As more cities start to look into smart, renewable, and pedestrian designs, architects must be available and willing to help the mission, said chairman of the Indian Institute of Architects, Sanjay Goel.
Speaking at the Indian Institute of Architects Ludhiana Center (IIALC) for World Habitat Day, Goel and other speakers mentioned the importance of the Smart City mission and explained why architects must be involved in the design of these new cities, from beginning to end.
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“If the country wants to meet the challenges at the global level, then proper planning of development is must. We cannot just start doing things in a haphazard manner. Architects are there to assist you everywhere, starting from putting a brick till the completion of the project,” said Goel.
“The Central and state governments have to provide a huge amount to make Ludhiana ‘smart’ in next five years but for this, development has to be done in a planned manner, keeping in mind the requirements of Ludhiana residents.”
No single foolproof smart city design
Smart cities come in a variety of forms and there isn’t one clear cut foolproof design, which is why it is necessary for city leaders to surround themselves with the brightest and most creative minds.
Architects, Goel argues, need to be part of that team. They could provide a different outlook to the engineers and city leaders building the services and utilities that will power the smart city.
“Under the Smart City project, many proposals counting crores have been made and tenders have been uploaded and works started, but still we are lacking somewhere,” said Rupleen Kaur Bhandari, a City-based architect.
