Architects and the Smart Cities Mission

Conference Date : Apr 11, 12, 2016

Conference Venue : PHD Chambers of Commerce, Khelgaon Marg, New Delhi
The Smart Cities Mission launched by the Govt. of India in anticipation of a
massive growth in Indias urban population over the next few decades. Our
Cities and the government initiatives have not been ready for this scale of
Urban development, that is evident from the failure of the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) of 2008 in arresting the downward
spiral of the quality of urban life.
Urban areas are growing rampantly but the civilizational premium of
urbanism is still a distant dream.
As per current infrastructure paradigms we need huge investments in the
urban development process to reach global standards. As listed in the muchquoted McKinsey Report of 2006, 900 million sqm. of new buildings, 25000 km
of urban roads and 400 km of Metro rail lines need to be built every year to
meet the expected target in 2031.
China, our closest parallel in terms of population and development has been
there and done exactly that at an enormous social and ecological price. In
hindsight, it seems that there has to be a better way.
We need to be smarter in identifying our needs and ways of achieving them
with strategic interventions that yield most effective results, sustainable over
the long term. Through this initiative, the GoI seeks to promote cities that:
- provide core infrastructure to give citizens a decent quality of life in
a clean and sustainable environment, and
- employ smart solutions to enable the efficient operation of core
infrastructure.

Architects role in the Mission

The quick initial response by IT companies has successfully portrayed them as
the sole competent solutions providers for future cities. It has been presumed
that Smart Solutions will shape not only the Citys development policy but also
the physical structure into which habitable buildings and other physical
apparatus will be inserted.
Curiously, Architects, who will actually design these buildings and
infrastructure, have not been considered in the initial documents created by
the GoI.
An inexcusable lack of advocacy by our profession has scripted us out
of this most monumental public endeavor in the history of free India.
There is an urgency to initiate corrective action.
While recognizing this this gap it is intended to have detailed deliberations to
finalize the Architects Role in building of Smart Cities and to take a lead role,
in advocating the essential role of the Architectural fraternity in making real
the GoIs dream of creating Smart Cities.
Contd..2.

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All the IIA Chapters from the Northern Region, including Northern
Chapter, Haryana Chapter, Punjab Chapter, Himachal Pradesh Chapter,
UP-Uttarakhand Chapter seeks to
explore our envisaged role in the extended ambit of the Smart Ciies.
Mission.
demonstrate practically, through design and research, the flaws of purely
numerical outcomes juxtaposed with the advantages of better architectural
alternatives having efficient space utilization, material endurance and
sensual aesthetics, the missing ingredient.
create a platform that will canvass to the GoI, the role of the architect as
critical to the concept of sustainable cities.
bench-mark requisite competencies needed for the task and initiate
curricular reforms in schools of Architecture and also re-skilling of inpractice professionals.
highlight significant lessons to be learnt about marketing our services and
improving their quality for greater public appreciation.
It is proposed to have deliberations in the following sessions for
evaluating the Role of Architects in Honble Prime Ministers vision of
making 100 Smart Cities and Make in India.

Session 01 : Smart Cities - Introduction to SCM, the GoIs Interpretation

Our Government is pursuing the SCM with no definite definition of Smart Cities.
Without an adequate definition, we risk repeating JnNURM. The Government &
Empanelled consultants have been unable to segregate the Amrut, HAF & Hriday
objectives from SCM Objectives. In this session deliberations are planned on GoIs
interpretation, the proposed funding, role of ULB and its mayors, & citizen
inclusiveness.

Session 02 : Smart Cities Mission - An Architects Interpretation

To identify architects role, deliberations are needed to create an Architects
definition of smart city.

Session 03 : Smart Cities Mission - Architects Historical Role

Deliberations are planned to put forth the historic facts about the role architects
have played in planning modern functional cities like Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar or
the historic cities in Pre Independent India.

Session 04 : Smart Cities Mission - Integrating Academic Research

Due to limited industrial research capabilities, the research is one of the most
important factor missing in this and previous SCM. Deliberations are planned to
integrate and demonstrate practically, that through design and academic research,
the missing ingredient (India specific solution) in SCM can be found. Deliberations are
also planned to bench-mark requisite competencies needed to initiate curricular
reforms in schools of Architecture and for re-skilling of in-practice professionals.

Session 05 : Smart Cities Mission - Architects Role

Since development is a state subject in our constitution, the lessons learnt from
previous urban renewal missions indicate that ULB did not have the capacity to
absorb funds. So deliberations are planned to explore ideas to create a platform, that
would advocate to the State Governments & ULB on the role of the architect to
support their mission of delivering the Smart Cities.