A challenge to smart cities'

Imagine two friends residing in the same city but in different suburbs decide to meet. They are some five-six km away from each other. A in suburb X agrees to visit B in suburb Y. How is A to find the way to B’s residence? To begin with, A will discover that B’s postal address mentions survey number. This number may have a historical significance identifying the plot of land that contains a sub-plot on which B’s house is located. This information, presumably believed to be of great historical significance in the annals of the town, has absolutely no use for A while searching for B’s residence. Because the numbering of the surveyed plots does not follow any logical system in general.

So giving up on the postal address, A will take instructions from B on the phone. B will tell him the nearest big road, some identifying landmarks on it like a marriage hall, some hotel, or a school and, of course, the inevitable petrol station. A will be asked to turn left or right, look for a rickshaw stand or a shopping mall for further identification. He may finally end up asking a rickshaw driver as the most knowledgeable person. Requiring infinite patience and occasionally talking to B on his mobile (while driving!), A will be finally assured that he is just outside the condominium where B lives, and to make his job easy, B tells him to look out for the parking area where he is standing.

The reason for this elaborate description is to underscore the inefficient way we have “labelled” our cities. How often are you able to see the name of the street you are driving on? Can you find any important buildings in the neighbourhood marked clearly? No, finding your destination (despite the confusing set of instructions given) is an ordeal. Perhaps, the most systematic labelling of cities and towns is found in the United States. There cities are aligned with streets running East-West and North-South. The block system subdivides the E-W and N-S system Thus, 1024 West Del Mar Boulevard, Pasadena 91120 tells you how to get there. A typical street running East-West will have house numbers increasing westward as well as eastward when marked from a central point. Hundred house numbers will make one block. Thus, we expect the house numbered 1024 West is in the westward direction and is in the 10th-11th block of Del Mar Boulevard.

One could argue that the US was a relatively new country and had a chance of creating this systematic city-pattern afresh. However, even old countries of Europe or a modern city like Singapore, which evolved from an old system, show a clear way of identifying addresses. So, those who are anxious to develop Pune into a “smart” city may take this as a challenge: replace the haphazard address system currently in use with a logical and systematic one, so that a visitor does not need any subsidiary information to find his/her destination.

This is not too much to ask. We are supposedly living in the age of information technology. Surely, we could find a system for a city that wishes to be one of the leading lights in IT. In fact, at present, we are displaying a sorry image of ourselves — While we get lost between marriage halls and petrol pumps, the advanced user of satellite data tells us how to drive from A to B. In short, the facility already exists in bringing information into chaos, but we have not bothered to do so. Using it does not, however, solve the question raised here. Faced with the challenge, we have to find a satisfactory system that provides us an answer without relying on satellite technology.

While we are planning for the future, here are some more challenges for smart citizens. The following developments are achievable:
Many more people work from their homes.
Children would attend school from home with big screen keeping them in touch with their class and the teacher.
Solar powered-cars and rickshaws and a return to bicycles: Pune’s erstwhile preferred mode of transport.
A review of flyovers and making them useful as well as pleasant to look at.
A major part of the city centre be made into a pedestrian-only section.
Find an energy-efficient way for garbage disposal.
Banks offer customers the facility to interact from their homes.
A strict watch and control over pollution.
Systematic address system for the entire city, with the name of each street clearly marked at each major crossing.
Keeping our city clean.

These are all achievable, but I have my doubts as to how seriously the 10th item would be taken. The fourth point recalls the failed flyovers, like the one at the Pune University main gate. It seems to have generated more chaotic traffic than the one prior to its construction. A properly constructed unit would require something like the four-level interchange in Los Angeles, a monstrosity certainly out of tune with the serene setting provided by the university. A better solution might be to re-route. It would reduce the current traffic. A temporary measure could be to make the existing flyovers two-way.

These are a few suggestions requiring greater thoughts by experts far more experienced than me. Some problems need to be can be solved by tact instead of compulsion. The following anecdote carries an example: Three sweet shops were adjacent to one another on the main street in the town. The one on the left put up a banner carrying the following claim on its entrance arch: “The best sweet shop in the city.” Not to be outdone, the one on the right advertised itself as the best sweet shop in the state. The third one put up a plaque at the entrance which prompted all customers to enter his shop only. The plaque read: Please enter here.