36
B. Anindya and K. N. Sekhar
in various spheres like mobility, energy use, education, health, urban governance,
etc. [54]. But still there is lack of consensus about the actual definition of smart
city and there are overlapping ideas for this umbrella term which often coincides
with the concept of ‘tech-city’ depending heavily on information and communication technology to provide their competitive edge. Several instances of smart city
can be seen—Barcelona which is an advanced, high-tech city striving for sustainable
greener environment along with increased quality of life, the city of Amsterdam uses
innovative technology for energy-related applications to tackle climate challenges
[36],while in Doha, smart city practices are more akin to economic activities [12],
in Brisbane, smart technologies are used for designing efficient urban spaces [42].
In India too Smart City Mission was launched in June 2015 with an objective
‘to promote sustainable and inclusive cities that provide core infrastructure and
give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment
and application of “Smart” Solutions’ [40]. The three main components are—city
improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (Greenfield development); the third one trying to take care of urban food supply issues. A
shift in approach from sustainability assessment to smart city goals was seen in the
twenty-first century. A recent report published that only 1% of the total allocated
amount of little over rupees two lakh crores for hundred cities under the Smart City
Project was spent on health infrastructure, though it is one of ten prime parameters.
Interestingly, from the COVID figures derived till May 2020, it came out that—thirty
municipalities, including seventeen smart cities accounted for 79% of Corona cases.
This pandemic has clearly shown that importance of health and easy access to healthy
food as a driving force for economic growth has largely been ignored [39].
2.3.3 Sustainable City
Sustainable urban development has become a prerequisite for sustainable development and it is said that there can be no sustainable world without sustainable cities.
The sustainability of an urban region is not strictly limited within its boundaries and
is deeply influenced by its peri-urban hinterland as it plays a major role in providing
resources. ‘Our Common Future’ published in 1987 highlighted the meaning and
principle of sustainable development; which was further carried forward through
Agenda 21 published in Earth Summit, 1992. At later periods, more importance was
attached to the involvement of local community in attaining the sustainability goals
within the global framework. The concept of sustainable city became popular from
the 1990s which designated the relationship among economic, social and environmental sustainability aspects from a combination of indicators. Sustainable urban
development is the core issue, which can be analysed under four themes—society,
economy, environment and governance. Dhingra and Chattopadhyay [15] charted
several goals for smart and sustainable city, one of them being ensuring efficient
service delivery of basic services, which included food supply. To make the concepts
B. Anindya and K. N. Sekhar
in various spheres like mobility, energy use, education, health, urban governance,
etc. [54]. But still there is lack of consensus about the actual definition of smart
city and there are overlapping ideas for this umbrella term which often coincides
with the concept of ‘tech-city’ depending heavily on information and communication technology to provide their competitive edge. Several instances of smart city
can be seen—Barcelona which is an advanced, high-tech city striving for sustainable
greener environment along with increased quality of life, the city of Amsterdam uses
innovative technology for energy-related applications to tackle climate challenges
[36],while in Doha, smart city practices are more akin to economic activities [12],
in Brisbane, smart technologies are used for designing efficient urban spaces [42].
In India too Smart City Mission was launched in June 2015 with an objective
‘to promote sustainable and inclusive cities that provide core infrastructure and
give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment
and application of “Smart” Solutions’ [40]. The three main components are—city
improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (Greenfield development); the third one trying to take care of urban food supply issues. A
shift in approach from sustainability assessment to smart city goals was seen in the
twenty-first century. A recent report published that only 1% of the total allocated
amount of little over rupees two lakh crores for hundred cities under the Smart City
Project was spent on health infrastructure, though it is one of ten prime parameters.
Interestingly, from the COVID figures derived till May 2020, it came out that—thirty
municipalities, including seventeen smart cities accounted for 79% of Corona cases.
This pandemic has clearly shown that importance of health and easy access to healthy
food as a driving force for economic growth has largely been ignored [39].
2.3.3 Sustainable City
Sustainable urban development has become a prerequisite for sustainable development and it is said that there can be no sustainable world without sustainable cities.
The sustainability of an urban region is not strictly limited within its boundaries and
is deeply influenced by its peri-urban hinterland as it plays a major role in providing
resources. ‘Our Common Future’ published in 1987 highlighted the meaning and
principle of sustainable development; which was further carried forward through
Agenda 21 published in Earth Summit, 1992. At later periods, more importance was
attached to the involvement of local community in attaining the sustainability goals
within the global framework. The concept of sustainable city became popular from
the 1990s which designated the relationship among economic, social and environmental sustainability aspects from a combination of indicators. Sustainable urban
development is the core issue, which can be analysed under four themes—society,
economy, environment and governance. Dhingra and Chattopadhyay [15] charted
several goals for smart and sustainable city, one of them being ensuring efficient
service delivery of basic services, which included food supply. To make the concepts