Government Announces First 20 'Smart Cities': Highlights

New Delhi: The government today announced first 20 winners of a nationwide competition to pick cities and towns for a 'Smart City' makeover.

Here are the highlights:

• Paradigm shift in our approach to urban development
• Perhaps first time in the world, investment are being made on the basis of selection of cities
• Ambitious game changer that seeks  to transform the cities and towns into sustainable centres of academic activity providing improved quality of life
• This game changing mission marks the end of usual business approach in the country
• Integrated plans and proposals so that there is maximum analysis, planning, coordination and minimum delays
• Implementation will demonstrate how integrated planning area development smart technology can deliver better quality of life
• PM Modi believes in total transformation of the country - Planning Commission converted into Niti Aayog
• Changes and challenges and desired outcomes are there. It was imperative to pick up cities and towns that can face these challenges
• So we introduced an element of competition to pick up the best candidates
• City Challenge Competition was a rigorous and demanding as the Civil Service examination conducted by the UPSC
• The whole process of competition was conducted in an objective and transparent manner
• Bottom up approach has been the key planning principle under 'Smart City' mission
• The results of the competition revealed the unrecognized strength of the federal structure in our country
• Smart City Plans have been prepared by the Urban Local Bodies and the States
• A total investment of Rs.50,802 crore has been proposed in the selected Smart Cities and towns during the five year period
• Nothing has been dictated from Delhi, nothing has been decided by Delhi, nothing has been designed by Delhi
• Everything has been done at the urban local bodies level. Citizen participation is mandatory.
• Bloomberg technology state governments urban local bodies standardised templates with a set of 43 questions based on sheer merit
• In terms of population, these 20 cities account for 3.54 crore people
• Bhubaneswar tops the list of smart city
• The list includes, Bhuvaneshwar, Pune, Jaipur, Surat, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jabal, Vizag, Shilapur, Dhavangiri, Indore, NDMC, Coimbatore, Kakinada, Belgaum, Udaipur, Guwahati, Chennai, Ludhiana, Bhopal.