Developing an award-winning Smart City Strategy for Bhubaneswar, India
Bhubaneswar
PROJECT HISTORY
The challenge
India’s Ministry of Urban Development proposed a Smart City Challenge to develop a conceptual plan for improving the city and its residents’ lives.
The solution
A comprehensive strategy was launched that took into account mobility, active transportation, energy, water, and waste disposal.
The impact
The delivery of cutting edge technologies across key domains is now underway and is helping residents become more integrated within the community.
Pierre L'Enfant
International Planning Award 2017 (American Planning Association)
1st
Place Winner (India National Smart Cities Challenge)
The challenge
India’s Ministry of Urban Development put forth a Smart City Challenge to develop a conceptual plan for improving a city and its residents’ lives with smart solutions. One hundred cities across India were chosen to compete and provide an area-based proposal with a unique vision, mission, and plan. Arcadis supported the development of a Smart City Challenge proposal for the city of Bhubaneswar, leveraging its global experience in the fields of transportation, planning, design, technology, and intelligence. Working with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), State of Odisha, India, Arcadis prepared its Smart City Plan which was adjudged the first rank out of 98 cities in the country.
The solution
A comprehensive approach was taken considering mobility, active transportation, energy, water, waste disposal, and integrated infrastructure. The effort required extensive consultation with residents to better understand the needs of the city, with initiatives such as conferences, solution contests, and collaboration labs to engage and empower the public. An implementation strategy was prepared that identified key projects, addressed organizational and financial structuring, and determined institutional arrangements for raising capital.
The impact
By establishing the Program Management Unit with more than 15 staff, including sector experts, in the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), this will assist the BDA in bringing its Smart City strategies together and provide professional resources and service to create an in-house knowledge resource centre with a physical presence in the BDA. Furthermore it will support the delivery of cutting-edge expertise in five key domains:
- Child-friendly Smart City Centre
- Transportation Planning
- Urban Design & Placemaking
- Smart Cities and Systems Integration
- Communications, Capacity Building & Knowledge Management
Additionally, an Intelligent City Operations and Management Centre (ICOMC) will oversee multiple city sub-systems including Traffic Management, Parking, Bus/Transit Operations, Common Fare Card, Smart Utilities, Emergency Response and City Incident Management. Additionally, several citizen engagement initiatives such as city portals, open data, telecommunications and city Wi-Fi zones will help residents and businesses become integrated within the community.
