SMART CITY AND INDIAN PERCEPTIONS OF IT

Abstract

Everyone nowadays is familiar with the word „smart‟ as all entities, objects and institutions, not to speak
of human beings, get “smarter”day by day. This move towards “smartness”is most evident in the domain of
infrastructure, particularly the transport system and other utilities and assets of infrastructure. Among all these smart
entities, a “smart city”is an oft-heard entity with which citizens are quite familiar. And people in India are no
exception. In the current article, authors attempt to deliberate on what makes a city „smart‟. This issue is deliberated
upon specifically in the context of two chosen Indian cities. First part of the paper discusses a few universal
parameters of smart cities with the help of a few successful international examples. In the second part of the paper we
present perceptions about „smartness‟of two progressive and aspirational cities, namely Bhubaneswar and Jaipur in
India based on a small-scale sample survey of their residents and conclude with some final remarks. The paper is an
humble beginning towards exploring aspects, issues and needs of „smart‟cities in the context of Indian cities like
Jaipur and Bhubaneswar. It is hoped to spur reflection on the right approach towards „smartening up‟India n cities.