Mainstreaming Weather, Climate, Environmental and Geological data in Planning and Governance of
Smart Cities
By
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Dr Ajit Tyagi
Koteswaram Professor and Former Director General of Meteorology
Ministry of Earth Sciences, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003
ajit.tyagi@gmail.com
Abstract
Favourable climatic conditions have contributed to the growth and sustenance of
civilizations and unfavourble climatic conditions have led to the decay of many
civilizations. Post industrialization era saw major trend towards urbanization which has
became a mega trend in recent decades. Today more than 50% of world population
resides in urban areas and by 2050, 66% of the world population is projected to be
urban. Among all the regions, Africa and Asia are urbanizing faster and project to
become 64% by 2050. Number of mega cities ( population 10 million or more ) has
increased from 10 in 1950 to 28 in 2014. Of these three mega cities ( Delhi, Mumbai,
Kolkata) are from India Delhi being the second most populous city in the world after
Tokyo. Another four (Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmadabad ) are projected
to become mega cities by 2030. Rapid pace of urbanization provides both opportunities
and challenges. Proposed smart cities offer an opportunity to develop safe, efficient
and sustainable urban centres of growth and high quality of life.
Urban areas because of complex land use pattern, varied sources and sinks of heat,
moisture and pollutants create distinct urban climate manifesting in the form of urban
heat island, poor air quality, disruption of free air circulation and intense rainfall. Urban
climate is, therefore, not uniform over entire city and exhibits wide variability both in
space and time. Urban planners and administrators needs to factor this aspect in their
planning, governance and delivery mechanism of various services ( water, electricity,
public health, transportation, etc.)
Growth of cities has been driven primarily by economic, social and political
considerations with climatic and geological factors taking back seat. Most of the cities
in India are located in areas which are prone to natural hazards such as cyclonic
storms, tsunami, earthquakes, floods, landslides etc. Unplanned growth of cities has
added another dimension to urban risk. Because of high density of population and
concentration of economic activity, natural hazards cause huge amount of loss of lives,
property and economy. July 2005 Floods in Mumbai, Bangkok Floods (2011),
Hurricane Sandy affecting New York ( October 2012) and floods in London in 2013 are
some of the example of natural hazards affecting major cities. It is high time that all
cities, both present and future one start mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and
sustainable development in their planning and governance mechanism.
By neglecting climatic and environmental parameters in the planning process of cities
in the past, most of the cities are today facing poor air quality, urban heat island effect,
water stress and high demand of energy. As a result urban planners are now
promoting a sustainable city model by minimizing the use of water and energy and
reducing waste and pollution. Historical climatic data of temperature, rainfall, wind and
extreme weather events is of great help in planning city lay out and building orientation
for natural air ventilation, mix land use for water conservation and ear marking green
belt and water bodies on the up wind side of city centre and industries on downwind
side of the city for reducing heat island effect and dispersal of pollutant away from the
city. Urban planners while planning 100 new urban centers should, therefore,
effectively use meteorological and geological data for the development of safe, green
and sustainable cities of future. With the help of on line sensors, real time monitoring
and seamless dissemination of meteorological and environmental data and forecasts
to all stake holders( Line departments, private sector and public at large ) will add to
efficiency and safety.
Earthquakes and Floods are two major urban natural hazards. Therefore, detailed
micro-zonation studies and mapping should be undertaken of the areas being
considered for proposed smart cities and building codes as recommended by microzonation study needs to be incorporated in city lay out plans. Implementation of
National Disaster Management Guidelines on Management of Urban Floods by Urban
Local Bodies will go long way in managing risks of urban floods in smart cities. It calls
for establishing local network of Automatic Rain Gauges in cities for real time rainfall
monitoring and early warning of floods. An operational Early Warning System for urban
hazards can be of great help in saving life and property in cities and should be an
integral part of smart cities.
Climate Change is going to increase severity of weather events in terms of heavy
rainfall, extreme temperatures and intense storms, impact of which will be felt more in
cities. Vulnerability analysis of smart cities, therefore, need to factor likely impacts of
climate change It is to be appreciated that cities are not only the victim of climate
change but also part of the problem. Cities consume 75% of commercial energy and
generate 80% of waste. Therefore, cities have to take lead in combating ill effects of
climate change by developing and implementing policies and programmes to reduce
Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and climate risks. Latest IPCC finding based on
high evidence and high agreement suggests that climate change mitigation strategies
will provide co-benefits in terms of public saving, air quality and associated health
benefits and increase in the productivity in urban centres. Smart Cities, therefore, right
from the planning stage should mainstream meteorological, environmental and
geological data to develop green, safe, efficient and sustainable cities to be truly
called as smart cities.
Key Words : Urbanization, Urban Climate, Urban Risks, Natural Hazards,
Disasters,
Smart Cities, Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change Mitigation