Midweek Musings 13, 4.03.2026

 

Planned Urban logistics

Green Belt remains the most critical of common property resources in Smart City Planning 

By Malini Shankar

Digital Discourse Foundation

While planning Smart Cities, we need to factor in future growth and optimum resource management to cater to current needs of the population in as effective a way as possible. Planning is undoubtedly central to sustainable resource management then.

Land Use Policy is the starting point because it helps allocate land as a resource. Here policy guidelines is of critical value. Green Belt, Common Property Resources, Community assets and resources, Public Transport, Sewage and Sanitation infrastructure, Supply Chain management, Urban and Rural Logistics, Climate Change adapted infrastructure, each should be prioritised.

For instance we need separate lanes for busses, ambulances, supply chain logistics, two wheelers. Spaces / separate designated areas for residential suburbs. That apart separate clearly designated bands have to be created for schools colleges educational and research institutions. Another band (like a circular band on a pizza base for purposes of planning) only for health care infrastructure, - public and mental health, veterinary care, and so on … all connected to ambulance lanes. Different lanes for different types of vehicles will be dealt with in a separate upcoming blog.

CBD and trade hub should include agricultural markets, as well as rural and farm produce and handicrafts.  

Areas where there are monuments and places of tourist interest must cater to the tourist economy: tourist friendly infrastructure like hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, multilingual digital guides and multilingual human guides, uncompromising hygiene standards in public toilets, primary health care / first aid centres, vehicle parking bays, currency exchange teller machines, wheelchair friendly pathways, etc.

Multiple modes of Public transport (atleast a dozen different means of public transport please) to be planned for local population and tourist footfall, Digital hubs to support neural networks to support the whole economy – telephony to data analytics to  software and hardware infrastructure has to be minimally housed for universal usage!

Each mode of public transport needs a dedicated road lane / rail line. And yes ofcourse we must not forget to plan for air taxi hub / jetpack traffic in each residential suburb. That’s futuristic planning!

Industrial sector / band has to be critically planned so as not to infringe upon any other sector of the economy / Smart City.

Power supply hub has to not only be Climate Change adapted but must focus on planning for future demand and supply. Ditto for water supply, healthcare.

Residential areas must be constructed as much as possible without cement but with natural resources locally available so that emissions will be contained, largely obliterating the need for air conditioners and coolers. Good planning can give a green belt even within private land use; it only calls for awareness and inclination. Minimalist architectural planning is also Climate Change adapted. Utilising harvested rain water and recycled / treated grey water has to be popularised for non-primary usage of water.

Multi-purpose disaster shelters have to be constructed in conformance to disaster proof construction code and should be handicapped-friendly, should be usable by frail and infirm. Given that Climate Change will exacerbate hydrometeorological disasters as spelt out in my blog of last week, these multi-purpose disaster shelters have to house people from all segments – farmers to international business tycoons, and maybe politicians’ families too. We also need to make space for orphaned / displaced pet animals and livestock during Climate Change induced extreme weather events.  

Its planning and effective implementation that makes sustainable development a reality. Political expediency needs to be treated with the disdain it deserves.

Links for further reading & understanding:

https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Urban_Deliveries_Case_Studies_Combined_2025.pdf

https://transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/b818ff86-2463-4949-9413-d3ca559f60b9_en?filename=EGUM_Recommendations_SG4_D1_SULP.pdf


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