Smart Cities, Mobile Technologies and Social Cohesion in India

Abstract

India’s cities are projected to grow by 300 million people by 2050, but this demographic transition may exacerbate fragile communal and infrastructural tensions. To address these challenges, the ‘Smart Cities’ agenda attempts to leverage India’s rapid embrace of technology to generate societal positive developmental outcomes in urban areas that emphasize the use of Internet and communications technologies (ICTs). However, local, regional and national government agencies struggle to balance embracing technology with inclusive development that protects civil rights and liberties. While the benefits are often stated, the acceleration of technology use in urban development can also create exclusionary cities, and many technologies that drive India’s modernization have also facilitated riots and violence between communities. This article explores these contradictions, examining scholarship on Smart Cities and ICTs in the context of the 2015–2016 Patel/Patidar agitation in Gujarat. We conclude by offering forward pathways for the Smart Cities and mobile technology agendas that support inclusive urban growth and development in India but are also mindful of civil liberties.

Challenges of consultant-led planning in India’s smart cities mission

“…The Mission also has been critiqued for undermining institutions of local government (Das 2020; Chakrabarty, 2019; Anand et al, 2018; Aijaz and Hoelscher, 2015). Not least, Datta (2019, 2018, 2015) argues that the “smart” push is part of the larger effort to nurture the enumerable and accessible digital consumer-citizen, a view supported by Miklian and Hoelscher (2017). This growing body of work agrees broadly with the extensive literature, from around the world, that has critiqued the political-economic motivations behind Smart Cities.…”

A comprehensive study on smart cities: recent developments, challenges and opportunities

“…It appears to be more sensible to ponder pretty much nothing or how far we have progressed in what will fundamentally be a long haul process [30]. Table 1 demonstrates the Low/Medium/Completely Savvy cases, considering just the stages included and accepting a blended level of coordination [31].…”

A Journey from Conventional Cities to Smart Cities

“…Social cohesion defined as "it is a sociological dimension of the city, as the degree of consensus among the members of a social group or as the perception of the belonging to a common situation or project" [38]. The indicator of the social cohesion is rate of crime, health, hospitals, happiness index, price of property, mortality and terrorism [39].…”