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What is a 'smart city' and how it will work

UP, TN, Maharashtra to get most number of smart cities

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched three mega schemes including the plan to build 100 smart cities and called for attracting foreign direct investment and the private sector to rejuvenate cities and towns across the country.He unveiled three schemes — the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for 500 cities and towns, the Smart Cities scheme and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which aims to build 2 crore affordable houses.The Centre’s total investment in these three schemes would be Rs 4 lakh crore spread over 7-8 years and experts say these programmes have the potential to raise the standard of living in cities and towns and trigger demand in construction and allied sectors.“These initiatives mark a paradigm shift, providing a people-centric approach to create world class urban spaces,” Modi said, adding that rapid urbanization should be seen as an opportunity and urban centres should be viewed as growth engines.The names of the Smart Cities will be decided based on a competition to be held at the state and central levels. In the current financial, 20 cities to be selected which would be developed as Smart Cities.Modi said development of cities cannot be left to realtors or city managers and citizens should decide development plans. He said the government will protect the consumers and the Real Estate Regulator Bill will be approved by Parliament in the monsoon session.Modi said that a few property dealers have expanded cities haphazardly while the city managers missed the opportunity to plan their proper development. “Private developers know how the city will grow and in which direction. They will buy land and come up with projects. They will build houses, but the necessary facilities for good living are never provided. Neither are there roads nor electricity nor drainage facilities. People come and buy the properties, but the rest of the facilities don’t come up,” he added.PM gave a clarion call to the mayors and municipal commissioners from 500 cities to address this mismatch. He said while planning the development or expansion of cities it must be ensured that the plans have adequate provisions for the “smallest of the small person.” He said, “If the city leadership does not have a long-term vision, this situation will not change.”PM said the government cannot leave the poor to their fate as he said providing a house to the poor becomes a turning point in the lives of poor.Modi also promised to protect home-buyers. “In our country, wittingly or unwittingly, the image of builder lobby is bad…A poor person invests all his savings for a house, but when he is cheated, he loses everything. To protect such poor and small consumers, a bill has been brought to Parliament and effort will be made to get it passed in the upcoming session,” he added.Admitting that the targets set by his government are tough to achieve and people would ask him questions, Modi said this does not mean that government can sit idle and not take the necessary steps to improve urban life.Modi said it would have been better if the country could see urbanization as an opportunity 25-30 years back. He added if that was done by now India could have competed with other developed countries. “But better late than never. If we plan with clear vision to achieve that goal, it can be achieved,” he said.