Hyderabad not yet in top 50 global cities

Hyderabad: Hyderabad does not feature in the list of top 50 global cities to attract business investments owing to its slow phase of transition.

Parameters like poor house numbering, allocation of land and resource, traffic management, parking slots, waste management and sanitation dragged the city down. Though its future seems bright, it needs to be more organised, said Tim Campbell, urban expert from the University of Cambridge, who is on his fifth visit to the city. 

The urban expert said, “As many as 1,000 cities with half-a-million population have been globally recognised for its transformation. It’s not just technology, it’s the people and leadership (government) that build smart cities. In Hyderabad, having vast available area and infrastructure, the phase of transition needs to speed up; right from security concerns to energy management, every sector must be upgraded in Hyderabad.

“The government is known for its problems and its solutions. However, the implementation needs to be worked on. If the phase of transition speeds up, Hyderabad will surely hit the list for huge investments.”

Another expert Alfonso Govela, architect and founder of Mexico Smart Cities, added, “Stones (infrastructure), rules and, importantly, people, construct smart cities.”

Mr Alain Renk, city planner from France, Mr Philip Weist, author of Hyper Thinking and Digital Projects addre-ssed the session.

Mr Subromonium Sarma, senior director at Indian School of Business also addressed the session.