Annals of Geographical Studies Volume 1, Issue 1, 2018, PP 23-33
Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India
Dr. M. M. Sheikh Associate Professor, Geography Government Lohia PG College Churu, Rajasthan, India *Corresponding Author: Dr. M. M. Sheikh, Associate Professor, Geography Government Lohia PG College Churu, Rajasthan, India. [email protected]
ABSTRACT India is the second largest country in the world with a population of 1210 million (1.21billion). The Population Census of India estimates that the country represents 17.31 percent of the world population. The country has 29 states and 07 union territories. It is fast becoming urbanized with the cities across the countries struggling to cope with the unfolding situation. The urgent burden has been that of providing a better quality of life to the urban population given the complex problems spanning poverty, disasters, pollution, and governance, preservation of heritage and culture, and urban planning. The Prime Minister of India has a vision of developing 100 smart cities including 04 cities in Rajasthan State by 2022.Rajasthan has a population of 68.6 million, and forms 5.66 percent of India in 2011. The concept of smart city is influenced by the idea of developing the urban hubs which would be running on technology to provide better electricity and water supply, improved sanitation and recycling of waste, proper traffic and transport management systems. This paper deals the pressing issues in an urbanizing India against the background of the concept of smart cities. The main issue underscored in the paper is how Information and Communication Technologies is a key to Smart Cities provided there is adequate preparation and training before such systems are implemented throughout India. Keywords: Information and Communication Technologies, Urbanization, Smart Cities, Sustainable development
INTRODUCTION trade and connectivity through roads, ports and rails; opportunities for growth like education; According to UN Habitat, Urban Development and services like health and sanitation. The policy is vital to provide a direction and course urban areas had a pull effect on people. But as of action to support development. The policy cities grew in size, the infrastructure and the provides an overarching framework to deal with services came under stress due to the large the important and critical issues of urban population pressure. The towns started to decay services such as water, sanitation, mobility, and due to overuse and stretched services. The housing. Approved at the highest levels of migration became distressed migration and government the policy gives a set of guidelines major reason now was not the pull effect of the for public and private interventions and serves urban areas but the push from the rural areas. as a reference document for sectoral ministries The cities lost their original character of and service providers. It is also a key reference bringing prosperity and enhancing productivity for legislative institutional reforms and judicial and promoting health of its citizens. Cities interpretations. The policy will also give a became a developmental challenge rather than chance for involvement of multiple stakeholders opportunity to the policy makers. involving citizens, Non-Governmental Organizations, and private sector players in As per Census 2011, Rajasthan’s total urban development discourse. Traditionally, population is 68.54 million, while its urban cities and towns were centers of trade and population is 17.04 million that is 24.8 percent commerce. The locations of urban areas were at of the total population. In Rajasthan state, there the ports or intersection of roads and rivers. is little variation across districts. Out of the 33 People from hinterland migrated to urban areas districts in the state, only the five major districts with the hope of economic fortunes and social of Kota, Jaipur, Ajrmer, Jhodpur, and Bikaner wellbeing. Cities and towns provided the have a level of urbanization which is higher than necessary infrastructure and services to conduct the national average. All the other 28 districts
Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ●I1 ●2018 23 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India have below national average level of INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND URBAN urbanization. Total urban centers in Rajasthan is POVERTY 297 ( Statutory towns, 185 and Census towns, 112).In the last decade from 2001 to 2011, there Deprivation of basic needs of humans amounts has been an increase of just 1 statutory town in to poverty. In the last two decades, the Rajasthan (from 184 in 2001 to 185 in 2011) developing world has seen tremendous progress with a comparative addition of 74 Census in reducing poverty through various towns. Evidently, the number of smaller urban programmes implemented by governments and centers or urbanizing villages in Rajasthan international organizations. Although the share which satisfy the basic criteria of urban is on a of poor living in rural areas is higher, the share constant rise. There has been no increase of of urban poor is rising at faster rate than the census towns in western districts of population as a whole. As with other developing Hanumangarh, Churu and Jaisalmer. This countries, India is also witnessing the triple clearly shows that spatially, the growth of urban dynamics of growth, rapid urbanization and areas is skewed towards the eastern Rajasthan. poverty. Urban poverty is more complex and Overall, only about 25 percent of the state is multi-dimensional – extending beyond the urbanized and in absolute values, it is deficiency of income or consumption, where its predominantly rural as it has a larger rural many dimensions relate to the vulnerability of population than urban. the poor on account of their inadequate access to STUDY AREA land and housing, physical infrastructure and services, economic and livelihood sources, Jaipur is situated in the eastern part of health and education facilities, social security Rajasthan, surrounded on three sides by the networks, and voice and empowerment. As rugged Aravali hills. Jaipur is located at 26°55′N 75°49′E (26.92°N 75.82°E). It is countries get more urbanized, the level of urban surrounded by Alwar and Sikar in the North; by poverty also increases. Some scholars label it as Sikar, Nagaur, and Ajmer in West; by Ajmer, “Urbanization of Poverty”. In India, poverty Tonk, and Sawai Madhopur in the South and by levels are estimated by the Planning Dausa and Bharatpur districts in East. It has an Commission. But these estimations have average elevation of 430 meters. Jaipur was limitations to take into account the factors of founded in 1728 A.D. Maharaja Jai Singh was changing consumer behaviours, life style the founder of Jaipur city which is famous for its changes, expensive and low quality housing, wonderful architectural planning. The city has affordability to schools, hospitals and transport many historical monuments and buildings even systems. For example, in rural areas work place as on today. The climate of Jaipur city is semi- and residence are nearby; hence, cost of travel is arid and average rainfall per year is 556.4 mm. almost negligible. The latest poverty estimates The rainy season lasts from June to September. are done on the basis of methodology suggested The dry bulb temperature lies between 450 C to 0 0 0 by C. Rangarajan. The method considers food 25 C in summer and 22 C to 8 C in winter. and non-food items such as education, The city is renowned for heritage and its color healthcare, clothing, transport, and rent. In the symmetry and thus known as the pink city. food category, the estimation takes into account According to the census 2011, Jaipur district has not only calorie intake but also nutritional a population of 6,663,971, which gives it a requirements of protein and fats. Due to these ranking of 10th most populous district in India. changes that urban poverty has increased by 40 The district has a population density of 598 persons per square kilometer and a population percent as compared to rural poverty that has growth rate of 26.91 percent in the decade 2001- increased by just 19 percent compared to 2011. The gender ratio of this district is 909 previous estimates. Based on these females for every 1000 males and a literacy considerations, the poverty line is INR 7,035 per ratio of 76.44 percent. As of 2011, Jaipur has a month for a family of five, translates to population of 3,073,350. INR1,407 per month per capita. The Expert Group (Rangarajan) estimates that the 26.4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY percent of the urban population was below the The main objective of the study is to highlight poverty line in 2011-12 in urban India. the urban issues with special reference to Jaipur Approximately, 1,025 lakhs and 39.5 lakhs city, Rajasthan in an urbanizing India. people were below poverty line at all Indian and
24 Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ●I1●2018 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India
Rajasthan State level respectively in the year in the society. The high cost of living in urban 2011-12. Development can be inclusive only if areas and high pressure on government all groups of people contribute to creating institutions, the poor are often deprived the opportunities, share the benefits of development basic services like education and health which and participate in decision-making. hampers productivity.
EMERGING CHALLENGES OF URBAN CLIMATE CHANGE, DISASTERS AND POVERTY RESILIENCE The distress of urban life is most evident in the India is prone to disasters, and communities slums of the cities. Due to high cost of land in urban need to find ways to build their resilience to areas, people are forced to live in informal disasters. Disaster could be man-made or settlements which are often unhygienic and present natural. Natural disasters could be due to floods/ health problems to inhabitants. Many who are not cloudbursts, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, able to find place in slum also live on the streets and cyclones, hailstorms, droughts, epidemics and pathways. Due to uncertainty over land titles and outbreak of various viral diseases, fire, and tenures basic services are not available in these collapse of buildings. The disasters emanating areas. Efforts to improve situation by the from the activities of man could be in the form of authorities have not bear any fruits till now. In fire outbreaks, major rail, road and air accidents, addition, the poor households are unconnected industrial accidents, bomb explosions and to water and sewage networks of the city. stampedes during festivities/fairs. In the traditional Because of this, they rely on private contractors disaster management approach during the and distributors and end up paying a higher immediate post-independence period in India, the price than high-income households. The slum government/state focus was on emergency relief areas also lack access to individual or and immediate rehabilitation. Of late, however, community toilets, hence, most of the slum there has been a perceptible shift and the dwellers practice open defecation. Open governments at central and state level have started defecation is not only a social issue but also a several proactive, quick response and other public health issue as it leads spread of diseases structured response mechanisms to disasters. Cities like cholera and diarrhea which hamper human and towns in urban areas are however likely to face growth and productivity. The main transport increased challenges from climate change and other corridors of the city are also not accessible from natural hazards. the slums. As a result, transportation costs are The Disaster Management Act (DM Act), 2005 high for the urban poor. Due to rural stress, lays down the institutional, legal, financial and many people migrate to urban areas. Due to lack coordination mechanisms at the national, state, of training facilities and education in hinterland, district and local levels. The National Disaster the migrated poor lack the skills required in Management Authority (NDMA) setup under the urban economy. Hence, the poor are exploited in act approves the national plans and the plans of the the cities with low wages. Opportunities are respective union ministries/departments. ; NDMA limited and number of people seeking also lays down guidelines for state authorities, as employment is growing daily. The alternative well as coordinates the enforcement and available such as self-employment requires an implementation of these policies and plans and investment which many of the poor do not have. ensures timely response to climate change, disasters The migrant status makes it difficult for the poor and natural hazards. State has also brought in to to access credit from the banking institutions. force State Disaster Management Plan, 2014 which Furthermore, the urban poor tend to fall prey to precisely defines role of various local money lenders who charge exorbitant agencies/departments including NGOs in the event interest rates. Ironically, the informal sector is of a disaster. The Plan outlines the methodology for the primary job creator in urban areas with jobs restoration of essential services such as power such as street vendors, rag pickers, and supply, communication, and transport, as the construction workers on demand. These workers rehabilitation works are closely linked to the State’s lack social security protection, insurance covers, principal services. Some institutions involved in unremunerated work, and rights at work, urban governance and development lack the required expertise and institutional capacity for inadequate social protection and employee management of disasters. Many of the investments representation owing to how they are perceived in the urban infrastructure are long term, which may
Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ● I1 ● 2018 25 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India face vulnerabilities in future. Hence, any efforts at 72 percent29 of the prevailing economically resilience in the system have to start at the planning utilizable surface water resource. This challenge stage in order to safeguard infrastructure and protect needs to be addressed by policy makers in a the lives of people in India. holistic manner. The State has 10 percent of the country’s area but only 1.17 percent of its water ECO-FRIENDLY CITIES AND URBAN resource ENVIRONMENT SUSTAINABILITY Air Pollution One can argue that development is not a standalone process. The positive and negative effects of The National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring development in all its forms transcend boundaries. Program (NAMP) data for 5 major towns Decision makers are always in a dilemma of (Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, and Udaipur) conserving and preserving the natural environment shows that suspended particulate matter (SPM) while facilitating human habitations/development. concentrations remained above the annual In India, the process of urbanization makes average ambient air quality standards in all these sustainable development more relevant as cities during1995-2007period.But this is bound economic development and quality of life are to change due to rise of vehicular traffic, interlinked. The quality of environment is an industrial growth, coal based power generation important aspect of urban competitiveness as it and increasing construction activities. attracts talented workers and helps in Water Pollution optimization of their potentials. Urban areas can be divided into the natural and built Major reasons for polluted water resources in environments. The natural environment needs to the state are flowage of untreated sewage, be protected and enhanced while built industrial effluents and depletion of ground environment needs to be planned and developed water. Due to low priority, paucity of funds and in such a way that it does not impose monitoring mechanisms the pollution is unnecessary costs to future generations. The unabated. Due to low availability of water term eco-friendly city is not a defined but a resources and erratic rainfall, ground water is perceived term. Any city or town which adopts over exploited. This has resulted in increase in measures to build its infrastructure and its concentration of salts and has made water not operations which reduce the foot print on suitable for drinking purposes. regional natural ecosystem can be referred to as Loss of Biodiversity an Eco Friendly city. Some of the cities of the world which are termed as eco-friendly have Rajasthan is home to two National parks and 25 one or other defining attribute such as bicycle Wildlife sanctuaries with total area of 9,161.21 friendly infrastructure, public transport, solar sq.km, i.e. 3 percent of the total area. The energy, recycle and waste management. Urban Kaladeo National park is a UNESCO World development policy can tackle the challenge of Heritage Site with rich biodiversity of birds. The environment sustainability in fast-growing cities forest ecosystem is characterized by arid and such as Rajasthan. scanty vegetation. Rajasthan also has one of the lowest cover of forest, 9 percent32, compared to Rajasthan as a state faces certain unique all India level. problems which have to be taken care in the Urban Development policy: Environment Degradation Water Shortage Mining is a major threat to the environment in Rajasthan. Mining carried out by small lease Rajasthan is water stressed area with annual and quarry holders is in small areas and it is rainfall averaging 25-30 cms. The total surface difficult for them to comply with environmental water source is limited and the ground water laws. Some these miners are in remote areas and source is depleting at an alarming rate. Demand are difficult to monitor. On the other hands, for drinking water, use of water in agriculture mining is a profitable sector which is and use in industry is rising. With new contributing to the economy of Rajasthan. It has initiatives like DMIC to come up in the state, spillover effects on urban areas. the new infrastructure will put more pressure on the existing resources. Due to inefficiencies in Migration management by the state and local communities Urban areas are not well connected to interior of this scarce resource the state faces an hinter lands of Rajasthan Due to this; the people imminent threat. The state has already utilized who wish to work in urban areas have to settle
26 Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ●I1●2018 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India in cities and town as cannot commute on daily water, wastewater, heating, cooling and basis because of costs and other factors. This ventilation, waste management, cleaning and situation increases the pressure on prevailing maintenance, on a single platform to monitor, infrastructure in the towns and cities. It is control and optimize the operations. reported that the growth rate of towns with a Intelligent Transport Systems population less than 20,000 is negative because of massive migration to the cities. An integrated transport system is only possible through use of ICT. It facilitates seamless travel INFORMATION COMMUNICATION for passengers across the city in different TECHNOLOGY AND SMART CITIES modes. Their ease of use not only increases Information, Communication and Technology passenger comfort and safety but also increases (ICT) is revolutionizing and transforming people’s the efficiency of overall transport system. lifestyle. The internet has become an integral part of Components of ICT include automated and our work, study and daily life and hence its integrated fare collection using smart cards, traffic information and control centers, integration to urban setting is essential. Acquisition synchronized traffic signaling, mobile and exchange of information in real time has application based traffic and parking updates. resulted in creation of vast data bank. This data needs to be analyzed and utilized by agencies Smart Water for improving the decision making of not only Installation of meters, sensors and leak detection the policy makers but also citizens to optimally devices will help to reduce wastage of water. use/provide their services. Cities as center of The collected data can be analyzed to forecast economic activity are also under severe pressure the demand and supply, optimize utilization due to limited infrastructure and increasing capacity, reduce storage and stagnation enable population pressure. Adding money to create conservation and make citizens more more infrastructures is not a viable solution. responsible towards water usage. With increasing migration and rate of Smart Grids consumption of resources in urban areas, the existing approaches to urbanization will not be Use of Information Technology tools which sustainable over long term. Technological help in prediction and adjustment of network interventions are necessary to increase the changes automatically through feedback efficiency of present infrastructure and make it response system. Such grids help in reducing more environmentally sustainable and socially losses, increase reliability, helps to integrate inclusive. nonrenewable energy like solar, wind and biomass and also enable net metering. Initiatives such as SMART city and Digital Smart Governance India aim to bring in the ICT revolution in the cities. “Smart City” integrates the critical urban Good governance is involvement of various infrastructure with technology creating an stakeholders in policy formulation and efficient, interconnected and effective implementation process. When this involvement communications network. There is also a is done on real time using ICT, it improves realization by businesses and government that public perception of governance systems in their investments in ICT can enable delivery of country and communities. systems for a better quality of life for residents Smart Health care while being cost efficient. Successful Use of ICT to communicate between medical implementation of ICT and outcomes will personnel and consumers in real time for encourage extension of these initiatives in other optimization of health services. Solutions areas as well. include telemedicine, electronic records Some of the Initiatives under Smart City can management, hospital and clinic asset be management, mobile health, remote patient monitoring, etc. Smart Buildings Smart Education Buildings which integrate ICT for resource conservation, management and monitoring. There is increasing evidence to suggest that They integrate various components such as when classroom teaching involves multimedia
Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ● I1 ● 2018 27 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India and ICT to make class rooms more interactive, it water and 33 percent of the ULBs provide 40-60 increases learning outcomes. Components of lpcd of water as against a service level smart education involve e-learning, knowledge benchmark of 135 lpcd. On the other hand, sharing, connected schools and campuses etc. frequency of water supply is another major Smart Security Systems focus area, with 73 percent ULBs providing water once every 24 hours. Often, during the This is the use of technology to undertake public summer months water is transported to towns in safety initiatives that optimize efficiency and trains and tankers. Urban water supply is one of response time of emergency services, secure and the most critical elements of urban control mass events, provide surveillance in public spaces and secure public administration infrastructure. Water is basic necessity of life transactions. which directly impacts health and well-being of the society as a whole. More than 50 percent of CHALLENGES OF TRANSPORT past investments in urban infrastructure have Traffic management and transportation is taken been in water sector. The sector has evolved care by the Transport department, Traffic over time and dependence on ground water is Police, Urban Development and Housing reducing with municipalities shifting to surface Department. There is lack of coordination and source of water. Similarly there is shift from single point of responsibility on issues related to intermittent supply to 24 X 7 water supply urban transport. This results in shifting of projects. The livability of a city is greatly responsibility and delay in execution of the impacted by availability of safe drinking water projects. The planning process does not and sanitation facilities, and therefore the adequately take into account the integration of competitiveness, economic growth, and transport plan with the land development plan leading to unplanned and unregulated land use. prosperity. The economic impact of clean This leads to lack of adequate road space in drinking water is huge. Every dollar invested in cities. The demand outstrips the supply manifold drinking water and sanitation leads up to eight and this result in a situation of chaos. The trend dollars in benefits .If clean water is available is expected to continue in future with economic within the premises it reduces the burden of growth. In the absence of efficient public mainly women to fetch water from distant transportation system, commuters are left with sources. Due to non-availability of clean water little option but to resort to personalized modes at the tap, people have to install water treatment of transport which has given rise to equipment’s at home based on inefficient disproportionate increase in number of vehicles technologies which waste up to 70 percent of on our roads and subsequently other problems water. such as traffic congestion, parking shortage, pollution, road accidents etc. Neglect of Lack of adequate manpower and a requisite skill transportation plan in the land use planning is a at local level to operate and maintain water major concern and root cause of transport utilities is one of the major limiting factors. problems in the city. Transportation systems are Other factors include archaic infrastructure developed after uncontrolled urban sprawl has which needs urgent upgrading and already taken place. Unplanned development rehabilitation, high life cycle cost of assets and has resulted in increased travel demand and equipments, minimal use of technology for leak consequent problems for the authorities and detection, burst repairs and lack of focus on locals in India customer complaints and redressal, metering URBAN WATER SUPPLY and billing, user charge collection and financial accounting. The state of Rajasthan is one of the According to Census 2011, availability of most water deprived state in India with respect treated tap water in urban areas is in 71 percent to rainfall and per capita water availability. households, out of which 62 percent is treated. According to the Vyas Committee Report In Rajasthan this figure is 82 percent with (2009), the average per capita availability is said treated tap water at 75 percent, clearly above the to be less than 800m3 as against a general national average for urban areas. According to accepted requirement of 1000 m3. With, the the State Planning Department, 10 percent of state’s surface water resources being just 1 ULBs are able to provide more than 100 lpcd; percent of the total in the country, while the 35 percent of the ULBs provide 60-80 lpcd of state housing 6 percent of India’s total
28 Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ●I1●2018 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India population. There are significant considerations difficult. More so due to lack of point source of related to ground water level in Rajasthan collection of sewerage the system for treatment (declining by more than 4 meters in about the is also not functional. Most of the waste water last decade17) and quality (On national scale, 74 flows through open drains in to nearby water percent of all habitations with multiple quality bodies and polluting the same. issues in the country are located in Rajasthan which includes 51 percent of all fluoride SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT affected areas, and 42 percent of all saline Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is waste affected areas). consisting of everyday items discarded by the public in urban areas. It differs from that MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT obtained in rural areas in terms of composition Sanitation involves prevention of human contact as it contains higher proportions of recyclables with waste and proper treatment and disposal of and plastics than organic content. Waste sewage or waste water. The sewage and waste management is one of the core functions of the water value chain begins from the source of urban authorities and a foremost determinant of cities aesthetics. When compared to developed generation to the final disposal or reuse. This nations, which generate about 1-1.25kg/capita was one of the most neglected and crucial aspect waste, waste generation in the towns of India is of urban management in India. Lack of hygienic very less at 0.3-0.4 kg/capita. In spite of low waste water management increases incidence of waste generation, owing to various institutional diseases and associated economic burden which and technological challenges, waste has disproportionate impact on daily life of poor management is one of the most poorly rendered and vulnerable. Census 2011 classifies type of services in India. Effective waste management is toilet as either water closet, pit latrine and other a must for any city as waste management latrine types. The statistics for Rajasthan is capabilities can be a reflection of the other similar to all India average. 73 percent services offered by the city. households have water closets and almost 18 MSW management Rules 2000 provide most percent do not have access to a toilet facility. comprehensive policy guidelines for With respect to waste water situation in management of municipal solid waste. The rules Rajasthan lags as compared to national average. mandate that every municipal authority is With only 25.6 percent households connected to responsible for collection, segregation, storage, piped sewer system and almost 17 percent transportation, processing and disposal of dispose the sewerage in open. The responsibility municipal solid wastes in their respective of sanitation in urban areas vests with Urban jurisdictions. Penal action was prescribed Local Bodies (ULB). The capital investments in against municipal, district and State level authorities and even dates were prescribed as sewerage and other sanitation sector are mainly limits for actions to be taken. State pollution done by State Government. The responsibility of controls Boards (SPCB) have been entrusted operation and maintenance lies with respective with the responsibility to oversee the ULBs. implementation of the Act. The total municipal One of the foremost reasons for the low waste generated in Rajasthan is 5037 TPD, out penetration of toilets in the households is low of which 2491 TPD is collected and 490 TPD is priority given to sanitation by people treated. As per the Rajasthan pollution Control Board Annual Report 2012-13, two scientific themselves. Sanitation is a low priority among landfill sites exist in the state, and primary door- males but top priority among females. Financial to-door collection exists in one city. implication with high capital cost, high cost of operation, water priority of low income groups, SLUMS REDEVELOPMENT affordability and willingness to pay results in The word “slum” is often used to describe open defecation or leaving the waste in open informal settlements within cities that have unattended. At the basic the infrastructure for inadequate housing and miserable living waste water collection and transmission is conditions. They are often overcrowded, with lacking in most of the towns. Due to low many people crammed into very small living priority given in the past to the sector, creation spaces. Slums are not a new phenomenon. of sewerage system in brown field areas is Slums are generally the only type of settlement affordable and accessible to the poor in cities
Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ● I1 ● 2018 29 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India including in Rajasthan, where competition for and ensuring their protection is essential for land and profits among authorities, inhabitants, sustainable tourism. This not only serves as the and investors is intense. The key reasons for purpose for protection of the cultural heritage, slum proliferation are rapid and non-inclusive but also attracts tourism and promotes the patterns of urbanization catalyzed by increasing economy of the place. Thus, important tourist rural migration to urban areas. Some of the destinations are also major urban centers and it probable reasons for development of slums are is essential to protect the urban identity. There rapid, unorganized and haphazard urbanization, are, in total, 31 World Heritage Sites in India industrialization, large scale migration due to out of which three are in Rajasthan. Tourism push from the rural areas and critical inadequacy contributes to 6.8 percent of India’s Gross of housing, public utilities and congestions. A Domestic Product (GDP) with US $ 18.13 slum, according to the Population Census of Billion in foreign exchange earnings. Rajasthan India (2011), has been defined as residential areas where dwellings are unfit for human is one of the major tourist destinations in the habitation by reasons of dilapidation, country because it has a large cultural resource. overcrowding, faulty arrangements and design A total of 14,37,162 foreign tourists and of such buildings, narrowness or faulty 3,02,98,150 domestic tourists visited Rajasthan arrangement of street, lack of ventilation, light, in 201326. Major cities such as Jaipur, Ajmer, or sanitation facilities or any combination of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer are important tourist these factors which are detrimental to the safety destinations. Any urban policy without tourism and health. As per UN Habitat, a slum is and heritage conservation is incomplete since characterized by lack of durable housing, heritage tourism makes historic preservation insufficient living area, and lack of access to economically feasible. Fast paced urbanization clean water, inadequate sanitation and insecure and infrastructural requirements often lead to a tenure. neglect of cultural heritage. An apparent As per Census 2011, Rajasthan has 185 tradeoff is often seen between cultural statutory towns out of which 107 are slum preservation and development. Good heritage reported towns. The total slum population in conservation will attract tourists, thus Rajasthan is 20,68,000 and all of them are contributing to the economy and investments in residing in identified slums. The State the city. Similarly, good urban infrastructure Government of Rajasthan is committed towards will attract more tourists; hence, the value of improving the quality of lives of slum dwellers. heritage structures will also increase whereas It has articulated its commitment through a bad urban infrastructure or neglect of series of policy statements, key among these conservation will drive the tourists away. Urban relate to its policies on land tenure/titles to slum cultural heritage is the physical representation of dwellers, livelihood promotion and urban community identity which needs to be housing and habitat development. Populations preserved. living in irregular urban settlements are all confronted with the same set of inter-related Heritage includes the monuments which are problems: they have no access – or limited landmarks and non-monumental buildings access only – to basic services, and they have no which are a part of the urban fabric. These security of tenure. Their situation is precarious monuments are conserved and taken care by as they usually belong to the poorest segment of either private property holders or special the urban population. The current challenge is organizations like the Archeological Survey of financing slum upgrading and shelter India. Traditionally, the issues of conservation development. There is a need for improving have only dealt with landmark monumental municipal finance for investment in low- buildings, but recently, the principle of income houses. conservation has extended to the overall urban HERITAGE AND TOURISM fabric. The historic buildings and infrastructure in this scenario have to face the brunt of India is one of the few countries of the world development, and need the most attention. In with such a unique and variant cultural heritage. short, cultural heritage has acquired economic Hence, it is the national focus to protect this value as well as locational condition in the identity. Since heritage has always been one of shape of urban tourism. One of the foremost the most intrinsic facets of Indian tourism, challenges in Rajasthan is the ownership of the recognition of the significance of heritage assets historical heritage sites. Many of the important
30 Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ●I1●2018 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India buildings fall under private ownership which URBAN GOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONS leads to situation of uncertainty with regard to It is often argued that the key to successful conservation effort, funding, incentives, etc. A urbanization lies in effective urban governance clear policy and direction is not available which with emphasis on city management. The complicates the situation. Due to this, many emergence and identification of cities as engines places of public interest continue to decay. The of growth and their competition with each other departments responsible for urban planning and at the national and international level for heritage conservation work in silos. The two- investment is another powerful driving force urban planning and heritage conservation - are leading to calls for improvements in city seen as anti-thesis to each other rather than management. The 73rd Amendment for complementing each other’s efforts. There is Panchayats and 74th Amendment for involvement of agencies at the central, state and Nagarpalikas are landmark legislations for local levels. Private properties complicate the creating the third level of government at the situation further. This needs correction through Local Level. In Rajasthan, the mandatory institutional changes provisions with relation to the 74th Amendment Act were inserted in the Rajasthan ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Municipalities Act 1959 in 1994 and later Historically, cities have been the center of certain other provisions were included in the economic development and growth. Cities have Rajasthan Municipalities Act 2009.At present, attracted entrepreneurs, skilled work force and the State has three Development Authorities business investments to create the scale and (Jaipur, Jodhpur and Ajmer) and 15 Urban opportunities for all. Economic growth and Improvement Trusts. They are supposed to carry urbanization tend to move in close sync as has out functions at regional level for planning and been observed in the past. The changing development .However, in practice, they structure of economy in India from primary to function parallel to municipalities operating tertiary will also initiate a shift of labor force with the same territorial and functional from low to high productivity sectors in urban jurisdiction. Similarly there are multiple areas. Growth of economic potential of cities agencies at the state level with overlapping will not only impact the urban centers but also functions. have spillover effects to the surrounding With increasing population and services in regions. The urban areas will have the capacity urban areas, the agencies face acute shortage of to absorb the surplus labor from agriculture staff at the middle and senior levels. The which will be generated due to higher levels of municipal department does not have a regular education and use of mechanization and cadre and institutionalized recruitment process technology in the farm. But thriving of cities for continuous fulfillment of vacancies. In depends on its potential to keep attracting addition, there is absence of experts/staff for investments in the economic activities. important aspects such as Environment At present the contribution of the cities to the planning, urban design, Landscape architect, GDP of India is 68 percent. To ensure urban urban transport, Heritage conservation, GIS economic development, the city should support experts, etc. Regular training and workshops for economic development and service industrial skill enhancements is also required. Citizen production. One of most important driver of Participation in the governance process is economic activity in Rajasthan will be the increasing and the State needs to reinvigorate upcoming Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and establish mechanisms to encourage the which passes 39 percent of its total length participation from the locals. Ward committees through the state. Every city has a unique have to be established in all the towns for character and economic functionality. As it grassroots representation of the concerns of the expands and grows, the functions get citizens. Use of Social media by the government diversified. Due to technology obsolescence, bodies need to be organized for more shift of market and influx of population, cities engagements with the citizenry. The lose their traditional economic base and fail to municipalities find themselves often in a generate new avenues for economic activity and situation of financial crunch; hence, they are livelihood creation. Due to overlapping dependent on Central and State governments for jurisdictions and no clear policy guidelines there financial devolutions. This is because the tax is often conflict on responsibilities. base and compliance of Municipal taxes is low. The user charges have to be levied and regular
Annals of Geographical Studies V1 ● I1 ● 2018 31 Smart City and Urban Issues: A Case Study of Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India tariff revisions are required. With increasing participation of people. Due to this plans are not urbanization, the municipalities have to ensure comprehensive and neglect concerns of various sufficient revenue mobilization for revenue sections of people. The present practice of expenditure for sustainability and quality of developing a land does not require the developer service delivery to link its site to the trunk/main infrastructure system of the city. Due to which colonies are URBAN PLANNING developed in silos without integration with Urban planning is a technical and political surrounding areas. Master plans need to look in process concerned with the use of land, to the dynamic nature of human settlements in a protection and use of the environment, public period of 20 to 25 years rather than focusing on welfare, and the design of the urban the end results or end state. The projecting environment. It draws upon engineering, population should be based on the basis of architectural, social and political concerns. It is economic projections, social changes and basic an endeavor involving political will and public infrastructure requirements. participation. Urban planning revolves around CONCLUSION the idea of making a thriving city with a standard living condition. It takes into concern A large proportion of citizens are either still not the basic character of the city which comes from connected to the network (Lack of IT its people, commerce and finance, culture and infrastructure) or due to digital illiteracy. When heritage. It is a process of integrating land use services are transferred to digital mode without planning, economic planning, inclusive creation of infrastructure and filling of planning, planning for infrastructure including knowledge gap, it leads to exclusion of large transport and water supply at all level. Urban section of the population. This also leads to Planning entails the drawing up of a increasing presence of middle men and methodological and legal spatial framework to commission charges for those services which assess infrastructure needs of particular states, towns and cities therein and earmarking were supposed to be freely available to all resources under different sectors. Urban citizens. To integrate ICT in infrastructure and Planning tools may be leveraged to encourage create smart utilities, the basic infrastructure private sector participation in land and urban such as water distribution systems, public infrastructure development. Urban Planning can transport systems, waste management have to be thus provide a perspective for participation and in place with minimum quality standards. It is coordination between the different partners only after presence on these basic elements that (private and public) and decision makers. The ICT can be used to enhance the effectiveness urban planning is a process that represents the and efficiency of the systems. The use of ICT aspiration of the end users and entails deviates from the past and municipalities lack participation at community level, with elected the requisite skills and knowledge to adopt the representatives, and decision makers. Urban technology. As has been shown in the case Planning in Rajasthan is performed by the Town study, without adequate training and Planning department and it is part of the sensitization ICTs can actually hamper service Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, Government of Rajasthan. The main function of delivery. the department was to prepare physical REFERENCES development plans, such as schemes, Master Plans of towns, Regional Plans and Village [1] Chapter 22, Mid-Term Review, Eleventh Five- Plans. year Plan (2007-12), Planning Department, Government of Rajasthan. Planning is a comprehensive exercise done at [2] High Powered Empowered Committee (HPEC) various levels from national, state, regional, on urbanization report, Planning Commission. urban and zonal areas. Often the plans are not in [3] http://www.dmicdc.com/ consonance with each other and results in overlaps and conflicts. This problem arises [4] https://www.wsp.org because of lack of mechanisms for coordination [5] India Tourism Statistics at a glance, 2013 between different agencies involved in planning [6] India Urbanisation Econometric Model; process. The agencies involved in planning are McKinsey Global Institute analysis. Volume I, different from those involved in enforcement. State Commission on Urbanisation Report. Planning process excludes the involvement and Cities and the Wealth of Nations (1984).
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[7] MoEF Report, 2011 State of Environment [12] The Effects of Housing on the Local Economy, [8] Rajasthan urban development policy, October Housing Virginia, www.housingvirginia.com 2015. [13] Urban Poverty in Asia, Asian Development Bank(ADB)Vyas Committee Report, [9] State Commission on urbanization Government of Rajasthan, 2009. [10] State of Environment Report [14] www.moud.gov.in/ [11] State of Slums in India, A State Compendium [15] www.nulm.gov.in/ 2013, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty [16] www.wpro.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs_2 Alleviation. 01203_water/en/
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