Gender and Technology in the Urban Development of India: A Study of Bhubaneswar Smart City
Sramana MUKHERJEE, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India
Smart city, also known as the “wired”, “networked” or “ubiquitous” city, is the latest in a long line of catch-phrases, referring to the development of technology-based urban systems for efficient city management and economic growth (Datta, 2016). Following the global urban trend, the Government of India launched the Smart Cities Mission in 2015 in order to improve the quality of urban life, social inclusiveness, economic competitiveness, and environmental sustainability of 100 select Indian cities in a time-bound manner. The urban policy focused on increasing the usage of digital technology to strengthen and up-grade infrastructure and services and further aim at transforming India’s urban landscape through redevelopment, retro-fitting, and Greenfield urban projects. The implementation of the policy was undertaken through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) following approaches of Area Based Development and Pan City Initiatives. However, what is intriguing to study is the impact of these contemporary techno-driven urbanization processes on the existing socio-cultural agencies. Urban (re)developments resulting from Smart City interventions are bound to impact social processes, phenomenon, and institutions, with gender being one of them as gender acts both as an influential dimension of urban identities and an axis of urban inequalities that further structures the everyday lives of the city and its citizens. The present study explores this interface between gender and technology in Bhubaneswar Smart City, Odisha. By adopting an explorative lens, the study collected qualitative and quantitative data through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), non-participant observations, and content analysis of policy documents that highlights the level of gender incorporation in smart planning process across specific sectors of transport & mobility, safety & security, water & sanitation, and governance for Bhubaneswar Smart City and the existing lacunas therein.
Mots clés : Urban Planning|Smart City|Gender|Technology|Bhubaneswar
A104471SM