Abatement of Pollution through Smart and Environment-Friendly Cities

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and industrialization have not only contributed to a more
degraded and polluted environment but also made the city life more complex and
unhealthy. As the rapid transition from a primarily rural to a primarily urban
population becomes a global phenomenon, the concept of “Smart cities” has
emerged in the last decade to create ecofriendly and efficient cities, which can
provide better functioning cities with healthy living conditions for the people,
through innovative and digital technology-based management of urban services.
The growing urban population in Indian cities has exerted and continues to exert
considerable pressure on basic services such as water supply, sanitation,
wastewater, integrated solid-waste management, etc. Efficient management of
urban services is crucial for ensuring healthy living conditions to its citizens while
safeguarding the natural heritage. Recently, the Government of India has
proposed to set up 100 smart cities across the country with all modern amenities,
education and employment opportunities. It is believed that a smart city in urban
region will be highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real
estate, communications, and market viability. Information technology will be the
principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents.
It will provide a high quality of life, better economic opportunities, safety and
good health. It will also enable optimum savings in energy, cost of transport,
buildings, etc. Efficient governance will create a self-sustainable habitat with
wiser use of natural resources, reduced pollution levels and low carbon print. The
challenge for Indian cities is not solely to make these basic services available to all
citizens, but also to ensure that these services are of an acceptable quality.
An effort has been made in the present article to highlight the various challenging
issues related to the development of smart cities which is expected to not only
resolve key problems of cities but also to play an important role in the abatement
of pollution.