Smart cities and Academia Towards Action & Research | 06 Jan 2022

Why in News

Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched “Smart cities and Academia Towards Action & Research (SAAR)” program.

Key Points

  • About:
    • Under the program, 15 premier architecture & planning institutes of the country will be working with Smart Cities to document landmark projects undertaken by the Smart Cities Mission.
    • The documents will capture the learnings from best practices, provide opportunities for engagement on urban development projects to students, and enable real-time information flow between urban practitioners and academia.
      • MoHUA and NIUA will facilitate linkages between the Institutions and Smart Cities for specific landmark projects that are to be documented under the program.
    • The first activity envisaged under SAAR is to prepare a compendium of 75 landmark urban projects in India under the Smart City Mission.

National Institute of Urban Affairs

  • NIUA is an institute for research, training and information dissemination in urban development and management. It is located in New Delhi, India.
  • It was established in 1976 as an autonomous body under the Societies Registration Act.
  • The Institute is supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, State Governments, urban and regional development authorities and other agencies concerned with urban issues.
  • Smart City Mission:
    • About
      • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under MoHUA to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens.
    • Objective:
      • To promote 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.
    • Focus:
      • On sustainable and inclusive development and to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.
    • Strategy:
      • Pan-city initiative in which at least one Smart Solution is applied city-wide.
      • Develop areas step-by-step with the help of these three models:
        • Retrofitting.
        • Redevelopment.
        • Greenfield.
    • Performance So Far:
      • Since the start of the Mission in 2015, the 100 Smart Cities have been developing a total of 5,151 projects with an investment of Rs. 2,05,018 crore.

Initiatives Related to Urban Development

Source: PIB