Smart city initiatives and disaster resilience of cities through spatial planning in Pune city, India

Abstract

Cities are attracting populations at alarming rate. Cities provide the need of populations in every way from livelihoods to livability. In doing so it is exhausting its resources resulting in increasing threats of risk. An initiative like Smart City Mission is aiming to enhance the capacities of the cities to increase livability and quality of life for its population and decrease threats of risk. This study examines the impact of smart city initiatives on resilience to earthquakes and floods through a spatial planning perspective for the city of Pune in State of Maharashtra through series of structured interviews with key stakeholders. The findings suggest that smart city initiative is still in its primary stage and requires assimilation with the development strategy to contribute to the resilience of the city. The study further proposes the need to integrate the smart city initiative with all the current and future developmental projects.