SDG 11 aims for inclusive, safe, resilient, sustainable cities and ‘smart city’ planning is a proponent of the same, as it strives develop frameworks to technologically support all basic infrastructure and services required for its inhabitants towards becoming self-sufficient. Megacities and upcoming cities, with growing issues of sustainability are struggling to preserve natural and economic resources, lean on ‘smart city’ concepts however, the ground implementation is heavily dependent on the level of development, willingness to change and availability of resources (Bordoloi and Acharya, 2023).

‘Smart’ city is a broad concept with various sub-themes; urban and regional planning, economic development, environment and sustainability, ICT and technology. Integration of digital technology with improving urban areas and public spaces, reducing environmental impact, involvement of citizens in policymaking, and utilizing entrepreneurship and human capital for urban development; thereby making networks and services more efficient, flexible, and sustainable for the benefit of its residents is the key characteristic of a Smart city.

The dimensions of Smart City are smart - people, smart living, smart government, smart transportation, smart environment and smart economy. These are further expanded to include smart technology, smart infrastructure, smart water and waste, smart agriculture and smart security.

In summary, the term ‘smart’ has three conceptual elements: Technology, including hardware and software infrastructures; People and their associated attributes of creativity, diversity and education; and Community, referring to institutions, governance and policy. And the four city technological brands included under ‘Smart City’ are ‘Digital City’, ‘Intelligent City’, ‘Ubiquitous City’ and ‘Information City’. However, these must not be at the expense of social and environmental impact as ‘quality of life’ is the eventual goal of smart cities.

Thus, Smart City strategies help to create sustainable cities and communities by addressing social problems, optimising financial resources, and mitigating environmental consequences through conservation and controlled use of natural resources. Key features of ‘sustainable smart cities’ include compactness, population density, sustainable transport, mixed land use, green areas, passive solar design and diversity.

In June 2015, the Govt. of India launched the ‘Smart Cities Mission’ to develop sustainable and inclusive cities, keeping in mind that by 2030, 40% of the Indian population will be in urban areas and will contribute towards 75% of the GDP. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) outlined the strategic components of a smart cities as; adequate water supply, assured electricity supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient public transportation and urban mobility, affordable housing, robust IT and digitalisation, e-governance and citizen participation, sustainable environment, safety and security of citizens, and health and education.

The mission envisioned 100 cities across the country and strategized based on area-based development through retrofitting, redevelopment, greenfield development, and pan-city initiatives. There are several schemes, such as, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Swachch Bharat Mission, National Heritage city Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), Digital India, Skill Development, Housing for All, etc., that offer complementarity to the Mission and convergence of these is promoted. Three tiers of monitoring, at national, state and city level is proposed, and while it is presently centrally funded, it requires state government and urban local bodies to contribute equal amounts for implementing the Smart City, approximately 100 crores per city per year for 5 years. The total allocated investment stood at Rs.205,018 crore ($ 27.6 Billion) as of March 2021 and a recent Rs.16,000 crore has been allocated in Budget 2023. Presently, MoHUA reported that more than two-thirds of the total 7,804 projects have been completed.