A smart city can mean one or more of the following: * As a resource optimization objective, it is to know and manage a city's resources using data. * As a caring objective, it is about improving the standard of life of citizens with health, safety, etc indices, and programs. * As a vitality objective, it is about generating employment and doing sustainable growth.

A major problem faced by global citizens today is sustainability and improvement of quality of life despite over-population and limited resources. As the world’s population increases and puts increasing demands on the planet’s limited resources due to shifting life-styles, we not only need to monitor how we consume resources but also to optimize resource usage. Some examples of the planet’s limited resources are water, energy, land, food, and air. Today, significant challenges exist for reducing the usage of these resources, while maintaining the quality of life. The growth of the human population has now shifted towards cities and that is why we need them to be smart.

Smart Cities are effective when it has a positive impact on society. To get an impact you need to do the following: * Have a clear strategy. * Ensure good leadership for designing and implementing your concept. * Have solid business cases with a clear objective and KPI’s. * Focus first on projects that are useful across different sectors. * Engage all your stakeholders. * Map which resources and skills are needed before you start any pilots or living labs.

For Retrofitting and Redevelopment options, statutory limits of ULB will be the boundary and for Greenfield development, it can be beyond the city limits, but within the notified planning area of the City.

The Integrated Command and Control Centers are envisaged to be the brain for city operation, exception handling, and disaster management. The sensors and edge devices will capture and generate real time data from various utilities such as water, waste management, energy, mobility, the built environment, education, healthcare and safety. ICCC as a platform through its different layers and components will act as a decision support system (DSS) for city administration to respond to the real time events by consuming data feeds from different data sources and by processing information out of the data sets.

Area- based development will transform existing areas (retrofit and redevelop), including slums, into better planned ones, thereby improving liveability of the whole City. New areas (Greenfield) will be developed around cities in order to accommodate the expanding population in urban areas.

• Promoting mixed land use in area based developments–planning for ‘unplanned areas’ containing a range of compatible activities and land uses close to one another in order to make land use more efficient. The States will enable some flexibility in land use and building bye-laws to adapt to change; • Housing and inclusiveness - expand housing opportunities for all; • Creating walkable localities –reduce congestion, air pollution and resource depletion, boost local economy, promote interactions and ensure security. The road network is created or refurbished not only for vehicles and public transport, but also for pedestrians and cyclists, and necessary administrative services are offered within walking or cycling distance; • Preserving and developing open spaces - parks, playgrounds, and recreational spaces in order to enhance the quality of life of citizens, reduce the urban heat effects in Areas and generally promote eco-balance; • Promoting a variety of transport options - Transit Oriented Development (TOD), public transport and last mile para-transport connectivity; • Making governance citizen-friendly and cost effective - increasingly rely on online services to bring about accountability and transparency, especially using mobiles to reduce cost of services and providing services without having to go to municipal offices. Forming e-groups to listen to people and obtain feedback and use online monitoring of programs and activities with the aid of cyber tour of worksites; • Giving an identity to the city - based on its main economic activity, such as local cuisine, health, education, arts and craft, culture, sports goods, furniture, hosiery, textile, dairy, etc; • Applying Smart Solutions to infrastructure and services in area-based development in order to make them better. For example, making Areas less vulnerable to disasters, using fewer resources, and providing cheaper services

Although it is very hard to list all that is clear is that the field will be multidisciplinary. There will be data storage and analysis, so computer science is necessary. City planning is needed and hence urban planning is necessary. If sensors are needed, related disciplines of engineering (electrical, instrumentation, telecommunication, ...) are necessary. Since there has to be actual construction, civil is necessary.

To think that better services will come with additional costs is a mistake, since the smart initiatives employed in these cities will reduce many costs and improve productivity, in turn reducing the burden on their residents. Also, smart city implementation will mostly come as a government subsidy and not as a loaded expense on residents.

Addition to people, dwellings, commerce, and traditional urban infrastructure, there are four essential elements necessary for thriving smart cities: 1. Pervasive wireless connectivity 2. Open data 3. Security you can trust in 4. Flexible monetization schemes.

This is the first time, a MoUD programme is using the ‘Challenge’ or competition method to select cities for funding and using a strategy of area-based development. This captures the spirit of ‘competitive and cooperative federalism’. States and ULBs will play a key supportive role in the development of smart cities. Smart leadership and vision at this level and ability to act decisively will be important factors determining the success of the Mission. Understanding the concepts of retrofitting, redevelopment and greenfield development by the policy makers, implementers and other stakeholders at different levels will require capacity assistance. Major investments in time and resources will have to be made during the planning phase prior to participation in the challenge. This is different from the conventional DPR-driven approach. The Smart Cities Mission requires smart people who actively participate in governance and reforms. Citizen involvement is much more than a ceremonial participation in governance. Smart people involve themselves in the definition of the smart city, decisions on deploying smart solutions, implementing reforms, doing more with less and oversight during implementing and designing post-project structures in order to make the smart city developments sustainable. The participation of smart people will be enabled by the SPV through increasing use of ICT, especially mobile-based tools.

It would be a mistake to assume that only high-earning college graduates or tech-savvy younger citizens will receive the benefits in smart cities. The objective of this movement is to improve the quality of urban living for all residents, not just the young and rich. Nevertheless, smart cities will still have to ‘sell’ themselves to the common man, who will need to be made aware of how this transformation could improve their lives. With the deep penetration of smartphones into our society, getting citizens to understand the value of connectivity should not be too big a challenge.

The world is becoming more urbanized, and by 2050, more than 60% of the world's population is expected to live in cities. Making these cities better places to live is essential to the quality of life by making them more sustainable and efficient with streamlined services.

Comprehensive Capacity Building Programme (CCBP) has been re-aligned with AMRUT and Smart Cities Mission, under which adequate human resources on ground will be placed (State & City MMUs) to provide human resources to provide technical support to States/ ULBs.

Please visit “Public News” and “Recent Tenders” sections at the bottom of the Smart City website.

For the purpose of monitoring the project, the MoUD has established an Apex Committee and National Mission Directorate for National-level monitoring and a High Powered Steering Committee for state-level monitoring. At the city level, there shall be a Smart City Advisory Forum headed by the CEO of the SPV and the forum will invite collaboration from citizens and various stakeholders and will include the District Collector, MP, MLA, Mayor, local youths, technical experts and representatives of Associations.

The Smart City Mission will receive financial assistance from the Centre to the extent of Rs. 48,000 Crore over 5 years on an average of Rs. 100 Crore per city per year. An equal amount, on similar basis, will have to be contributed by the State/ULBs. Therefore, Smart cities will have a total fund of almost Rs. 1 lakh Crore. However since this covers only part of the estimated project cost, balance funds are expected to be mobilized by ULBs/States through Public-Private Partnerships, FFC recommendations, municipal bonds, convergence with other Government schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission, HRIDAY and AMRUT Mission among other avenues.

On this Portal, you can get the latest communication from the Smart City governance team in the form of news, polls, events, etc. As a Citizen, you can participate in the city governance by utilizing the Grievance/ Complaints management system. Please keep visiting this page as more and more services are introduced.

Please visit “All Other Services” section under the “Online Services” menu of Smart City website.