Centre for Economic and Social Stidoes, Hyderabad, Email: rama@cess.ac.in
Online published on 12 September, 2017.
This paper tries to analyse the emergence of smart city agenda in India in the context of global technology-driven urbanism being pushed by the major IT companies and private players. An attempt has also been made to contextualise the rising inequalities in urban India in the smart city discourse. The paper argues how the governance mechanisms proposed for smart cities have a potential to diminish the role of the urban local bodies, and raise that of the global forces. This is corroborated by the available evidence at this early stage on the role of Singapore companies in the master planning and the provisions of the Swiss Challenge Method for Amaravati Greenfield city in Andhra Pradesh.
