When Talking About Smart Sustainable Cities, We Are Missing Out On Human Rights: Indu Prakash Singh, Consultant, ActionAid India

On 20th December, the UN Global Compact Network India (UN GCNI) and BMW Group India jointly hosted India Sustainability Dialogue 3.0 themed ‘SDGs as Growth Drivers’, where the dialogue focused on how corporates can contribute towards three major areas of development in India- Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption & Production and Partnership.

The dialogue was hoping to build consensus within the Indian corporate sector on the measures that can be employed to expand its activities in the three key themes; the possible impact it can have on businesses and key stakeholders like local communities, employees, supply chain actors, government and civil society; the existing good practices; the role of technology and innovation as well as changes needed to the existing policy environment.

In the second plenary session about Sustainable Cities and Communities, India’s challenges and opportunities were discussed. “What comes to anyone’s mind when we talk about ICT and the only thing people think about is computers, modems, etc but ICT is more than that. But ICT is what creates ambient technology space for citizens to tap into a public services network. It allows you to create a share services platform allowing you to do more for less. It allows multiple departments to work collaboratively beyond their jurisdiction. At the rural level, lots of projects are being done, for example, there is a mission to get urban services in rural areas. When you have technology and ICT, there is an issue of demand in rural areas, and for that, there is a program called Bharat Net which aims to connect rural panchayats through an optic fibre network. A cluster approach is being tried for rural areas, to create a common platform for services as they are being created in the smart cities“, said Vikas Kanungo, Senior Consultant (Smart Cities and mGovernance), World Bank. He also added, “World Bank is also working on a lot of projects, like enabling gram panchayats to do their administrative work. The ‘rurban’ program is being emphasized as much as smart cities, but because there is already a business case for smart cities and existing demand, that’s why smart cities are talked about more”.

Vinod Pandey, Director Government and External Affairs, CSR, BMW Group India, said, “When we talk about economic prosperity, one of the fundamental blocks is access to mobility. Next is how we make it environmental sustainability. Even though we focus on public transportation, in a country like India, which is so aspirational, individual mobility will always be a component. We are seeing the tangible impact of climate change. The regulation for the automotive industry is getting stricter in terms of emission standards. Culture is also getting impacted. Customers want to do their bit in terms of sustainability, but they do not want to compromise on their performance.” He also added, “If I am giving them an electric vehicle, and it’s not performing, the customers will not buy it. Shared mobility is picking up the pace in India. Connected mobility offers you a safe traffic flow, and ensures there is no congestion, the future is electric, and it’s just about when. The transition has started and it will happen rapidly as we go forward. I think a millennial would like to see mobility as an extension of their digital life. You can’t just talk about products, you have to think of it as a service as well. It’s not just about creating a product, it’s about creating permeability for sustainability across the value chain.”

“The real issue when we are talking about smart cities is that the entire discourse seems to miss out those who sleep on the footpaths. From 10 we moved to 269 shelters in Delhi. We had problems with bureaucracy and with the government, but thankfully the current government supports us. We are choosing certain pockets of the city as smart cities, we are not making the entire city smart. But what about the homeless? People who are coming to cities are not coming for houses, they are coming for work, not to be beaten by the police. When we are talking about sustainable cities, we miss out on the human rights. Are we developing cities as enclosures for the rich where the poor are barricaded? It’s about human dignity, and that’s what we are fighting about, smart cities need to incorporate the rights of the poor“, said Mr. Indu Prakash Singh, Consultant, ActionAid India.