Abstract
The 100 Smart Cities Mission in India have received significant attention from the researchers and policymakers globally. This chapter examines the imposing challenge of development of command and control centres that are at the focal point of the smart cities discourse in India with as many as 83 cities investing substantially to capture and use big data through such technologically advanced facilities. A thorough account of the genesis of the Smart Cities Mission in India is presented here to establish the context behind the development of centralised big data command and control centres. This chapter presents the very first analysis of the technical architecture and systems being adopted by the Indian smart cities for creating the command and control centres and highlights their innovations in collecting and integrating big data through a range of audio, video, sound, sensing and crowdsourcing devices. While identifying the domain and application areas incorporated within the command and control centre projects, this research reveals that the focus by the Indian smart cities is more on controlling and surveilling rather than improving the delivery of public services. This chapter also critically assesses the potential of building synergy between different local and state agencies through the command and control centres and how much they can influence the urban planning processes in rapidly growing Indian cities. The outcomes from the research suggest that the command and control centres in Indian smart cities are predominantly privatised and there is an inclination towards big data corporatisation. The chapter argues for public ownership over these big data and command and control centres so that publicly funded high-value datasets can be made openly available for use by the app developers, businesses, innovators, startups and citizens that could open up opportunities for creative collaborations and the development of a data-driven innovation ecosystem.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barns, S. (2016). Mine your data: Open data, digital strategies and entrepreneurial governance by code. Urban Geography, 37(4), 554–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1139876.
Bates, J. (2012). “This is what modern deregulation looks like”: Co-optation and contestation in the shaping of the UK’s Open Government Data Initiative. The Journal of Community Informatics, 8(2).
Batty, M. (2012). Smart cities, big data. Environment and Planning. B, Planning & Design, 39(2), 191–193. https://doi.org/10.1068/b3902ed.
Bharatiya Janata Party. (2014). Election Manifesto- BJP. Retrieved February 12, 2016, from http://www.bjp.org/images/pdf_2014/full_manifesto_english_07.04.2014.pdf
Bhattacharya, S., Rathi, S., Patro, S. A., & Tepa, N. (2015). Reconceptualising smart cities: A reference framework for India. CSTEP-report-2015-03. Retrieved from http://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/CSTEP Report Smart Cities Framework.pdf
Chatterji, T. (2017). Digital urbanism in a transitional economy–a review of India’s municipal e-governance policy. Journal of Asian Public Policy, 11, 1–16.
Gaffney, C., & Robertson, C. (2016). Smarter than smart: Rio de Janeiro’s flawed emergence as a smart city. Journal of Urban Technology, 25, 1–18.
GoI. (2011). Strategic plan of ministry of urban development for 2011–16. New Delhi: Ministry of Urban Development/Government of India. Retrieved from http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Strategic_Plan_draft_new[1].pdf.pdf
GoI. (2015). Smart Cities Mission statememt and guidelines. Ministry of urban development, Government of India. Retrieved from http://smartcities.gov.in/content/innerpage/guidelines.php
GoI. (2018). First Apex Conference of Smart City CEOs. Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://smartnet.niua.org/content/ab71da5a-3ee6-4695-bec2-3d04946af3f6
Hollands, R. G. (2008). Will the real smart city please stand up? City, 12(3), 303–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604810802479126.
Housing and Land Rights Network. (2017). India’s smart cities mission: Smart for whom? Cities for whom? New Delhi. Retrieved from http://hlrn.org.in/documents/Smart_Cities_Report_2017.pdf
HPEC. (2011). Report on Indian Urban Infrastructure and Services. High Powered Expert Committee, Government of India.
Kitchin, R. (2014). The real-time city? Big data and smart urbanism. GeoJournal, 79(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-013-9516-8.
Kundu, D. (2014). Urban development programmes in India: A critique of JNNURM. Social Change, 44(4), 615–632.
Mattern, S. (2013). Methodolatry and the art of measure: The new wave of urban data science. Places Journal, (November).
Meijer, A., & Bolívar, M. P. R. (2016). Governing the smart city: A review of the literature on smart urban governance. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 82(2), 392–408. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852314564308.
NITI Ayog, & CSTEP. (2015). Transforming urban India: Creating smart and sustainable cities. Bangalore: Center for Study of Science Technology and Policy (CSTEP).
Praharaj, S., Han, J. H., & Hawken, S. (2018a). Towards the right model of smart city governance in India. International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 13(2), 171–186. https://doi.org/10.2495/SDP-V13-N2-171-186
Praharaj, S., Han, J. H., & Hawken, S. (2018b). Urban innovation through policy integration: Critical perspectives from 100 smart cities mission in India. City, Culture and Society, 12, 35–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2017.06.004.
Sankhe, S., Vittal, I., Dobbs, R., Mohan, A., & Gulati, A. (2010). India’s urban awakening: Building inclusive cities sustaining economic growth. New Delhi: McKinsey Global Institute. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/GlobalThemes/Urbanization/Urban awakening in India/MGI_Indias_urban_awakening_full_report.ashx
Söderström, O., Paasche, T., & Klauser, F. (2014). Smart cities as corporate storytelling. City, 18(3), 307–320.
Townsend, A. M. (2013). Smart cities: Big data, civic hackers, and the quest for a new utopia. New York: WW Norton & Company.
United Nations. (2018). World urbanization prospects 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://population.un.org/wup/
Vanolo, A. (2014). Smartmentality: The smart city as disciplinary strategy. Urban Studies, 51(5), 883–898.
Wiig, A. (2015). IBM’s smart city as techno-utopian policy mobility. City, 19(2–3), 258–273.
Yigitcanlar, T. (2015). Smart cities: An effective urban development and management model? Australian Planner, 52(1), 27–34.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Praharaj, S. (2020). Development Challenges for Big Data Command and Control Centres for Smart Cities in India. In: Biloria, N. (eds) Data-driven Multivalence in the Built Environment. S.M.A.R.T. Environments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12180-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12180-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12179-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12180-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)