thought, and consultation with prospective employers.
There was a time when the road to progress seemed
fairly clear - An agrarian society would start off with a
little heavy industry before moving on to lighter export-
driven manufacturing and then up the value chain until
the economy could support a service industry.
Historically, we have seen that urban business plan-
ning, particularly in emerging markets was often a case
of building a bleak ‘industrial zone’ on the city outskirts,
unsupported by any rational public transport system
during the day, intimidating at night especially for fe-
male, and haunted by carts serving indifferent food.
However, times have changed. Today, knowledge
workers seek short, safe commute from environmen-
tally responsible offices in green surroundings to care-
fully planned and well-lit residential spaces with restau-
rants and retail stores. Workers want electricity that
comes from power stations, which are not poisoning the
air they breathe, they want a cultural existence that re-flects and feeds their connected international outlook.
To make the most of the new growth opportunities,
the government and local authorities need a new think-
ing cap, so that they can build physical and business eco-
systems that can support industries as they grow.
Countries and cities will attract both new entrepre-
neurs and international employers who can together
create self-sustaining cycles of growth through invest-
ments and job opportunities. The youth want cab ser-
vices with GPS devices, readily available healthcare sup-
port systems for them and their families, web-enabled
emergency help request services, and Wi-Fi zones con-
necting them to the world through smart phones.
For planners, that means thinking on a city-sized
scale, a multi- dimensional challenge that brings in ele-
ments of residential and commercial space, health infra-
structure; environmental protection, policing, power,
roads, transport, retail, and many other fields.
And finally, education is most essential; not only to at-
tract high-quality staff but also to equip the next genera-Financing smart cities will require
good program marketing,
regulatory changes and
improvements in the existing
municipality pocesses
tion with the skills and languages that will allow them to
grow up to take over the baton from their elders. Around
13 million young boys and girls join India’s work force
every year. They are aspirational, demanding and open
to working with the latest technology. They want to
work in environments that support their ambition and
allow them a canvas to express their new self-confidence.
The key to success lies in people-ware and not on
hardware or software. Hence, creating an environment
that will attract and retain the right sort of educated
workers , is crucial.
Given the scale of the Government’s ambitions and
the aggressive time-frames, meticulous procurement
processes and efficient financing of these smart cities
will be quite critical to the success of the scheme. The
projects would be expected to be a mix of direct govern-
ment sponsored and Public Private Partnership (“PPP”)
schemes. Well-designed international competitive bid-
ding processes with judicious risk allocation under the
PPP framework will ensure the widest possible partici-
pation, resulting in optimal outcomes for the procurers.
It is imperative that the Government should target
tapping a wide range of financing options including, in-
ter-alia, soft loans from partnering international gov-
ernments (where relevant), multilateral agencies, inter-
national development banks, loans from domestic and
international banks and institutional investors, domes-
tic and international capital markets and export credit
agencies. All of this would require good program mar-
keting, some regulatory changes and improvements in-
some of the existing municipality processes (such as
their accounting standards). The outcome would be a
well-diversified financing plan that ensures the smart
city program is able to optimize the cost for its humon-
gous financing needs and not be constrained by the ap-
petite of any particular source. <The Author is Director - Infrastructure and Real
Estate Group, HSBC India100
Is the number
of cities, the
Government of
India selected to be
developed as model
smart cities under
its flagship
‘Smart Cities
Mission’