SMART SHITTIES

Wow! India has a plan to create a 100 new Smart Cities in the new future. I am not about to get into a debate on the wisdom behind creation of the same or the allocated budgets etc. In the first place -

What are smart cities?
There’s no simple definition for smart cities. The term encompasses a vision of an urban space that is ecologically friendly, technologically integrated and meticulously planned, with a particular reliance on the use of information technology to improve efficiency.
According to the Smart Cities Council, all the data that is collected from sensors – electricity, gas, water, traffic and other government analytics – is carefully compiled and integrated into a smart grid and then fed into computers that can focus on making the city as efficient as possible.


Great, but are there enough smart people to occupy them? Let's take a helicopter view of the existing Indian cities and what do we see:

1. Footpaths - meant for encroachment by street vendors and politicians. Cars and pedestrians have to use the same road along with cattle.

2. Public Toilets - first it is said there are not enough of them; but where there are, they are not used enough. Typical reasons - why pay a small fee when you can defecate on the streets for free. Or, the energy spent walking to one is greater than the energy being released so no point walking to one. Or, India is a democracy and one can do whatever one wants anywhere and if you try to stop me then be ready to hear "don't you know who I am?".

 In reality even civic minded people resist using one as they are ill maintained and stink. Not just the ones that are open to the common public but even those that have restricted access like the ones at airports, stations. Guess Indians by and large are not well potty trained - even those who have access to such facilities right in their very home. If you don't believe me, try using a loo in the aircraft flying within or out of India. Now these users surely are supposedly smart, educated and of means. Trust me, within 5 minutes of the seat belt sign going off the loos are unserviceable.

3. Street sanitation - In continuation to the above, it's just not about the shitty business but even disposal of trash. How many times have you seen the window of a fancy car going down and a bottle, tissue, can, or some piece of trash being disposed on the road? How many people clean up the crap their pets relieve on the roads? How many times have you seen a cop spitting out something foul (in addition to expletives) to paint the streets red despite them being the guardians of the city?

4. Road manners - Breaking traffic lights; changing lanes to gain a few miserable yards; speeding like it's a F1 race in Monaco; incessant honking when no one is even in front; jaywalking; walking (Driving) and talking (without paying attention to the road); the list can go on and on. It's reached a point where road rage has become a daily event. I am sure you must have witnessed an emergency vehicle trying to wade through traffic where they are denied right of way. (It's a different matter that the drivers misuse the power of the sirens and beacons - but in a true emergency lives can and are lost because of such insensitivities).

5. Utilities and safety - perennially dug up roads by some utility agency or the other (let's leave out badly made roads for the moment); lack of assured uninterrupted water and electricity despite the higher and higher utility charges; majority of police reduced to acting as private security guards for the privileged; lack of proper and working safety equipment to protect against emergencies in public buildings. Abuse of public transport - ticketless travel; defacing and destroying vehicles; theft of parts. I can go on.

So; the weakest link in the chain pursuing an efficient City are the people themselves. What's the point of smart cities where people decide to play dumb? Will we not then end up with Smart Shitties unless we change? I certainly hope we do change for the better as quality of life is not just measured by the creation of wealth but by the environment we live in.