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A workshop on "Smart cities and sustainable urbanism" was held in Kochi on September 20, 2019. It was organized by the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University (Branch Office New Delhi), Observer Research Foundation (ORF), School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), and Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), in collaboration with Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR). The event was financed by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) and assembled prominent local and external experts on the topic of smart cities and sustainable urbanism. The Workshop consisted of 4 sessions that were moderated by experts and addressed various topics, including smart governance, inclusive cities, built environment, planning and design, mobility and natural resource management. During these sessions, 25 experts presented talks and engaged in discussions with the audience. The participants of the workshop included urban planners, architects, engineers, environmental and civil society leaders, students, research scholars, representatives from government organizations and media. In a working knowledge transfer- oriented environment that bridges science, policy and practice, the participants presented their work, initiatives and ideas, exchanged their views and approaches, and jointly sought for commonalities and innovative solutions.
The workshop was the latest in a series of workshops on smart cities that have been conducted by the Delhi Branch Office of the South Asia Institute and its partners since 2016. Earlier events in this workshop series have taken place in various other Indian cities, including Aizawl, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, New Delhi, New Town (Kolkata), Pune, Ranchi, Shimla and Kolkata. These workshops interrogate the concept of smart cities that informs the Smart Cities Mission which has been launched by the Indian government in 2015 to tackle various infrastructural problems and improve living conditions in 100 cities across the country. Since their inception, the workshops in the series have critically looked at the ways in which the concept of smart cities has guided governmental interventions in various urban locales in India.
The workshop in Kochi highlighted local initiatives such as the setting up of a smart flood management system in Kerala, the development of zero carbon buildings in Kochi and the creation of an integrated multi-modal public transport system in Kochi, as well as experiences from experts in other Indian cities, including ways to improve waste management, initiatives aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change on cities and technology-based approaches to make Indian cities safer and more inclusive. Several speakers cautioned that smart cities need to take into account the needs of the urban poor, encourage active participation of citizens and respond to concerns raised by the larger populace. The engaged discussions between members of the audience and the speakers invited to the workshop reflected both the great opportunities offered by the Smart Cities Mission, as well as the manifold difficulties that emerge in the implementation of this initiative.
The workshop provided participants with the opportunity to get first-hand accounts of concrete projects undertaken within the smart cities paradigm and learn about the ways in which they shape urban life in the country. A report of the event summarizing the individual contributions was written and published online by the organizers. It is planned to continue the workshop series in other Indian cities in the near future.
