FUTURE CITIES: Ensuring world class civic amenities in urban India

Team Name : b2i (Born 2 Innovate) Project Name : EUREKA

• AKSHAY BHARGAVA • ANSHIK YADAV • PALLAV GROVER • S. PRANAV KUMAR • SUMIT KUMAR

What makes a city?

Cities in India today are either badly planned or not planned at all, growing in haphazard directions as the need arises. There is an overarching need to make the cities grow in a

more inclusive fashion, providing not just better quality of life for some, but for all.

• High dropout rates along with unavailability of qualified and competent teachers

EDUCATION

• Inefficient distribution of medicines along with lack of proper facilities

HEALTHCARE FACILITIES

• Improper recreational opportunities and facilities

RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Issues concerning the current scenario:-

05000

10000150002000025000300003500040000

High/BasicSchool

Middle/SrBasic School

No. of institutes in

various states

• Improper traffic management TRANSPORTATION

• Increasing pollution and issue of solid waste disposal

ENVIRONMENT

• Unhygienic conditions and inaccessibility to basic facilities and amenities

SLUMS MANAGEMENT

• Lack of efficient supply system and innovative technology

FOOD SECURITY

• Delay in projects due to inadaptability with new technological advancements

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT

• Inefficiency of current systems for power supply along with other amenities like water and gas

BASIC HOUSEHOLD NECESSITIES

• Improper resource utilization and lack of coordination among various departments

CITY PLANNING

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

19

90

20

00

20

30

697 million

2 billion

923 million

Projected slums growth

in India

• Municipal bodies should scholarships to increase competitive spirit among students.

• They should also award schools on the basis of introducing enhanced and creative methods like incorporating interactive learning through visual media and also outperforming their peers.

• Providing land and other resources like teaching equipment at subsidized rates

• Holding annual exams for teachers to ensure their ability to teach.

• Chain of generic medicine shops need to be setup to provide cheaper medicines to the common masses

• Health seminars should be conducted by each hospital annually in cooperation with each other so that they do not collide

• Government needs to facilitate private hospital partnerships and informational exchange with their own hospitals so that efficiency of government hospitals can be increased. Tax benefits to the cooperating private hospitals can be given, especially if they participate in providing free/low-cost healthcare to those who cannot afford it (BPL – Below Poverty Line)

SOLUTIONS

EDUCATION

HEALTH

• A green belt to be constructed around the city perimeter.

• Hawkers and street vendors to be allotted specific areas for their work

• Curbing the problems of stray animals through a process of rehabilitation. NGOs can be approached and funded to complete this task.

• Inspection and repair of roads in phases over different parts of the city. A separate committee can oversee this task and can carry out the inspection of construction materials and the progress.

• Problem of water logging needs to be tackled immediately. As civic agencies have not been able to perform this task diligently, foreign systems for revised drainage systems can be used.

Provision for installing solar panels in government buildings; their usage in street lights and public areas.

• Government has already approved a group insurance scheme (IGL Suraksha Yojana) for CNG taxi and auto-drivers. This has yielded satisfactory results and should work fine in other cities as well.

• Water harvesting tanks in each district to be set up with a pipeline system which ensures that rainwater can be utilized in emergency.

• Devices like “Garburator” should be promoted by the municipality. These devices can be used by households to convert organic waste to energy via conversion to biogas

• Other facilities like Envac (Automated Waste Collection System) to be promoted as well.

CITY PLANNING

ENVIRONMENT

• Flyovers to be constructed within time keeping in view of lanes, distances and traffic conditions in the overlying area

• As done in Ahmedabad, removing encroachments like illegal constructions and parking which block the roads; resulting in smooth flow of traffic.

• Improving the current BRTS system by constructing under and over passes to allow passengers to reach the bus stations.

• Transport unions to be told to control the overcrowding of passengers in buses .

• Fleet of buses to be increased to ensure high frequency of buses along the major routes.

• Employment agencies to be set up near the slums which also act as training centers. This would help the people in elevating their economic as well as social status, in a long time horizon ensuring the rehabilitation and removal of slums by themselves.

• The jobs can be simple ones like sweepers, house maids, etc and simple crafts like carpenters, barbers etc. Companies can be invited to recruit in such areas; they will get cheap labour and the people will get the jobs they need to get the basic necessities for life.

The modern idea of vertical farming uses techniques similar to glass houses where natural sunlight can be augmented with artificial lighting.

• Intervention regarding individual assessment, geographical targeting and self targeting.

• Technological intervention like community kitchens where free meals are provided to those houses in the poorest areas like slums in the cities.

TRANSPORTATION

SLUM MANAGEMENT

FOOD SECURITY

• Privatisation of production and distribution of electricity to households.

• Segmentation of city into various districts and installing power generation plants in each of those districts.

• The above can also be carried out for provision of water. Quality of water also needs to be overseen. An agency to carry out inspection of periodic checks on quality of water in various parts of the city.

• More parks, libraries, amusement parks, theaters and sport complexes should be set up.

• City tours, sports meets, general competitions and annual fests to be organized time to time.

• Senior Citizens and Club Committees to increase old persons participation along with proper recreational equipment like carom board, chess, music, etc.

• Policemen cameras, free Wi-Fi in public areas, collaborating with telecom companies in setting up fiber cables in each city to facilitate speedy communication .

• Taking help of technological institutes to be able to adapt to the new technological advancements and ensuring taking advantage of them efficiently.

• Traffic policemen should be provided with machines that directly print the challans to avoid scope of corruption.

HOUSEHOLD NECESSITIES

RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES

TECHNOLOGY

FUNDING

Required: $1.2 trillion capital investment to meet demands

for urban development

By raising sales and property tax

(especially in major cities)

Land monetization; govt. land can be sold at market rates unless for

the purpose of agriculture or education

Using long term debt in major projects like

metro systems

“Munis”, or municipal bonds are tax free bonds raised by local govt. for

civic projects. Indian cities can easily become

financially independent if this can work successfully

Setting up an agency/bureau to ensure efficient accounting

of municipal funds.

Over 80-85% of required funds can be generated internally by cities, the rest can come from external sources

like central government, foreign companies and banks.

“Depending on the city and its size and other various conditions , a mix of sources

can be used to fund the requirements.”

IMPACTS

1. Overall enhancement in performance and quality of education systems.

6. City life will be more enjoyable and interesting.

2. Reduction of burden on conventional energy sources - Clean and healthy environment.

7. Construction in various parts of city will temporarily cause traffic problems along with probable pollution.

3. Standard of living of slum dwellers will improve over time and they would move in mainstream society.

8. A better planned city with accessibility to all kinds of facilities.

4. Efficient and uninterrupted flow of basic amenities like electricity, water and gas.

9. Cities will become self sufficient financially.

5. Embracing innovate culture and newer technology will allow India’s cities to be secure for the future.

10. Sections of society who are currently deprived of food will get allowance.

• Some environmental changes could occur especially in new constructions, so flora and fauna may be lost.

• Funding, especially through debt will always have costs like interest.

• Long time to implement all these modifications

• Some parties may use this opportunity to merely accelerate their campaign.

• People, unions etc. will always agitate against any new move.

• People may take time to adapt to a new way of life.

Social Political

Environmental Economic

CHALLENGES

CONCLUDING NOTE

Urban India needs a major makeover and there are various steps that can be taken in ensuring that that our modern and developing cities continue to grow

on the right path and be at par with the major and well established cities in foreign countries.

However as the government and various other agencies take steps to ensure

that the needs of the centers of business and trade are met, the maintenance of the existing structures is also required.

With due diligence and sheer determination only can we progress forward to the path of achieving a completely modern and economically , politically and

socially secure India.

SOURCES

1. MGI India Report (Given source)

2. Education for all, Yojana, September 2013 (Magazine)

3. http://www.oxfamindia.org/

4. http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-javs/papers/vol2-issue5/F0252839.pdf

5. http://urbanindia.nic.in/programme/ud/g_issue.pdf

6. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business