2
M. Fatewar and Vaishali
1.1 Introduction
The urban settlements of the world are already facing multifaceted problems and a
new challenge of COVID-19 seems to be the worst nightmare. As per the estimate
of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in 2018
[34], 55% of the world’s total population resides in the urban settlements and the
share of urban population is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. The infectious
diseases are either originating from the urban settlements or transmitting rapidly due
to high population density [19]. New York (USA), Madrid (Spain), Milan (Italy),
Moscow (Russia), and Sao Paulo (Brazil) are some of the worst COVID-19 affected
cities in the world [41]. Therefore, it is important to ensure that urban settlements
are well prepared to combat any infectious disease.
The urban population is concentrated in the large metropolis cities and its
surrounding areas in many countries including India [12]. The pandemic is expanding
continuously all around the globe and impacting adversely the demographic profile of
India. On the one hand, cities provide better infrastructure facilities and more employment opportunities. Whereas, on the other hand, cities have also become more vulnerable during the pandemic. In India, a high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has
been reported in the cities including metropolis such as Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Delhi
(NCT of Delhi), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), and Mumbai (Maharashtra), etc. [25]. Thus,
it becomes important to develop smart cities and smart regions, which are sustainable and capable to fulfil the needs of the present as well as future generations, by
providing smart solutions.
A smart city provides smart services to the residents by using Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), Information Technology (IT) services, Internet
of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) as an integrated part of governance for development [18, 32, 43]. It leads to the integrated
development of physical, institutional, social, and economic infrastructure through
retrofitting, redevelopment, greenfield development, and pan-city development [10].
However, a sustainable city focuses to reduce the ecological footprint through environmental management. It aims to provide a safe and healthy environment to the
people along with the economic growth of the nation. Moreover, ICT has significantly helpful to attain sustainable development through Digital Citizen Participation
(DCP), giving rise to the concept of Smart Sustainable City [3]. Though, as per the
Indian Smart Cities Mission Statement and Guidelines (2015), sustainable environment is considered under one of the core infrastructure elements. Therefore, the term
sustainable is silent in the case of Indian smart cities. Additionally, smart cities have
laid down its foundation on high-density development. Thus, the smart cities need
to be well synchronised with the digital technology to take precautionary measures,
before an epidemic becomes a pandemic, through spatial-statistical analysis. The
contribution of the chapter lies in developing a digital model for Indian smart cities
by integrating spatial data with digital technology. Moreover, the research tries to
assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at global, national, state, and district
M. Fatewar and Vaishali
1.1 Introduction
The urban settlements of the world are already facing multifaceted problems and a
new challenge of COVID-19 seems to be the worst nightmare. As per the estimate
of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in 2018
[34], 55% of the world’s total population resides in the urban settlements and the
share of urban population is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. The infectious
diseases are either originating from the urban settlements or transmitting rapidly due
to high population density [19]. New York (USA), Madrid (Spain), Milan (Italy),
Moscow (Russia), and Sao Paulo (Brazil) are some of the worst COVID-19 affected
cities in the world [41]. Therefore, it is important to ensure that urban settlements
are well prepared to combat any infectious disease.
The urban population is concentrated in the large metropolis cities and its
surrounding areas in many countries including India [12]. The pandemic is expanding
continuously all around the globe and impacting adversely the demographic profile of
India. On the one hand, cities provide better infrastructure facilities and more employment opportunities. Whereas, on the other hand, cities have also become more vulnerable during the pandemic. In India, a high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has
been reported in the cities including metropolis such as Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Delhi
(NCT of Delhi), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), and Mumbai (Maharashtra), etc. [25]. Thus,
it becomes important to develop smart cities and smart regions, which are sustainable and capable to fulfil the needs of the present as well as future generations, by
providing smart solutions.
A smart city provides smart services to the residents by using Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), Information Technology (IT) services, Internet
of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) as an integrated part of governance for development [18, 32, 43]. It leads to the integrated
development of physical, institutional, social, and economic infrastructure through
retrofitting, redevelopment, greenfield development, and pan-city development [10].
However, a sustainable city focuses to reduce the ecological footprint through environmental management. It aims to provide a safe and healthy environment to the
people along with the economic growth of the nation. Moreover, ICT has significantly helpful to attain sustainable development through Digital Citizen Participation
(DCP), giving rise to the concept of Smart Sustainable City [3]. Though, as per the
Indian Smart Cities Mission Statement and Guidelines (2015), sustainable environment is considered under one of the core infrastructure elements. Therefore, the term
sustainable is silent in the case of Indian smart cities. Additionally, smart cities have
laid down its foundation on high-density development. Thus, the smart cities need
to be well synchronised with the digital technology to take precautionary measures,
before an epidemic becomes a pandemic, through spatial-statistical analysis. The
contribution of the chapter lies in developing a digital model for Indian smart cities
by integrating spatial data with digital technology. Moreover, the research tries to
assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at global, national, state, and district