Smart for Whom? Evaluating the Distributional Equity of Smart-City Investments in Urban India

Authors: Maulsri Jha

Country: United States

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Abstract: India's Smart Cities Mission (SCM) was designed to combine core infrastructure, quality of life, sustainability, and 'smart' solutions through a mix of area-based development and pan-city interventions. A decade of implementation has generated an important question for urban planning: whether the spatial and sectoral distribution of smart-city investment has advanced inclusion or produced highly visible enclaves within cities characterized by persistent infrastructure deficits. This article synthesizes policy documents and scholarship on the SCM, with particular attention to Pune, Bhubaneswar, and Chennai. It develops a Smart City Equity Evaluation Framework that distinguishes procedural, spatial, infrastructural, digital, mobility, and fiscal equity. The review finds that the Mission's formal language is explicitly inclusive, yet area-based implementation can concentrate capital in a small share of urban territory, while technology-centered participation can privilege digitally connected groups. The article argues that smart-city performance should be evaluated against the distribution of public value, not the visibility or technological sophistication of projects. It concludes with planning reforms for citywide equity mapping, minimum inclusion tests, transparent beneficiary analysis, and stronger integration between smart-city projects and statutory metropolitan planning.

Keywords: India; Smart Cities Mission; urban equity; area-based development; smart cities; urban planning; infrastructure.

Paper Id: 233205

Published On: 2026-09-04

Published In: Volume 14, Issue 5, September-October 2026

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