International Journal of Academic Research and Development

Authors
Dr. Tanu Kathuria, Abhishek Mukherjee

Abstract
India is currently embarking in a path of high growth trajectory. High growth results in higher utilization of resources, better infrastructural facilities, and greater employment opportunities. It also results in more urbanization and creation of opportunities in the cities. As such, the existing cities face a continuous challenge of upgrading themselves to accommodate the opportunities, so created. Unless, new cities are developed to accommodate the burgeoning number of people, the existing cities would soon become unliveable. Smart City is a very interesting concept in this context. It has been proposed by Government of India to develop 100 Smart Cities, as satellite towns of larger cities and up gradation of mid-sized cities. Considering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved in next fifteen years, development of Smart Cities will play a substantial role in fulfilling the targets. This paper has attempted to identify certain indicators or parameters required for the overall development of the city. The study deals with 12 State Capitals and 8 Religious/Heritage/Tourist Cities which have been identified to be considered for Smart Cities under Central Government. The objective of our study is to identify the pace at which the city is expected to grow and become smart. The basic assumption made here is the presence of forward and the backward linkages, which will initiate the development of the peripheral area of the city. The agglomeration of such factors defines a development of the city and its neighbouring areas.