Smart City Mangaluru: Make a vision statement, take home Rs.1 lakh

Smart City Mangaluru: Make a vision statement, take home Rs.1 lakh

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru: September 24, 2015: With Mangaluru pre-qualified for a smart city, a committed group is attempting to ensure that the port city makes it in the first list of top 20.

Citizen participation is an important parameter set by the Centre, and chances of qualifying depends on how many participate on the secure.mygov.in portal. To make the deal sweeter, there’s a Rs 1 lakh cash reward for the best vision statement put out by citizens to prepare the proposal. The last date is October 5 for the vision statement.

Giving ideas to citizens for the vision statement, city corporation consultant Dharmaraj says unlike metros and state capitals, where economic activities are well established, Mangaluru, a tier-2 city, requires initiatives to drive economic activities to elevate it to a smart city. Mangaluru, with its intellectual capital and high potential for developing Economic Growth Centres (EGC), is an ideal city to be established as a global city, yet retain its social and cultural identity. "The vision statement should have sustainable economic activities and also include all sections of society,’’ he notes.

The city’s biggest advantage is its manageable size, both in terms of extent and population, to be moulded to any new positive direction. He says a comprehensive approach to develop all required physical and social infrastructure using smart solutions, along with the development of potential EGC, is required. "The development of infrastructure and economic growth centres has to go hand-in-hand,’’ he stresses, adding this has to come out clearly in the vision statement.

In this regard, he says the public private partnership model of development is the preferred model to develop the potential EGC, and unless proper physical and social infrastructure is made available, private developers would not be interested in undertaking projects in tier 2 cities like Mangaluru, even if attractive financial models are offered.

"The biggest advantage of having a smart city is that investment will flow in once the city gets the tag,’’ he notes, making a fervent pitch for citizens to get together to make this happen. "It’s now or never, since after 20 smart cities are declared next year, the rest may or may not happen,’’ he says, adding a word of caution to make it imperative that Mangaluru should figure in the first list.

Aspects of vision statement

* Should include economic, spatial, social and environmental dimensions that reflect the city’s unique physical and cultural traits

* Should provide direction for activities of the city corporation, citizens and stakeholders

* Should capture what the city can be in future, within a 10-20 year timeframe

* Should inspire city’s residents

* Can even become a brand

* Overarching vision statement: 50 words

* How statement relates to the city’s profile and city level self-assessment completed during citizen engagement: 250 words

* How does statement summarize impact on key aspects: main economic activity, sustainability and inclusiveness: 250 words

VOICES ON MY secure.mygov.in

Apart from infrastructure, we should also promote Mangalore as a tourism hub. A considerable flow of tourists within the city will ensure better income for the locals thereby improving the economy within the city as well. -- Sheetal Kanchan

We can concentrate on renewable power plants like wind power plants and tidal power plant on a much more grand scale....and a part of a city can be, or more specifically residential part of the city can get power from those plants. -- Abhishek Naidu

Now that everyone knows that Mangalore is the education hub in Karnataka, we must strive on getting an IIM in Mangalore. Speaking about infra, Mangalore needs a Ring Road for entrance into the city from various points