow-up required for this process, and in some cases, it was difficult to secure the cooperation of the colleges at short notice. Since the competition was only designed to run for ten days, it was considered prudent to have a two days grace period for late entries. After all the entries were received, the team verified that all the candidates had submitted all the documents and also created a scoring template for selecting a candidate for interview. As per the scoring mechanism, several candidates were selected in three stages, the announcement of the competition, selection of top 10 candidates for interview, and finally, the selection of two candidates through the interview process. It was a time-bound event like an idea hackathon for 10 days. The selection process took 1 month.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

351

Outcome: These interns are working with the public sector project and getting hands-on experience. It also helps the organization to execute its work effectively and efficiently in a time-bound manner. This initiative helps to get a fresh mind to work on everyday issues and streamline the process (Figs. 15.19 and 15.20).

Fig. 15.19 Scoring mechanism for the entries received developed by the team

Fig. 15.20 Cover pages of the entries received

Activity II: Sujhaav Camp. Pilot Brief: Offline consultation with RWAs/MTAs of five Sectors. Consultation themes were identified through Complaint data. Solutions were brainstormed together, followed by a feasibility discussion. Time Period: 17th September (1 day). Purpose: The complaints of the citizens of Chandigarh are not resolved as they do not reach the concerned authority because of improper channels. Due to this factor, the trust in the municipality is decreasing. Therefore, the representatives of the sectors with maximum registered complaints in the past 1 year were called to co-creating solutions to the issues.

352

S. Banerjee et al.

Stakeholders Involved Government segments

Citizen clusters

(i) Commissioner, Special Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner

(i) RWAs (Sec 20, 22, 44, 38 and 40)

(ii) SE (Public Health), Assistant Engineer, MoH Official, Enforcement Department Head

(ii) Members of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (Sec 20, 22, 44, 38 and 40)

(iii) Complaint Grievance Department, Monitoring Cell

(iii) Area Level Federation of SHGs

(iv) Smart City Officials

(iv) Informal Vendors

Execution Process: The conference room of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh was booked where 10 officials including the Commissioner himself along with the Special Commissioner were present to interact with 40 RWAs, MTAs, Area Level Federations, and Vendor Unions of the above-mentioned sectors. Post introductory remarks, the participants were all invited to note down which issues they would like to discuss, thus arriving at consensus for the agenda of the day. The issues were collated and the Commissioner addressed each of the concerns by inviting participants to provide their suggestions for their sectors, and then directing the nodal officer to take action. The success of the event was shared on Print Media and Social Media Sites also. Screenshots of the same have also been attached (Figs. 15.21 and 15.22).

Fig. 15.21 Press Release post event

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

353

Fig. 15.22 The Commissioner along with other Officers addressing the RWAs, MTAs, SelfHelp Groups and Informal Vendors

Outcome: These interns are working with the public sector project and getting hands-on experience. It also helps the organization to execute its work effectively and efficiently in a time-bound manner. This initiative helps to get a fresh mind to work on everyday issues and streamline the process.

15.6.7 Citizen Co-management As originally described by Arnstein [4], citizen control was meant to bring back control over shared resources into the hands of the public. Citizen co-management engagement strategy is that citizens groups have been involved in community and regional improvement independently of government. Citizen groups have desired outcomes for their community, toward which such groups track results to publicize outcomes. These outcomes are significant to citizen groups as they relate to the quality of life associated with their communities. Thus, this strategy primarily finds ways to help local urban bodies, special purpose vehicles, regional development authorities, and others to create and implement ways of mainstreaming citizen participation into monitoring and evaluation processes. Importance Cities across the world are focusing on human-led interventions served by technological interventions. In this scenario, citizens are still the ultimate testers and users of services provided by cities, and it is natural that participatory processes be used to design interventions better suited to serve citizens. A new vision for these participatory processes is citizen co-designing, participating in decision-making (codecision), evaluating and managing (co-evaluation and co-management) along with the municipal and other governing structures to produce value for the citizens. In ordinary projects and services, the difficulty is that co-creation is based on a continuous communication between the designer and the co-creators (e.g., the user of the product).

354

S. Banerjee et al.

Designed Action Plan Targeted stakeholders

Tools required

Logistics required

Financial resources

2 Weeks: Head NGOs, Consultant, School and College Students, Teachers, College Professors, and Youth Association, RWAs, MWAs, senior citizens, Community Representatives, Informal Segment including vendors and slums 1 month: RWAs, MTAs, senior citizens, Community Representatives, Informal Segment including vendors and slums 3 months: Various Associations and PPP Partners 6 months: Human rights organizations, resource organizations dedicated to monitoring and evaluation, community budgeting, and other relevant stakeholders who can take effective decisions for the city

Citizens can participate in the following roles to discover specific issues and brainstorm solutions. (i) As explorers, identifying and defining emerging and existing problems (ii) as ideators, conceptualizing novel solutions to well-defined problems (iii) as designers, designing and developing implementable solutions to well-defined problems (iv) as diffusers, directly supporting the adoption and diffusion of public service innovations and solutions Employed through platforms such as participatory design workshops and online citizen forums. Methods used in this strategy can be online contests and competitions, surveys on mobile apps, e-petitions to seek feedback on municipal decisions, innovation competitions

2 Weeks and 1 month: Press releases/newspaper advertisements, Digital media posts, Posters, Flexes, Feedback survey forms. Stationary, Location for holding meetings (such as conference rooms or community halls with seating capacity of 30 persons) 3 months and Continuous: Location and logistics to organize community volunteers and representatives for designing and ideating solutions

2 Weeks: If there is space within one of the ULB offices, then no cost needs to be incurred for procuring a space. Approximately within Rs. 10,000 per activity will be spent on stationaries and posters/flexes 1 month: Finance under 2 Weeks and for a city-wide competition and exhibition around 3,50,000 will be incurred including the space for the exhibition 3 months and Continuous: In the intermediate and long term, costs will be incurred on acquiring interactive platforms where ideas can be discussed and designed. This can be done at the ULB premises initially, but later an app or web platform can be developed for wider reach and dynamic sharing. This will incur some development costs on the software development

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

355

15.7 Resources Designed by the Team for Enhanced Participation A comprehensive understanding of the various kinds of citizen engagement “strategies”, at which step of project design and implementation such strategies are best implemented, as well as simple tools which can be used to make engagement programs timely and cost-effective. This section provides the detailed list of resources that were made and used during Chandigarh implementation to ensure that the project was thoroughly supported by budgetary and capacity at the implementing agency, that the right stakeholders were selected, and that the project can reflexively be improved on the basis of feedback. These resources have been divided into the following sections which can be used in conjunction with the project design or used when a phase of implementation is completed.

15.7.1 Internal Checklist At the outset of implementation of a policy or project, it is important to determine the resources available for its implementation. An internal checklist for the determination of timelines, budget, and scope of engagement strategy was made for the implementation of the above activities. This resource aims to crystallize the strategy to be pursued, the extent of the existing resources, and deployment of the same.

15.7.2 Stakeholder Management These resources made for this purpose will help the implementation agency identify the stakeholders who need to be engaged, what roles they will play in the engagement plan, what methods should be used to contact them as well as help chart out a communications strategy. The participant identification tool can help list the stakeholders (from a representative list); and then with the stakeholder management tool strategize their roles, how often they need to be contacted, and how to use their inputs. These tools can be referred to with the Stakeholder Matrices in the Sustainable Action Plans section to get a sense of what has already been accomplished in the past. Once the participant stakeholders have been identified and contacted, the implementation agency can create a communications strategy tailored to the needs of these stakeholders. Once the overall strategy has been designed, each of the stakeholder groups needs to be approached in specific ways with messages tailored to suit their needs. The

356

S. Banerjee et al.

implementing agency can use the following matrix to chart these messages and methods. Participant Sample: Residents’ Welfare Association Representative

Level of interest High (for a project on waste collection and segregation)

Level of involvement in the engagement campaign High (needs to be consulted to design a smart waste collection strategy)

Potential size of group represented by the participant 25–30

Involvement tools needed to work with the Participant Posters, key informant meetings, Awareness campaigns and others

Finally, once the communications strategy has been deployed, the agency can use the following tool to track the stakeholder inputs. Date

Input

Whether input is viable

Whether input was used

Feedback to the stakeholder/group

Sample: August 1, 2020

Residents’ Welfare association designing the route for picking up segregated waste

Yes

Yes

Feedback can be provided to the stakeholder group that their suggestion was incorporated in the final project implementation

These suggestions have been provided as best practices in stakeholder engagement. While public officials may not always have the time to conduct these exercises, if these are completed once for any large-scale infrastructure projects, the results of these exercises can always be applied for sub-projects or smaller interventions in the same community.

15.7.3 Information Gathering and Feedback Formats One of the most important aspects of citizen engagement is understanding the needs of the stakeholders. The intended beneficiaries of any project must be regarded as the premier source of truth on their own intentions and requirements of their environments. It is necessary to receive feedback from the users or beneficiaries of each project, in order to specifically address the gap in infrastructure or service which prompted the project in the first place.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

357

Some sample feedback forms were prepared by authors to guide Chandigarh officials to design their own and have been tested by the team in their Chandigarh pilot phase. These were created in English as one of the languages used by the Government of India; however, it is recommended that these be translated into the local language used by the intended beneficiaries of every project. Once these forms are distributed, filled out, and collected, it is recommended that the feedback collected be compiled and used to edit the project design where necessary.

15.7.4 Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring and Evaluation (MandE) describes a group of activities and indicators to measure a project’s ongoing success with reference to its clearly defined outputs. MandE activities implemented can ensure that the project is accountable, and transparent, minimizes collateral damage, and actively identifies wasteful processes and poor performance. It is recommended that MandE components be incorporated into project design from its inception, which allows the implementation agency to assess the progress of the project and its achievements as defined by the projects’ objectives. This toolkit includes a simple form that can be used by officials in urban local bodies—especially in departments in small towns and semi-rural areas that lack capacity for sophisticated MandE processes. By this simple measurement of the project’s progress, public officials can affect changes in the project design to make it more effective in the future.

15.7.5 Parameters for Success A simple rubric has been created to measure the success of any engagement program. Since the toolkit is intended to be used by policy implementation executives (and can be used by those in the development or private sector as well), the rubric measures success across the axes of impact on the stakeholders of the project, including the implementation agency. Specifically, the factors that impact the stakeholders of the project may be measured through the lens of inclusion, information availability, and impact. The factors that impact the implementation agency include the process followed, resources used, and capacity built within the agency.

358

S. Banerjee et al.

These factors have been further explained in the following table. Principle

Qualitative indicators

Quantitative indicators

1

Inclusion

All groups of stakeholders who can be impacted by the project have been involved No group or individual faced a financial, physical, or technological barrier in participation

Number of participating Agencies and institutions Stakeholders and stakeholder groups Stakeholders from under-represented, minority and protected groups

2

Information availability

Information on the project or service is complete, with clear instructions for the intended user group on how to use it Intended user group makes use of the information provided

Number of Surveys and respondents on the campaign Media coverage (through press releases, articles, videos, comments, interviews and others)

3

Process and resources

The process used is not unduly time-consuming or excessively resource-intensive for the official (you) or the public department Intended participants were clearly able to respond to the campaign

Number of Respondents or participants in the campaign Feedback or inputs received on the project Feedback or inputs received on the campaign

4

Impact

The use of the project or service as intended Feedback and engagement of the public with public officials on the issue

Demonstrated increase of use of the project by the intended user group Increase in the number of inputs in the forthcoming 8-week period

5

Capacity building

Increased awareness of citizens regarding the methods of approaching the service provider Building a sustainable relationship between the stakeholders for future projects

Exit surveys from participants on key takeaways from the process Number of new contacts made by the service provider among citizen stakeholder groups Number of follow-up conversations or engagements held with the stakeholder groups

15.8 Conclusion The following section summarizes some of the main recommendations from Project Involve, and the uses for its resultant toolkit EPIC. This section will also briefly touch

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

359

on some recommendations for public officials, which can also be incorporated into sustainable engagement practices by public policy practitioners anywhere.

15.8.1 Key Takeaways from the Chandigarh Pilot Strategies As observed in the previous section, there are multiple methods of engaging with citizens. Of these, certain methods can be incorporated easily into the functioning of any project, division, or department, while others may require more planning at the outset. From the pilot project at Chandigarh, some of the key takeaways for the team relate to planning and capacity building of the municipal officers and administrative staff. While administrative staff at the municipal corporation, the ward-level officers, and various public officials are sympathetic to the cause of citizen engagement, it would be difficult to translate their interest in citizen engagement into daily action toward it, as citizen engagement is not part of their routine activities. While department engineers and staff undoubtedly have to perform “public dealing” every day, these are specifically transactional in nature—for instance, the payment of bills, application for licenses, or resolution of grievances. There is little by way of systematic engagement with their public to provide information and solicit inputs. Through the various activities conducted in Chandigarh, it became clear that the first most important ingredient for success of engagement schemes is the interest of the administration. The primary tool for citizen engagement must be the free flow of information on projects. Although government schemes and programs are routinely discussed in news media, the specifics on how to access the benefits of these schemes are not accessible to citizens whose needs prompt the development of such services in the first place. This was made evident through the exercise of training women’s self-help groups in accessing the grievance helplines. Information about the large-scale development of the city was left piecemeal on government websites. Citizens who would be keen on consuming the projects—such as public bike sharing, smart schools, and classrooms were largely unaware of the context of these projects. Through the exercises on information sharing, it became possible to discuss the needs of the citizens as well as the relevance of the projects. The relevance of the projects under the Smart City project is one of the key takeaways that the authors provided to the public administration. Through the activities conducted for inputs soliciting, the administration was provided with a checklist of activities that could be accomplished immediately, vastly improving the residents’ daily experience of interacting with their own neighborhoods. From the authors’ experience of implementing these action plans in Chandigarh, it became evident that while there was overwhelming support for conducting citizen engagement activities across departments, as well as the public, there was little initiative that officers could take in this regard due to being busy in their daily tasks. While a public relations officer did conduct several informational campaigns, it was evident that a culture of engagement would need sustained efforts as well as coordination from the political class, bureaucracy, and other governmental agencies.

360

S. Banerjee et al.

A final note on this section would be that while there is a rich trove of data being generated on the needs of citizens every day (at grievance departments), it is unlikely that these inputs are being used meaningfully. As the mapping of grievances exercises revealed, it would be useful to tag grievances to their geospatial location and using data analytics, the administration could also learn to predict and prevent the likelihood of certain mishaps with public services. While this is not currently in place, it is to be hoped that future bureaucrats and civil servants can make use of emerging technologies in this manner to improve public services for their citizens.

15.8.2 Transferability and Scalability in Other Cities It will be clear to readers that EPIC has been created keeping in mind the needs of bureaucrats, civil servants, urban practitioners, and public policy enthusiasts. At every step, an attempt has been made to make the toolkit easy to comprehend. A broad range of options for citizen engagement activities has been suggested for diverse types of projects—with the ultimate aim of ensuring an ease in engaging with intended project stakeholders. Administrative stakeholders’ reluctance to engage in and fund activities is a major detriment for many citizen engagement activities and programs. Toward this end, the toolkit recommends the concurrence of public/government stakeholders—without whom such engagement programs may not be conducted, or bear fruitful results. The transferability of the results depends on the support and active participation of such stakeholders. Second, the pilot activities conducted in Chandigarh have been conducted on a shoe-string budget; and the toolkit has been designed keeping in mind the financial considerations. As mentioned in the previous section, it would be ideal to plan for engagement activities at the outset of the project plan, to ensure that these can be executed comfortably. Citizen engagement activities are routine engagements. From conducting largescale democratic elections, and vaccination drives, to small ward-level surveys, citizen engagement plans are embedded in the nature of public administration. The action plans proposed in this chapter can be scaled up to reach any size of citizenry with adequate planning and funding.

15.8.3 Recommendations The following recommendations are grouped together for ease of comprehension and all lead to the same overarching recommendation—building citizen engagement and participation initiatives into public programs in order to build more inclusive cities.

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

15.8.3.1 (i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

361

Sustainability Initiatives

Incorporating citizen engagement as an indelible segment of any project or service planned by government agencies at any level—Project Involve has listed seven categories of citizen engagement that can be applied across project cycles by any government agency. It is possible to achieve the goals of inclusive urban development using this heuristic of public engagement. Appropriate choice of mediums for special interest groups—There has recently been a push to accommodate ICTs and digital media for engagement purposes. However, keeping in mind the literacy rates in the country, the internet penetration and digital literacy conditions, and linguistic diversity in the country, it is important to consider the choice of media which is appropriate contextually. Specifically, for interest groups such as women, elderly, lingually diverse groups, and other such groups the choice of media (digital vs. physical events, platforms) and other such logistical choices must be made keeping in mind the requirements of such groups. Undeniably, the results of such tailored initiatives are more impressive than standardized engagement initiatives—as seen by the success of the Swachch Bharat initiatives in different cities. Allow local officers to design and implement initiatives—Through the team’s work in Chandigarh, it became obvious that local officers at the ULB level can and do take ownership of engagement programs—which must be encouraged and recognized by the Smart Cities Mission. Ease documentation processes—In order to make engagement initiatives more sustainable than they are currently, efforts must be undertaken to make documentation of local activities simpler and more accessible for ground-level workers.

Through this year-long engagement with the Smart Cities Mission, this team of authors has been able to create and recommend a holistic view of citizen engagement to a selected audience of bureaucrats and public officials. While the adoption of this toolkit remains to be seen, the suggested tools—surveys, feedback forms, stakeholder and participant identification guides, M and E guides can be readily adopted by project implementation officers, development officials, researchers and anyone who intends to create a project that impacts the public. The impact of citizen engagement may not be visible in the short run, it is imperative to assume the long term impact of these initiatives will deliver the benefits of the implemented program to its intended beneficiaries, in this case, the citizens of this country.

References 1. Ahmednagar M.N.: Mahanagar News. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India (2020) 2. Anderson, Wu, Cho, Schroeder: E-Government Strategy, ICT and Innovation for Citizen Engagement. Springer Briefs

362

S. Banerjee et al.

3. Anstey, C.: Citizen Engagement in Development Projects: What We Know, What We Need to Do and Learn. Retrieved from World Bank Blogs: https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/citizenengagement-in-development-projects (2013, March 18) 4. Arnstein, S. (1969.) A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, 35(4), 216–224 5. Ashwathy Anand, A.S.: An Overview of the Smart Cities Mission In India. Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi (2018) 6. Cabinet, D.O.: Toward Q2: Tomorrow’s Queensland. Queensland Government, Queensland (2008) 7. Carmela Garguilo, V.P.: EU smart city governance. TeMA J. Land Use, Mob. Environ. 289–370 (2013) 8. City Investments to Innovate: Summary of the 27 Shortlisted Projects. National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi (2019) 9. Department, S.D.: Assessment of Participatory Budgeting in Brazil. Inter-American Development Bank, Washington DC (2005) 10. Dhoke, S.: Citizen Engagement for Smart City Development. Retrieved from MYSTORY: https://yourstory.com/mystory/833befcd83-citizen-engagement-for (2017) 11. eGovernment, A.F.: Electronic Public Records. Retrieved from Open Government Partnership: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/members/norway/commitments/NO0039/ (2015) 12. Gunawan, I.: Using Participatory Mapping for Disaster Preparedness in Jakarta. The World Bank, Jakarta (2017) 13. Hariharan, C.: Only Public Participation Can Make ‘Smart Cities’ a Real Success: Chandrashekhar Hariharan. NEWS18, Interviewer (2015) 14. Hein, C.: Toshikeikaku and Machizukuri in Japanese. J. Urban Hist. 35, 221–252 (2008) 15. Henderson, I.: Civic Engagement at the City of Civic Engagement Victoria. City of Victoria, Victoria (2012) 16. Holmes, B.: Citizens’ Engagement in Policy Making and the Design of Public Services. Retrieved from Parliament of Australia: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamen tary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1112/12rp01 (2011, July 22) 17. Holmes: Citizens’ Engagement in Policy Making and Design of Public Services. Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia (2011–12) 18. Khan, Z., Dambruch, J., Peters-Anders, J., Sackl, A., Strasser, A., Fröhlich, P., Templer, S., Soomro, K.: Developing knowledge-based citizen participation platform to support smart city decision making: the smarticipate case study. Information 8(2), 47 (2017). https://doi.org/10. 3390/info8020047 19. Locating the fourth helix: rethinking the role of civil society in developing smart learning cities. Int. Rev. Educ. 64, 355–372 (2018) 20. Lub, J.M.: Citizen design science: a strategy for crowd-creative urban design. Elsevier, 181–188 (2018) 21. (MoUD), M.O.: Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Revised Guidelines. Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, New Delhi (2011) 22. (MoUD), M. O.: India Smart Cities Mission Statement and Guidelines. Government of India, New Delhi (2015) 23. Mapping the outcomes of citizen engagement. Gaventa and Barrett. World Dev. 40(12), 2399– 2410 (2012) 24. Mata, A.: Smart Society and Urban Governance (2018). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2. 12141.28647 25. Narang, J.: 03 eSampark. Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India (2019) 26. Neb, S.: One window service offices: improving government. Soc. Sci. Asia 12–24 (2017) 27. PRIA: Strengthening Citizen Engagement in SMART Cities. Retrieved from https://pria.org/ project-details-strengthening-citizen-engagement-in-smart-cities-30-548-7 (2010) 28. Pune Municipal Corporation: Smart Pune—Creation of a Vision Community. Pune Municipal Corporation, Pune (2015)

15 Enhancing Participation for Inclusive Cities: Sustainable …

363

29. Reddel, Woolcock: From consultation to participatory governance? A critical review of citizen engagement strategies in Queensland. Aust. J. Public Adm. 63(3), 75–87 (2004) 30. Sangen, M.V.: The Hague Expands on Smart City Ambition. Retrieved from CBS: https:// www.cbs.nl/en-gb/corporate/2018/44/the-hague-expands-on-smart-city-ambition (2018) 31. Team, W.B.: Enabling Citizen-Driven Improvement of Public Services. World Bank, South Africa (2014) 32. Team, A.M.: Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in World Bank Group Operations. World Bank (2012) 33. Team I.: What do We Mean When We Talk About Behavioral Science? Retrieved from ideas42: https://www.ideas42.org/learn/ (2019) 34. Toward Smart Zero CO2 Cities Across Europe: Citizen Engagement and Strategy Deployment Plan 35. Vaishnava, K.K.: Institutionalising citizen participation in urban governance. In: Policy Brief— Participatory Research in Asia (PB/2013/002E) , pp. 1–8 (2013) 36. Walters, S.C.: Citizen-Centered Governance: The Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics and the Evolution of CRM in Boston. Boston (2013)

Sreenandini Banerjee With over 5 years of work experience, Sreenandini is Urban Practitioner who has a degree and expertise in both urban planning and social sciences. She has worked with the Smart Cities Mission for four years and has engaged with all the tiers of governance in the development and implementation of the mission. She was one of the 38 India Smart Cities Mission Fellows of the 2019 cohort under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). Previously, she has also worked as Urban Planner in the Chandigarh Smart City Project. Currently, she is working as Program Lead to develop the National Urban Learning Platform, the capacity building arm of MoHUA. She has pursued a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from CEPT University (Ahmedabad) after a post-graduation in Geography from the Delhi School of Economics. At present, she is also pursuing her doctoral program in the Smart Cities Mission. Nandini Bhattacharya is a development professional with a graduate degree from the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Member of the 2019 cohort of the India Smart Cities Fellowship Program, Nandini works on the Brand Communications and Ecosystem Partnership tracks at the Centre for Digital Governance, NIUA. Mayank Saravagi With over 6 years of work experience, Mayank Saravagi is Urbanist, Engineer and has a degree in urban management. He is Consultant with the Data Analytics and Management Unit of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on implementing the data smart cities strategy that includes a role as a data analytics, leading capacity building initiatives for the city data officers and various data-driven governance initiatives of the Ministry. He was also associated with Tata Trusts and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation as WASH Consultant to implement the objectives of the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin. Mayank holds a B.Tech. from SRM University, Chennai, and a Master’s in Urban Management from CEPT University, Ahmedabad.

Chapter 16

Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal for Land-Based Financing Using Smart ICT Systems Jay Mittal, Sweta Byahut, and Sunil Agarwal

Abstract This chapter includes a case study of four TOD corridors in Gurugram, India, covering the effect of incentive zoning in transit zones on property values, supply of affordable housing, and the response of real estate developers. Using field observations, the case study showcases the limited success of public policies and proposes a smart ICT-based land and property development information system (LPDIS) that dynamically interacts with land use planning, transit infrastructure, property data, and integrates any adjustments in public policies, including impacts on property values. The LPDIS is a smart technology platform that spatially, temporally, and financially interacts with city-wide private property information (cadastral, valuation, and building permits data), public infrastructure data (current and proposed), and layers of influencing public policies (land use planning, incentive zoning, special-purpose zones such as TOD, etc.) to generate real-time intelligence, using GIS and other Smart ICT systems. The LPDIS allows policymakers to analyze current status (base case scenario), and assists in analyzing, monitoring, and developing policy change scenarios (future). The LPDIS also assists in systematically evaluating and monitoring incremental property value gains due to public policies or actions, providing a robust basis for land-based financing and land value capture. The LPDIS, once established, could be connected to the smart city Integrated command and control center (ICCS), which monitors, develops, and evaluates impacts of any new projects and land policy changes to the policymakers. The system also assists in estimating potential public revenues that the city could generate by monetizing land via land-based financing due to public interventions.

J. Mittal (B) · S. Byahut Graduate Community Planning Program, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA e-mail: [email protected] S. Byahut e-mail: [email protected] S. Agarwal Black Olive Ventures, Noida, India © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_16

365

366

J. Mittal et al.

16.1 Introduction In Chapter 14 of this book, Mittal and Harode [28] discussed the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) of India that included two spatial scales of planned interventions for 100 cities: the Pan City Solutions (PCS) focused on information and communication technology (ICT)-based infrastructure investments covering the entire municipal area, while the Area-Based Development (ABD) focused on planning and infrastructure investments in a smaller geographical area of the city. The PCS offered efficient urban services while ABD aimed to attract new businesses, create new jobs, and invite private capital to the city. A total of $28 billion was allocated for 100 smart cities, and nearly 20% ($5.3 billion) of the funds were dedicated to the ICT-based PCS initiatives. The PCS was a smart add-on, intelligently layered over the traditional hard urban infrastructure of the city, using advanced technologies to improve efficiencies in service delivery. The smart solutions included web technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, mobile computing, artificial intelligence (AI), etc. [25]. The PCS also included SCADA-enabled automation of urban utility networks and services such as water supply, wastewater networks, integrated solid waste management (ISWM) and integrated traffic management system (ITMS), and GIS-based municipal asset management. All data transfer and monitoring for such services were on a fiber optics network connected with a physical one-stop control room. The control room was the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), that intelligently connected services and coordinated all urban services. The ICCCs had the provision of realtime monitoring of various services such as GIS-based tracking, utility management, sensor-based real-time monitoring and management of traffic, crowd management during special events, and emergency services (fire and police). In the PCS component of the smart city plans, cities strived to enhance the quality and performance of the municipal services by employing ICT, benefiting the entire municipal population. While smart cities employed GIS technology for urban infrastructure, utilities, and smart services, most cities did not fully integrate smart GIS with the land parcel and property development data, such as land use zoning, building permits, property valuation, transactions, and other real estate development activities. As a result, cities failed to accurately capture resultant incremental land value gains accurately adjacent to transit projects, which they could have used to augment infrastructure and to develop affordable housing to benefit their residents. This is a major missed opportunity for most rapidly urbanizing cities that are investing in transit development and the ICT. This chapter studies the effect of incentive zoning on the supply of affordable housing in transit corridors in Gurugram, a rapidly growing city in the southwest National Capital Region (NCR) of India. Using data and site visits to real estate development activities in four transit corridors, this chapter argues for integrating land parcels, land use zoning, building permits, and property development information, well in advance of investing in transit and other infrastructure networks systems. Such an information system can help cities in evaluating the impact of new regulatory policies and infrastructure investments on the property markets and assist

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

367

in measuring the change in private property values as a result of public action or investments. These incremental value gains could then be captured back to generate funds for infrastructure development and affordable housing projects. While Gurugram is not one of the 100 smart cities selected, this chapter analyzes Gurugram as a case study and offers lessons for rapidly urbanizing cities that intend to invest in transit infrastructure. It further proposes setting up an integrated Land and Property Development Information System (LPDIS) that interacts with property markets, government policies, and public infrastructure investments programs. The study focuses on TOD zones and presents the development potential of land parcels zoned for group housing uses. First, the parcel-level data for the group housing sites were collected and mapped. Next, field visits were undertaken to physically examine and assess the potential impacts of the new TOD policy on future developments of these land parcels. The field visits revealed that several sites were either fully developed or were in various phases of construction, implying that the net effect of the recently implemented TOD policy varied by individual sites. Because the TOD policy was an afterthought to the transit development, the benefits of the policy were unevenly applied to various sites, limiting the supply of affordable housing along these TOD corridors. This chapter is organized into five sections. The first section presents a general review of TOD features and their effects on the property values. The second section presents an empirical study of TOD policy to support affordable housing in Gurugram, India. The third section presents a discussion on key issues and challenges related to the change in government regulations and TOD policy, and their effect on the resultant built form in the TOD areas. The fourth section presents development scenarios on delivery of new housing stock post-TOD policy implementation, along with resultant changes likely in the housing unit size, unit price, as well as overall affordability; all while maintaining developers’ profitability. The last section argues the need for a robust Land and Property Development Information Systems (LPDIS) and proposes a conceptual framework for implementing such a system for Gurugram and other cities.

16.2 Literature Review of TOD This section presents a review of literature on TOD features, land use transformation around TOD and transit adjacent areas, and the effects of the incentive zoning on property values within TOD corridors, including land-based financing and integrated information systems to evaluate unearned benefits of property value gains due to transit investments that could be captured by the public agencies to support cohesive developments.

368

J. Mittal et al.

16.2.1 TOD Features TODs are characterized as pedestrian-friendly, high-density real estate developments, organized within a half-mile of public transportation nodes or stations. TODs often include mixed-use developments with denser development near transit nodes to support rail transit use. These TODs often include diverse housing developments such as mixed-income, multi-family, owner-occupied, and rental housing near rail stations [12]. In addition to housing, other typical uses in a TOD often include hotels, retail, and commercial offices [24]. The properties in the proximity of a transit node benefit from greater convenience and accessibility to the rest of the city, and thus greater access to jobs, housing, recreational uses, and other congregational opportunities through transit for people of all ages and incomes [7, 11, 34]. The taxonomy of real estate developments in TOD varies by transit type and by its location within the metropolitan region. TODs are also desirable because they promote walkability and a healthy urban environment and discourage private auto-use. It is most effective when mass transit is within a half-mile walking distance of the occupied residential and commercial properties [20]. The land use patterns around TODs include a diverse mix of homes, employment centers, and shopping opportunities designed for pedestrians, cyclists, and car users [15]. In summary, key attributes of TODs include moderate to high-density mixed-use developments within an easy walk (1/2 mile or 800 m) of a major public transport node, stop, or interchange.

16.2.2 Land Use Transformations and Property Value Premiums in TOD TOD is a comprehensive attempt to effectively implement land use planning strategies to support rail transit [5] and efficiently use the land while providing a quality environment and urban service to the users. It is important to note that progress toward TOD goals is often incremental, and the character of station-proximate land uses adapt slowly. The benefits of the new transportation investments are quickly capitalized in real estate prices in the short term, while land use densification to support transit and station-proximate land use adjustments occur much slower over the longer term [10]. This slow transformation was observed for both the San Diego Trolley system and the heavy metro rail system along Washington’s Orange line. It took over four decades for the metro corridor to transform into a high-density developed area with over 58 million sq. ft. of mixed commercial and residential developments [1]. This slow transformation is also notable in the case of the Delhi metro. Figure 16.1 below is a conceptual illustration showing how property values increase over time because of the announcement of new transit. The price continues to grow right from the announcement until the opening of the transit line. It may stabilize or continually grow if there is an expansion planned for the system.

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

369

Fig. 16.1 Real estate value premiums with time near transit. Source Strategic Economics, in CTOD [9, 13]

The economic theory suggests that people are willing to pay a premium to live, work, eat, or play at places that provide positive amenity values to the amenity seekers [26]. Notably, the properties in proximity to a transit node or a corridor experience both amenity and dis-amenity effects. The amenity effects are reflected in enhanced capitalized values near the transit due to convenience of access, or “accessibility effect,” while dis-amenity effects or “nuisance effects” include noise, vibration, pollution, congestion, and crime that reduce property value [23]. Figure 16.2 below shows accessibility and nuisance effects with distance from transit as reflected in property values. While these positive and negative effects follow a spatial pattern, they may not always accrue or decay equally with the increasing distance from transit [36]. For example, when moving farther from a transit node, residential values may be lower near the transit, and higher within a convenient distance, illustrating a “donut-shape”

Fig. 16.2 Accessibility and nuisance effects on home prices with distance from transit. Source Light Rail in America, Transit in America

370

J. Mittal et al.

Fig. 16.3 Home values in TOD, TAD, and other areas of the United States. Source Renne, TOD Index [35]

value effect rather than a uniform distance decline. Also, property values peak until a point and then start declining with the declining amenity effect with decaying distance. Figure 16.3 is an interesting comparison of observed house prices in TOD vs. non-TOD areas in the United States. [35] comparing three sets of homes: (a) homes in the TOD areas with higher residential densities, (b) homes in transit adjacent developments (TADs), with relatively lower densities than the TOD, and (c) homes in non-TOD areas. The study found that homes in the TOD commanded a premium of $518 per square foot and $196 per square foot in the TADs, while the National Zillow Median Home Value Index (NZHVI) was $149 per square foot nationwide, as presented in Fig. 16.2. Additionally, the home value appreciation rate was 300% in TODs and 168% in TADs, while only 103% in non-TOD areas. The study found the situation to be very similar for rental housing.

16.2.3 Affordable Housing and TOD TOD and affordable housing do not have a direct relationship and are quite dependent on the following: (a) Stage of land development where TOD is just implemented, and (b) Planning norms such as FAR allowed, parking norms, commercial development permitted, and most importantly, maximum permissible density in the TOD. To explain the stage of land development, real estate prices near transit increase with greater connectivity and convenience of accessibility, and therefore, in situations where land development has preceded transit planning or implementation, the demand and price of nearby real estate do go up, thus further reducing the supply of affordable housing. However, if transit is developed where land development is yet

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

371

to occur, affordable housing development can be ensured by giving an optimal mix of FAR and density, combined with inclusionary housing policies and other incentives for developers. Essentially, in a rapidly developing city, affordable housing can only be built if somehow the per sq. ft. cost of land is reduced on a per-unit basis. This can be achieved by providing higher FAR, thereby enabling sharing the same amount of land with more users. A density restriction is therefore counterproductive to the affordable housing goals. If one travels through the suburbs of Delhi within the NCR, one also witnesses an inventory overhang with miles and miles of unoccupied apartment buildings. In the year 2016, an estimated 12 million completed houses remained unoccupied across urban India. This is largely attributed to speculative investments, a very high priceto-income ratio (PIR), or a mismatch between the target buyers’ demand (price) and available supply (size and price). It is also due to the low affordability of the demand generators and the high profitability goals of developers. To address affordability issues, a few developers in Delhi and Mumbai have responded to reduce their ticket price of the affordable housing segment using a mixed strategy—by lowering the average launch price by 2% to Rs 3190 per square foot, and by resizing unit size by 8% to 1030 sq. ft. [31]. The affordable housing units typically sell or rent for below-market prices, therefore, to make provision, those costs need to be either absorbed by the city or subsidized by offering higher density bonuses, TDRs, fast-track development permits, lower parking norms, and other regulatory concessions to the developers. In TOD zones, due to accessibility benefits, landowners witness windfall gains in unearned property values primarily due to public investment in the transit or due to public action and regulatory changes. A part of those unearned value gains from private landowners can be charged or could be used to negotiate to provide affordable housing. Although TOD is an established practice in the developed world, it is also gaining attention in the developing world from land use planning and real estate scholars and practitioners, especially due to their potential for increasing affordable housing supply and for land-based financing using transit.

16.2.4 Land-Based Financing and TOD Land-based financing (LBF), or land value capture (LVC) finance, is a method of generating revenues from private lands that have unearned gains in property values owing to public actions (such as a change in zoning/land use regulations) or public investments (such as infrastructure). A portion of these incremental value gains from private property is captured and shared for public benefit. LBF/LVC provides a promising opportunity for fiscally constrained, rapidly growing cities to strategically monetize private lands to recover and reinvest value gains from public investments or actions [29]. Cities subject to limited fiscal resources and mounting investment requirements to bridge infrastructure deficits must devise alternative financial mechanisms to generate funds over and above conventional property taxes.

372

J. Mittal et al.

Density bonuses and inclusionary zoning incentives allow developers to create denser developments in return that benefit the public (such as, affordable housing) and are often associated with TOD. Due to greater demand in TOD areas, developers often pay a premium for space within the catchment area of a well-designed transit station, and density bonuses may further encourage developments [39]. Developers may further be incentivized by a waiver of impact fees, relaxing parking norms, smaller parking requirements, expedited project approvals, and other rewards. The TOD programs could achieve self-sufficiency via judicious use of LVC instruments by careful planning along with the use of smart technology interventions. Smart technologies could help in continuously collecting and collating information on land and improvements, effects of public actions or policies on property values by tracking city GIS, building permit data, and other useful data layers. Such interventions could assist policymakers in generating scenarios and estimating the impacts of land policies on private property value increments. For a fine-grain analysis of affordable housing near transit, we conducted a study in Gurugram of the National Capital Region of India, as presented in the next section.

16.2.5 Integrated Land and Property Development Information Systems to Evaluate Policy Impacts and Estimate Land-Based Financing As discussed in Chap. 14 of this book, Mittal and Harode [28], smart cities in India included Pan City Solutions (PCS) that aimed to benefit the entire city using ICTbased infrastructure and IT interventions. These interventions included SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) for automation of water supply and wastewater networks, mobile apps offering city services on a single platform, and a one-stop control room called the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) for all urban services. The ICCCs monitor and manage real-time traffic, issue ecitations to traffic defaulters, manage crowds during special events, manage emergency services (fire and police), GIS tracking for solid waste management, and other urban utilities and services. The ICCCs are established in almost all smart cities in India and serve as the backbone communication platform for the cities. The ICCCs could be connected with the land and property development data, which includes data on private parcels, land revenue records, building permits, zoning, and other valuation information. This integrated system helps in evaluating any public policy impacts on private properties. It also helps in estimating the incremental property value gains to private properties due to public investments or regulatory changes. The system forms a base for decision-making on land-based financing options to fund public infrastructure and affordable housing.

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

373

16.3 An Empirical Case Study of TOD in Gurugram This section presents an empirical study from the city of Gurugram, located in the National Capital Region of India, and evaluates the effects on the supply of affordable housing in the new TOD zones. This section is based on a reconnaissance survey of group housing land parcels and assesses the development potential of these group housing land parcels and the effect of TOD on unit size, price, and developers’ profitability. It also discusses the land-based financing opportunities the city provides and the upfront development charges tied with building permissions that are levied based on the size of the development (land area or built-up area).

16.3.1 Gurugram and the National Capital Region Gurugram is located on the southern border of Delhi and is part of the National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The NCR is rapidly growing at a 24% decadal growth rate, had a population of 46 million in 2011, and is projected to be 64.1 million by 2021 [30]. Gurugram metropolitan area is one of the fastest developing suburban areas of the NCR in the southwestern periphery of Delhi and is a leading financial and industrial hub with the third-highest per capita income in the country [18]. Gurugram has offices of over 250 Fortune-500 companies at present (ibid). In the last two decades, Gurugram has emerged as an enormous business and residential destination [4, p. 48 ] with major global corporate operations in the information technology, management consulting, call centers, BPOS, automobiles, and engineering sectors. With the exponential population growth, combined with economic opportunities, access to the world-class international airport, and proximity of the national capital, Gurugram became an attractive location to live, work, and play and has created additional demand for more space here. The economic opportunities and growth potential fueled significant real estate activity in and around the city. The city of Gurugram had a population of 876,824 Census of India [8], and the population in the Gurugram-Manesar urban complex, the metro area, almost tripled in the last few decades and is expected to increase from 2.2 million to 4.2 million by 2031, as per the development plan of Gurugram-Manesar urban complex. High employment prospects in the area, proximity to the national capital New Delhi, and connectivity of the area with the larger Delhi metro rail network and highways allow people to commute long distances to work in Gurugram. In the NCR, the Delhi Metro network commenced its operations in 2002 with 472 km of rail planned by 2021. More than 80% of the network is already operational, connecting major employment centers to densely populated areas with high ridership. The Delhi Metro currently operates 351 train sets over its 391 km long network, dotted with 286 stations, and services over 5.5 million daily trips [14, 21, p. 100]. The service has expanded to connect the Gurugram area rapid metro, one of the four transit corridors of this study.

374

J. Mittal et al.

16.3.2 Restricted Land Use Regulations in Gurugram Restricted land use regulations—The Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for most Indian cities is generally quite low. For example, in Delhi, the gross FAR is only 1.75. Similarly, in Mumbai, 1.3 is the norm, with exceptions in a few areas, and in Ahmedabad, it is 1.8. This FAR is abysmally low when compared with other similar-sized Asian cities, such as Tokyo with a FAR of 20, Hong Kong with 12, and Seoul with a FAR of 10 [37, pp. 105–106]. These cities also have a very well-integrated system of mass transit planning with the land use planning strategies and have utilized land-based financing mechanisms for transit adjacent real estate developments as a significant source of capital financing of transit. The two key factors that constrain the supply of serviced urban land and thus buildable floor space in the NCR area are (a) lack of available developable land (supplied with quality infrastructure), and (b) highly restrictive land use regulations within average low FAR at 1.75, low densities, and height restrictions on already limited private lands. This suppresses the production of affordable floor area space, creating artificial space scarcity while pushing the price high beyond the affordable price to income ratio (PIR). When land prices are high, per capita consumption adjusts by shifting downward, resulting in either lower consumption of land per capita, or substituting capital for land to create more floor-area space. As a result of this capital substitution, there are taller, denser (increased job density and population density) multistory buildings, and increased use of air-rights [2, p. 11] to create more affordable space. Realizing that higher densities are critical for the success of transit, and for the feasibility of providing affordable housing, the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department of Haryana introduced the TOD policy in 2014, revised it in 2016, and again later, to extend its impact area. The housing stock in the NCR region is quite unaffordable when compared with the local income. In Gurugram, a mismatch between the income of the residents and the housing size and price, combined with scarce availability of serviced land, has resulted in a significantly skewed median house price-to-income (PIR) ratio. This has impacted housing affordability, forcing a large proportion of middle and low-income populations to commute long distances for work. The restricted land use policies limit the developable built-up area, discouraging developers to build smaller units, as smaller size units in a restricted land market often reduce developers’ profitability, encouraging them to build larger units. To address the need for affordable housing, and to encourage denser development, the TOD policy was introduced in 2014 and revised in 2016 to cover a larger geographical area. This initiative of integrating mass transit with land use planning through a new TOD policy was an afterthought on the part of the planning authority. The TOD policy provided for a higher FAR within the TOD zones in exchange for a fee. Although this bonus FAR was a welcome development, the policy unevenly benefited a few individual sites, as several sites within the TOD zones were already developed and not able to take advantage of the new policy.

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

375

16.3.3 TOD Policy, Four Transit Corridors, and Group Housing Lands in Gurugram TOD Policy—The TCP department of Haryana state introduced a state-wide TOD policy in 2014, also applicable to Gurugram. This policy was later revised in 2016 [19] to include two types of TOD zones: an Intense TOD Zone (ITZ) and a Transition TOD Zone (TTZ). The ITZ was next to the transit corridor and extends up to 500 m on either side of the transit lines, allowing a higher density of 600 people per acre (with the flexibility of up to 10%) and has a permissible FAR of 3.5. The height restrictions were subject to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) regulations and were also subject to applicable structural stability/fire safety regulations. The second zone adjacent to the ITZ was the TTZ which included areas within 500–800 m on either side of the transit lines. The TTZ allows a relatively lower density of 300 people per acre (with the flexibility of up to 10%) and permits a FAR of 2.5. Transit corridors—The four TOD corridors analyzed in this study in Gurugram are presented in Table 16.1. These four transit lines total 53 km and are in various stages of planning, construction, and completion stages. These corridors cover a large area in Gurgaon, linking major commercial, residential, and industrial hubs. The four transit corridors are shown in Figs. 16.4 and 16.5. These include an 18 km long Northern Periphery Road (NPR) corridor, a 23 km metro corridor from Sector 29 onwards to Southern Periphery Road (SPR) + NH8, a 7 km Gurgaon-Mehrauli Road up to Sector 29 corridor, and a 5 km of Rapid Metro/Golf Course Road (GCR) corridor. The TOD policy applies to all four transit corridors of 53 linear km and affects approximately 13,100 acres in the ITZ and an additional 7800 acres in the TTZ. The areas within the ITZ and TTZ along the four transit lines are presented in Table 16.1 and areas under the ITZ are shown in Figs. 16.4 and 16.5. Table 16.1 The four TOD corridors with their transit lengths S. No Transit-oriented corridors

Length (Km)a ITZ (Acres) TTZ (Acres)

1

Northern periphery road (NPR)

18

4450

2640

2

Sector 29 to southern periphery road (SPR) 23 + NH8

5680

3400

3

Rapid metro/Golf course road (GCR)

5

1235

740

4

Gurugram-Mehrauli road up to Sec 29

7

1730

1025

53

13,100

7800

Total a Approximate

lengths

376

Fig. 16.4 Location of Gurugram study area and the transit corridors

J. Mittal et al.

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

377

Fig. 16.5 Transit corridors, TOD zones, and surveyed parcels by development potentials. Note The red, black, and yellow colors in Fig. 16.5 show Land development potential categories

16.3.4 TOD Policy Allowing Higher FAR in Exchange for a Fee (A Land-Based Financing) As discussed earlier, the allowable FAR in the area before the implementation of the TOD policy was 1.75, with permissible ground coverage of 40%, and a maximum permissible density of 300 people/acre for multi-family housing projects. The resultant density is approximately 60 dwelling units per acre, assuming an average family

378

J. Mittal et al.

size of five persons. The new TOD policy in the ITZ allows 120 units per acre with a 600 people/acre permissible density. The city development authority levies several charges to support public infrastructure, including the External Development Charges (EDC), Infrastructure Development Charges (IDC), and Infrastructure Augmentation Charges (IAC). The EDC and IDC levied on new developments are the key source of non-tax, land-based financing opportunities for the Gurugram local government. The EDC is a one-time charge in the state of Haryana that developers pay to the local authority for facilities in and around a housing project such as water, electricity supply, sewerage system, solid waste management and disposal, roads, and road systems, landscaping, etc. [27]. EDC also functions as a key source of non-tax-based revenue generation for civic authorities. The EDC for the Gurugram area, as per the state policy, was INRs 41.6 and INRs 31.2 million/per acre respectively for group housing projects with 400 and 300 people per acre density (TCP [38]. Developers pass this EDC to the endusers and charge these mandatory fees on a built-up area basis, which subsequently increases the price of an apartment by 15%–20%. The IDC is a much broader fee that developers pay for major infrastructure projects near their housing project, such as highways, metro networks, bridges, etc. [27]. The IDC in hyper potential zones of Gurugram is INRs 625 per m of built-up area for group housing, as per the Haryana government policy. IAC is Infrastructure Augmentation Charges levied to support higher density developments.

16.3.5 Assessing Development Potential of Group Housing in TOD Zones This study focuses on group housing land (high rise, multi-family apartments or condominium projects) within the 13,100 acres of ITZ. Records of 1550 unique licenses issued in the state of Haryana for various uses, totaling 34,327 acres of land, were collected at the start of the study. The licensed land parcel data for the group housing purposes was mapped along the TOD corridors. It was found that a total of 3350 acres (25.6%) of land was licensed for the group housing purposes, of which 955 acres were within the ITZ. As a second step, a reconnaissance survey of the mapped land parcels was conducted in March 2016. Due to limited access to public infrastructure investments, several land parcels were inaccessible and were hard to reach. Despite being inaccessible landlocked land parcels, several parcels were already in various stages of construction due to unprecedented development pressures and the speculative nature of demand for real estate in the area. The authors physically surveyed 955 acres of licensed group housing lands, as shown in Fig. 16.5. The survey assessed the current lot utilization and each site’s status of construction to estimate their future development potential to adapt to take advantage of the new TOD policy. Depending on the status of construction on each site, and building development activities, each

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

379

Table 16.2 Future development potentials of land sites’ in ITZ based on a survey Code

Status of group housing land parcels

Potential

Development Potential (%)

A

Construction not started

Full potential

90

B

Phase-wise construction planned

Use TOD in future phases

70

C

Building at the early stage Addition of floors possible of construction

20

D

Building nearing completion/or completed

0

Nil

Source Author’s calculation-based on-site survey

parcel’s development potential was categorized into four codes from A–D as shown in Table 16.2. The Red, Black, and Yellow colors in Fig. 16.5 show land development potential categories from A–C. Code A means that the site has a full potential to adapt to the TOD policy because construction has not started yet, while code D means zero potential because the site is already fully developed and therefore has no scope to add more construction to achieve higher density development to utilize the newly available FAR. Since Gurugram and the southwest NCR regions are experiencing exponential growth, it was found that much of the development (construction) has already taken place in the group-housing sites within the ITZ, much before the TOD policy was announced. Only select large landholdings were able to respond to the new policy to adjust to the higher permissible FAR as per the 2016 TOD policy. The TOD policy expects that the landowners in the TOD corridor and the real estate development market will respond to the policy change as observed in other places [1, 2, 13, 22]. However, it is important to note that to achieve an affordable price for housing units, the size of the units needs to be small, so the unit price can match with the affordable demand market segment need. That smaller size can only be achieved successfully by increasing the unit density requirement higher along with modifying the ground coverage, heights, and FAR. To evaluate the effectiveness of the TOD policy for housing affordability, several land development scenarios were created for the ITZ area, based on the site’s potential criteria evidenced from site surveys. The potential impact of the policy on housing supply, unit size, developer’s profitability, and the local government’s land value capture potential in terms of EDC/IDC or IAC were estimated for the ITZ corridors. The summary of the findings is provided in Table 16.4 for all four corridors, and an illustration of the impact of the policy is presented below using a case of an Emerald Bay property.

380

J. Mittal et al.

16.3.6 An Illustration of Emerald Bay Along the NPR Corridor Based on the field survey, a development scenario was created for an Emerald Bay property in Sector 104 of Gurugram, illustrating the utilization of higher FAR in the ITZ. This scenario considers the effect of higher FAR on the potential supply of new housing in terms of unit size, unit price, affordability, and developers’ profitability. This property is a 27.62-acre site in the ITZ, and as per the field survey, it has a 70% development—a code B—potential. The illustration below shows that this site can build 1.9 million sq. ft. of additional residential space due to the increased FAR available due to the TOD policy. Before the implementation of the TOD policy, to maximize the FAR, the average apartment size was 1652 sq. ft. with 60 units per acre density. With the TOD policy, and with increased density and higher FAR, the average apartment size was reduced marginally to 1585 sq. ft. by our calculation. This change results in marginally smaller housing units on the same site and results in a net new supply of 1257 units on the same 27.62-acre site. It is still unaffordable to most people due to the large dwelling unit size. The most affordable unit size in this market ranges from 400 to 800 sq. ft. The iteration with just the allowable maximum density shows that the allowable density increases from 125 to 200 to 250 units per acre, respectively. Instead of using dwelling unit density as a maximum, enforcing minimum density as a norm would result in much smaller unit sizes that would be more affordable to a larger segment of the population. The illustration also shows that the average unit size reduces from 1,585 to 990 to 792 sq. ft. respectively on the same site, with increasing densities, thus approaching closer to the affordable housing price range. Licenced site area under TOD (At )

= 27.62 Acres

Site Development Potential (P)

= 70% (per the 2016 survey)

Potential additional buildable area on site

= c x At x (F p −F e ) x (1 + L) x P = 43,560 × 27.62 × (3.5–1.75) × (1 + 30%) × 70% = 1,915,980 sq. ft.

Average unit size pre-TOD per acre

= c x F e x (1 + L)/De = 43,560 × 1.75 × (1 + 30%) ÷ 60a = 1652 sq. ft.

Average unit size post-TOD per acre

= c x F p x (1 + L)/Dp = 43,560 × 3.5 × (1 + 30%) ÷ 125 = 1585 sq. ft. (for 125 du/acre)

a Allowable density Pre-TOD was 300 people/acre. Assuming family size of 5, results into number of

units per acre 300/5 = 60. Post-TOD, units/acre are 120 (with 10% flexibility). Using 125 units/acre for our estimation.

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

381

Below are a few scenarios that demonstrate that by increasing the minimum allowable density, the size of units would decrease, bringing them closer to the affordable size segment. (a) (b) (c)

With density of 125 units acre = 43,560 × 3.5 x (1 + 30%) ÷ 125 = 1585 sq. ft. With density of 200 units acre = 43,560 × 3.5 x (1 + 30%) ÷ 200 = 990 sq. ft. With density of 250 units acre = 43,560 × 3.5 x (1 + 30%) ÷ 250 = 792 sq. ft.

The above three scenarios show that along with higher FAR, higher allowable density plays a crucial role in determining the final unit size and its affordability. Smaller size means a lower price that matches the budget of the affordable market segment. 250 units/acre minimum density may result in an average density of 250 × 5 = 1250 persons per acre, which is near twice the density available in the revised TOD policy. The net increase in the number of housing units in the ITZ post TOD at maximum density = At × (D p − De ) × P) = 27.62 × (125 − 60) × 70 = 1257Nos. (estimated for current TOD norms) Note At is licensed area under TOD; P is a potential percentage; F e is existing FAR of 1.75; F p is proposed FAR post-TOD in the ITZ is 3.5; De is allowable density 60 (Unit/Acre) pre-TOD policy; Dp is the new allowable density 125 (Unit/Acre) post-TOD policy; L is the loading factor1 assumed as 30%. Lastly, c is the constant term 43,560, an acre to the sqft conversion factor.

16.3.7 Profitability Analysis of a 10 Acre Site Table 16.3 presents an illustration of a change in developer’s profitability with higher FAR and allowable density on a 10-acre site in Gurugram. In this illustration, it is notable that the developer’s profitability on a per sq. ft. of construction basis reduces with the cost of construction going up, and even selling price per sq. ft. basis, is lower than the pre-TOD, but with higher allowable density and higher FAR, more built space is being produced. By a quick estimate, as shown here, the developer’s total profit increases on this lot by 7.8%. Loading factor = Ratio of common area to Total building area. It is added to the occupied liveable or rentable space for rent or sale-price purposes. It is a charge for common areas such as entrance lobby, hallway, staircase, and elevator space.

1

382 Table 16.3 Illustration of profitability analysis for a sample of the 10-acre site:

J. Mittal et al. Pre-TOD

Post-TOD

Units

Parcel area

10

10

Acre

FAR

1.75

3.5

FAR cost per sq. 2500 ft. (a)

2500

In Rs/Sq. ft.

Land Price (b)

1900

4650 (IAC)a or EDC/IDCb

In Rs/Sq. ft.

Ground cover

15%

15%

(Say)

Building height

12

24

Floors

FAR area

762,300

1,524,600

Sq ft

+ Factor loading

30%

30%

Total salable area

990,990

1,981,980

Sq. ft.

Cost of construction (c)

2250

2700

In Rs./Sq. ft.

Sale price per Sq ft (d)

8000

7000

In Rs./Sq. ft.

Profitability = d—(a + b + c)

3250

1750

/Sq. ft.

Total profit on 10 acres

3220

3468

In million Rs

a IAC

is Infrastructure Augmentation Charges that city levies on higher FAR b EDC/IDC are similar to LVC recovery charges, if extra density granted at rezoning were available at no cost, the landowner would enjoy a windfall profit

16.3.8 Potential Effects of TOD on the Built Form Post-TOD, the developers will be forced to build taller buildings, and some developers who have designed their projects in a phased manner might be required to build excessively tall buildings to fully utilize the additional FAR. By building more, their profitability will go up, and the unit size will marginally reduce as shown above in Table 16.3. On the other hand, with taller buildings, builders will also witness increased construction costs. This will be coupled with a minor reduction in house prices which will decrease profit (in time value of money terms), given that these projects will take a longer time to execute and require higher (2.5x) capital to buy land, because of the additional IAC or EDC/IDC that will be levied to receive the bonus FAR. Notably, additional density available will result in a reduced dwelling unit size, but nearly not enough to fall to approximately 1000 sq. ft. It is clear that even with higher FAR, affordable housing would remain a distant dream for most of the population

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

383

Table 16.4 Land development potential for TOD corridors Zone

Sectors

NPR—1

105, 106, 109, 110, 110A, 111, 112, 113

362

130

4571

4198

NPR—2

99, 100, 101, 102, 102A, 103, 104

378

129

4612

4235

NPR—

36A, 36B, 37D, 88, 88A, 88B, 99A

333

55

3544

3254

NPR—4

83, 84

NPR—Total

Land under group housing (acre)

Land under TOD (acre)

Survey-based estimated utilization (‘000 sq. ft.)

Additional housing units post-TOD

137

52

1826

1677

1211

366

14,553

13,364

SPR—1

18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 25A, 26

35

10

155

142

SPR—2

17, 26A, 27, 28, 29, 41

88

57

309

284

SPR—3

42, 43, 44, 45, 52, 52A, 53, 54

630

148

4979

4572

SPR—4

55, 56, 57, 61, 62

213

57

1178

1082

SPR—5

48, 49, 50, 65, 66, 69, 72

536

189

2528

2322

SPR—6

70, 71, 73, 74, 74A, 75, 75A

265

71

4022

3693

1768

531

13,171

12,095

SPR—Total NH8—1

76, 77, 78, 83, 82A

246

33

1519

1395

NH8—2

80, 81A, 81, M1, M1A, M1 C, M1D, M6A, M2

124

25

1568

1440

NH8—Total

370

58

3087

2835

Grand Total

3349

955

30,811

28,294

Source Authors’ calculations

unless these details of the TOD policies are modified to allow a higher dwelling unit density, as demonstrated below. Table 16.4 presents land development potential for the TOD corridors using a similar methodology as the above illustration. The total number of additional housing units is estimated utilizing data for all available group housing lands within the ITZ as shown below. It is estimated that with the changed regulations, a total of 28,294 additional units can be potentially supplied within the ITZ area on the sites zoned for group housing. The number of additional units can be doubled by enforcing a higher minimum per acre dwelling unit density that could result in a supply of an additional 56,588 units of average 792 sq. ft. size.

384

J. Mittal et al.

16.3.9 Mega Landlords in the TOD Owing to complicated land information systems in the NCR area, it was challenging to gather detailed land records. Information was collected for the approved group housing lots and their land ownership along the Northern Peripheral Road (NPR) region. These lots were mapped as shown in Figs. 16.4 and 16.5 as discussed earlier. Notably, about 15 landowners owned most lands along with the NPR and for privacy reasons, the land-ownership details are anonymized. A quick review of land ownership data obtained for the ITZ revealed that the largest beneficiaries of the TOD policy are four key developers. These four developers say, A, B, C, and D,2 individually hold 4.1 million sq. ft. (94 acres), 3 million sq. ft. (69 acres), 2.9 million sq. ft. (67 acres), and 2.5 million sq. ft. (57 acres) of group housing lands in the ITZ, respectively. As per the TOD policy, each of these four developers’ landholdings has the potential to supply approximately 4700 units, 2700 units, 2600 units, and 2200 units of housing, respectively. As presented in the illustration above, the private landowners’ profitability increased significantly, and although local planning authorities levied IAC and IDC charges, they are not able to fully capture the windfall unearned value gains on private properties with this public policy change.

16.4 Key Issues and Challenges Governments play a crucial role in the supply of developable serviced land by investing in transportation and critical economic, physical, and social infrastructure. Government regulatory actions also have a significant effect on the supply and demand of developable urban land. The past literature on zoning and land use regulations by land economists [16, 17, 32, 33] has established that stringent zoning laws and stricter land use controls artificially lower the buildable supply, resulting in inflated housing prices. Cities with more restrictive land development policies create artificial limits on allowable construction (building permits) and floor area ratio, resulting in artificially higher housing prices. The consumption of urban land, or per unit floor space in buildings varies from city to city and even within cities by local market demand [6], and other socio-economic factors. This variation is also due to the spatial nature of change in consumer demand and preferences, along with the land’s economic productivity due to location, government land regulations, and government landholdings (lands not available for a transaction), such as streets, utilities, public facilities, and other publicly owned land use [2, p. 18]. The supply and consumption of urban lands also heavily depends on the economic growth and demographic characteristics of its space-occupying population, and more importantly on government infrastructure investments and land use regulations [3]. Like most cities in the developing world, in Gurugram, the integration of mass transit with land use planning was an afterthought. While the TOD policy and its 2

Names of the developers are omitted for privacy reasons.

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

385

multiple revisions are welcome efforts, its potential effects will be limited. If transit is developed where land development is yet to take place, affordable housing development can be ensured by determining an optimal mix of FAR and density. It is generally understood that affordable housing can be built if the per sq. ft. cost of land is reduced on a per-unit basis, that is, by providing higher FAR and allowing higher density. Increasing the supply of affordable housing supply is, however, unachievable if there is a low permissible dwelling unit density restriction in place, such as only 60 dwelling units per acre. Simply increasing the FAR will lead to an increase in the average size of an apartment. For example, if the FAR is increased from 1.75 to 3.5, but the restriction of 60 dwelling units per acre remains intact, the average size of the dwelling unit will increase to 3300 sq. ft. from the earlier 1650 sq. ft. Therefore, along with increasing FAR, increasing the permissible dwelling unit density is critical to increasing the number of smaller units, and not the size of the same number of units. Notably, in the Indian urban context, affordable units are best served in the smaller size range of units 500–800 sq. ft., or at a maximum of 1000 sq. ft., and therefore, higher dwelling unit densities are required for affordable housing. Permissible dwelling unit density of 150 units per acre if the FAR is 1.75 is desirable, and if the FAR is 3.5, then the dwelling unit density should be further increased to 250–300 units per acre. These density norms need to be determined very judiciously, as higher FAR would result in a higher cost of construction, more time taken for construction, and lower realization per sq. ft. (people prefer lower density and are willing to pay more for it). So, modifying the FAR above 3.5 will also result in a disproportionate rise in the cost of construction, making the houses more expensive for developers to realize the same profit or the developers’ profitability would be reduced accordingly. High parking norms are also responsible for increasing the cost of construction, and these norms need to be relaxed to the provision of only essential parking. A car park measures 375 sq. ft. on average, and for an affordable house of 500–800 sq. ft., even a requirement of 1 car parking space per unit will result in about 30% additional cost burden on the total cost of a house. Therefore, TOD development must stress common and shared parking provisions and limit parking norms to essential parking only, as the provision of MRTS should bring down the parking demand. Another mechanism adopted by policymakers to provide affordable housing is to subsidize it through the development of commercial establishments such as offices and shopping centers. An effective TOD policy must enable cross-subsidizing development of the commercial real estate, parking, and social amenities, with that of affordable housing. It would be useful to know how landowners who could not avail of the bonus FAR due to a fully developed site would respond to policy change. These landowners will wait for the market prices to increase and then they will redevelop the buildings at a time when it is profitable for them to do so. This is easier with commercial developments that have single ownership. Multiple ownerships of residential or even commercial real estate make it very difficult for such redevelopments to happen due to varying priorities of owners, and the varying social and financial conditions. Often this takes several decades to translate into action. At present, in India, this kind of redevelopment is happening only in Mumbai. There may be a few single ownership

386

J. Mittal et al.

buildings along the Gurgaon Golf Course Road that will re-develop 20 years from now. How will the value of land change (value capitalization) with the change in FAR, allowing more buildable area, and higher profitability? As demonstrated in this chapter, higher FAR does not necessarily translate to the creation of affordable housing. Similarly, higher FAR has no direct relation to developers’ profitability, which declines beyond an optimal point due to the higher cost of construction and limited market demand. This is amply demonstrated in New York, where it has considerably unbuilt FAR. Also, even if the dwelling unit density doubles with FAR, as in the case of Gurgaon, it will still not drive down the average dwelling unit size to under 1000 sq. ft., and there will be no creation of additional affordable housing. Currently, development authorities lack an effective tool to understand the impact of land use policy change on developers’ actions, the resultant land value changes, and the creation of a desired public good, such as affordable housing. From the perspective of development authorities, it would be immensely useful to have an advanced and reasonable estimate of developers’ and landowners’ actions, and the resultant development effect due to the implementation of a new TOD or any other land use policy, as well as estimated land value changes because of this policy. Based on the lessons from the Gurugram TOD case, we propose that cities should invest in developing a city-wide property information system that meaningfully integrates land use planning strategies and regulation with transit planning. Such a system is presented in the next section. This proposed Land and Property Development Information System (LPDIS) will provide a well-informed, data-driven support system to not only enable effective public policy formulation but also guide public investments and strategize land value capture.

16.5 Need for a Land and Property Development Information Systems (LPDIS) The proposed Land and Property Development Information System (LPDIS) is an integrated computerized system that uses land and property taxation data, information on planning proposals, infrastructure investments, and building construction activities, and that draws information from multiple sources to form a decision support system. Data sources may include the following: • City GIS data • Property tax data • Local planning department information on current land use zoning and other regulatory plans, the status of building permits in the city, and information on development charges levied on properties • Revenue department property and land records recorded property sales/transaction data, and property assessment and valuation data • Transit authorities for their current transit networks and plans

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

387

• Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) established on the lines of Smart Cities Mission of India; and • Other civic data that may have bearing on local development The proposed LPDIS will interact with updated data procured from multiple agencies and apply it for analyzing, visualizing, creating development scenarios and financial simulations, while estimating impacts that the public investments or policy interventions may bring in. In summary, LPDIS will help synthesize multiple spatial layers of private and public information, and in turn, will allow a well-informed policy decision-making platform. A conceptual framework for the LPDIS is presented in Fig. 16.5. As shown in Fig. 16.5, the proposed LPDIS will also use the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), a one-stop control room for all urban services, as is used in other smart cities. ICCC has been initiated in almost 100 smart cities in India in the past few years and has the potential to be blended with the LPDIS. The LPDIS would enable cities to generate predictive analytics and actionable information to respond to any public action that may affect private property values.

16.5.1 Components of the LPDIS and How to Establish LPDIS The proposed LPDIS will seamlessly interact with at least four sets of spatial information on all properties: cadastral-based land revenue data, valuation data with circle rates map, land use zoning and regulations layers, and land monetization instruments layers, such as special planning districts, TOD zones, TDR import and export areas, or areas undergoing major public investments or transformation. The proposed LPDIS will use seamless metropolitan area-wide computerized cadastral-based parcel records such as land revenue maps, with attributes of individual parcel ID, location, address, extent, size, title, ownership details, any improvements, or easements. It will also include time-stamped records of all property transactions in the city by parcel ID. This data interacts with other datasets such as metropolitan area-wide land values reflected by government circle rates (with timestamped price per square feet of undeveloped lands). Other subsets of data included would be the land use zoning and land use regulations layer with information on allowed zoning, permissible FAR, densities, heights, setbacks, and other requirements. The fourth dataset includes land policy intervention or land monetization instruments. This data set will have information on planning interventions, their effects on development, and zones that those interventions impact. Along with other data described above, this dataset will help monitor and measure the impact of land policy interventions on individual properties and localities. This will help development authorities estimate the potential effect of future land policies spatially and financially and enable them to effectively meet their objectives such as increasing affordable housing supply.

388

J. Mittal et al.

The proposed LPDIS could be well-integrated within the existing smart cities technology initiatives to monitor, plan, and assess the land policy impacts in rapidly developing cities in India. In the case of Gurugram, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) could use the Integrated Command & Control Centre (ICCC), a centralized hub similar to the smart cities initiative. It could integrate the ICCC with cadastral-based revenue maps, valuation data and circle rates, land use zoning and regulations layers, and land monetization layers to develop an integrated LPDIS with smart city intelligent infrastructure technology initiatives.

16.5.2 How It Benefits the Future, Discussions, and Challenges Once established, the proposed LPDIS could be applied to monitor and estimate public policy and public investments effects, the Land Value Capture (LVC) effects and incremental value potentials due to any public investment or policy action. As described above, the proposed LPDIS is an integrated system that will be tied with land parcel data, local zoning data, land use regulations, and building permit data (showing the status of land /improvements). It will also interact with the property appraisal and tax data, including transaction data and area circle rates to determine local values. Once it is developed, the LPDIS will assist in monitoring and developing land policy change scenarios for the policymakers. The proposed LPDIS would not only be useful in monitoring and analyzing the policy changes, but also assist in monitoring and estimating the Land Value Capture (LVC) gain effects and estimating net potential public revenues due to public action. LPDIS is useful for any rapidly growing city and will help analyze changes in the housing supply characteristics, and developers’ response to the new TOD policies. Specifically, for Gurugram, it can help the city determine the impact of changes in the land use regulation within the TOD corridors/zones in the greater Delhi NCR region of India. Once established, the proposed LPDIS can become a crucial tool for rapidly growing metropolitan areas such as Gurugram and help actively monitor the effect of proposed land policy modifications. When LPDIS is integrated with the smart city intelligent infrastructure technology initiatives, it can also assist in systematically planning community development, advancing social goals, transparency, and empowering property owners. It can further assist in monitoring changes to land parcels during various stages of development (spatially and temporally) and assist in accounting and monitoring the LVC funds to finance capital investment projects such as public transit. Finally, the proposed LPDIS can also help public agencies to separate the land value changes due to regulations or any other public infrastructure improvements, and then charge the gains as land value capture, while achieving the desirable TOD goals of compact, high density, walkable and affordable housing, as well as transit-oriented, mixed-use development.

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

389

16.6 Conclusion Using the case study of four TOD corridors and land use policy change in Gurugram, this chapter demonstrated that while higher FAR is welcomed by the development community and adds value to a real estate project, it may not be valuable enough to offset the added construction cost as taller buildings cost more to build. It may also not be enough to help the city realize its goal of increasing the supply of affordable housing in the city. This chapter makes a useful contribution to the literature on land use regulations for TOD and highlights their effect on the property markets. It further outlines a framework for robust Land and Property Development Information Systems (LPDIS) tied to land data, zoning, and land use regulations, and status of land/development permissions to assist in monitoring and developing policy change scenarios for policymakers using smart technologies. The chapter presents changes in the land use regulations and how they affect the supply side characteristics (housing size and price) in TOD corridors in Gurugram. It discussed TOD, housing affordability, and using illustrative cases, shows how the unit size would change and developers profitability might increase. It then develops a conceptual framework of an LPDIS that can help in improving landbased financing opportunities for the local planning agency. The LPDIS is proposed as an information system that integrates land parcel data (cadastral), local zoning and land use regulations, building permits data showing the status of land /improvements, and various special planning or special purpose land policies zones for the entire city. The LPDIS could also be connected to the smart city and its command center, and once established, could assist in monitoring and developing land policy change scenarios for the policymakers. This tool would be useful in monitoring and analyzing the impacts of policy changes, and for estimating potential public revenues that the city could generate by monetizing land via Land Value Capture (LVC). The LPDIS could be useful to any rapidly growing city, and it would be the foundation for information-driven systematic planning (Fig. 16.6).

390

J. Mittal et al.

Fig. 16.6 Conceptual framework of the land and property development information systems (LPDIS) Source Authors (2022)

References 1. Bartholomew, K., Ewing, R.: Hedonic Price Effects of Pedestrian- and Transit-Oriented Development. J. Plan. Lit. 26(1), 18–34 (2011) 2. Bertaud, A.: Land Markets, Government Interventions, and Housing Affordability. Wolfensohn Center for Development, Brookings, Washington DC Working paper 18 (May) (2010) 3. Bertaud, A.: Converting Land into Affordable Housing Floor Space (May 1). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6870. http://ssrn.com/abstract=2439693 (2014) 4. Black Olive Ventures (BOV).: Real State of Estate—Yearbook-2015, 2(1) received via email from www.blackoliveventures.com (2015) 5. Boarnet, M.G., Compin, N.S.: Transit-oriented development in San Diego County. J. Am. Plann. Assoc. 65(1), 80–95 (1999)

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

391

6. Byahut, S., Patel, B., Mehta, J.: Emergence of sub-optimal land utilization patterns in Indian cities. J. Urban Des. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2020.1752646 7. Calthorpe, P., Fulton, W.: The Regional City: Planning for the End of Sprawl. Island Press, Washington, DC (2001) 8. Census of India (2011) 9. Center for Transit-Oriented Development (2010) 10. Cervero, R., Kang, C.D.: Bus rapid transit impacts on land uses and land values in Seoul, Korea. Transp. Policy 18, 102–116 (2010) 11. Cervero, R.: Linking urban transport and land use in developing countries. J. Transport Land Use 6(1), 7–24 (2013) 12. Chatman, D.G.: Does TOD need the T? J. Am. Planning Assoc. 79(1), 17–31 (2013) 13. CTOD.: Capturing the value of transit. http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/assets/Uploads/ ctodvalcapture110508v2.pdf (2008) 14. DMRC.: Present Network, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. http://www.delhimetrorail.com/pro jectpresent.aspx (2021) Accessed 11 Nov 2021 15. Evans IV., J.E., Pratt, R.H., Stryker, A., Kuzmyak, J.R.: (2007)Transit-Oriented Development— Traveler Response to Transportation System Changes. Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 95, Chap. 17. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, DC 16. Fischel, W.A.: The Economics of Zoning Laws: A Property Rights Approach to American Land Use Controls. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD (1987) 17. Glaeser, E.L., and Gyourko, J.: The impact of building restrictions on housing affordability. In: Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review, (June), pp. 21–39 (2003) 18. GMDA.: https://www.gmda.gov.in/aboutus/metropolitan-area.html?language=en (2021) Accessed 1 Jan 2021 19. Haryana Government Gazette.: Haryana Government Town and Country Planning Department Notification (Feb), pp. 231–236. https://tcpharyana.gov.in/ncrpb/TOD%20Policy-9.2.2016.pdf (2016) Accessed 11 Oct 2020 20. Huang, H.: The land-use impact of urban rail transit systems. J. Plan. Lit. 17–30 (1996) 21. INAE Forum.: Urban Transportation: Challenges and Way Forward, report by INAE Forum on Civil Infrastructure, Indian National Academy of Engineering, Gurgaon (2019) 22. International Transport Forum.: Funding Urban Public Transport: Case Study Compendium, (May). http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/Pub/pdf/13Compendium.pdf (2013) Accessed 5 Mar 2015 23. Li, T.: Impacts of transport projects on residential property values in China: evidence from two projects in Guangzhou. J. Prop. Res. 23(4), 347–365 (2006) 24. Lund, H.: Reasons for living in a transit-oriented development, and associated transit use. J. Am. Plan. Assoc. 72(3), 357–366 (2006) 25. Malhotra, C., Manchanda V., Bhilwar, A., Basu, A.: Designing inclusive smart cities of the future: the indian context. In: Vacca, J.R. (ed.) Solving Urban Infrastructure Problems Using Smart City Technologies: Handbook on Planning, Design, Development, and Regulation, Chap. 29, pp. 631–659. Elsevier, NL (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816816-5. 00029-2 26. Mathur, S., Smith, A.: Land value capture to fund public transportation infrastructure: examination of joint development projects’ revenue yield and stability, Transp. Policy 30, 327–335 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2013.09.016 27. Mishra, S.: What are external development charges? Housing.com, (October 6). https://hou sing.com/news/external-development-charges/ (2020) Accessed July 15 2021 28. Mittal, J., Harode, D.: Two Spatial Scales of Interventions in the Smart Cities of India— Lessons from Three Cities. In: Patnaik et al. (eds.) Smart Cities and Smart Communities: Empowering Citizens through Intelligent Technologies, Chap. 14. Springer (2022, in press) ISBN: 978-981-19-1145-3 29. Mittal, J., Scott B.: Self-financing urbanism in developing countries: a land value capture (LVC) Toolkit. In: Chatterjee, U. et al. (eds.) Sustainable Urbanism in Developing Countries, Chap. 9. Taylor & Francis Group/CRC Press (2022 in press). https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003131922

392

J. Mittal et al.

30. NCR.: Policies and strategies. National Capital Region Planning Board. http://ncrpb.nic.in/pol icies_strategies.html (2021). Accessed 16 Nov 2021 31. Press Trust of India.: News (2016) 32. Patel, B., Byahut, S., Bhatha, B.: Building regulations are a barrier to affordable housing in Indian cities—The case of Ahmedabad. J. Hous. Built Environ. 33(1) (2018) 33. Quigley, J.M., Rosenthal, L.A.: The effects of land use regulation on the price of housing: What do we know? What can we learn? Cityscape 8(1), 69–137 (2005) 34. Reconnecting America (2015) 35. Renne, J.L.: TOD Index. www.TODindex.com. https://todindex.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/ tod-index-report-december-2014.pdf (2014). Accessed 29 December 2020 36. Seo, K., Golub, A., Kuby, M.: Combined impacts of highways and light rail transit on residential property values: a spatial hedonic price model for Phoenix, Arizona. J. Transp. Geogr. 41, 53–62 (2014) 37. Suzuki, H., Cervero, R., Iuchi, K.: Transforming Cities with Transit: Transit and Land-Use Integration for Sustainable Urban Development. Washington, DC: World Bank (2013). https:// doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9745-9. http://go.worldbank.org/63BIS6RFG0 38. TCP Haryana.: Final EDC Rates Potential Zone Wise by Cabinet Sub Committee, Dept of Town and Country Planning, Government of Haryana. https://tcpharyana.gov.in/Policy/ Final%20EDC%20Rates%20Potential%20Zone%20Wise%20by%20Cabinet%20Sub%20C ommittee.pdf (2019). Accessed 15 Jul 2021 39. Yang, J., Quan, J., Yan, B., He, C.: Urban rail investment and transit-oriented development in Beijing: Can it reach a higher potential? World Transit Research https://www.worldtransitres earch.info/research/6080 (2016). Accessed 1 Jan 2016

Jay Mittal is Associate Professor in the Master of Community Planning Program (MCP) at Auburn University. He has received his Ph.D. in Regional Development Planning; Real Estate from University of Cincinnati, USA. He also has done his MBA from University of Cincinnati, USA, along with his Master of Technology in Urban and Regional Planning from CEPT University, India. He brings over 22 years of professional experience in private consulting, research, and academic settings. Prior to joining Auburn, he taught at the University of Cincinnati (UC) in the Planning Program at DAAP, and in the Real Estate development program at Carl Lindner College of Business at UC. He received prestigious fellowship from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA for his doctoral research, and has published in notable planning and real estate journals: Environment & Planning B, Habitat International, J of Sustainable Real Estate, Real Estate Finance, and Journal of Urban Planning & Development. He is frequently invited to speak at major academic and professional meetings and peer institutions in the Americas, India, China, and Europe. Sweta Byahut Earned a Ph.D. in Regional Development Planning from the University of Cincinnati in 2012. She received a Masters in Planning from CEPT University in 1997 and a Bachelor in Architecture from M.S. University in India in 1995. She also has a Diploma in Land Management from the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies, The Netherlands. Before joining academia, Dr. Byahut worked for a decade in planning consultancy and applied research with Environmental Planning Collaborative (EPC), a not-for-profit planning, and development management firm based in Ahmedabad, India. She has worked in the areas of planning legislation, development regulation, comprehensive and regional planning, post-earthquake reconstruction, and inner city revitalization. She drafted amendments to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957 and wrote development regulations for the cities of Delhi, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, and Bhuj. Dr. Byahut was a PI for a EU grant for applied research and capacity building in partnership with Gujarat government and the Institute of Civil Engineers, UK. Early in her career, she received the ProVention Applied Research Grant for Young Professionals and fellowships from the United Nations Environment Program and the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

16 Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal …

393

Sunil Agarwal holds a degree in Civil Engineering, Masters in Urban Planning (Housing) from CEPT, Ahmedabad, and an MBA in Finance & Marketing from IMT, Ghaziabad. He brings over 20 years of work experience in the Indian real estate sector and held senior positions in various companies. He is Founder of Black Olive Ventures (“BOV”), a new age real estate investment banking and asset management services company. Before starting BOV, he was Co-founder and CEO of South Asian Real Estate (SARE), a USD 400 mn FDI funds management and development company executing large residential projects of over 100 acres each at six locations in India. Mr. Sunil Agarwal is Director and Associate Dean “RICS School of Built Environment” and Member of the “South Asia Board” of “Royal Institute of Charted Surveyors” (RICS). He is also Member of Board of Studies at Centre of Environment Planning and Technology (“CEPT”) and School of Planning and Architecture (“SPA”), Delhi.

Chapter 17

Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban Attributes of Traditional Neighborhood-Level Communities in India Mani Dhingra and Subrata Chattopadhyay Abstract City-making is a process in which several endogenous and exogenous variables associated with socio-economic, environmental, historical, and physical parameters play a significant role. The neoliberal and market-led notion of smart cities is highly criticized by many scholars for its polarized and inequitable approach to development. The traditional communities have continued for generations and inherit a unique living and residential culture bestowing them with an inherent smartness quotient. This concept of smartness for city planning is even more critical during the present times to understand the impact of the spatial structure of existing cities to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. Authors identify a strong need to merge the two concepts of traditional communities and urban smartness for a holistic approach to building smart communities. This study aims to assess the smart spatial attributes of the traditional neighborhood-level urban communities such as compactness, walkability, and diversity. Primary household surveys were conducted in the walled city of Alwar, Rajasthan, India. The case study reveals compactly designed residential enclaves known as mohallas with mixed land use. The indigenous spatial elements such as squares (chowks), markets (bazaars), and streets (gali) proved to be crucial community gathering places for these settlements. Such zero-level assessment of existing socio-cultural and spatial attributes may enable the appropriate integration of intelligent technologies into our urban systems. Authors recommend harnessing the untapped potential of traditional communities in culturally rich countries like India to achieve the goals of a smart community.

17.1 Introduction Cities are the centers of excellence and act as focal points for human interaction and commercial activities [1]. However, they are prone to undesirable consequences of inevitable urbanization phenomenon. On the one hand, urbanization contributes M. Dhingra (B) · S. Chattopadhyay Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_17

395

396

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

to the higher productivity of cities and on the other hand, it comes with challenges of urban sprawl, unemployment, high crime rate, slums, lack of adequate housing and infrastructure, urban inequality, environmental degradation, and weak financial capacities of urban local bodies [2]. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs [3] estimates that India alone can witness an increase of 416 million urban dwellers by 2050. It is a major developing economy and to tackle the critical urban challenges, an ambitious Smart Cities Mission (SCM) was launched in 2015 impacting a total urban population of more than 99,000,000 [4]. Usually digital and ICT-oriented interventions are awkwardly integrated into an existing physical setting for building smart cities. However, there is only 50% global access to the internet with an acute gender gap in connectivity [5]. Inappropriate digital interventions can widen these social gaps instead of bridging them. Also, this fuzzy concept is under constant scrutiny due to its top-down, market-oriented, and technocentric approach [6–9]. The top priorities of international communities under the aegis of Sustainable Development Goals are to reduce the digital divide, build digital capacities, and ensure the use of new technologies as a common good that favors a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient urban future. City-making is a process in which varied urban experiences and cultural patterns result in urban components unique to human settlement systems [10]. However, a high-tech variant may ignore the needs of its traditional communities and poorer residents by applying some short-term spatial fixes [11]. This ongoing tendency to overlook the “city” component from the concept of “smart city” and easily getting allured by the grandiose visions of modernization underpins a dire need to realize the existing potential of traditional settlements in terms of their built environment, non-technical attributes, urban planning practices, urban fabric, socio-cultural aspects, environmental and economic aspects. The physical and socio-cultural geography should perhaps be the common denominator to define the scope of smart city initiatives for different scales [12]. This study aims to analyze the spatial attributes of existing communities in the Indian context which can contribute to the objectives of smart urban development. Based on text computational analysis, a conceptual smart city model is proposed to assist in formulating a relevant set of indicators for the study. A case study approach is utilized to give an in-depth and multi-faceted insight into a traditional urban setting in India.

17.2 Literature Review 17.2.1 Concept of Smart Cities A better-performing city balances all domains of urban life and achieves the goals of inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable development [13]. Accordingly, they are associated with many labels in the global policy discourse, such as sustainable cities, livable cities, digital cities, and smart cities, which have overlapping objectives in

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

397

practice and are used interchangeably. Jong et al.’s [14] analysis of the 12 most frequently used city categories concludes sustainable city category is an umbrella node having greater resonance with urban policies worldwide. While some of these city categories such as intelligent city, ubiquitous city, and resilient city form a distant relationship with the central node, the smart city category forms one of the major axes with sustainable city category [9]. The very first definition of sustainability emerged in 1987 in the Brundtland report, emphasizing a development process that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of the future generation [15]. The 2030 agenda for sustainable development was put forth in 2015, covering themes such as poverty, education, climate change, socio-economic inequality, and safety, which are fundamentally relevant to urban areas [16]. The overall narrative of the smart city literature depicts a constant confusion between the digital and the sustainability agenda [17, 18]. In the 1990s, the smart city concept progressed through the Kyoto protocol with an explicit focus on environmental sustainability. However, post-2000, this concept observed a shift in its discourse from sustainable planning interventions to the fixing of urban spaces with digital technologies. Considering technology plays an important role in transforming urban life, the United Nations for Smart Sustainable Cities was launched in 2016 as a distinctive global smart city platform to act as a facilitator for building partnerships on smart cities and formulate implementation schemes with allied urban programs such as the new urban agenda, the Paris agreement, the connect 2020 agenda and 2030 agenda for sustainable development [19]. The Indian SCM is a centrally sponsored flagship program that has come a long way from focusing on technology as the only solution to adopting it as a means to achieve certain goals. The mission urges us to keep communities at the core, making the best use of the city’s existing resources through cooperative and competitive federalism and integration of appropriate urban innovations. The various features of the smart cities mission can be graphically represented in Fig. 17.1 [20].

17.2.2 Research Gaps Despite an exponential increase in smart cities research over the last decade, the term is vague and ambiguous which is mostly used as an instrumental concept instead of a normative concept. The issue with conflating and the self-congratulatory smart city is its market-led urban agenda rooted in a great misunderstanding about this concept [11, 21–23] The definitions and practical applications are unclear and multifaceted [9]. Audirac [24] mentions that inefficient incorporation of ICT with the existing spatial setting can result in a loose, fragmented, polycentric, and complex urban form with fast dispersing and de-concentrating land uses, and social and spatial segregation, congested streets, and disappearing open spaces. Angelidou [21] concluded that strategic planning is a missing component from the present smart city framework and urges to adopt human-centered approaches for solving urban problems. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of popular smart city interventions between their

398

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

Fig. 17.1 Features of smart cities identified by smart cities mission

rhetoric targets and the real outcomes. Table. 17.1 indicates an uncritical, ahistorical, and aspatial understanding of data in most of these case studies, emphasizing the role of the overall socio-cultural context in which these initiatives are proposed. Besides the critical literature review, an expert survey was conducted from a diverse professional background ranging from architects and urban professionals to engineers in energy and civil industries on www.questionpro.com in 2016. The experts rated the identified 15 broad urban aspects on a scale of 1 to 5 according to their importance in the smart cities development framework. Figure 17.2 shows that the experts’ highest average rating is 4.45 out of 5 for mobility, closely followed by living, economic, spatial, and environmental. Also, experts gave very high importance to spatial, cultural, and physical dimensions than the already existing governance and social dimensions. This raises further necessity to pay heed to the concepts of the smart cultural urban landscape.

17.2.3 Conceptual Smart City Model People interpret the term smart in different ways- for some, it is just the environmental goals, while it is an ICT-driven urban solution for others. Incorporating a digital vision and technological fixes may skew results to critical urban issues [37]. This study acknowledges that the strategy for smart urban development should perhaps begin with an assessment of the existing situation and aspirations of its communities. India’s long history, diverse cultural setting, and domineering informal sector demand an indigenous tailor-made framework, instead of an imported scheme of actions from its western counterparts [38, 39]. The study identifies the following research questions-

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

399

Table 17.1 Global smart cities initiatives City

Smart interventions

Rhetoric targets

Real outcomes

1

Philadelphia, USA

• IBM’s digital on-ramps initiative—provides a mobile, internet-based application for training marginalized low literacy workforce

• Bridge socio-economic present within the city

• The divides persist. residents targeted belong to de-industrialized inner-city neighborhoods but emerging information economy clustered in well-off areas

2

Rio de Janeiro [25–27]

• Integrated center of • Strengthening of command and security control, equipped operations in with the latest public spaces • Urban mapping technology in projects for disaster management informed and response; decision-making control traffic flow • High-tech and public transit marketing systems rhetoric

• The concentration of CCTV cameras in the wealthier sections of town • Spotty public transit video feeds • No data for longer-term planning • The crime rate, social inequality, digital divide, and environmental issues have increased • Lack of transparency

3

Korea’s ueco-cities [28]

• 64 cities with high tech ubiquitous computing embedded in city-scale cloud infrastructure

• Supply-side technology at the core • Socio-cultural aspects are neglected with no option for retrofitting existing communities • Local economies and traditional spaces are not considered

4

Singapore’s IT revolution [11, 29]

• Intelligent island • Advanced with inter-connected nationwide computers information • Singapore ONE infrastructure (One network for will change the everyone) lifestyle of citizens

• Unique and innovative city type with high quality of life • Sustainable urban planning practices and civic empowerment

• High-end wealthy customers inhabited fortified high-tech enclaves • The role of ICT in the long term is yet to be seen (continued)

400

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

Table 17.1 (continued) City

Smart interventions

5

Digital Kyoto [30, 31]

• Academic-industry • Walkable Kyoto collaboration for • Improve and future transportation diversify the planning, aesthetic public corners, awareness transportation campaign, and systems and parking management decrease the use of private automobiles

Rhetoric targets

Real outcomes • Focus on social information infrastructure • Urban planning motivation to allow community members to participate • Initiated by academic researchers with a focus on non-technical research issues such as security and privacy

6

Barcelona [32]

• Smart city strategic plan in the 1990s

• Open data application in living labs for effective citizen collaboration • A sustainable and livable city with a competitive and innovative economy

• Considered a success story across Europe • A soft infrastructureoriented strategy focusing on ubiquitous ICT, physical infrastructure, and human capital • Explicit focus on urban planning and urban renewal projects

7

Arab cities [33, 34]

• Post-1940s, several westernized housing projects in countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and UAE

• Imported • Fragmented urban dwelling-units patterns led to design and urban fragmented pattern- western community and thoughts of missing development neighborhood sense • Modern • Loss of local identity architectural due to demolished movement with a and refurbished old focus on the towns • Impart functional rational and improvements at the efficient urban cost of losing many system human and environmental qualities • From pedestrian scale to automobile-oriented highways (continued)

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

401

Table 17.1 (continued) 8

City

Smart interventions

Rhetoric targets

Amsterdam—Dutch network society [35, 36]

• European pilot site for City-Zen energy-saving program

• Scale-up • A shift from the innovation traditional spatial efforts with data planning model analytics to which focused on improve the way compactness, urban life of its optimal land uses, citizens and proximity to a networked society • Spatial segregation and complex logistics system with increased use of urban space

Real outcomes

Fig. 17.2 Average rating of urban dimensions by experts

1. 2.

Can we have a conceptual smart city model which focuses on the overall vision of smart cities irrespective of the technological or planning instruments? Do traditional settlements exhibit some level of indigenous smartness, which can be harnessed comprehensively instead of merely fixing with some popular and modern technology?

The null hypothesis assumes that the urban attributes of traditionally originated settlements exhibit some level of indigenous smartness. The study aims to develop

402

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

Fig. 17.3 A tripartite smart city model

a methodology for assessing traditionally originated settlements toward achieving objectives of urban smartness. The existing smart cities literature is mostly qualitative and diverse, and hence, systematic literature search and review coupled with aggregative and interpretative meta-synthesis is utilized to identify the key terms associated with objectives of smart urban development [40]. The study explicitly limits the focus of the study to their goals irrespective of the means of achieving these goals, whether it be employing urban design interventions or technological spatial fixes. The corpus of definitions of smart cities is prepared and analysis of recurrent terms, their clustering tendencies, and visualization algorithms reveal the key terms associated with the objectives of smart urban development. These terms include quality of life, sustainable economic growth, human capital, urban development, sustainable environment, socio-economic aspects, social inclusion, administrative efficiency, citizen services, and people’s life-work integration [40]. Figure 17.3 represents the graphical representation of the tripartite vision of smart cities. Sustainability is mostly associated with the tangible aspects of a place, livability subsumes how people perceive their residential environment, and inclusivity is more about equality and parity experienced by all citizens. Therefore, the conceptual smart city model is assumed at the cross-section of 3Ps- people, place, and parity. This study defines a smart city as an urban community that strategically improves the quality of life and well-being of its citizens, adopts sustainable urban planning, promotes environmental protection, and focuses on the inclusive socioeconomic growth of its community leveraging its hidden potential [41, 42]. This study explicitly focuses on the spatial attributes of a case of traditional Indian settlements which have continued for generations and undergone multiple transformations from an organic layout to a rationally planned development. A complementary research by Dhingra and Chattopadhyay [41, 42] analyses the socio-cultural attributes of a traditional Indian settlement and concludes fair performance in terms of cultural vitality,

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

403

social cohesion, collective efficacy, sense of belongingness, degree of interpersonal trust, and perceived safety by residents.

17.3 Case Study Indian historic cores are unique symbols of cities where old communities staying in residential quarters use socio-cultural practices to express their continuity for generations and thus, builds a relationship with the concept of Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) [43]. Kostof [44] deliberated about walled towns and temple townsthe former regards towns as defense and domination agents while the latter regards towns as holy places. The trend of walled cities fell apart in the 19th century due to population explosion and technological advancement, but in the mid-19th century, the older forms of the urban walls rose again with gated communities [45]. This phenomenon of walled cities is global in scope, with India having numerous such cities. Town walls of ancient India were modern in a military sense and depict a very high order of city planning representing an exemplary architectural heritage [46, 47]. Some of the prominent components of these settlements are colorful streets, carved facades, meandering streets, courtyard houses, and well-planned water structures.

17.3.1 Selection Criteria The foremost criteria considered for the case selection are its local climatic conditions, which are also influenced by the region’s physiographic and geographical conditions. A geographical region with semi-arid and sub-tropical climatic conditions, specifically prevailing in the Satluj–Yamuna water divide, is proposed. This includes Punjab, Haryana, eastern Rajasthan, and the union territories of Delhi and Chandigarh. Culturally, the region lies within the North cultural zone and administratively within the Northern zonal council. The second level of zoning shortlists the cities in the designated states that are neither too large nor too small urban areas. The designated zone also contains some regional priority towns declared under National Capital Region (NCR) Plan 2021 spanning the entire national capital territory of Delhi, one district of Rajasthan, nine districts of Haryana, and five districts of Uttar Pradesh [48]. It is also considered if the case study has the characteristics features of an HUL with living residential culture, traditional way of living, and an underlying socio-economic process of development. These traditional neighborhoods are locally known by different names, such as mohallas, katras, paras, and pol, depending on their region. Since India is a diverse country with different languages, local dialects, and social systems, the possibility of conducting primary surveys in local languages and logistics support is considered. Based on the above-mentioned selection criteria, the historic walled city of Alwar is shortlisted as the representative case study.

404

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

17.3.2 Macro-level Characteristics Alwar is a land-locked district bounded by Gurgaon, Bharatpur, Mahendranagar, Jaipur, and Sawai Madhopur. It is 2.29% of the state’s total area and 23.32% of NCR’s total area [48]. It is the third most populous district in the state and covers an area of 8380 km2 . with 72% area under cultivation [49]. This has also been instrumental in promoting trade, commerce, and agro-based activities besides its strategic location. This region’s advent goes back to about 200 years ago, implying rich architectural, archaeological, and cultural heritage [50]. The regional significance has further been enhanced after Alwar was declared a counter magnet and priority town for the southwest NCR zone. In 1973, the state Government of Rajasthan declared the urban area of Alwar district comprising 48 revenue villages and Alwar city under Rajasthan Urban Improvement Act, 1959 for a regulated and planned urban growth. Consequently, the first draft master plan for Alwar city was prepared in 1974 after conducting several physical and socio-economic surveys. The city enjoys serene scenic beauty, dense forests, seasonal streams, natural and human-made lakes, a national tiger reserve, religious and historical monuments, and a cultural legacy. It is an important weekend tourism destination and trading center for the surrounding region. The city has many educational institutions and industrial technical institutes and acts as the district administration seat through mini secretariat and district and sessions court. Figure 17.4 depicts the location of the case study. The city has a river in the northeast where the rainwater is drained toward the southeast. The west is bordered by Aravalli hills covered with lush greenery during monsoons, and the artificial Jaisamand lake flanks it in the south and the Siliserh lake and palace in the south-west. During the Vedic era, Alwar was a part of Matsya kingdom, one of the 16 great kingdoms in India. In 1492 CE, the city originated with a grand city wall boundary around Bala fort situated on the Aravalli hills, and the princely state of Alwar emerged [43]. The originally planned walled city was surrounded by city walls interrupted by five gateways and surrounded by a moat filled with water. There was a strong influence of the Muslim league from 1555 to 1574 CE, which was later transferred as a small principality to the Ahirwal and Mewat region controlled by the Ahir community. The “Land of Ahirs” is described as a “folk region” and a “cultural geographical region” by historians J. E. Schwartzberg and Lucia Michelutti, respectively [52]. In 1948, four former princely states of Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, and Karauli consolidated to form the United States of Matsya, which was later merged with the Greater Rajasthan to form the United State of Rajasthan in 1949. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, to extend the city limits further, the ramparts were leveled, and the moats were filled, thus removing the physical presence of the walled city from its historic landscape. Presently, only the Delhi gate in the north exists depicting great architectural skills.

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

405

Fig. 17.4 Location of case study [51]

17.3.3 Micro-level Characteristics The existing street network in the study area is majorly narrow and organic, but the arterial roads are planned with visual linkages to historic monuments and Aravalli hills, as shown in Fig. 17.5. The built-form is quite compact which is well suited to the semi-arid climatic conditions of the region. Historic neighborhoods locally known as mohallas portray rich architecture comprising of perforated walls (jalis), balconies (jharokhas), and overhangs (chajjas) to ensure passive cooling techniques. The openings in the traditional houses vary in size from as small as jalis to as large as courtyards, thus promoting cross ventilation, privacy, and less exposure to sun on their surfaces. It is further shaded by chajjas and Jharokhas. There are two kinds of buildings in these settlements- residences ranging from royal palaces to small havelis

406

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

Fig. 17.5 Municipal wards for the pilot survey

and religious places which act as important community gathering places. The typical traditional dwelling units are mostly oriented and sited to avoid direct sun rays inside the habitable rooms and facilitate mutual shading with narrow streets. The materials used for construction include marble, sandstone, and lime mortar to ensure good insulation and bad conduction. The passive cooling mechanism portrayed by the traditional buildings shows the presence of smart cultural and spatial components in these settlements. The entire city is like a family in an Indian traditional urban setting with strong socially knit systems [47]. Structurally, a traditional mohalla maintains chowks at the junctions of internal streets, usually spotted with some tree or a well or a landmark at its node [43]. These chowks act as important community gathering places where the key idea was collective participation. Step wells and water tanks also form an important component of the overall urban morphology. Also, these areas acted as important public spaces in the social landscape of the city. The open spaces along with water bodies assist in maintaining the microclimate cooler as well as act as critical nodes for social and cultural activities. Multifunctional and introverted courtyard type planning is quite common with rooms surrounding it, which the family uses either for sleeping or grinding spices or making pickles or making pottery, or other craft-based activity. The functions of spaces are quite ambiguous changing during different times of a day, seasons, or events. The traditional markets (bazars) are another critically planned components of these settlements which are fused into the overall fabric of the city. The growth of these bazars is governed by the needs of the communities in a prominent

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

407

Fig. 17.6 Digital elevation model

linear pattern identified by the socio-economic profile of people and types of items it majorly sells. The topography in Fig. 17.6 shows elevated Aravalli hills flanking the city in the west, with urban development taking place on the plain land. However, the later filing of the moat to expand the city in its contiguous areas can be attributed to waterlogging during monsoons faced by these contiguous mohallas.

17.4 Methodology Every city has a unique spatial signature that develops over the years due to strong influences of cultural, geographical, social, economic, political, and religious factors. The compact city model is inseparable from the principles of sustainable development, smart urban growth, and green city, which is believed to impact the overall quality of life, accessibility, car dependency, walking and cycling behavior, use of existing facilities, neighborhood satisfaction, social cohesion, individual and community’s well-being [53–66]. Most commonly used measures for compactness mostly cover economic and morphological density, transportation network, mixed-use and intensification [54, 56, 59–61, 63, 66–70]. The shape index is also widely used to measure the level of compactness and clustering, thus determining the length of infrastructure and commute distances within cities [57, 62, 68, 71]. The degree of land use mix is also an important strategy for creating a sustainable, diverse, and compact urban form [68, 72]. It refers to the presence of various

408

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

urban functions within an area, thus stimulating walking for transport and offering opportunities at the physical and social level of interaction [70, 73]. The built environment can also be spatially characterized by a street network that shapes its residents’ behavioral and mobility patterns [74]. It is a critical component of walkability related to urban form regarding the directness of routes between two locations in a street network [73]. Some online tools such as walk-score and walkshed quantify walkability based on proximity and importance of neighborhood amenities [75–77]. There are many frameworks developed worldwide to assess the walkability of urban areas taking into account both qualitative and quantitative variables such as public services, streetscapes, sense of safety, path quality, connectivity, land use mix, density, sense of enclosure, street design, comfortable civic squares, diversity, and open spaces. Considering the proposed smart city model as a conceptual base, a pool of indicators using keyword search is prepared under social, economic, environmental, mobility, living, governance, physical, spatial and cultural dimensions. The variables of interest (VoI) are classified into cognitive variables, factual variables, and spatial variables based on their data type and possible collection instruments. A pool of indicators that may prove relevant to assess the characteristics of an urban system to achieve the goals of smart urban development is prepared. Since smartness and its associated objectives are abstract, it is imperative to convert them into measurable observations. Thus, the operationalization of variables is used to reduce subjectivity and increase the reliability of the assessment metrics. From the pool of indicators, a set of VoI is selected based on seven criteria for phase-wise screening viz. relevance, specificity, redundancy, measurability, data collection feasibility, the spatial scale of reference, and the number of times secondary sources cite it [78–83]. The flowchart for the selection of indicators is graphically represented in Fig. 17.7. For the first level of screening, the pool of indicators is categorized into neighborhood level, city level, city and neighborhood level, building level, and at all three levels based on their relevance on the spatial scale. Since the study focuses on the mesoscale, only the neighborhood level indicators are retained. In second-level screening, redundant indicators and variables are merged to remove any duplicity. Next, their frequency of usage by other studies is assessed and those with at least two citations are retained and the rest are dropped off. The variables and indicators are assessed for their specificity and measurability, followed by suitable operationalization. Further, based on data type availability, the indicators can be either objective or subjective- cognitive variables, factual variables, and spatial variables. The next level of screening considers possible data collection instruments- household surveys, secondary data, field surveys, and cognitional mapping and only specific, measurable, and convenient to collect VoI are modified based on pilot-testing and reconnaissance surveys. Table 17.2 lists indicators and variables employed for the assessment of spatial attributes of the case study. GIS is extensively used to derive the identified spatial metrics for these three geographical regions to assess the five territorial smart urban attributes of the study area. Analysis tools, conversion tools, data management tools, geostatistical analyst tools, network analyst tools, spatial analyst tools, spatial statistics tools, spatial design network analysis open-source extension tools [84], Axwoman 6.3,

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

409 Drop off indicators and variables

No

Start

Systemac literature search and review

Pool of indicators and variables of interest

Spaal relevance at neighborhood? Yes

Redundancy

Corpus with goals of smart cies

Literature review using keyword search method and review

Yes No

Merge duplicate variables and indicators

Number of citaons ≥ 2? Text computaonal analysis

A triparte smart city model

Yes

No

Drop off indicators and variables

Specific and measurable? Drop off indicators and variables

Yes

No

No

Data collecon feasibility? Final set of indicators and variables

Operaonalizaon

Yes

Fig. 17.7 Selection of indicators and variables

and AxialGen extensions [85] of ArcGIS 10.1, 10.4 and 10.5 versions are used for spatial mapping and analysis. Open-source software depthmapX v0.8.0 is used for estimating syntactic variables [86]. The validity of spatial data should reflect the extent to which it represents the real world, while the accuracy level can vary from one database to another [72]. All core urban elements relevant to the study are mapped on ArcMap 10.5 using google imagery as the base map for validation. Also, google earth and google maps were deployed to capture the real-time location of points of interest and survey locations during the field surveys, which were later exported from *.kml format to *.shp format in ArcMap. There are three sources for spatial data-AutoCad files in *.dwg format and Master Plan 2031, which was collected from UIT, Alwar in April 2017; OpenStreetMap data, which was retrieved from QGIS OSM plugin and www. geofabrik.de platform in September 2019 and participatory field surveys, which were conducted from January to April 2019. The road network of OpenStreetMap data provides detailed information on road attributes created by open crowd-sourced and editable mapping services [54, 87]. Following shapefiles and layers are used for further analysis. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Road centrelines Administrative boundaries- wards and zones Land use Building footprints Boundaries of perceived neighborhoods, walled cities, and contiguous settlements through cognitional mapping.

410

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

Table 17.2 Final set of SUAs, indicators, and VoI 1

Smart urban attribute

Indicator

Variable

Accessibility

Road network density

Road length (in meters)/km2

Intersection density

Number of intersections/km2 The proportion of four-way intersections Segment/intersections ratio

Connectivity

Gammaindex = L/Lmax = L/3(V − 2) where L is the number of segments & V is the number of intersections Alphaindex = (L − V ) + 1/(2V − 5) where L is the number of segments & V is the number of intersections connectivity

Centrality measures

Mean Euclidean distance the overall shape of the citybetweenness

Network topology

Angular connectivity Syntactic connectivity Easy way-finding- choice Local choice—100 m Global integration Local integration

Detour analysis

Mean crow flight

Perimeter index

Ratio of the perimeter of equal area circle and perimeter of the shape

Exchange index

Share of the total area of the shape that is inside the EAC about its centroid

Morphological density

Density of the built environment

Neighborhood density

No of mohallas per km2

Jobs density

Commercial floor area ratio

Porosity index

Ratio of open space to built-up area

Greenness index

Ratio of green areas to built-up area

Land use mix index

Entropy index

diversion ratio 2

3

4

5

Shape compactness

Density

Green and open spaces

Diversity

(continued)

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

411

Table 17.2 (continued) Smart urban attribute

Indicator

Variable Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI)

Intensity of development

Residential area/non-residential area

Clustering index

Average nearest neighbor (ANN) ratio

Built-up area/open area

global Moran”s I index Getis and Ord’s G statistics

17.5 Assessment of Spatial Smart Urban Attributes Spatially, the city has evolved from approximately 0.88 km2 . organic-walled city to approximately 41.95 km2 planned municipal area. They both have contrasting attributes in terms of socio-economic compositions and their spatial features. Also, historical genesis shows an intermediate boundary of 1.24 km2 . with majorly organically developed contiguous mohallas. Thus, these boundaries have developed in different periods by different agents with different forces of development. This study classifies the spatial hierarchy into three categories- walled city boundary developed till the 1940s, contiguous settlements boundary that developed as organic development around the then existing walled city, and municipal area boundary, which is the present designated boundary per the Master plan 2031. The neighborhoods in the city can be further categorized into five classes based on their development phase. Walled city mohallas were the very first settlements laid out on ancient town planning principles, which were extended to its contiguous areas to accommodate an additional influx of population. These neighborhoods have a majorly organic street network and traditional mohalla structure with chowks. However, the central business district shifted from the Tripoliya in the walled city to Hope Circus in its contiguous area. Between 1940 and 1980, many planned neighborhoods emerged under Town development schemes (TDS) by Alwar Municipal Council (AMC), such as Manu Marg and Lajpat Nagar, to accommodate migrated refugees. Till 2005, Urban Improvement Trust (UIT) has planned several housing schemes as plotted development which was allotted through auction and lottery mechanisms. Post NCR phase has seen mostly a multi-story residential culture flourishing with apartments and housing societies as gated communities. Upadhyaya and Jakhanwal [47] recommends the growth of the city inwards instead of fragmentation between the historic core and isolated suburbs so that the city blends with the existing structure and its accompanying transformations. Table 17.3 shows that the walled city mohallas are highly dense with 290 persons per hectare (pph) and 60 households per hectare (HHph), followed by contiguous old mohallas with 154 pph and 30 HHph. The UIT schemes which were developed

412

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

Table 17.3 Neighborhoods’ typology Existing neighborhoods typology

Walled city mohallas

Contiguous old Town mohallas development schemes post-1940s

Post-1980 planned colonies

Post-2005 planned colonies

Population density (pph)

290

154

94

79

93

Average HH size 4.84

5.16

5.14

5.08

4.93

HH per hectare

30

18

16

19

% SC population 4.04

60

27.73

17.24

10.69

8.54

% ST population 0.11

5.35

0.97

7.60

0.93

% literates

83.91

73.19

82.17

78.95

76.53

% female workers to total workers

17.44

21.62

21.21

19.38

24.50

% household 5.77 industry workers

5.96

3.85

2.30

1.93

% main workers

92.66

86.32

91.62

94.08

93.00

% marginal workers

7.34

13.68

8.38

5.92

5.52

% non-workers

66.91

66.73

66.20

68.37

67.64

% employed

33.09

33.27

33.80

31.63

32.36

post-industrialization, have the lowest population density of 79 pph and merely 16 HHph. Average household size is minimum in walled city mohallas and maximum in contiguous old mohallas. The literacy rate is almost equivalent in all five types of settlements, which is above the state average of 66.11% in the 2011 census. There is a high proportion of scheduled caste in contiguous old city mohallas, which can be attributed to the extension of their historical social structure while there is a high proportion of scheduled tribes in the outskirts of the city. The small-scale household industries prevail in contiguous and walled city mohallas due to their economic activities for generations. All five neighborhoods perform well in terms of workforce distribution with maximum marginal workers in contiguous old city areas, indicating a predominant informal sector. The proportion of female workers is highest in newly planned residential areas followed by contiguous old mohallas.

17.5.1 Compactness Compact city term is an umbrella term used for various urban characteristics such as density and walkability. While compact city refers to metropolitan level policy,

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

413

Table 17.4 Compactness metrics Boundary

Shape perimeter (km)

Shape area (km2 )

Radius of EAC (km)

Perimeter of EAC (km)

Area intersected by EAC (km2 )

Perimeter index

Exchange index

Walled

4.44

0.88

0.53

3.32

0.69

0.75

0.79

Contiguous

6.68

1.24

0.63

3.95

0.96

0.59

0.77

Municipal

33.38

41.95

3.65

22.96

34.14

0.69

0.81

compact urban development is a more localized concept and usually indicates a neighborhood scale [69]. This study understands compactness in terms of the shape of the spatial boundary while its allied metrics are addressed separately. A measure of shape compactness is a numerical quantity that represents the degree to which a shape is mostly circular, which implies maximum accessibility [88–90]. An equal-area circle (EAC) is the most compact of shapes concerning cohesion, perimeter, and proximity, thus widely used for measuring compactness [56, 91]. Some commonly used reference shape techniques are the ratio of the perimeter of the shape to that of a corresponding EAC, the ratio of the areas of the shape and the minimum bounding circle, the ratio of an area moment of inertia of the shape to that of the EAC [59, 88, 89, 92]. Perimeter index is the ratio of the perimeter of EAC and perimeter of the shape, thus focusing on the compactness of outer boundaries and is one of the natural measures of compactness of a walled city [90, 91, 93]. Exchange index is the share of the total area of the shape that is inside the EAC about its centroid, thus focusing on the extent to which the urban footprint fills a circle of the same area centered at its centroid [90, 93]. Higher levels of exchange compactness ensure higher cohesion and proximity levels, thereby increasing the accessibility of a geographical region [90]. Table 17.4 shows the calculations for perimeter index and exchange index for which EAC is calculated around the centroid of each boundary. The highest perimeter index corresponds to the walled city at 0.75 while the exchange index of all three boundaries is doing equally well. Therefore, in terms of shape compactness, all three boundaries are performing considerably fairly. Figure 17.8 graphically compares the three spatial boundaries in terms of their shape compactness. In terms of perimeter index, the walled city was planned most compactly while in terms of exchange index municipal area performs best.

17.5.2 Density Urban density is a widely used metric to indicate the carrying capacity of urban land in terms of people, activities, and buildings [71, 90]. Figure 17.9 and Table 17.5 show that the gross population density of the walled city and contiguous settlements are ~224 pph and ~234 pph, respectively, while it is very low for the municipal area (~56 pph). The household density of the walled city and contiguous settlements

414

Fig. 17.8 Comparison of shape compactness

Fig. 17.9 Comparison of density

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

415

Table 17.5 Density metrics Boundary

Total area (km2 )

Number of households

Total population

BUA (km2 )

BUA ratio

HH density (per km2 )

Gross population density (per km2 )

Walled

0.88

4,068

19,679

0.68

0.77

4,628.58

22,390.81

Contiguous

1.24

5,968

28,978

0.96

0.78

4,811.44

23,362.23

Municipal

41.95

46,063

233,179

11.59

0.28

1,098.01

5,558.32

Table 17.6 Green and open spaces metrics Boundary Walled

Total area (km2 ) 0.88

BUA (km2 ) 0.68

Open space (km2 )

Green space (km2 )

Porosity index

Green index

0.20

0.04

0.23

0.04

Contiguous

1.24

0.96

0.28

0.04

0.22

0.03

Municipal

41.95

11.59

30.36

0.92

0.72

0.02

are ~46HHph and ~48HHph, while the municipal area has ~11HHph. Built-up area (BUA) ratio of the municipal area is very low at ~0.28, while contiguous settlements have a BUA ratio at ~0.78. It also indicates an underdeveloped situation within the municipal area, with large pockets of open areas still lying underutilized.

17.5.3 Green and Open Spaces Landscape ecologists widely use porosity to describe the land coverage condition in terms of the penetration of open spaces in urban form [57, 94]. Table 17.6 shows the calculations of two indices- porosity and greenness indices. The greenness index is the ratio of green spaces to the total area, indicating the extent of vegetation in the geographical area. The porosity index is very high for municipal area at 0.72, whereas the greenness index of all three boundaries is comparable with the walled city ranking highest at 0.04. This confirms the low built-up area ratio of the municipal area which is mostly left underdeveloped as shown in Fig. 17.10.

17.5.4 Diversity The key diversity indicators include a balance of residential and non-residential land uses, entropy measures such as Theil’s index, clustering measures such as G statistic and Moran’s I dissimilarity index, the ratio of built-up to open area and mix of horizontal and vertical land use [56, 58, 60, 64, 68, 95]. Balance index is the simplest

416

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

Fig. 17.10 Comparison of green and open spaces

measurement that takes into consideration the total amounts of land use for two categories, while entropy index takes into account the relative percentage of two or more land-use types within an area [96–99]. Theil entropy index can be given by n Pi ln(Pi ) ENT = − i=1ln(n) , where Pi is the proportion of each land-use type i in the area and n ≥ 2 be the number of land-use types i. Another commonly used n index to assess 2 LUM is Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), given by HHI = i=1 (100 ∗ Pi ) , with a value equal to 1 in case of single land use [96, 97, 99]. The land-use measures indicate the overall distribution of land use within the study area irrespective of their arrangement [96]. Spatial metrics which are used for estimation of spatial distribution include clustering index, dissimilarity index, exposure, and Gini index. Global Moran’s I index is a very commonly used indicator for quantifying the degree of clustering, with a value closer to +1 representing a perfectly compact development and a value closer to −1 representing a perfectly dispersed development [57, 62, 68, 71]. Other used clustering indices are Getis and Ord’s G statistic and average nearest neighbor (ANN) ratio [68, 71]. ANN is given by DDo , where D o is the observed mean distance between E

each feature and its nearest neighbor and D E is the expected mean distance for the features given in a random pattern. Table 17.7 and Fig. 17.11 shows results of entropy index, residential to non-residential area ratio, HHI, global Moran’s I, G statistic, and ANN. The entropy index of the municipal area is highest at 0.81 whereas HHI is highest for the walled city at 0.41. The ratio of residential to non-residential area

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

417

Table 17.7 Diversity metrics Boundary

Land use mix

Intensity of development

Clustering index

Entropy index

HHI

Ratio of residential to non-residential area

ANN

Getis-Ord general G

Moran’s I

Walled

0.73

0.41

1.50

1.17

5.06E−04

0.91

Contiguous

0.74

0.40

1.42

1.03

3.73E−04

0.99

Municipal

0.81

0.34

1.08

0.72

1.62E−04

0.88

Fig. 17.11 Comparison of land use mix

is highest for the walled city and lowest for the municipal area at 1.50 and 1.08, respectively. The clustering analysis shows the highest index in terms of ANN and Getis Ord General G statistic while the contiguous area has the highest Moran’s I value. The lowest clustering indices correspond to the municipal area which is also illustrated in Fig. 17.12. The morphology of walled and contiguous settlements is majorly organic for its residential areas with narrow and winding streets while its planned-on grid for relatively new housing areas. The analysis shows a comparable land use mix in all three spatial hierarchies; however, the clustering analysis shows compactly planned traditional settlements.

418

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

Fig. 17.12 Comparison of clustering indices

17.5.5 Accessibility The spatial configuration and road network of cities can be analyzed using the graph-based approach, space syntax theory, spatial design network analysis, and urban network analysis. In morphic language, syntax is defined as a set of defined rules, that structures combinations of elementary objects, relations, and operations. Hillier et al. [100] generated space syntax theory (SST) to show the formal syntax of human space organization, space patterns made by human societies, and their relationship with social patterns. Networks can be characterized by measures such as depth, choice, closeness, centrality, and betweenness [101]. Axial maps are the most commonly used method for analyzing street networks [101, 102]. The key single syntactic variable, which can explain other relevant attributes of spatial configuration is depth, i.e., the count of intervening spaces between two spaces [103]. Other relevant syntactic variables include indices such as integration, connectivity, control, choice, and intelligibility [101]. Topologically, the entire spatial structure can be represented with respect to integration value which indicates a normalized measure of depth in an urban system. Global integration value is estimated for the whole urban system whereas local integration value is estimated for a partial system defined by vertices residing within a defined distance [101, 102]. The more integrated a spatial structure is, the shorter are its topological distance from the rest [102, 104]. Other syntactic variables which are of concern include connectivity which is defined by the number of connections a spatial unit has with other adjacent units and choice

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

419

attribute which indicates the tendency to attract higher mobility irrespective of the network’s geometrical properties [74, 103]. Together high values of syntactic variables can indicate another property of a spatial configuration known as intelligibility [103]. For network centrality, reciprocal of farness (mean euclidean distance (MED)), line connectivity, and betweenness are employed. The network detour analysis compares straight line distance to actual network distance. Mean crow flight (MCF) and diversion ratio (DR) is used to determine the deviation of the network from the most direct path. The multiplicity of routes generally supports several small commercial outlets in a neighborhood, thus permitting pedestrian choices and variations in their journey [64]. Thus, connectivity is directly proportional to the density of street intersections and blocks. Once the downloaded street network from OSM is validated using Google imagery, the topology of the road is checked for errors and repaired by removing the isolated and duplicate lines. sDNA provides tools for 2D and 3D spatial network design analysis in GIS and CAD while Depthmap allows topological measurements on the graph-based representation of the axial map to infer the behavioral characteristics of the spatial setting [102]. Table 17.8 shows the estimated measure of the original street network of three spatial hierarchies. The red indicates very high values, yellow indicates moderate and green indicates very low values in Figs. 17.13 and 17.14. In terms of geometrical connectivity, all three spatial hierarchies have comparable performance whereas topologically the traditional settlements are highly connected in terms of their angular and syntactic connectivity. In terms of centrality measures, the walled city has high betweenness and closeness (inverse of farness) and in terms of detour measures, the lowest value of DR of the walled city suggests a less deviated network from the shortest path. Figure 17.13a shows that the syntactic connectivity is high in contiguous networks followed by walled city and municipal area networks. However, the local integration of old city areas is high, implying a conducive pedestrian network (Fig. 17.13d). Local integration within 100 m is around 30 for the walled city in comparison to around 44 for municipal area network. Figure 17.13b, c show that with the transition from the walled city to contiguous and municipal area network, the choice and global integration have reduced. The choice attribute of walled city network within 100 m is 71.26 whereas it is 297.67 for municipal area network, indicating less way-finding capacities for pedestrians as the network is transformed. Figure 17.14a, b shows that the walled city network ranks very high in term of centrality measures- closeness and betweenness. Detour analysis is represented by Fig. 17.14c, d shows that MCF and DR are highest for contiguous and walled city areas indicating a less deviation from the ideal shortest path.

17.6 Conclusions The term “smart” is vague and is mostly explored with an overemphasis on technology-supported interventions at an urban scale. However, most scholars

3.58

3.79

3.88

Contiguous

Municipal

7.56E+02

3.55E+03

1.17E+03

6.84E+05

4.42E+04

5.81E+03 2.93E+03

8.92E+02

5.50E+02

MCF (m)

1.26

1.34

1.44

DR

Detour measures

Betweenness (m)

Line connectivity

MED (m)

Centrality measures

Walled

Original network boundary

Table 17.8 Accessibility metrics

1.06

2.96

2.68

Angular connectivity

2.68

4.44

4.05

Syntactic connectivity

Syntactic variables

5.61E+06

1.22E+05

1.59E+04

Total choice

297.66

125.93

71.26

Controlchoice value 100 m

2.42E+03

8.36E+02

2.30E+02

Global integration

44.21

40.84

29.89

Local integration 100 m

420 M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

Fig. 17.13 Comparison of syntactic variables

421

422

Fig. 17.13 (continued)

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

Fig. 17.14 Comparison of network metrics

423

424

Fig. 17.14 (continued)

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

425

support the vision of a rationalist and balanced approach to smart urban development. Thus, it is crucial to understand the overall narrative and lacunae in the current smart city framework. There are three research gaps identified in the concept- ambiguity in the “smart” label; fragmented intervention strategies missing out critical urban aspects such as society, economy, history, culture, and geography; and underutilization of existing cities’ hidden potential. Most of the cities have organically evolved over the decades suiting to the needs and aspirations of the existing communities and their cultural patterns. But critical analysis of global smart city interventions shows that the strengths of their socio-cultural landscape and built environment are neglected by introducing few out-of-context spatial repairs to the urban fabric. The study undertook a spatial assessment approach to realize the strengths of walled cities in terms of their urban fabric, spatial accessibility, walkability, porosity, land use mix, density, and compactness. The study assesses spatial urban attributes of a case of traditional HUL in India to achieve the goals of urban smartness. Alwar in the north Indian state of Rajasthan is selected for this purpose, which was originally planned as a walled city and has most of its traditional roots intact with a rich residential culture of mohallas, a unique way of life, and prevailing cultural economic activities. The study understands and synthesizes a conceptual tripartite vision of smart cities which is objective-oriented and holistic. The three core objectives which are employed for the development of the final set of indicators for the study are sustainability, livability, and inclusivity at the cross-section of three urban components- people, place, and parity. An assessment of shortlisted spatial smart urban attributes is carried out for the case study based on the identified spatial hierarchy and development phase- the walled city, contiguous city, and municipal area. The overall urban morphology shows that walled and contiguous cities have mostly organic street networks whereas the majority municipal area is planned on a rectangular grid. Smart urban attributes which embrace spatial variables include compactness, density, green and open spaces, diversity, and accessibility. The geospatial assessment is conducted using ArcGIS tools and depth map software for estimation of syntactic and network-related variables, clustering indices, and derived spatial metrics such as entropy and density. The spatiotemporal assessment of the case study shows a relatively better performance of traditional settlements in terms of perimeter index, density, clustering indices, green spaces, and network topology. The traditional settlements have an integrated street network conducive for pedestrian movements concerning their syntactic and geometrical properties, indicating overall high intelligibility. After the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, there were debates about the possibility of high transmission rates in congested urban settings, bringing denser areas into the negative limelight. However, density cannot just be looked at as a physical quantity and has a social value attached to it. The socio-cultural attributes such as collective efficacy and social cohesion might perform much better in the traditional communities either due to the clustering of their dwelling units or a strong sense of belongingness. Also, the economic activities which are majorly home-based running through the courtyards of households are perhaps more resilient to handle the shocks of such unprecedented situations when all multinational companies chose the work-from-home model. Another interesting feature of traditional dwelling units

426

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

is the multifunctional open spaces and courtyard planning that provides a segregated system of public, semi-public, and private spaces within the dwelling unit, thereby creating spatial necessities for home isolation and quarantine. The devastating impacts of climate change and urban disasters urge us to revisit indicator sets and find out their linkages with spatial planning of cities. It is imperative that the new urban interventions focus on the smart culture of their societies and consequently integrate innovations into existing urban systems in a pragmatic manner. While incremental initiatives entail the technological dimension, radical initiatives can combine technological, organizational, and collaborative innovations comprehensively. Since the model is validated for a traditional medium-sized Indian city with moderate climatic conditions at a neighborhood scale, future research can explore other traditional settlements. Researchers can also explore the working of traditional and modern towns to understand each case’s urban attributes, thus drawing comparisons between their inherent smartness. Acknowledgements Authors thank the editors and reviewers for their valuable comments. This study was undertaken with the constant research support of the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India. Statements and Declarations The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

References 1. UN-Habitat.: State of The World’s Cities 2012/2013 Prosperity of Cities (2013) 2. Zhang, X.Q.: The trends, promises and challenges of urbanisation in the world. Habitat Int. 54(13), 241–252 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.11.018 3. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.: 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects (2018) 4. Hoelscher, K.: The evolution of the smart cities agenda in India. Int. Area Stud. Rev. 19(1), 28–44 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1177/2233865916632089 5. UN-Habitat.: People-Centered Smart Cities (2021) 6. Alawadhi, S., et al.: Building understanding of smart city initiatives. Lecture Notes Computer Science (including Subseries Lecture Notes Artificial Intelligence Lecture Notes Bioinformatics), vol. 7443 LNCS, pp. 40–53 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-334 89-4_4 7. Angelidou, M.: The role of smart city characteristics in the plans of fifteen cities. J. URBAN Technol. 24(4), 3–28 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2017.1348880 8. Martin, C.J., Evans, J., Karvonen, A.: Smart and sustainable? Five tensions in the visions and practices of the smart-sustainable city in Europe and North America. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 133, 269–278 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.01.005 9. Nilssen, M.: To the smart city and beyond? Developing a typology of smart urban innovation. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 142, 98–104 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018. 07.060 10. Tonkiss, F.: Cities by Design: The Social Life of Urban Form. Polity Press, Cambridge (2013) 11. Hollands, R.G.: Will the real smart city please stand up? City 12(3), 303–320 (2008). https:// doi.org/10.1080/13604810802479126

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

427

12. Garcia-Ayllon, S., Miralles, J.L.: New strategies to improve governance in territorial management: evolving from ‘smart cities’ to ‘smart territories.’ Procedia Eng. 118, 3–11 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.396 13. United Nations Environment Programme.: Issue brief SDG 11 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1596/ 978-1-4648-1080-0_ch11 14. de Jong, M., Joss, S., Schraven, D., Zhan, C., Weijnen, M.: Sustainable-smart-resilient-low carbon-eco-knowledge cities; making sense of a multitude of concepts promoting sustainable urbanization. J. Clean. Prod. 109, 25–38 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.004 15. Brundtland, G.H.: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future (1987) 16. Woodbridge, M.: Cities and the Sustainable Development Goals (2016) 17. Dhingra, M., Chattopadhyay, S.: Advancing smartness of traditional settlements- case analysis of indian and arab old cities. Int. J. Sustain. Built Environ. 5, 549–563 (2016). https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ijsbe.2016.08.004 18. Aurigi, A., Odendaal, N.: From ‘Smart in the Box’ to ‘Smart in the City’: rethinking the socially sustainable smart city in context. J. Urban Technol., pp. 1–16 (2020). https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10630732.2019.1704203 19. United for Smart Sustainable Cities.: Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals (2017) 20. NASSCOM.: Integrated ICT and Geo-Spatial Technologies Framework for the 100 Smart Cities Mission (2015) 21. Angelidou, M.: Smart city policies: a spatial approach. Cities 41, 3–11 (2014). https://doi. org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.06.007 22. Angelidou, M.: Smart cities: a conjuncture of four forces. Cities 47, 95–106 (2015). https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.05.004 23. Angelidou, M.: Smart City Strategy: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (2015). http://www.urenio.org/ 2015/03/23/smart-city-strategy-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/. Accessed 01 Sep. 2016 24. Audirac, I.: Information technology and urban form: challenges to smart growth. Int. Reg. Sci. Rev. 28(2), 119–145 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017604273624 25. Barrionuevo, J.M., Berrone, P., Ricart, J.E.: Smart cities, sustainable progress. IESE Insight 14(14), 50–57 (2012) 26. Gaffney, C., Robertson, C.: Smarter than smart: Rio de Janeiro’s flawed emergence as a smart city. J. Urban Technol. 0732(April), 1–18 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2015.110 2423 27. Jaffe, E.: 4 lessons from Rio’s ‘flawed’ smart cities initiative (2016). https://medium.com/sid ewalk-talk/4-lessons-from-rios-flawed-smart-cities-initiative-31cbf4e54b72#.kaobtxl58 28. Yigitcanlar, T., Lee, S.H.: Korean ubiquitous-eco-city: a smart-sustainable urban form or a branding hoax? Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 89, 100–114 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.techfore.2013.08.034 29. Mahizhnan, A.: Smart cities. Cities 16(1), 13–18 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-275 1(98)00050-X 30. Fietkiewicz, K.J., Stock, W.G.: How ‘smart’ are Japanese Cities? An empirical investigation of infrastructures and governmental programs in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Kyoto. In: Proceedings of Annual Hawaii International Confernce System Science, vol. 2015-March, pp. 2345–2354 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2015.282 31. Ishida, T.: Activities and technologies in digital city Kyoto. Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 3081, 166–187 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/11407546_8 32. Bakici, T., Almirall, E., Wareham, J.: A smart city initiative: the case of Barcelona. J. Knowl. Econ. 4(2), 135–148 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-012-0084-9 33. Neyazi, Y.: Deconstruction of Urban Space in Saudi Cities, pp. 1–14 (2008) 34. Kiet, A.: Arab culture and urban form. Focus (Madison) 7(1), 36–45 (2010) 35. Hajer, M.A., Zonneveld, W.: Spatial planning in the network society-rethinking the principles of planning in the Netherlands. Eur. Plan. Stud. 8(3), 337–355 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1080/ 713666411

428

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

36. Van Der Valk, A.: The Dutch planning experience. Landsc. Urban Plan. 58(2–4), 201–210 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(01)00221-3 37. Aurigi, A., Odendaal, N.: “From “Smart in the Box{”} to “Smart in the City{”}: Rethinking the Socially Sustainable Smart City in Context. J. Urban Technol. https://doi.org/10.1080/106 30732.2019.1704203 38. Das, D.: In pursuit of being smart? A critical analysis of India’s smart cities endeavor. URBAN Geogr. 41(1), 55–78 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1646049 39. Rajput, S., Arora, K.: Sustainable Smart Cities in India: Challenges and Future Perspectives (2017) 40. Dhingra, M., Chattopadhyay, S.: A systematic text-analytics-based meta-synthesis approach for smart urban development. Int. J. Urban Plan. Smart Cities 3(1) (2021) 41. Dhingra, M., Chattopadhyay, S.: A fuzzy approach for assessment of smart socio-cultural attributes of a historic urban landscape: case study of Alwar walled city in India. Sustain. Cities Soc. 69, 102855 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.102855 42. Dhingra, M., Chattopadhyay, S.: Fuzzy approach for assessment of smart urban attributes of traditional urban systems in India. In: International Conference On Resilient & Liveable City Planning (RLCP—2020) Transforming Urban Systems, pp. 323–326 (2021) 43. Dhingra, M., Singh, M.K., Chattopadhyay, S.: Macro level characterization of historic urban landscape : case study of Alwar walled city City. Cult. Soc. 9, 39–53 (2017). https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.ccs.2016.10.001 44. Kostof, S.: The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings throughout History. Boston (1991) 45. Wilson, P.J.: The Domestication of the Human Species. Yale University Press (2009) 46. Center for Early Modern History, University of Minnesota.: City Walls: The Urban Enceinte in Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press (2000) 47. Upadhyaya, V., Jakhanwal, M.P.: Traditional walled cities of Rajasthan India: a sustainable planning concept. Int. J. Eng. Res. Manag. Technol. 2(3), 204–217 (2015) 48. NCR Planning Board.: Economic Profile of NCR (2015) (Online). Available: http://ncrpb.nic. in/pdf_files/FinalReport of study of economic profile_17122015.pdf 49. Town Planning Department.: Master Plan 2011–2031. Alwar (2011) 50. Lall, S.: Settlements of the Poor and Guidelines for Urban Upgrading: Case Study of Alwar, a Secondary Town (2001) 51. Maps of India (2021). www.mapsofindia.com 52. Dhingra, M., Singh, M.K., Chattopadhyay, S.: Rapid assessment tool for traditional Indian neighbourhoods: a case study of Alwar walled city in Rajasthan. Sustain. Cities Soc. 26, 364–382 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2016.06.015 53. Schwarz, N.: Urban form revisited-Selecting indicators for characterising European cities. Landsc. Urban Plan. 96, 29–47 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.01.007 54. Lan, T., Shao, G., Xu, Z., Tang, L., Sun, L.: Measuring urban compactness based on functional characterization and human activity intensity by integrating multiple geospatial data sources. Ecol. Indic. 121, 107177 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107177 55. Neuman, M.: The compact city fallacy. J. Plan. Educ. Res. 25(1), 11–26 (2005). https://doi. org/10.1177/0739456X04270466 56. Kotharkar, R., Bahadure, P., Sarda, N.: Measuring compact urban form: a case of Nagpur city, India. Sustain. 6, 4246–4272 (2014). https://doi.org/10.3390/su6074246 57. Guan, C.: Spatial metrics of urban form: measuring compact cities in China. Vertical Urbanism 2018, 189–209 (2017) 58. Clifton, K., Ewing, R., Knaap, G.J., Song, Y.: Quantitative analysis of urban form: a multidisciplinary review. J. Urban. Int. Res. Placemaking Urban Sustain. 1(1), 17–45 (2008). https:// doi.org/10.1080/17549170801903496 59. Abdullahi, S., Pradhan, B., Jebur, M.N.: GIS-based sustainable city compactness assessment using integration of MCDM, Bayes theorem and RADAR technology. Geocarto Int. 30(4), 365–387 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2014.911967 60. Ogrodonik, K.: Indicators of the compact city concept—necessary data and the possibility of application. Archit. Civ. Eng. Environ. 12(4), 23–36 (2020). https://doi.org/10.21307/acee2019-049

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

429

61. Mardiah, W.M.R.W.N.: Compact urban form for sociability in urban neighbourhoods. Int. J. Soc. Sci. Humanit. 5(10), 822–826 (2015). https://doi.org/10.7763/ijssh.2015.v5.564 62. Nam, K., Lim, U., Kim, B.H.S.: ‘Compact’ or ‘Sprawl’ for sustainable urban form? Measuring the effect on travel behavior in Korea. Ann. Reg. Sci. 49, 157–173 (2012). https://doi.org/10. 1007/s00168-011-0443-7 63. Dieleman, F.M., Dijst, M., Burghouwt, G.: Urban form and travel behaviour: micro-level household attributes and residential context. Urban Stud. 39(3), 507–527 (2002). https://doi. org/10.1080/00420980220112801 64. Coorey, S.B.A., Lau, S.S.Y.: Urban compactness and its progress toward sustainability: the Hong Kong scenario. Sustain. Dev. Plan. 1(87), 87–97 (2005) 65. Miller, E.J., Ibrahim, A.: Urban form and vehicular travel: some empirical findings. Transp. Res. Rec. 1617, 18–27 (1998). https://doi.org/10.3141/1617-03 66. Liaqat, H., Waheed, A., Malik, N.A., Vohra, I.A.: Measuring urban sustainability through compact city approach: a case study of Lahore. J. Sustain. Dev. Stud. 10(2), 61–81 (2017) 67. Lee, J., Kurisu, K., An, K., Hanaki, K.: Development of the compact city index and its application to Japanese cities. Urban Stud. (2014). https://doi.org/10.1177/004209801453 6786 68. Kang, J.E., Yoon, D.K., Bae, H.J.: Evaluating the effect of compact urban form on air quality in Korea. Environ. Plan. B Urban Anal. City Sci. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/239980831 7705880 69. Ahlfeldt, G., Pietrostefani, E.: Demystifying Compact Urban Growth: Evidence From 300 Studies From Across the World (2017) (Online). Available: http://newclimateeconomy.net/ content/cities-working-papers.%0Anewclimateeconomy.net/content/cities-working-papers 70. Shirazi, M.R.: Compact urban form: neighbouring and social activity. Sustain. 12(5) (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051987 71. Zhao, F., Tang, L., Qiu, Q., Wu, G.: The compactness of spatial structure in Chinese cities: measurement, clustering patterns and influencing factors. Ecosyst. Heal. Sustain. 6(1) (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2020.1743763 72. Institut national de santé publique du Québec.: Geographical Indicators of the Built Environment and Services Environment Influencing Physical Activity, Diet and Body Weight (2010) 73. Koohsari, M.J., Oka, K., Owen, N., Sugiyama, T.: Natural movement: a space syntax theory linking urban form and function with walking for transport. Heal. Place 58(102072) (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.01.002 74. Dettlaff, W.: Space syntax analysis—methodology of understanding the space. PhD Interdiscip. J., p. 8 (2014) 75. Moura, F., Cambra, P., Gonçalves, A.B.: Measuring walkability for distinct pedestrian groups with a participatory assessment method: a case study in Lisbon. Landsc. Urban Plan. 157, 282–296 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.07.002 76. Dörrzapf, L., Kovács-Gy˝ori, A., Resch, B., Zeile, P.: Defining and assessing walkability: a concept for an integrated approach using surveys, biosensors and geospatial analysis. Urban Dev. Issues 62, 5–15 (2019). https://doi.org/10.2478/udi-2019-0008 77. Lee, S., Talen, E.: Measuring walkability: a note on auditing methods. J. Urban Des. 19(3), 368–388 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2014.890040 78. Report, T.S., Zealanders, N.: Soc. Rep. 2010, 4–9 (2010) 79. Rice, J.C., Rochet, M.J.: A framework for selecting a suite of indicators for fisheries management. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 62(3), 516–527 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icesjms. 2005.01.003 80. Brown, D.: Good Practice Guidelines for Indicator Development and Reporting. Busan, Korea (2009) (Online). Available: http://www.oecd.org/site/progresskorea/43586563.pdf 81. Moore, G.H.: Criteria for selecting indicators. In: Statistical Indicators of Cyclical Revivals and Recessions, pp. 20–31 (1950) 82. Macdonald, G.: Criteria for Selection of High-Performing Indicators: A Checklist to Inform Monitoring and Evaluation (2016) (Online). Available: https://www.wmich.edu/sites/default/ files/attachments/u350/2014/Indicator_checklist.pdf

430

M. Dhingra and S. Chattopadhyay

83. Selection of Indicators.: Measure Evaluation (2020). https://www.measureevaluation.org/prh/ rh_indicators/overview/rationale2 84. Cooper, C., Chiaradia, A., Webster, C.: Spatial Design Network Analysis software, version 3.3. Cardiff University (2016) (Online). Available: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/sdna/ 85. Jiang, B.: Axwoman 6.3: An ArcGIS Extension for Urban Morphological Analysis. University of Gävle, Sweden (2015) (Online). Available: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/Axwoman/ 86. depthmapX development team.: depthmapX (Version 0.6.0) (Computer software) (2017) 87. Lefebvre-Ropars, G., Morency, C.: Walkability: which measure to choose, where to measure it, and how? Transp. Res. Rec. 2672(35), 139–150 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1177/036119 8118787095 88. Kaza, N.: Landscape shape adjusted compactness index for urban areas. GeoJournal 9, 2020 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10262-9 89. Li, W., Goodchild, M.F., Church, R.: An efficient measure of compactness for two-dimensional shapes and its application in regionalization problems. Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci. 27(6), 1227–1250 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2012.752093 90. Angel, S., Arango Franco, S., Liu, Y., Blei, A.M.: The shape compactness of urban footprints. Prog. Plann. 139 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2018.12.001 91. Angel, S., Franco, S.A., Liu, Y., Alejandro, M.B., Zhang, X.: The Shape Compactness of Urban Extents (2018) 92. Montero, R.S., Bribiesca, E.: State of the art of compactness and circularity measures. In: International Mathematical Forum, vol. 4(27), pp. 1305–1335 (2009) (Online). Available: http://www.m-hikari.com/imf-password2009/25-28-2009/bribiescaIMF25-28-2009.pdf 93. Angel, S., Parent, J., Civco, D.L.: Ten compactness properties of circles: measuring shape in geography. Can. Geogr. 54(4), 441–461 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.2009. 00304.x 94. Huang, J., Lu, X.X., Sellers, J.M.: A global comparative analysis of urban form: applying spatial metrics and remote sensing. Landsc. Urban Plan. 82, 184–197 (2007). https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2007.02.010 95. Frank, L.D., Schmid, T.L., Sallis, J.F., Chapman, J., Saelens, B.E.: Linking objectively measured physical activity with objectively measured urban form: findings from SMARTRAQ. Am. J. Prev. Med. 28(2 SUPPL. 2), 117–125 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ame pre.2004.11.001 96. Song, Y., Merlin, L., Rodriguez, D.: Comparing measures of urban land use mix. Comput. Environ. Urban Syst. 42, 1–13 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2013.08.001 97. Manaugh, K., Kreider, T.: What is mixed use? Presenting an interaction method for measuring land use mix. J. Transp. Land Use 6(1), 63–72 (2013). https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.v6i1.291 98. Mavoa, S., et al.: Identifying appropriate land-use mix measures for use in a national walkability index. J. Transp. Land Use 11(1), 681–700 (2018). https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2018. 1132 99. Zagorskas, J.: GIS-based modelling and estimation of land use mix in urban environment 2 problem formulation. Int. J. Environ. Sci. 1, 284–293 (2016) 100. Hillier, B., Leaman, A., Stansall, P., Bedford, M.: Space syntax. Environ. Plan. B 3, 147–185 (1976) 101. Telega, A.: Urban street network analysis using space syntax in GIS-Cracow case study. In: Proceedings - 2016 Baltic Geodetic Congress (Geomatics), BGC Geomatics 2016, pp. 282– 287 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1109/BGC.Geomatics.2016.57 102. Esposito, D., Santoro, S., Camarda, D.: Agent-based analysis of urban spaces using space syntax and spatial cognition approaches: a case study in Bari, Italy. Sustainability 12(4625) (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114625 103. Bafna, S.: Space syntax: a brief introduction to its logic and analytical techniques. Environ. Behav. 35(1), 17–29 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916502238863 104. Lee, S., Seo, K.W.: Combining space syntax with GIS-based built environment measures in pedestrian walking activity. In: Proceedings of the Ninth International Space Syntax Symposium (2013)

17 Geo-spatial Assessment of Inherent Smart Urban …

431

Mani Dhingra is Research Scholar at Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, and has over 8 years of working experience with thinktanks, NGOs, and government bodies. She completed her Bachelor of Architecture from Malviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, with gold medal and Master of City Planning from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, with institute silver medal. She submitted her Ph.D. with specialization in geo-spatial analysis, computational intelligence, fuzzy system modeling, urban planning, socio-behavioral sciences, and smart and sustainable cities. She is also ex-DAAD Scholar who worked in collaboration with the research unit Urban Housing and Development of Institute Entwerfen von Stadt und Landschaft at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Her research works are extensively published in internationally acclaimed journals and conferences in urban studies. Her broad research interests are climate change, urban sustainability, traditional settlements, resilient communities, and people-centric development agendas. Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay Ph.D., former Head, Department of Architecture and Regional Planning and former Dean of Alumni Affairs IIT Kharagpur, was Recipient of the prestigious Avinash Gupta Chair Professor Award. He is Architect and City Planner by profession with over 34 years of working experience at IIT Kharagpur including teaching, research, consultancy, and administration. His broad research areas include housing and community planning, peri-urban dynamics, energy efficient and affordable housing, mixed-use development, and urban heat island impacts. His recent professional and academic engagements include collaboration with Government of India, MIT, and IUP, USA. He has extensively contributed to indexed journals and international conferences. He serves as Member of Board of Governor at SPA Delhi and All India Board of Town & Country Planning. He has been Nuffield Fellow in University of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K, B.I.T.S. Fellow in Lund University, Sweden, and S.I.D.A. Fellow in Lund University, Sweden.

Chapter 18

ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic Vulnerability and Necessary Interventions by Local Government Basudatta Sarkar, Sumitro Bhaumik, Haimanti Banerji, and Joy Sen Abstract By initially identifying and assessing the degree of socio-economic susceptibility, researches on socio-economic vulnerability can eventually help policymakers identify key causal factors and propose ways and means for mitigation, in the context of developing nations like India. One of such means is monitoring the degree of socio-economic vulnerability region-wise by using ICT. The present research proposes a methodology to assess socio-economic vulnerability considering district subdivision as units of study within a region. Further, the research provides an algorithm which can be used as computer application to generate a Vulnerability Index (VI). Position of the study units in the index would explain the degree of vulnerability of each study unit. The methodology has three steps—(1) identification of indicators, (2) assessment of socio-economic vulnerability using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) as a tool, and (3) formulation of the algorithm for computer application as a toolkit. The application can be installed in computer with windows operating system and can provide prompt assessment of socio-economic vulnerability by generating the VI for the added district subdivision and their indicators. This application would help local government to monitor the degree of socio-economic vulnerability district subdivision wise within a region and would also identify the thrust areas of intervention based on the performance of the indicators. Accordingly, practical strategies can be made and possible interventions can take place in the vulnerable district subdivision to mitigate the same through smart governance.

B. Sarkar Department of Planning and Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India S. Bhaumik TCS Research and Innovations Lab, Kolkata, India H. Banerji (B) · J. Sen Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. Patnaik et al. (eds.), Smart Cities and Smart Communities, Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 294, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_18

433

434

B. Sarkar et al.

18.1 Introduction In the context of developing nations and their resilience towards various socioeconomic shocks, researches on assessing the extent of socio-economic vulnerability are becoming increasingly significant. To create resilient societies and nation it is important to initially identify and assess the exogenous and endogenous shock functions, and degree of socio-economic susceptibility. Such researches can eventually help policymakers identify key causal factors, the degree of vulnerability through an index, and identify mitigation strategies at spatial level. In other words, it can help in urban and regional governance by letting them understand the spatial distribution of vulnerability, their intensiveness, and associated indicators and their performances. Efficient governance at all levels is a key to creating resilient societies and nation which starts with identification and assessment of the exogenous and endogenous shock functions, and degree of socio-economic susceptibility at the targeted level. United Nations Development Programme has defined governance [71] as: ‘Governance can be seen as the exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels. It comprises the mechanisms, processes, and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations, and mediate their differences’. Since, governance is managing a country’s affair at all level, the role of regional and local governments in managing development issues at different levels collectively contribute to the country’s development. Research is therefore required to identify region specific key causal factors of vulnerability, a methodology to measure the degree of vulnerability through an index, and identify mitigation strategies and policy recommendations. In this regard, the role of ICT in governance gets crucial in framing policy recommendations at regional and sub-regional levels and easy coordination amongst various stakeholders. This chapter presents a methodology which will enable government bodies to be aware of the situation and zone-specific vulnerabilities in a region. Subsequently, they can work upon the capacity building towards creating resilience against the shock functions acting in the region and their collective impact on the social and economic aspects.

18.2 Socio-economic Vulnerability 18.2.1 The Concept, Causal Factors, and Indicators Assessment of vulnerability has been a focus for research mostly in the context of environment and related disasters. Impact of shocks generated by natural disasters on the social, environmental, ecological, economic dimensions and the resulting vulnerability has become a dynamic field of research. On the other hand, shocks generated exclusively by changing socio-economic context and consequent slow

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic …

435

and steady vulnerability is often less addressed. However, it is important to focus on the socio-economic shocks and associated vulnerabilities spreading spatially creating vulnerable pockets as it can create hindrances in overall development process. Socioeconomic vulnerability assessments can help in identify the underlying shocks and specific vulnerable pockets spatially at the regional and sub-regional level. Accordingly, necessary action plans can be formulated to eradicate the shocks. The shocks that are generated in the region or is a result of national and global events and now prevailing in the regions are required to be considered whilst assessing vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and planning for resilient society. For example, sudden shocks generated by land pooling for industry or infrastructure development, lockdown of existing industries, and prevailing factors like limited accessibility to resources and work opportunities have potential for larger and long-term impact on the socioeconomic vulnerability of any region. Vulnerability has been defined by many researchers over the years. Westgate and O’keefe [75] has linked it with the exposure of a community to risks. The risks are generating from extreme physical or natural phenomena that are affecting the capacity of the community to absorb and recover from the shocks. The affecting factors can be socio-economic and/or socio-political in nature. Varley [72] has defined vulnerability as the degree to which the potential victims are protected, both socially and physically. Cannon et al. [12] has tried to identify the vulnerable groups stating that the people are differentiated with respect to their societal status, which is a complex representation influenced by various factors present in the society. Vulnerability is also explained as the inability of households or communities or a system, subsystem, or system component to survive and recover from external adverse occurrences caused by shocks and sudden changes, lack of minimum safety standards, quality control standards, exceeding the carrying capacity, eco capacity, environmental utilization space, etc. [24, 25, 33, 48, 55, 69]. As per IPCC report [16], vulnerability is defined as ‘The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. Vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt’. Developing nations are often exposed to the adverse events affecting their social, economic, cultural, and environmental structure as well as balance. Studies revealed that vulnerability is shaped by socio-economic structures and ideologies along with geographic locations irrespective of degree of exposure to the hazards [38, 73, 74]. Therefore, the wide range of socio-economic factors are directly associated with the risks and susceptibility [73]. The complex nature of socio-economic vulnerability has resulted in direct and proxy indicators which vary from one region to another and time to time [34, 37, 38, 45, 49, 61, 65]. Similarly, India in its different regional levels is experiencing different levels of socio-economic environment along with different degrees of shocks. Therefore, the understanding socio-economic vulnerability to the adverse shocks and stressors is extremely significant in both regional and sub-regional levels. As the shock functions act within the regions and sub-regions, they become susceptible to the shocks and consequently move towards vulnerability. As per the IPCC report of climate change [16], vulnerability is closely associated with sensitivity and adaptive capacity of region. Susceptibility is understood as the extent of impact

436

B. Sarkar et al.

on a system by unfavourable environment. Here, analogically, the extent of impact on a system by adverse socio-economic development related stimuli encompassing the components of socio-economic environment. It can be considered as a function of features, frequency, and extent of socio-economic climate change and the period of exposure to the shocks resulting varied performances of regional and sub-regional growth components [62]. Such varied performances or sudden undesirable changes of growth components are the consequence of few causal factors of socio-economic vulnerability acting in the region [31, 54, 70]. The causal factors are responsible for susceptibility of any region to any shock which as well determine its degree, nature, and speed or frequency. The tangible and intangible assets are equally at risk of both direct and indirect injuries made by causal factors. However, the extent of damage is determined by the character and degree of shocks [41]. The following table (Table 18.1) shows the examples of natural and man-made causal factors as identified in different researches over the time. Understanding the causal factors in a region can give a tentative picture of the degree of vulnerability of the particular area. The specificity, scale dependency, and dynamic nature of the causal factors are helpful in understanding the degree of exposure, sensitivity of the region and adaptive capacity [2, 68]. However, for the detailed and quantitative view, we need to look into the growth indicators and their performances. As established by the researchers, the growth indicators act as the representative of the impact of causal factors and can be quantified through their performances in both macro and micro level regional scales [39, 40, 47, 63, 67]. Hence, the selection of growth indicators for assessing or quantifying socio-economic vulnerability is particularly critical as the association between the indicators and the susceptibility and consequent vulnerability needs to be significant in nature. Cutter et al. [21, 22] have defined indicators as ‘quantitative measures intended to represent a characteristic or a parameter of a system of interest’ which express the underlying dimensions of socio-economic vulnerability through their empirical values. They ease the challenge of evaluating the changes in socio-economic environment over time depending on the purpose of research [17]. The indicators help in applying different methods to measure susceptibility and vulnerability. They also help in the development of comparative assessments at macro and micro levels through their social, economic, and environmental characteristics [18, 25, 27, 42]. A ‘good’ indicator would always give a clear perspective of what it is measuring [17]. As identified by the researches Barnett et al. [6], Cutter et al. [21], Grace and Edwin [27], Contreras and Chamorro [27] the major challenges of identification of appropriate indicators are: 1.

2.

The complex nature of association between the measurable indicators and the entire regional system jeopardizing the conceptual basis of what is to be measured and how it is to be measured. Availability of data, both primary and secondary for the identified indicators.

However, the challenges can be resolved by following a set of guidelines or selection criteria, such as [7, 3, 17, 23, 25, 42, 43, 62]:

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic …

437

Table 18.1 Causal factors of vulnerability Source

Context

Briguglio [10]

Small island developing states Scarcity of natural capital, small-scale market, competition and associated disturbances, lack of physical infrastructure affecting supply chain, locational remoteness resulting in price hike, reliance on external resources for financial stability, outmigration

Causal factors

Morrow [54]

Mapping of vulnerability to natural disasters

Economic fragility, locational disadvantages, insecured employment setting, lack of access to resources, human centric limitations—physical, psychological, and gender specific challenges

Adriano and Matsuda [1]

Environmental disasters in small islands

Geographic disadvantages, lack of development options, scarcity of resources both natural and human, lack of self-sustainable economic system, small market and hike in price due to economic fragility

Cutter et al. [22]

Social vulnerability to natural hazard

Inequalities in different dimensions, poor condition of built environment and community support and facilities, economic instability and associated loss of employment, pace and degree of urbanization, lack of infrastructural support—both social and physical

Dwyer et al. [25]

Social vulnerability to natural hazard

Demographic factors like skewed age distribution, low income, poor housing condition, lack of access to healthcare facilities as well as financial security; social factors like lack of community support, lack of social cohesion and social networking, isolated living condition; administrative factors like loopholes in governance system from macro to micro level (continued)

438

B. Sarkar et al.

Table 18.1 (continued) Source

Context

Causal factors

Brooks et al. [11]

Determinants of vulnerability

National capital, inequality, lack of healthcare services, lack of awareness on food nutrition and associated care, food security, lack of educational services, improper resource utilization leading to pressure on existing natural and human capital, lack of technological advancement

Birkman [7]

Disaster resilient society

Objective and subjective wellbeing, livelihood opportunity based on educational facilities available, preparedness to disasters and consequent resilience; capacity to build protective shelter, choosing safer location for self-protection from disaster, preparedness for disaster and mitigation measures; social safety net, institutional environment through various institutions

Turvey [70]

Small island developing states External economic shocks, integrated factor in the system, weak domestic economy to sustain extreme events, day to day life risk; natural hazards like typhoon and hurricane, locational disadvantages, damage to endangered zones and habitats, pollution, dependency on other economy, food insecurity, poverty, and lack of capacity to disaster response, fragile ecosystems and associated environment, forced labour force, forceful relocation and displacement of population, ethnic cleansing, religious chaos, conflicts between various factors of culture, economy, and environment (continued)

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic …

439

Table 18.1 (continued) Source

Context

Causal factors

Hanh et al. [29]

Livelihood vulnerability

Demographic factors like high rate of dependency, lack of educational facilities resulting lower levels of education, gender-based livelihood opportunity and diversification of employment, high mortality rate, chronic illness, lack of basic services like food, water, and sanitation system

Flanagan et al. [26] and Safe land 7th framework program [59]

Socio-economic vulnerability

Housing condition, housing types and accessibility to affordable housing, physical factors like disability or ageing, social factors like inequality governed by race, gender, ethnicity, income, education

Jacob et al. [35]

Social vulnerability for marine community

Population division and structure, poor economic structure resulting in poverty, poor housing condition, natural and man-made disasters including technological hazards

Yu et al. [76]

Post-disaster

Reduced output; property, infrastructure, and life loss

Mollah and Ferdaush [53]

Population migration and rural vulnerability

Man-made calamities, fragile economic infrastructure, response to climate stress, loss of land, riverbank erosion, forced migration

Tran et al. [68]

Household social vulnerability

Level of exposure to hazards, socio-economic impacts such as land use change and change in livelihood resulted by the exposure to hazards both natural and man-made (e.g., Sea level rise, erosion etc.), change in economic structure such as radical changes in safety net resulting in deprived rural population. Causal factors are specific, scale dependent and dynamic in nature (continued)

440

B. Sarkar et al.

Table 18.1 (continued) Source

Context

Causal factors

Avelino et al. [2]

Rapid assessment of socio-economic vulnerability

Land use change, diversification of livelihood. Causal factors can be categorized as factors associated with exposure, factors associated with sensitivity, and factors associated with adaptive capacity

Dumitra¸scu et al. [24]

Socio-economic vulnerability of drought prone areas

Endogenous socio-economic factors, such as, access to information, annual income, social cohesion, political rights, mortality, access to education, sanitation, drinking water etc.; endogenous biophysical factors, such as, existing land cover, topography and vegetation, ecology and environment; exogenous socio-economic factors, such as, globalization and policy changes, industrialization; exogenous biophysical factors, such as, natural and man-made hazards

Mitsova et al. [52]

Infrastructure disruption and socio-economic vulnerability in context of natural disaster

Lack of access to resources for recovery, lack of financial assistance such as hazard insurance, communication gap between providers and beneficiaries. Unemployment rate, inequality leading to different degrees of exposure depending on unequal access to resources

Contreras and Chamorro [18] Spatial dimensions in socio-economic vulnerability assessment

Loss of economic value, damage of property, business interruption, disruption in physical and mental health due to multiple stressors, disruption in social infrastructure services

Mikolai et al. [51]

Housing condition, lack of access to open outdoor spaces, overcrowding, lack of access to technology and internet, employment conditions—unemployment, partial employment etc., health conditions

Household health and socio-economic vulnerability

(continued)

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic …

441

Table 18.1 (continued) Source

Context

Causal factors

Karuppusamy et al. [38]

Socio-economic vulnerability and multi-hazard risks

Exposure to risk of vulnerable group of population, such as, women, children, elderly, primary workforce, marginal workforce, socially weaker section, lack of sanitation system and communication system, lack of disaster preparedness and response

Source Updated and modified from Sarkar [62]

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Supporting conceptual basis of the research to make it Credibility of the information received about the indicators Availability of credible data from credible data sources Definite and simple nature and easy access to data Quantitative nature of data—measurable Use of established indicators on the same field for validation of indicator selection Sensitivity towards the chronological order as well as capability of satisfying same objective over the time Cost effective

Table 18.2 is an example of how the causal factors can be transformed into measurable indicators: Here, depending upon the concerned research area, to fulfil the criteria of ‘good’ indicators, an internationally accepted yardstick for measuring socio-economic development, the Human Development Index (HDI), has been considered as the basis for indicator identification. HDI is ‘a composite index measuring average achievements in three basic dimensions of human development i.e., a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living’ (UNDP Human Development Reports, 2003) p. 341. The key indicators used in HDI are covering three major aspects of development—health, education, and standard of living, which can be represented by the measurable indicators like life expectancy, adult literacy rate, educational enrolment, and GDP per capita [21], Haq and Sen, Human Development Reports [32]. Additionally, to maintain the ‘human’ spirit, the index has focused on spiritual, psychological, and ethical components as well Haq and Sen, Human Development Reports [32]. The index can map and demonstrate different degrees of vulnerabilities in different administrative zones, such as, community development district subdivision, districts, counties depending upon the various administrative units in different countries [18].

442

B. Sarkar et al.

Table 18.2 Causal factors and related indicators Causal factors

Indicators

Poor economic status

GDP per capita Percentage of debt repayment Wealth in terms of vehicle ownership, house ownership Per capita income

Poor health condition

Health expenditure per capita Child mortality rate Maternal mortality rate No. of hospital beds

Lack of education

Literacy rate School dropout rate Percentage of population attending primary school Percentage of population attending higher secondary school

Lack of infrastructure

Km of pukka road Percentage of houses with sanitation and drinking water facility No. of houses by design—detached, semi-detached, row No. of houses by construction material—Kuchha, Pukka, Semi pukka Floor space per person

Ecological imbalance

Percentage of protected land area Percentage of change in forest cover Per capita groundwater recharge

Source Modified from Sarkar [62]

18.2.2 Aim of the Research The chapter aims to establish a model to create socio-economic vulnerability index at regional scale using HDI-based indicators through a computer-based application. This application would act as a vulnerability assessment toolkit to help in providing a clear picture of the degree of socio-economic vulnerability through the calculated vulnerability score for each district subdivision. The detailed methodological framework and an example output have been discussed in next section.

18.2.3 Introduction to Study Region and Local Governance System in West Bengal To perform the methodological framework using the proposed model of ICT-based socio-economic vulnerability assessment, West Bengal has been chosen as the primary target. It is a state in India located on the eastern side and shares border with Bangladesh (Fig. 18.1). West Bengal has a low Human Development Index (HDI) with rank 28 amongst total 36 states and union territories of India (Human Development Index 2019). The HDI value of West Bengal is lower than the average HDI value of India. Within this mega region three adjoining districts—Malda, Murshidabad, and

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic …

443

Fig. 18.1 Location of West Bengal in India

Birbhum have been selected as the test bed. This cluster is located at the centre of West Bengal, adjacent to the river Ganges (Fig. 18.2), and exposed to shocks such as loss of land due to river bank erosion, loss of livelihood due to flood and drought, lack of access to regional market. However, over the years, long-term policy interventions to address such shock functions have been limited. The only actions taken are the immediate rescue and relief operations in the events of natural calamities. Therefore, the deprivation remains a constant factor leading to underdevelopment. The test bed consisting of the three districts has been divided into smaller sub-regions following administrative boundaries of district subdivisions for the present study (Fig. 18.3). As the district subdivisions are being taken into consideration, there are two different channels of governance in place. One is the urban local governance under municipalities for the towns and cities and the other one is rural local self-governance under gram panchayats. The urban local governance is a streamlined system with clear work flow along with efficiency in computer-based applications. However, the role and domains of gram panchayat are still evolving. There have been programs for the institutional strengthening of the gram panchayats, under the initiative of strengthening rural decentralization during 2005–2011. The programs focused on alleviating poverty through improvised accessibility to goods and services, capacity building for basic services, monitoring of panchayats by the state, and project management and

444 Fig. 18.2 Location of three districts in West Bengal

Fig. 18.3 Sub-district level divisions win the three districts

B. Sarkar et al.

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic …

445

implementation [57]. The major challenges identified by Chakrabarty et al. [14] are— process of beneficiary selection for any programme, and limited scope for collaboration due to the communication gap at the planning stage, limited or restricted information flow, and underutilization of available resources. However, there is a recent government initiative for streamlined and technologically advanced rural governance system through capacity building. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) has been updated and being implemented since 2018 through 2022 by Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India [5]. Through this capacity building programme, government is trying to achieve the sustainable development goals. In this context, e-governance and technology driven solutions are being given more emphasis at the gram panchayat level by providing basic orientation training to the concerned personnel.

18.3 Methodological Framework 18.3.1 Formulation of Socio-economic Vulnerability Index—Theoretical Explanation The theoretical approach has three major steps—first, identification of HDI-based growth indicators, secondly, standardization of data explaining the performances of indicators, and finally calculating vulnerability index. Here, the process is explained by taking example of districts in the state of West Bengal in India.

18.3.2 Identification of Indicators There are several growth indicators identified in researches focusing on developing nations like India contributing to the spatial distribution of socio-economic vulnerability [11, 5]. Additionally, for more contextual reference, indicators from Bureau of Economics and Statistics, National Sample Survey, and Census of India, are analyzed to create a pool of indicators. The indicators are further classified based on three yardsticks of HDI—health, education and economy and standard of living for validation. As the indicators cover all aspects of socio-economic development and contribute to the associated vulnerability, equal weightages have been assigned to all indicators during calculation of vulnerability score. Table 18.3 shows the list of indicators which are mostly taken from Census indicators and matched with HDI. However, the model can be updated and new indicators can be incorporated considering the nature of shocks and their impact on performances of various indicators.

446

B. Sarkar et al.

Table 18.3 Selected indicators Health

Education

Economy and standard of living

Number of beds available in healthcare facility (hospital/PHC) Number of public health centres within the administrative boundary Number of doctors and caregivers available on call Number of patients accessed the facilities per day Number of vaccination programmes undertaken Crude birth rate Infant mortality rate

Number of educational facilities at all levels—primary, middle, secondary schools and professional education centres Enrolment in educational facilities at all levels—primary, middle, secondary schools and professional education centres Teachers in educational facilities at all levels—primary, middle, secondary schools and professional education centre, literacy rate Dropout rate from each level of educational service

Number of households residing in kuccha, semi pukka, and pukka Number of households having access to physical infrastructure—toilet, drainage of waste water, safe water supply, electricity connections Number of financial institutions depending on their types Net collection from small savings Number of households having additional recreational assets and personal transport (motorized and non-motorized) Number of workers in various sectors—cultivator (main and marginal), labourer, other workers, non-worker Population growth rate and density Number of BPL households

Source Modified from Sarkar [62]

18.3.3 Standardization of Data Census of India 2011 and District Statistical handbooks 2011 have been the main sources of data at the regional level. However, primary data can also be used depending on the nature of indicators and availability of secondary data for respective indicators. Standardization of data has been done by z-scoring using the standard formula stated in Eq. 18.1 Before calculating the weighted scores of districts [4, 28, 36, 64]: 

X1 − X Z= σ where, X1 X σ

original value of the indicator 1 mean value of the indicators, Standard Deviation.

 (18.1)

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic …

447

18.3.4 Vulnerability Index—Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) There are different established tools for assessment of socio-economic vulnerability which focus on vulnerability score and indexing [19, 1, 22, 63, 25, 11, 13, 15]; Rygel, 2006; [35, 46], Dumitra¸scu et al. 2018; [38, 60]. However, the context changes depending on the scope of research. In the context of socio-economic vulnerability index, it is suggested to follow certain guidelines, such as, simplicity, ease of understanding by all stakeholders, and suitability at the global platform [10, 46], Dumitra¸scu et al. 2018; [38, 60]. One of such tool is Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) which is a widely used additive method for creating a vulnerability index [10, 22, 58, 70, 30, 9, 66], Pampalon et al. (2009), [66]. The method is acceptable as it can be applied for obtaining unweighted scores as it considers equal contribution of each indicator to obtain final index [22]. The method can be understood by the mathematical expression as given in Eqs. (18.2) and (18.3). Ii j =

Imax − I j Imax − Imin

VI =

Ii j n

(18.2) (18.3)

where, I ij ij imax imin n

Deprivation index of ith variable in jth unit of study Value of the variable I at jth unit of study Maximum value of ith variable minimum value of jth variable Total number of variables

The method has been used to understand the degree of socio-economic vulnerability within the case study area using the district level (regional) and district subdivision (sub-regional) level data obtained from Census of India, 2011 and District Statistical handbooks, 2011. Based on the vulnerability scores the district subdivisions are further categorized explaining their degree of socio-economic vulnerability. Figure 18.4 is an example, where the vulnerability index is presented spatially with colour coding for better understanding of the degrees of vulnerability of various district subdivision in three districts—Malda, Murshidabad, and Birbhum in West Bengal, India.

448

B. Sarkar et al.

Fig. 18.4 Spatial distribution of socio-economic vulnerability represented graphically. Source Sarkar [62]

18.4 Socio-economic Vulnerability and ICT—A Computer Application The methodology has been used for developing the vulnerability assessment toolkit. The model has been converted into an application which can be used by anyone. The application has been developed in Python 3.6 and can be executed on any standard personal computer/laptop. It uses a simple interface where the user selects a district subdivision/district and the application displays the socio-economic vulnerability score of the selected district/district subdivision. The application uses the 2011 Indian census data from the District Statistical Handbook 2011 as its source of data. The algorithms used for calculating z score and IMD are as follows:

18 ICT-Based Smart Solution to Assessment of Socio-economic …

Algorithm I: Calculation of Z-Score of all indicators Input: A matrix M of indicator values of each district from census data Output: A matrix O of Z-Score of indicator values for all districts

M