INTRODUCTION TO SMART CITIES IN INDIA: ROLE OF UPCOMING ARCHITECTS

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INTRODUCTION TO SMART CITIES IN INDIA: ROLE OF UPCOMING ARCHITECTS

Guide: Architect Rohit Raj

Mentor: Dr. Vibhuti Sachdev,

Coordinators:

Jeyanthi Nadesalingam Associate Professor, SSAA

Parul Munjal, Associate Professor, SSAA

Dr. Vibhuti Sachdev, Professor, SSAA

RESEARCH PAPER IN ARCHITECTURE

2015-2016

Submitted by:

Pritish Raj

12000402/SSAA/B.Arch./12

SUSHANT SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE

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SUSHANT SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE

ANSAL UNIVERSITY

SECTOR-55, GURGAON – 122003, HARYANA

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This Research Paper report is submitted by Pritish Raj , student of Fourth Year B. Arch. Session 2015-2016, at Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon, as partial requirement for the Five Year B. Arch. Degree course of Ansal University, Gurgaon.

Originality of the information and opinion expressed in the Research Paper are of the author and do not reflect those of the guide, the mentor, the coordinators or the institution.

Signature of the Student:

Roll No.: 12000402

Name: Pritish Raj

Date:

Signature of the Guide:

Name: Architect Rohit Raj

Date:

Signature of the Mentor:

Name: Dr. Vibhuti Sachdev

Date:

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my guide Architect Rohit Raj for his whole-hearted support, expert supervision, understanding and encouragement throughout the course study and research. without his incredible patience and timely wisdom and counsel, my dissertation would have been a frustrating and overwhelming pursuit. In addition, I would also like to express my appreciation to my mentor Dr. Vibhuti Sachdev for being a constant source of inspiration. Her comments and discussion have been valued immensely.Finally, I would also extend my thanks to my family and my fellow students at Sushant school of Art and Architecture for their unconditional faith and support.

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Introduction to SMART cities in India: Role of Upcoming ARCHITECTS.

Pritish Raj, Bachelors in Architecture (B Arch.)

Sushant School of Art and Architecture, 2017

Supervisor: Dr. Vibhuti Sachdev

Abstract: This dissertation explores the actual meaning and implication of the term 'smart city' being used in the current era worldwide and as it comes to the Indian context, it investigates the role of an architect in building such cities. To completely understand the concept of smart city, it was deemed crucial to investigate the history of this phrase and how it is being used around the globe, taking the example of existing smart cities such as Amsterdam and Philadelphia through a secondary research analysis. Later it also became essential to have a critical analysis of the new-fangled green field project, the GIFT city in Gujarat, which is proclaimed to be the first 'smart city' on the Indian soil.With the help of the above mentioned studies as references, this paper then focuses on the field of architecture where it identifies their role models, the leverages and the challenges faced by an architect dealing within the spectrum of designing a building or a public realm that should be viable enough for such technologically advanced cities. To identify whether a native architect is ready to face the challenge of making his city the most productive amongst other cities of the country.

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Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of state/ UT no. of cities selected for smart city project.....................09

List of Illustrations

Fig 1: Components of a Smart City architecture......................................03

Fig. 2: The concept of smart city for amsterdam.......................................04

Fig. 3: GIFT Master Plan: Predominant Land use ...................................11

Fig. 4: Drivers for migration ......................................................................15

Fig. 5: The spatial distribution of jobs and population

generate patterns of commuting trips ..........................................16

Chapter 1 SMART CITY: INTRODUCTION............................................01

Smart City-Amsterdam City..............................................................03

Smart City-Philadelphia....................................................................06

Chapter 2 SMART CITY PROJECT IN INDIA.........................................08

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City)..........................11

From the current Architects..............................................................14

Chapter 3 CONCLUSION........................................................................15

Role Of Upcoming Architects

REFERENCES.........................................................................................18

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SMART CITY: INTRODUCTION

Tracing from the existing pattern of Philadelphia, Seoul, San Diego, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, etc. around the globe, India is also emerging in a world of upcoming Smart cities. Carrying no proper definition, a smart city concept can vary from place to place.

The phrase 'Smart Cities' is not new. Historically, it has its origins in the Smart movement of the late 1990s, which advocated new policies for urban planning. The phrase has been adopted since 2005 by a number of technology companies for the application of complex information systems to integrate the operation of urban infrastructure and services such as buildings, transportation, electrical, water distribution, and public safety. Ever since it has evolved to mean almost any form of technology-based innovation in the planning, growth and operation of cities, for instance, the deployment of services for plug-in electric vehicles . (Harrison & Donnelly, N.D.)

Though having several interpretations and various opinions, a smart city through this secondary research analysis, can be vaguely described as 'An interactive system that uses information and communication technologies (ICT) for a continuous process of applying and amending of policies and its execution in a city; bridging the gap between private and governing body to work towards more efficient or “smarter” development of the city’. Consequently, this lead to these cities being considered as an entity competing amongst one another on the grounds of social and economic development. According to Lynn Ferguson, a local government executive of IBM-" it is a system within which a city interacts on the basis of better public safety, health, education and various other new or existing institutions. An interaction for healthier environment and sustainable economy." then there are others who see beyond the technological aspects and tag them as livable, sustainable and inclusive cities. In all such cases a greater role of architects and their accountability is indicated, predominantly in terms of-ecological crises, sustainability issues, efficient management of built environment- both new and the existing city, restructuring of present environment and social fabric, exploration of material like never before, public cooperation and inter-Relation between spaces and their connectivity.

In such reference, should we rely on ICT to be advantageous for the architects against present system of analysis and project carrying ? because in that situation, a greater scope of public cooperation and awareness is expected. As stated in the article of Rory Stott -"This revolution is so broad, deep and ongoing, it’s impossible to list all the present and future ways these technologies can—and will—reshape how and what cities, and their inhabitants, do."1

Currently we observe a lot of flaws in the procedures of city planning and urban design in India. One of the instance of poor city planning that can be visualized today is

1 ( Stott, R. 2014)

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mobilizing institutions outside the city that retains the efficient and literate crowd Away. The entire museum, Workshop center, Community Centre or Retail cannot benefit from it (Example- Kanpur not benefiting from IIT Kanpur due to its location far off from the main city).

Apart from these, There are several other micro level issues in designing of hospitals, schools, Hotels , etc. which are now being assumed to get tackled in this technologically sophisticated and highly informed world. (Healthcare solutions, 2015.)

Now the question that comes to our mind is-"What makes a city a 'Smart City' as opposed to a city where some 'smart intervention' happens?

According to Rick Robinson the IT Director for Smart Data and Technology for Amey, one of the UK's largest engineering and infrastructure services companies, and part of the Ferrovial Group; There are three obvious criteria for answering that question:

1. Smart Cities are led from the top – they have a strong and visionary leader championing the Smart agenda across the city.

2. Smart Cities have a stakeholder forum – they have drawn together a community of city stakeholders across the city. Those stakeholders have not only created a compelling vision for a Smart City; they have committed to taking an ongoing role coordinating a program to deliver it.

3. Smart Cities invest in technology infrastructure – they are deploying the required information and communication technology (ICT) platforms across the city; and doing so in such a way as to support the integration of information and activity across city systems. ( The Urban Technologist, 2012).

Apart from this there are many other infrastructures that are important to the future of cities; but in “Smart Cities” the role of technology is most essentially considered . It’s also important, though, to consider what is different about the structure and organization of city systems in a Smart City. How can they be designed and delivered so that they effectively serve individuals, communities and businesses in the city? What other structures and processes are required to achieve this progress in a Smart City?".2

Thus, a sincere call for reconsideration of the application of smart city concept, in terms of Indian city context is required and same applies to the upcoming architects of our

country, in terms of design procedure, its methodology, area analysis, social cooperation and coordination. Now, With the abundant availability of data in its bag

pack, an architect is expected to have a more efficient approach in terms of

2 The Urban Technologist,. (2012). The new architecture of Smart Cities. Retrieved 29

August 2015, from http://theurbantechnologist.com/2012/09/26/the-new-architecture-of-

smart-cities/

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conceptualizing a building or a public realm. An approach not just restricted to a creative outlook towards the mainstream strategy of vivid form and function but also

giving shape to a more advanced construction system which is not just sustainable but also productive in terms of every social and economical aspects. Further, are the two examples of existing smart cities around the world and their approach in solving city problems which might be helpful in understanding the concept of 'Smart City' and

provide hint of how to retrofit in Indian environment.

Fig 1: Components of a Smart City architecture (The Urban Technologist, 2012).

SMART CITY-AMSTERDAM CITY

Claiming to have 95 percent of house hold with internet connection, settlement of 200 international developers and 32 percent of population on bi- cycle3. Amsterdam is one of the first existing smart city that has volunteered to help India in its smart city mission. The information shared at the sustainable smart city conference held by Nispana., provided the opportunity to study closely and evaluate the success and failure of Amsterdam as a smart city and learn how to go about such concept in context to our own cities.

3Vermast, 2015

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Fig. 2: The concept of Smart Cities is like art: the context is more important than the product4

The vision is established by political leadership along with unique collaboration between public-private partners, knowledge institutes and last but not least citizens on a platform. Collaborative bottom up approach through citizen engagement with a structure vision 20405 for the welfare of homeless people. The collaboration is the strength in these kind of processes. "The only way Amsterdam Smart City can succeed in creating a smart city is by enabling its inhabitants to act 'smartly', by providing them with the appropriate information and by creating the necessary opportunities." In principle, this entails that everybody could participate in the creation and maintenance of Amsterdam as a smart city. Initiatives/projects should be developed and implement in close cooperation with citizens and /or users of an area/city. Also the awareness which is a great part of the transition:

Unaware unsustainable à Aware unsustainable à Aware sustainable à Unaware sustainable (Vermast, 3 september 2015)

All the acquired knowledge and experience is shared via the Amsterdam Smart City platform. Learning from pilots is also important. The pilot partners should be transparent about the lessons learnt even when these are not positive. The initiative or the project should be economically viable. Only economically viable initiatives will ultimately be rolled out on a large scale and if one can’t earn money with it, overlook it, as subsidising is not their vocabulary anymore.

Cooperation at every possible level is essential to achieve viable results. Collaboration between businesses, (local) authorities, research institutions and the inhabitants of the city is essential. It could be a public private partnership, but it must incorporate the close involvement of citizens and / or users of an area / city. For instance, under Health-Care solution sensors are used to warn the neighbours or (if needed) a professional. The spectrum of people involved under such initiative are elderly, health professionals, neighbours, an insurance company, government and technology providers..

emphasising on the benefits for Amsterdam the ideology behind is not to invent the wheel again, take advantage of has already been developed in other cities and learn from it. Not just to share the best-next practices, but also create a safe environment to share worst practices. Cities are

4 Vermast, 20155 Ibid.

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facing problems and challenges where companies, NGO’s and knowledge institutions may already have a solution for Amsterdam and other cities. On global scale the non-profit open community of cities, corporations, academic and non-profit organizations are taking collaborative action to help cities face their challenges together and enable the development of more sustainable, efficient and innovative solutions for city initiatives.

Being the fastest consumer network in Europe, Zohar Sharon(Tel-Aviv-Yafo municipality) explains how Amsterdam works on a smart grid. in 2002,a citywide fiber-to-the-home network created an open marketplace for innovative services and economic growth and social inclusion. Today, It has an Open Data which is a catalog of all available open data in the region, All available apps that use parts of these open data. Disabled toilets, 18 themes. 139 different areas of interest and 312 data sets. Another initiative is Living Lab approach where several contests and hackathons were organised last year (2015) and out of those, over 20 apps related to mobility are fully working, providing real-time information about traffic, parking garages, parking metres, availability of EV charging points and public transport (trams and buses) – all free available. A Competition is organised every month to chose the best apps, mainly based on open data. City of Amsterdam provide the data, individuals and developers make magnificent apps where civil servants could never handle or imagine alone. One of the best example was an app developed by a handicapped individual himself, to locate disable toilets in public spaces like restaurants, community halls and libraries. (Vermast, 3 september 2015).

With large research centres focusing on energy in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area it seems obvious that innovation in energy finds its place in Amsterdam. The city has a very thorough ambition with regards to the transition to renewable energy: the goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 60% in the next ten year6. An ambitious programme sees investments in renewable sources, energy savings and smart technologies increasing every year. The city and its partners are also combining data on potential energy sources in the ground, in water, from the sun or wind. Collaboration with other comparable cities is very active where good and bad practices are being shared.

There is water everywhere in Amsterdam, and water is also being used as an energy carrier. In the Zuidas business district, water from a nearby lake is being used to cool the buildings. For heating during wintertime water is also used – this time using the water that is used to cool an energy plant close to the business district. In this way the only extra energy that is being used is the electricity that is needed for the pumps. (Vermast, 3 september 2015).

Energy in Amsterdam is monitored in accordance with Climate goals, Several Smart Grid and Energy Management pilots, Energy research center, Energy startup accelerators. In terms of smart grid as a magnet of innovation with Nieuw West as one of the most advanced roll-outs in the world and is also self-healing. Further developed as one of Europe’s flagship Smart Grid developments (City-Zen), enabling people to generate their own energy, store their energy and plug in their vehicles to gain or give energy.

The Urban living labs approach as mentioned in the smart city conference by Nispana are as follows:-

• Connecting parties; building consortium and Combining activities

6 (Vermast, 3 september 2015)

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• Identifying and connecting to local investment portfolios.

• Gaining knowledge about residents and users of neighborhoods.

• Identifying the needs and wishes of the residents and users of neighborhoods.

• Energy potential analysis: technical, demographic and urban planning insights into the present and potential

• Energy consumption of neighborhoods and Knowledge exchange based on previous pilot projects.

Between now (2015) and 2050 the global population is expected to increase from 6.9 billion to more than 9 billion, with 98% of this growth happening in cities and in the developing and emerging world, according to UN estimates7.Thus,, it has become quite evident that the collective approach and their strategies towards learning from the existing development has boosted Amsterdam in reaching in their goals for creating a better quality city with immense consideration of people and not just technology as an integral part of the equation. Only a joint effort could lead to success.

EXISTING SMART CITY-PHILADELPHIA

Over the past 50 years, the Philadelphia region has transformed from a manufacturing, banking and insurance center into a leader in health services, higher education, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals. However, many Philadelphians do not have the necessary skills to participate in the city’s current and future economy and, if nothing is done to reverse the current trend, Philadelphia will find it hard to compete for good, high-wage jobs, creating a cycle of unemployment and low-wage jobs. Philadelphia already depends upon a large range of public and private sector organizations to help tackle this challenge transitioning from low literacy, low digital literacy, and insufficient work skills towards full employment. What it lacks however, is the ability to expand these services in order to meet the growing need along with a system that can ensure collaboration, eliminate redundancies and establish a mechanism to recognize the attainment of skills valued by employers.

As a solution, an initiative called ‘Digital On-Ramps’ emerged out of the city’s participation in IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge in 2011. This digital inclusion effort would provide work force education to marginalized and low-literacy residents with the help of a mobile, and Internet-based applications. This would also train them with the skills to be competitive for jobs in the 21st century information economy. The pervasiveness of smart phones and universal access to the mobile Internet was seen as an entry point by both IBM and city’s policymakers, providing new pathways to noteworthy skill sets for entry-level jobs that would eventually bridge long-lasting socio-economic divides in the city. DOR will be accessible via cloud technologies and will offer access to a range of educational and training tools from basic literacy and math to postsecondary education and employment training. Using a variety of teaching methods, content will be available through a full range of devices and provide “anywhere, anytime, any device” access. . (Shelton, Zook & Wiig, 2014)

7 Vermast, 3 september 2015

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A variety of challenges and issues relating to the way individuals and organizations collaborate and interact were uncovered and would affect the practical application of DOR. These were:

Learning:

One of the major challenges for learning was the absolute diversity of Philadelphia’s citizens and their range of educational needs. This was tackled by implementing an smart navigator of content resources with an online interactive guide to help providers or citizens locate courses based on factors such as learning objectives, physical location and favored learning environment. (IBM, 2011)

Governance:

Governance is essential to the success of DOR8. The City and other bodies, public, private and philanthropic, must collaborate effectively and be held accountable through a framework for implementation and a consistent, structured evaluation of the initiative. This was done by appointing a project lead for DOR and bringing representatives from the education system, workforce development partners and small and medium business members into the initiative. Also, creating a web-based catalog of providers and services by following the model of the survey being done for the Mayor’s Commission on literacy to gather information about the providers of literacy programs.9

Philadelphians:

The City must lead efforts to segment the intended populations in need, based upon multiple salient distinctiveness such as age, geography, and skill levels, and develop specific strategies for reaching each segment. This will enable the progress of more effective outreach programs, increase program effectiveness, and coordinate across existing silos10 to optimize demand versus supply for DOR services. The City’s actions would inform and enhance the work already being done by individual service providers to segment their constituents, and create a comprehensive, city-wide perspective11.

This was done by creating a “federated” view of the constituent in the cloud and building upon the work being done by the School District of Philadelphia and Community College of Philadelphia. Also, segmenting the population in need and develop tailored strategies for meeting their requirements.

As seen in both the cases of existing smart cities that though pilot projects with technology as major tool, helped these cities step ahead towards the approach for a better standard of life; There are various other components still untouched within the spectrum of society that stands as a challenge against these competitive cities. Technology although facilitating, fails to fulfill the complex requirement of a city that defines its particular characteristics. Meanwhile a new city built on this platform such as Songdo is failing to attract the residents due to their limited economic spectrum as of now, only less than 20% of the commercial office space is occupied, and the streets, cafes and shopping centers still feel largely empty (Williamson, 2013). The span

8 Digital On Ramps9 (IBM, 2011)10 a tall tower or pit on a farm used to store grain11 Ibid 9, p.5

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required to make these new cities fully functional is also immense, but with such rapid speed of change happening globally it is difficult to predict the fate of such cities.

SMART CITY PROJECT IN INDIAIn India, smart city is most essentially a vision floated by our current Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Damodar Das Modi and his cabinet approving 100 such cities to be built along the DMIC(Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor).

According to their understanding, Cities are basically the engines of growth for the economy of every nation, including India. Nearly 31% of India’s current population lives in urban areas and contributes 63% of India’s GDP (Census, 2011).With increasing urbanization, urban areas are expected to house 40% of India’s population and contribute 75% of India’s GDP by 2030. This requires comprehensive development of physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructure. All are important in improving the quality of life and attracting people and investments to the City, setting in motion a virtuous cycle of growth and development. Development of smart cities is a step in that direction. (Smart Cities Mission Statement & Guidelines, 2015)

Now the elementary question that arises is "what is meant by smart city ?".

According to the Government of India there is no universally accepted definition of a Smart City. It means different things to different people. The conceptualization of Smart City, therefore, varies from city to city and country to country, depending on the level of development, willingness to change and reform, resources and aspirations of the city residents. For them, a smart city would have a different connotation in India than any other place (such as Europe). Even in India, there is no one way of defining a Smart City. Some definitional boundaries are required to guide cities in the Mission. In the imagination of any city dweller in India, the picture of a Smart City contains a wish list of infrastructure and services that describes his or her level of aspiration. To provide for the aspirations and needs of the citizens, urban planners ideally aim at developing the entire urban eco-system, which is represented by the four pillars of comprehensive development — institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure. This can be a long term goal and cities can work towards developing such comprehensive infrastructure incrementally, adding on layers of ‘smartness’. In the approach to the Smart Cities Mission, the objective which they have set is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions. The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a light house to other aspiring cities. The Smart Cities Mission of the Government is tagged as a bold, new initiative by the supporters. According to them, It is meant to set examples that can be replicated both within and outside the Smart City, catalyzing the creation of similar Smart Cities in various regions and parts of the country. 12

the process of selection of the smart cities as stated in Smart City Guideline provided by the Government of India are as follows:-

12 (Smart Cities Mission Statement & Guidelines, 2015).

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I. Letter to all state governments to shortlist potential smart cities based on Stage 1 criteria according to number of smart cities distributed across the states/ UT's by the MoUD. This is the first stage of Intra-State competition.

II. On the basis of response from States/UTs., the list of potential 100 smart cities is announced. The second stage of all India competition begins

III. Each potential smart city prepares its proposal assisted by a consultant (from a panel prepared by MoUD) and a hand-holding external agency (various offer received such as world banks, ADB GEF, USTDA, JICA, DFID, AFD, KfW, UN habitat)

IV. By stipulated data Stage 2 proposal submitted. Evaluation by panel of experts.V. Selected cities declared- Round 1 smart cities.VI. Selected cities set up SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) and start implementation of

their SCP (Smart Cities Proposal), preparation of DPR and tenders, etc. while other cities prepare to improve their proposal for next round of the challenge.

List of State/ UT No. of citiesSelected for Smart City project

Andaman & Nicobar Islands 1

Andhra Pradesh 3

Arunachal Pradesh 1

Assam 1

Bihar 3

Chandigarh 1

Chhattisgarh 2

Daman & Diu 1

Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1

Delhi 1

Goa 1

Gujarat 6

Haryana 2

Himachal Pradesh 1

Jammu & Kashmir 1

Jharkhand 1

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Karnataka 6

Kerala 1

Lakshadweep 1

Madhya Pradesh 7

Maharashtra 10

Manipur 1

Meghalaya 1

Mizoram 1

Nagaland 1

Odisha 2

Puducherry 1

Punjab 3

Rajasthan 4

Sikkim 1

Tamil Nadu 12

Telangana 2

Tripura 1

Uttar Pradesh 13

Uttarakhand 1

West Bengal 4

Grand Total 100

(Smart Cities Mission Statement & Guidelines, 2015)

GUJARAT INTERNATIONAL FINANCE TEC-CITY (GIFT CITY)

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Situated amidst Gandhinagar and Ahmadabad, on the bank of river Sabarmati, GIFT city is the new emerging concept of introducing a well planned Tech-City(1) for catering the advent of more serviced based infrastructure. The key features laid out by the Planners of this city are primarily as following:

• Globally benchmarked International Finance Centre

• Strategically located

• Central business hub, 0.5 Million direct & 0.5 Million indirect jobs,

• Targeting Financial Services & IT/ITeS sectors

• First of its kind development in scale, scope and quality

• State-of-the-art infrastructure

Fig. 3: GIFT Master Plan: Predominant Land use Retrieved from Phadke, R. (2015). GIFT

Smart City: A case study. Presentation, Bengaluru, India.

The plan has been laid out along the river Sabarmati with residential zone(yellow) situated at the north eastern part near the junction of Raysan and Shahpur road and the Western part

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along the highway to Ahmadabad. Centrally located is the green Tapas Udyaan (circular green) that forms the lung of the city, encircling the mixed use of commercial(Blue) and institutional(Red) activities around it. And situated in the south is the Udyaan path surrounded by the Special Economic Zone(SEZ). The Northern part of this region contains the Processing Area(comprising of International Financial Service Centre [IFSC], International Techno Park & International Market Zone, Commodity Exchanges, Global trading exchanges, Insurance, Offshore Banking, IT/ ITeS , KPO/ BPO services and Data Centre) while the Southern part of the same houses the Non Processing Area(Related Commercial and Office Buildings, Serviced Apartments, Flats, hostels , Restaurants and Food Court, Business Hotel, Shopping Centre, Retail Stores and Banks, Training center for Financial Services, Medical Centre, Entertainment Centre/ Theatre; Post Office, Telephone Exchange, Police Station, Security, etc. and Regulators Offices).Thus the entire site covered carries 67% commercial, 22% residential and 11% society catering buildings13. The significant feature of the residential blocks in the city is the nearby placement of retail and institutional area that efficiently constricts the footprint. Although the precise extent of technological usage in such blocks is not prescribed by the architects of the city, which may give room for critics such as Rahul Mehlotra to state such planning as mere Ad hockery14. In addition there is a proposal of only singular wide road connecting these former blocks to the central area of SEZ, Central Park and utility areas which again opens a debate for future congestion in terms of mobility. However, the connectivity through metro and the consideration for pedestrian accessibility stands in support of the planners- " Elevated Walkway Network (EWN) is planned to provide seamless and all-weather pedestrian connectivity between the Metro stations and surrounding developments".15

Surrounding the SEZ there lies a proposal of providing 12 Multi-Level Parking areas each carrying a capacity of 5000 car parks with on screen information on parking slot availability. This provision seems effective in keeping the automobiles off-road and avoiding congestion. The SEZ is the area of Maximum commercial activity. The wall constructed along the udyan path differentiates between the Processing and Non Processing area as mentioned earlier.

The Processing area houses the famous "Diamond Tower" constituting the city's distinctive Skyline. Located on the fortune island this tower comprises of 80 floors and soars the height of 400m.Apart from this there are provision for various other landmarks such as the gateway towers (each 362 m high) that will affix tactical street inter sections which demarcate the entrances to the city from public principal streets. The structure is a key factor creating an exclusive area for the city axis. Besides these, the glowing four Crystal Towers will be one of the most significant construction of the city skyline which contains promising terrace gardens to offer a spectacular view of the Dream River Sabarmati, Diamond Tower and the Convention Centre. (Maria, 2013)

Furthermore, there has been an evident brainstorming in construction of this zone where high end amenities are made available to the public here. The area comprises of a helipad and a museum, a cultural centre, pool walk and cascades, high end retail shops and cafes, an exclusive hotel, open air theatre, parks, boulevard walk, so on and so forth constricted between the region of two functional metro stations flanging at the opposite ends.

13Phadke, R. (2015). GIFT Smart City: A case study. Presentation, Benagluru, India 14 Ratnam, D. (2015). I have no idea what a smart city means: Rahul Mehrotra. http://www.livemint.com/.15 (Phadke, 2015)

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When it comes to services we might as well credit the planners with some upper hand. The water infrastructure has been designed in a closed loop principle with promises to provide drinkable water from every tap in a house hold. The water from the Narmada canal is channeled into a reservoir that is well treated in an RO plant for consumption purposes and the grey water produced is initially softened and thereafter will be utilized in cooling tower, flushing tower and horticulture. The sludge will also not be left un-scrutinized as it forms a major constituent for the fertilizer industry. In Addition to this, The provision of centralized cooling system(District cooling system or DCS) will be installed that will provide the benefits such as Efficiency through economies of scale, Reduced energy costs, Reduced maintenance costs, Improved air quality and temperature control, Reduced noise and vibration and independence from Conventional Air Conditioning System. This can be achieved through the "smart infrastructure" proposal that features Monitoring District Cooling Plant System, simulation of cooling/energy requirements, analyze interface with distribution/usage for both the supply and return elements , evaluation of extensive economic scenarios Safety Management and efficient emergency response. The waste disposal system also formulates as a unique Selling Product of such infrastructure which facilitates a computer controlled access of managing the waste, obtaining it directly from the bins to the disposal chute, transporting it through pipes at 90 km/hr16 and cleaning through plasma gasification17.

Architect Phadke in his presentation at smart city conference also humbly explains the relevance of Urban Design at the city's implementation level as he emphasis and defines streetscape through allocation of edge and defining buildings. Although the current planning of city is highly debatable as a "smart" planning, yet for him Urban Design plays an important role at block level. Design and Implementation of streetscape components to create an active public realm including incorporation of all kind of utilities providing a significant role for Urban designers.

With the image of an international financial model, this Greenfield city has plans to provide solutions to a lot of problem existing in an offered city and solving it by means of latest technologies. Proper segregation of zones, their connectivity and their behavior are already formulated within the given parameters of development, allowing GIFT to be flaunted as a module for future development in the country. Although from the above case study it is evident that the vision is bold, may give way to some serious questions that requires valid justification such as- the feasibility for the stakeholders to invest into such expansive enterprise?. It is essentially evident that the democratic module of the country is very different from what GIFT is trying to impose. The type of society existing in the social fabric of our nation does not come with the guarantee of adapting such provided platform. The organic way of development in a city is a major characteristic of this nation which cannot be speculated within the parameters considered for the development as in case of GIFT city. It is also predominantly impractical to predict how much time a city requires to settle and flourish. This may result into these metropolitan being zombie cities for a considerate span of time, (as in case of Songdo). However the morphology and traits of such metropolitan are not lacking the "Indian context" where the skyline produced by skyscrapers such as the diamond tower and the 54-story Nāga

16 Phadke, R. (2015). GIFT Smart City: A case study. Presentation, Benagluru, India

17 Plasma gasification is a process which converts organic matter into synthetic gas, electricity, and slag using plasma. A plasma torch powered by an electric arc, is used to ionize gas and catalyze organic matter into synthetic gas and solid waste (slag).

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(snake) Towers, are designed as a modern Indian architectural interpretation but being a structure with glass facade as a whole, a lot of questions are now being raised on its credibility and so called "smartness".

Also apparently these cities are viable only to the people who are upgraded to such scenario where they are aware of exactly how such metropolitans work, making the residents very specific for time being. "Does a person with an old school personality or minimum knowledge of technology can survive or adapt to such cities?"

FROM THE CURRENT ARCHITECTS

According to prominent Indian Architect Rahul Mehlotra-"The first time the idea of this smart city was articulated was by IBM during the depth of the recession in the West, when companies like that were looking to export their goods and politicians like Narendra Modi and others picked this up, because it becomes a justification (for foreign companies) to invest huge amounts, acquire lots of land, emulate in a fascile way, Dubai and Shanghai, which are autocracies. Those are architectural expressions of autocracies, not of democracies. The architectural expression of democracy will naturally be messier, more pluralistic. If I had to make an agenda for India, I’d say by the time we are 75 years old as a nation, let’s have 100 great cities. More specifically, let’s make small towns more efficient in terms of sanitation, education and other parameters. Of course we can use technology in how we network these different aspects. Technology needs to be the instrument that facilitates this. We can’t put it before the cart." (Ratnam, 2015)

Another renowned Architect from the city of Lucknow, Arch. Rajiva Kumar Srivastava through a personal interview, helped understanding his position as an architect in the city more clearly. He has been a pioneer in architecture for more than 25 years with more than 3,000 private and public projects successfully executed., each project worth more than 200 crore.

According to his understanding a smart city is a city which is clean, sustainable and directly catering the inhabitants with minimum cost and time investment. Reduce, reuse and recycling without hampering the pace of development and digitalization is equally essential. Established in Lucknow, his major concern sticks to the environmental issues there. According to him the degrading quality of environment (pointing at the stone made social parks of Ambedkar) and the river Gomti is something that needs to be addressed immediately. when questioned about the increasing competition in architecture due to increased competition amongst the city, Mr. Kumar was highly optimistic-" I think the competition should not be taken in the sense of pressure but with the spirit. The work is in excess and all we need to do is stay more focused. I am about to get a project related to this and let's see how much can be done for the inhabitants and the environment in this scenario, as an essential part of my firm's motto.". Although he still doesn't believe in interaction with people on social media platform yet his employees runs a page on a social networking website that display the best of their projects. At the end as an advice to the upcoming architects he urges to design more responsibly, and take full advantage of this revolution of communication technology for their analysis and learning. (Kumar, 2015)

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CONCLUSIONIf we carefully analyze the global scenario, we observe that the utmost problem faced by the cities is the rapid rate of migration. According to UN department of economic and social affairs, in the year 2000, 29% of population lived in the cities. Furthermore, by the end of year 2014 the population in cities increased up to 54% and is currently estimated to be 75% by the end of 2050. In the Indian context, census 2011 states that by the same year 60% of the population will be living in the cities.

Fig. 4: Drivers for migration

This indicates the vitality of architects to conceptualize solutions, accommodating and providing services to such enormously high demand. keeping in mind the needs and aspirations of people, an architect is also equally responsible for maintaining not just the quality of life and the environment but also support the spectrum of political, executive, social and economic factors.

ROLE OF UPCOMING ARCHITECTS

A smart city for an architect should be the one which is ecological, sustainable, innovative, resilient and livable. On one side, the green field project which may although be ideal are very expensive, time taking and evolutionary, the re-development of existing urban area on the other side are complex but contained, scalable, viable and more rapid. Retrofitting in highly complicated urban fabric is restricted, time consuming and cumbersome which poses a

challenge to the upcoming architects that require intelligent solutions.

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Fig. 5: The spatial distribution of jobs and population generate patterns of commuting trips (Bertaud, 2014)

A: Not sustainable, doesn’t work B: Not sustainable, more focus on private cars

C: Viable Solution D: The urban village model- is this the future?

Successful smart cities will have polycentric urban areas with a vibrant mono-centric core linked by a network of smart infrastructure and urban transit solutions. The conurbation can reach a great scale but each growth point will be human in scale – somewhere to identify with. Somewhere to live and call home, all the more relevant given rapid urbanization.

When it comes to existing buildings retrofitting can be done by automation and altering the need and source of the energy to a more renewable one. This can be achieved by the means of energy efficient technologies and smart metering18. Recycling of waste and conservation of water by rain water harvesting is again a technique that are also not new and are immensely beneficial. At city level they should be considered as built-asset model and promote integration of neighborhood and campus infrastructure. when it comes to designing a new building, the indication leads to enterprising Building Manage System (B.M.S)and utility trench along with all the practices mentioned earlier. At macro level, while designing of such buildings there should also be ample consideration of city infrastructure.

Building Information Model (BIM) and 4D urban modeling is the creation and use of coordinated, internally consistent, interoperable and computable Information about a building. with the help of this, the design can be understood by a computer as a Building or its individual objects , components, families-objects with nested information and information with nested intelligence.

Today, we have arrived at a stage were architect Dong-Ping Wong, build a pool19 in New York's East River, introduces the concept of productive architecture, where designs aim to actually increase resources. The architects now also have the scope of saving resources by working hand in hand with the governing organization through various informative or policy-made awareness programs. This indicates the support from the latter as the instrument-To channelize the regulation of using the integrated power cut through smart phone apps in HIG houses and

18 A smart meter is usually an electronic device that records consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less and communicates that information at least daily back to the utility for monitoring and billing. Smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system.19 (Wong, 2014)

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making it mandatory to endorse other sustainable and power saving products apart from seeking data which might be helpful for area/site analysis. Not just this, For a better proposal and livability, the interaction to the most essential focus of design is also majorly critical- the client/inhabitants. For Marc Kushner "Architecture is not about math or zoning — it's about visceral emotions". In an interview with Nealludevig, he pans through the past thirty decades of architecture to show how the people, once disconnected, have become an integral part of the design process. Receiving the help of social media, feedback reaches the architect years before a building is even created. The result of which is an architecture that will do more for the people than ever before20. Thus, it is essential to understand all the layers of smart city that goes from sensing to communication, and then from data management to command and administration. An architect needs to plug in every layer possible to prove his efficiency and credibility as an intelligent and sensible designer.

By looking at the pace of evolution among architects, the situation here in India leads us to believe that if such technologically nurtured city competing with one another demands more and more creative and efficient architects worldwide, then the native architects of that city (with such ICT platform) should be equally active and competent to successfully stand and participate with such pace of progress. Although we still not very clear as to how exactly an architect should proceed in order to be "smart" and prove itself ready for this exclusive, revolutionized city of optical-fibred networks, yet we observe architects of local cities chosen to be 'smart city' are not likely to be at that stage yet.

A Smart City is not built overnight. As an architect one needs to strategize, starting from small modules with fewer features then scale up with time and experiences. Integrating the city, adding innovative solutions in unifying the buildings and the public realm in accordance with the vision or the big picture that matches with the aspirations of its dwellers. In short, these creative and highly sophisticated solutions available in today's era can lead to an inevitable revolution not just in the lives of the inhabitants but also in the approach of an architect, in terms of its procedure and tackling its profession as a reasonable designer. This is similar to the case, where an operating system updates itself depending upon the responses gained from its users. Therefore in other words, it can also be stated as a Demand of ‘Smart Architect’ in a smart world of smart cities that understands and proficiently addresses the revolution at the doorstep.

20 (Kushner, 2010)

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