“Smart city? What address are you looking for?” Perception and participation in India’s smart cities through the case of Pune

Abstract

India’s Smart Cities Mission aims to improve the quality of life in 100 of its cities through a citizen-centric and all-inclusive strategy of physical, social, institutional and economic infrastructure. The approach however, focuses most of the stipulated funds to develop only one area in each of the selected 100 cities. While smart cities have been globally accepted for their all-encompassing rhetoric, there is significant ambiguity on where citizens are placed in the smart city paradigm. In an upcoming smart city in West India called Pune, the smart city planning decisions have been legitimized through a citizen engagement stamp. The study analyzes this participatory process and juxtaposes it with citizens’ perception of Pune as a smart city, through 40 surveys, 6 interviews and desk research. By doing so, the research aims to highlight the contradictions in drafting the proposal and the resulting misconceptions that perpetuate the smart rhetoric. The research thus advocates for reframed participatory mechanisms that identify dissent to address complex urban issues and inequalities. By grounding India’s biggest and most trending urban phenomenon in the case study of Pune, the research seeks to initiate a dialog on the current practices to reevaluate the priorities of the Smart City Mission.