Bloomberg to support smart cities challenge in India

Bloomberg Philanthropies is providing strategic and technical support in the design and delivery of a Smart Cities Challenge, through which the Indian central government will select 100 cities over the next three years to receive funding.

The foundation has detailed its partnership with the Government of India in support of the Smart Cities Mission, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious urban development programmes to improve the quality of life in India’s urban centres.

“Bloomberg Philanthropies is leveraging both its expertise in designing large scale competitions for cities and its deep urban policy expertise and network to support the success of the Smart Cities Mission,” Jim Anderson, Head of Government Innovation at Bloomberg Philanthropies, told Cities Today. “We have learned that the challenge model can inspire greater creativity for municipal officials and their partners, more involvement and inspiration from citizens, and the development of concrete proposals produce real benefits in people’s lives.”

The first stage of the Smart Cities Challenge will involve all Indian states using a standardised criteria to pick their cities for the competition, with every state guaranteed at least one city in the competition. From August to October 2015, cities will work to develop their visions and proposals after which the Government of India plans to announce the first round of winners in December 2015. Winning cities will receive funding to activate their programmes and the remaining cities will have the chance to compete again next year.

“Bloomberg Philanthropies is partnering with the Ministry of Urban Development to design the competition process and application as well as providing technical assistance to help city leaders make their ideas stronger,” added Anderson. “This the first time the Government of India has used a large scale competition to advance a national urban development mission and to distribute grant funds.”

The Smart Cities Mission, as outlined by Prime Minister Modi, will allocate approximately US$7.5 billion over five years to promote progressive urban planning, improve governance, and strengthen the economic, social and physical infrastructure of 100 cities.