[BolliBatlu]

UD ministry, UGC come together to develop smart cities curriculum

Currently there is no formal curriculum available for smart cities. “There is enough material on architecture and best practices in urban planning, but nothing catering exclusively to smart cities. Now the sector has ample job opportunities so why not train our youth,” said a senior UGC functionary.

Ministry of urban development which is also the nodal agency for dealing with smart cities will be helping out UGC to design a formal curriculum. UD ministry has also initiated the process of setting up an exclusive urban planning academy. UD ministry has in the pipeline National Academy for Urban Development which will work as academic think tank of the ministry. The academy is to provide training on wide range of urban issues including policy, planning, management, governance and urban marketing.

“While working on the smart city guidelines, we realised that it was altogether a new challenge for us and that we lacked expertise to deal with the issue. We had to refer to several international practices before we could come up with our own guidelines,” said a senior ministry official who had worked on the smart city project.