Emergency responses of Indian smart cities during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the current status of Indian smart cities and examines their preparedness and response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The study focuses on implemented & ongoing projects under the Smart City Mission of the Government of India, which have contributed significantly to controlling the pandemic along with other channels. The study finds that modern cities in both developed and developing countries were not well-prepared to deal with the emergency situations and struggled in providing a satisfactory response during the pandemic. The analysis of primary and secondary data has shown that digital surveillance and movement control through integrated control command centers (ICCC) were the most useful projects in monitoring the COVID-19 cases. However, the lack of technology integration in smart cities hinders the effective usage of implemented projects. Thus, the study recommends integrated network-based applications that include healthcare, essential services, mobility, and movement across smart cities in India. The proposed framework is expected to provide the much-needed alignment at the policy, objective, and implementation levels of smart city framework designs.

KEYWORDS:

• Smart city
• public policy
• pandemic
• COVID-19
• healthcare system

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Urban population statistics, World Bank database, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS

2. Urban population in 26.67% and 34.93% in year 2000 and 2020 respectively.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?end=2020&locations=IN&start=1960&view=chart

3. COVID-19 Pandemic global database, https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

4. Details of Smart City Mission can be accessed through https://smartcities.gov.in/about-the-mission

5. Per WHO: A pandemic is defined as “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people”. The classical definition includes nothing about population immunity, virology or disease severity.

6. Article published on Jan 23, 2020. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/breakingviews-wuhan-virus-will-shape-chinas-smart-city-vision-2020-01-24

7. WHO report, Global surveillance for COVID-19 disease caused by human infection with novel coronavirus (COVID-19). https://www.who.int/publications-detail/global-surveillance-for-human-infection-with-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov) /

8. COVID-19 India smart cities: Leveraging technology and smart city facilities for rapid response, BCG report, May 2020.

9. Few cities are Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Nasik, etc.

10. Deloitte report: India Smart Cities COVID-19 Response and Case Studies, June 2020.

11. BCG report- “COVID −19 BCG Perspectives”, December 2020.

12. McKinsey Global Institute, Report (July 2019), “China and the world: Inside the dynamics of a changing relationship” https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/china/china-and-the-world-inside-the-dynamics-of-a-changing-relationship

13. Article on “AI Policy – China”, https://futureoflife.org/ai-policy-china/

14. S. Jie, article published on Feb 16, 2020 in Global times China, “Big data, grid management support disease control in Quzhou”. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1179731.shtml/

15. Dashborad are created: the London city dashboard (http://citydashboard.org/london/), Boston dashboard (https://www.cityofboston.gov/mayorsdashboard/), and Toronto transit dashboard (http://totransit.ca).

16. MiTags is a two-way integrated network i.e. short-range body area network that keeps track of the vital health signs of the wearer as well as long range wireless network that acts as a bridge between miTag and web server. The integrated monitoring equipment consists of a pulse oximeter, blood pressure cuffs, ECG sensor, and temperature sensors all of which are fitted to wirelessly communicate the vitals of the patient.

17. New York launches coronavirus contact tracing app as cases rise in hot spots, accessed on October 24, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/01/new-york-launches-coronavirus-contact-tracing-app-as-cases-rise-in-hot-spots.html

18. Singapore government official website, accessed on Oct 24,2020. https://www.gov.sg/features/COVID-19

19. Other similar studies, Pansini and Fornacca (2020) in China, Italy and USA; Saha et al. (2020) in India, and Wu et al. (2020) in USA.

20. See articles on different countries, USA (Bashir et al., 2020b), Spain (Briz-Redón & Serrano-Aroca, 2020), Germany (Biktasheva, 2020), Iraq (Amin & Amin, 2020), Singapore (Pani et al., 2020), Brazil (Prata et al., 2020), Mexico (Méndez-Arriaga, 2020), Iran (Ahmadi et al., 2020) and Japan (Rashed et al., 2020).

21. Waste management guideline of UN, “Waste Management Guidance During COVID-19 Pandemic” (April 02, 2020). https://plasticsmartcities.org/blogs/media/waste-management-guidance-during-covid-19-pandemic.

22. Waste-360, New challenges (and solutions) for food waste during COVID-19 pandemic (March 11, 2020)

https://www.waste360.com/food-waste/new-challenges-and-solutions-food-waste-during-COVID-19-pandemic. Accessed on Oct 13, 2020.

23. WHO-World Health Organization report, “Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Waste Management for the COVID-19 Virus: Interim Guidance (2020)”, accessed on Sep 23, 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/water-sanitation-hygiene-and-waste-management-for-the-COVID-19-virus-interim-guidance

24. Other similar studies other similar studies; (Istrate et al., 2020; Kristanto & Koven, 2019; Mollica & Balestieri, 2020; Saadat et al., 2020).

25. Also see similar articles: Maalsen and Dowling (2020), Kumar et al. (2020), and Sethi and Mittal (2020).

26. Karnataka Government website, accessed on Oct 22, 2020, https://COVID-19.karnataka.gov.in/new-page/Mobile%20Applications/en

27. It was expected that people under quarantine to take GPS-tagged selfies of themselves (once every hour except for 10 pm to 7 am) in their quarantine locations and send them to the authorities via the app.

28. Case of Mumbai and Ahmedabad where population concentration is quite high. https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/coronavirus/news/mumbai-27-new-COVID-19-cases-in-mahim-active-cases-climb-to-179-in-dharavi/articleshow/78239276.cms.

29. Fight COVID-19 through ICCC, Jabalpur, https://smartnet.niua.org/content/81883309-268b-488a-9453-d2f2a901fd35

30. CARE stands for Citizen Assistance Response and Engagement.

31. New website for COVID: https://www.pmc.gov.in/en/corona

32. Details of shelters for poor and homeless citizen: https://www.pmc.gov.in/sites/default/files/stay-shifting-corona.jpeg

33. See document issued on smart city project by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, 2016.

34. “One Raipur App”- is also available on various platforms-https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=axis.raipur.smartcity&hl=en_IN&gl=US

35. Smart City Proposal document submitted for Smart City Mission, https://smartnet.niua.org/content/bd07c65b-4cd2-460d-bbfe-17908226582b

36. The current population is around 2.8 million in 2020 as per World Population Review website, https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/nagpur-population

37. Article on COVID outbreak in Ahmedabad, https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/gujarat-sees-highest-single-day-surge-crosses-35k-mark-6490465/

38. Link to access survey questionnaire: https://bit.ly/31SECqi

39. Night curfews in Ahmedabad, https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/story/night-curfew-gujarat-ahmedabad-surat-vadodara-rajkot-extended-for-15-days-1773738-2021-02-27

40. Article “Maharashtra looks at imposing night curfew in Nagpur, Amravati, Yavatmal amid Covid spike”, https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/story/night-curfew-in-nagpur-amravati-yavatmal-maharashtra-covid-1771446-2021-02-21

41. The sample size formula recommends the minimum sample size of 196 for infinite population with confidence interval = 95%, margin of error = 7%, and population proportion = 50%.

42. Website of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for COVID-19: https://ahmedabadcity.gov.in/portal/web? requestType = ApplicationRH&actionVal = loadCoronaRelatedDtls&queryType = Select&screenId = 114

43. Smart City Ahmedabad Development Ltd (SCADL), SPV involved in project planning, implementation and monitoring.

44. Nagpur city portal for pandemic management and information https://www.nmcnagpur.gov.in/covid-19

45. Migrants have been provided with shelter and facilities to go to their homes. Urban poor have been provided with free ration. This is a good measure taken but many people are taking undue advantage of this and are stocking up the groceries which may lead to further problems like shortage and price hike.

46. Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Ltd (NSSCDCL), is SPV created for project planning, implementation and monitoring under the smart city mission.

47. News Article on March 12, 2021, “Lockdown imposed in Maharashtra’s Nagpur from March 15 to 21 amid spike in COVID-19 cases”, https://zeenews.india.com/maharashtra/lockdown-imposed-in-maharashtra-s-nagpur-from-march-15-to-21-amid-spike-in-covid-19-cases-2347141.html

48. Article published in Indian Express newspaper on March 12, 2021, “Explained: Why Maharashtra govt has announced a Nagpur lockdown”, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/maharashtra-lockdown-nagpur-covid-surge-mumbai-pune-7225332/

49. Article on city operation center (COC) Nagpur. It is a central control and command center connected with CCTVs and other smart networks. https://smartnet.niua.org/content/89329859-1a14-451f-b1cc-bf794e54eb2e

Additional information

Funding

This project is funded under the Impactful Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS), Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Ministry of Education (MoE), Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, Ref. No- IMPRESS/P11/45/18-19/ICSSR.

Notes on contributors

Ajay Kumar Mishra

Ajay Mishra is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSoM), Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. He was visiting scholar at Fogelman College of Business and Economics (FCBE), University of Memphis, USA, during 2011–2012. He was also a research fellow at Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad Gujarat. He has published research articles in the fields of market microstructure, capital markets, and corporate finance.

Meghana Mandadi

Meghana Mandadi is an Architect and Urban Planner by profession. She has completed her graduation in Architecture from Sir J.J College of Architecture, Mumbai and post-graduation in Urban and Regional Planning from School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal. Her current research interests include solutions-based smart cities, urban-rural linkages, and inclusive urban practices. She is involved in research on Indian Smart City Mission initiatives in India sponsored by ICSSR.

Arun Kumar Misra

Dr. Arun Kumar Misra received his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai. He has more than 20 years of industry and teaching experience. He worked in a leading Commercial Bank in various areas of banking including, Credit Planning, Basel implementation, ALM, Capital Planning, Profit Planning, and Market Risk etc. After 7 years of banking experience, Dr. Misra switched over to academics and joined IIT Kharagpur in 2008 as an Assistant Professor of Finance & Accounting. At present, Dr. Misra is working as an Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Management Sambalpur. His teaching & research interests are in the areas of financial markets, market microstructure, corporate finance, risk management, banking and asset pricing.

Ankit Kesharwani

Dr. Ankit Kesharwani is an assistant professor in the area of Marketing and Strategy. He was also a visiting scholar at Fogelman College of Business and Economics, University of Memphis, USA (2011 -2012). He has taken training sessions for employees of various government and corporate organizations, including DGR, Tata Metaliks, Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Punjab National Bank, National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India Ltd, Engineers India Ltd, and Indian Energy Exchange Limited. He was also involved in various government projects like Sector-Specific Logistics Performance Index (LPI-S) 2020 by IIFT, Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2021 report by Ernst & Young, and Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) 2021 project by IIFT. He has also published several research papers in premier international journals such as Information & Management, Electronics Commerce Research, Behaviour & Information Technology, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Global Information Management, and Journal of Internet Commerce. Primarily, his area of research interest revolves around Technology adoption, Mobile Health Apps, Mobile Payment Apps, Online Advertising, Service Co-creation, etc.