JOIN USIndia’s plans to create 100 new smart cities may have a significant detrimental impact on the environment, unless greater emphasis is placed on supporting infrastructure and utilities, a study has found.
Researchers from the University of Lincoln in the UK conducted a detailed analysis of the environmental implications of the planned developments, which would see medium-rise housing (between three and five storeys) replaced with high-rise towers of 40 to 60 storeys.
“When announcing its plans in 2015, the Indian government said this type of development would be sustainable, environment-friendly and smart,” researchers said.
The latest research suggests that the resulting increase in population density is likely to place significant extra demands on resources, including electricity and water, while simultaneously increasing the output of waste in the form of drainage, solid waste and greenhouse gases.
The predictions are based on an analysis of the government’s exemplar development, Bhendi Bazaar, a 16.5-acre site in Mumbai that has been put forward as a flagship of the proposed smart cities.
The study used an ‘extended urban metabolism model’ as a means of analysing the area, providing a basis for measuring flows of resources that are both consumed by and flow from the city.
It compared the existing urban form with the proposed form, considering factors such as numbers and heights of buildings, density of dwelling and population, parking provision, open space, landscaping and street frontages.
The analysis was then extrapolated to predict the overall impact on the city if similar developments were to be carried out, as are proposed, across all of Mumbai.
The results suggest that in a city such as this, where repeated electricity black-outs, water rationing, inadequate waste and sewage treatment are commonplace, increasing population density will have a significant further detrimental effect on the environment.
“The pursuit of cities to become ‘smart’, ‘world-class’, ‘liveable’, ‘green’ or ‘eco’, has been promoted alongside increased population densities and urban compaction,” said Professor Hugh Byrd, a specialist in urban planning at Lincoln.