The ever-multiplying climate crisis is often discussed at length in bureaucratic policies but seldom actioned in adequate capacity. India’s Smart Cities mission, completing its decade-long cycle this year, aimed to harness the power of technologically advanced ‘smart solutions’ to fulfil the need for holistic and sustainable living systems that urban clusters must adopt. With the onset of the new year and the anticipation of the annual financial budget, the conversation around the urban challenges must be geared to address the issues and move forward with a plan to mitigate them
A self-sufficient city-level policy must aim for urban regeneration. Urban renewal, moving beyond carbon-neutrality principles, is a method of replenishing the city’s biomass reserves.
Blue-Green Infrastructure is Our Way Forward
This year, there is a push towards blue-green infrastructure in coordination with the Smart Cities Development scheme.
Given the severity of the AQI in most of the country’s urban clusters, urgent action is needed to replenish the city’s green cover. City-level policies and operations must actively adopt a data-driven approach to restoring tree demography. Aligning the numbers concerning the habitation density per square unit area with the allotted tree cover must be systematically integrated into the state’s planning process.
The concept of addressable green infrastructure, or the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) of forest pockets, must be part of the government’s efforts to successfully integrate ‘city forests’ into urban concentrates.
‘Blue infrastructure’ hydrological master plans—a blueprint that traces water supply, drainage, and flood forecast, among other things—must be drafted for all new smart cities to capture the existing hydrological behaviour, with a special focus on drainage and groundwater level analysis. There should also be a push towards creating and restoring lakes, ponds, and addressable rainwater channels. This would prevent flooding in urban clusters by ensuring the roads are not inundated. Ground-water levels must be adequately replenished to restore the smart cities. This completes a smart circle of life!
As architectural boundaries continue to be pushed, luxury housing in India will undoubtedly remain at the forefront of architectural innovation, offering residents a life of unmatched luxe and style while enabling community living.
