Shouldn’t Housing Services and Environment Improvement Be Fulfilled for Smart Living in Urban India: Need for Expansion of Smart Cities Mission
Main Article Content
Abstract
Development of selected urban services (like safe drinking water, sanitation, electricity and others) to cover the entire urban population and achieving conducive urban environment, this paper has analysed these necessities as orderly human settlement, good health and decent urban living. It is argued fulfilment of the urban services to the fullest extent ensures deprivation-free situation, slum-free cities and effective solid waste management would bring in higher urban living standard, coupled with protection of urban water bodies brings about sustainable urban living. These critical elements are the necessary conditions for promotion of smart living and for development of smart cities. Incidentally, public policy making and strategic intervention of the governments in recent years have been the rays of hope to achieve these goals in the years to come. The success achieved notwithstanding, one-fifth of the urban families have been facing deprivation of basic services, which is a black hole in the development history. Given the widespread incidence and magnitude of the slums, achieving slum free urban India is a distant dream, although the desired change is foreseeing with concerted and sustainable efforts. Similarly, the collection of the solid waste and total coverage of the urban households would make the urban environment clean. This paper besides accounting these issues, has highlighted the need to achieve total coverage of urban families with all the services and good living environment through sustainable methods to make entire urban India smart segments.