Need skill and scale to create liveable cities

However, there is a darker side to it — urbanisation has resulted in massive strain on the leading cities of India, which are struggling to cope with ever-rising population and density.

The idea of creating new Smart Cities was mooted in the face of a clear need to decongest India’s Tier 1 cities and improve their liveability quotients. However, even before the Smart City mission was formalized, the model of creating cities around the peripheries of Tier 1 cities (or satellite cities) has already established a proven track record for mitigating the dire effects of urban sprawl and boosting livability quotient. 

In JLL India’s proprietary research report ‘Liveability Quotient – A Paradigm Shift in India’s Emerging Cities’, 10 prominent emerging cities have been closely evaluated for their city administration practices, sustainability, and overall liveability. Several factors were identified under the broad parameters of planning, connectivity, utilities, leisure, smart governance, safety, jobs, environment, real estate performance and future scope of expansion. 

The top emerging cities assessed in this report are Navi Mumbai, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Magarpatta City, Palava City, Greater Noida, Manesar, Mohali, Rajarhat, Technopark and Mahindra World City (MWC).  

On the back of major evolutionary leaps in the integrated townships model, it now makes logical sense to include privately-managed cities (large townships or commercial-cum-residential hubs managed by private developers) while comparing cities. The reason is clear – in the era of smart cities in the daily administration of which private players will be increasingly involved, it is important to look at private developers as future city administrators. As a result, some of the country’s larger integrated townships now qualify as standalone satellite cities in their own right – and, in fact, have taken city administration and governance to an entirely new level. To date, only a handful of developers in India have successfully demonstrated their capabilities for city administration.  

The report ‘Liveability Quotient – A Paradigm Shift in India’s Emerging Cities’ reveals several important aspects that conventionally-managed cities (municipal authorities) can learn from privately-managed cities (private developers or councils). 

First, in terms of adopting technology for efficient management of resources and also certain sustainability parameters, privately-managed cities 

have managed to score higher, thereby exhibiting the ‘skill’ required of city administrators. 

On the other hand, factors that demonstrate ‘scale’ (or scalability) – connectivity, future expansion potential, job creation, etc. – have seen greater success in conventionally-managed cities. 

This clearly indicates that the administrators of both city formats must learn from each other and demonstrate both ‘skill’ and ‘scale’ in order to create the smart and liveable cities of the future. 

Integrated townships with mixed-use development are 

increasingly becoming the preferred option for residents, and concepts like ‘walk-to-work’, ‘last mile connectivity’ and ‘inclusiveness’ are going to be decisive factors in choosing the right integrated township development.  The parameters that call for definite and well-developed skill levels include: planning, utilities and daily needs management, leisure and recreation, smart governance, safety and security, and environment and sustainability. 

The two main reasons why privately-managed cities have been able to implement these parameters are because of continuous engagement with citizens through real-time feedback, and implementation of technology for efficiency in resource utilisation. 

As urbanisation picks up pace in India, the emerging cities will play a key role in accommodating future expansion needs of existing urban agglomerations. Most importantly, these cities will play a crucial role in balancing growth in a more sustainable manner, thereby enhancing the liveability quotient for residents.