SMART CITY PROPOSAL

Each aspiring city had to compete for selection as a Smart City in what is called a “City Challenge”.

The two stage selection process involved intra state competition in which the State/UT shortlisted the potential Smart Cities on the basis of conditions precedent and scoring criteria and in accordance with the total number allocated to it and then each of the potential 100 Smart Cities prepared their proposals for participation in the “City Challenge” at the MoUD level. Government of India has now announced the list of 20 cities selected to be taken up for development as smart cities in Round 1 of the Smart City Programme out of the 97 competing cities. On the basis of the scoring done by the panel of experts, the top 20 cities have been selected for funding in the current financial year (2015-16). Udaipur stood sixteenth in the ranking with 57.91% score.

To move towards a more livable city, Udaipur shall focus on creating a model of sustainable urbanization based on New Urbanism principles that have the transformative potential to provide citizens with prosperity, safety, and equity. The focus is on transitioning from conventional urban spatial planning to prioritization of solutions based on the “three-legged” approach adopted from the New Urban Agenda of Habitat III- legal systems, urban planning, and local fiscal systems.

Projects with an investment of Rs.1526 Cr were proposed in Udaipur smart city plan. It includes Rs.1104 Cr worth of projects for Area Based Development and Rs.422 Cr worth of projects for Pan City Solution.

How did the Projects arrive at?

Citizens Engagement

The strategy was focused to engage all segments i.e. men, women and children at home, public places, institutions and work places through personal, in-group’s and media contacts. All key stakeholders – residents/elected representative, civic authorities, industrial / trader organizations were mobilized and actively engaged to dialogue and describe their views on long term vision and the top of mind five priorities for improving quality of life.

Outcome of Citizens Engagement (including myGov feedbacks)

• Citizens overwhelmingly supported Tourism with 44% voting it as a top priority. Concerns within this were issues of cleanliness, lakes, walled city infrastructure, and heritage to strengthen the tourism base. Citizens are conscious that the conservation and preservation of lakes is of paramount importance as it is city’s greatest attractor. Themost important priority for Udaipur is to boost tourism activities as large section of local livelihood is linked to it.

Citizens Priorities from Ward level Consultations

• The second priority was Water and Sewerage in the city (26% share) with 18% of the citizens voting for it as top priority. Concerns within this were issues of access, treatment and disposal and ensuring that lakes and the river are not polluted.
• Conservation of Heritage/ Lakes, Public Transport/ Walkability and Safety/ Security are important priority areas as per feedback. Concerns within this were the renewal of the walled city, restoration of heritage building/ facades, making the city walkable and safe for locals and visitors.

• Education, health, open spaces, affordable housing, ICT public service delivery, power supply and citizens role in decision making were rated after the top 5 priorities.

My Gov feedbacks ( in percentage )

•  Proposed VisionWhile attempting to define the Vision for Udaipur as a ‘Smart City’, the Consultants took cognizance of the vision articulated in the City Development Plan (CDP) of Udaipur finalized recently. It states that “A city of lakes that provides for its residents an environmentally friendly, economically vibrant ambience, providing large amounts and a variety of opportunities along with a sustainable infrastructure that takes care of all its citizens and equal importance to urban poor of city.”

   

  The above statement captures the essential elements for any respectable city. However, to aspire to be truly smart, the city needs to incorporate use of Information Communication Technology for improving Infrastructure, Environment and Governance through Data Driven Systems and improve quality of life of all the residents by innovative planning and efficient management using Smart Technologies. Smartness on the one hand is generally characterized by the ability to do or achieve more with less (inputs), across various urban domains / elements than conventional cities. Moreover, the solutions being projected to convey smartness should also be relevant to the local setting and context of each habitat.

Key Inferences from feedbacks

• Vision StatementTaking into consideration the strengths and challenges, following vision statement has been evolved for the city:“Eternal Udaipur: Developing it into the World's favourite Lakeside Heritage City”

  Whereas Udaipur has a long and rich history, it aspires to continuously innovate and adapt to the changing global environment and remain timeless in its appeal as a city. This uniqueness needs to be conserved and made the foundation for its transformation as a Smart City and its sustenance for future generations. Those living in the historic city inhabit some of the most architecturally and culturally dynamic places in the world. These neighborhoods may also be transformed into economically vibrant places despite outmigration from the city centers and deteriorating infrastructure.

  The most resilient foundations for growth for any city would be economic sustainability. Tourism would continue to remain the guiding force that would drive the economic and social transformation in the city, using technology based interventions which would make it a centre of excellence. The common man or the citizen would have to be at the centre of policy making for this evolutionary process

• The vision to become the World’s favorite Lakeside Heritage City will need to be supported by an unmatched living environment and state of the class infrastructure for both locals and visitors alike. This will necessitate smart strategies, planning interventions and connectivity / mobility within the city, smart actions and smart governance, to meet the challenge of population growth and in-migration into Udaipur, provision of adequate affordable housing, particularly for the weaker sections of the society; addressing the problems of un-organized informal sector, conservation of the environment and preservation of natural and built heritage of the city; provision of adequate infrastructure services in terms of water supply, sewerage and solid waste disposal and doing all this within a framework of smart and sustainable development through more efficient use of natural and man-made resources.

Proposal