21st Century (2000–present)

Bhubaneswar Smart City District (ABD)

2016– · India · South Asia · State-capitalist megaproject urbanism · Planned by BDA/Smart City SPV
Lingaraja Temple, a landmark of Bhubaneswar, the city of the Smart City Area-Based Development.
Lingaraja Temple, a landmark of Bhubaneswar, the city of the Smart City Area-Based Development. · CC BY-SA 3.0

Core idea

Transit + heritage + open space

Why it matters

Award-winning smart city pilot

Description

The Bhubaneswar Smart City area-based development is the flagship district-scale project undertaken after the Odisha capital ranked first in the inaugural round of India's national Smart Cities Mission in 2016. Implemented through the Bhubaneswar Development Authority and a special purpose vehicle, it concentrates investment in a town-centre district around the railway station, combining transit and street improvements, heritage conservation and new open spaces with digital infrastructure.

Significance

Bhubaneswar's win made it the emblematic case of the Smart Cities Mission, and its plan was praised for grounding the smart-city idea in conventional urban design, walkability and heritage rather than technology alone. It has consequently featured in international discussion of what 'smart' urbanism means in Indian conditions. The area-based model itself, concentrating funds on a showcase district, has drawn criticism for uneven benefit across the wider city, a debate in which Bhubaneswar is a central reference.

What shaped it

Sources

Open it on the interactive timeline →
hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.