Delhi - Mumbai corridor snippets

Futuristic cities are being planned along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Masterplans are ready for seven new cities spanning six states in the biggest urban development project since Chandigarh was built in 1953. The blueprints are inspired by industrial hubs in China and South Korea and have the potential of revolutionizing the country’s urban landscape with the introduction of what modern town planners call ‘‘smart city’’ concepts. Their key features are compact, vertical developments, an efficient public transportation system, the use of digital technology to create smart grids for better management of civic infrastructure, recycling of sewage water for industrial use, green spaces, cycle tracks and easy accessibility to goods, services and activities designed to foster a sense of community.It will be India’s biggest urban development project since Chandigarh was built in 1953 Estimated cost of building the new cities varies from 30,000cr to 75,000cr each at current prices Some form of public transport to be available within a 10-minute walk from home or office . Plans are also in place to integrate these cities through new airports, new rail links and arteries of ten-lane highways. The creation of a new urban vision was not the original intention, though. The DMIC was an economic and commercial initiative of the government, intended to boost manufacturing through the development of industrial centres along the western leg of the Mumbai-Delhi-Kolkata dedicated railway freight corridor. ‘‘As we went along and looked at the international experience, we realized that we needed to go beyond that,’’ said Amitabh Kant, CEO and managing director of the DMIC Development Corporation. ‘‘We needed to create new generation cities in which people can live, work and play. We needed cities with outstanding infrastructure and quality of life.’’ Experts from the US, UK, Singapore and the Netherlands were called in and what emerged could radically change the approach towards urbanization in a country that is considered a ‘‘reluctant urbaniser’’ compared to other Asian countries. A total of 24 such new generation cities are being planned for phased development across UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.