New Research Program to Document ‘Smart Cities Mission’ Projects

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) have collaborated with leading Indian academic institutions to document urban projects under the Smart Cities Mission, as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) celebrations, said an official statement.

Since the start of the Mission in 2015, 100 Smart Cities have been developing a total of 5,151 projects with an investment of Rs. 2,05,018 crores. The upcoming program, ‘Smart Cities and Academia Towards Action and Research (SAAR)’, marks the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, aiming to showcase the country’s  achievements and to celebrate “all that is progressive about India’s socio-cultural, political, and economic identity.” The official journey of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, an initiative of the Government of India, commenced on 12th March 2021, which started a 75-week countdown to the 75th anniversary, and will end this year on 15th August, 2022.

Under the latest program, 15 premier architecture & planning institutes of the country will be working with 47 Smart Cities to document 75 landmark projects undertaken by the Smart Cities Mission. The compendium so created act as a first point of reference for future research in the field, help disseminate learnings from projects under the Mission, act as a repository for Urban Projects, and contribute to dissemination of best practices and peer-to-peer learning, said the statement.

The partner institutes documenting the projects include Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Center for Environment Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad, Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi, and the School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal.

Team of students and mentors from these premier institutions will visit the different smart cities in January/February 2022 to conduct field Investigation, data analysis & documentation, national research methodology workshop for the participating students, peer review of first draft, final submission by research students to their respective institutions, and institutional submission of research to NIUA. The complete compendium of 75 urban projects is planned to be launched by June 2022.