Lahore Smart City - The First City of the Future
Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan and also the capital of the province, Punjab. It is known as the City of Nawabs and has a rich history that dates back to over 500 years. Smart Cities are platforms for accelerating urban transformation through use of technologies in order to enhance quality of life for citizens by providing modern, digital infrastructure and services. Today, Lahore is one such city with enormous potential that can be unleashed if only its residents and stakeholders collaborate more towards making it a Smart city. If you want to know more about smart cities read this article: What Are Smart Cities?
Find out in this Article:
Why is Lahore Needing a Smart City? Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan and also the capital of the province, Punjab. Lahore is known as the City of Nawabs and has a rich history that dates back to over 500 years. Lahore has stood the test of time as one of the largest and most prosperous cities of South Asia. In modern times, Lahore has seen several changes for the better but the socio-economic scenario of the city is still lagging behind. For a city that has the potential to become a Smart City, the primary factors that one should keep in mind include the following. - High Levels of Inequality and Poverty - The city is a highly unequal place with a huge amount of poverty, which is problematic in itself. With more than 16% of the population living below the poverty line, Lahore is one of the most impoverished metropolises in the country. The situation is even more grave for the younger age groups where more than half of the population below 25 years of age is below poverty line. While there have been some efforts to address this issue, it is a major cause of concern and can be addressed through proper implementation of Smart City initiatives. - High Levels of Urbanisation - The urban population of Lahore has risen from 24% in 1950 to 60% in 2011. There has been an exponential rise in the urban population, which has led to several challenges. One of the key challenges is the rapid increase in the number of unserviced homeless people and daily wage earners, who don’t have access to basic urban infrastructure.
Objectives of the Lahore Smart City Program
Lahore Smart City is one of the oldest cities of the subcontinent and has a rich history. A lot of development work has been done in the city over the years, which has resulted in a large number of modern infrastructure and services. With the arrival of modern technologies, however, the city is yet to achieve its full potential. The government of Punjab is working towards making it a Smart City, so that it can benefit from the modern technologies and have a modern digital infrastructure. With a population of over 6 million, the city is one of the largest in the province of Punjab. Lahore has a population density of 2,590 people per square kilometre, which is much lower than other cities of the country. The city also has a substantial growth potential, as the current urban population is only about 60%. With proper implementation of smart city initiatives, the city can serve as a model for other cities to look up to.
Key Partners for Launching the Smart City Program
With the rapid rise in the popularity of Smart Cities, new cities are also stepping into this modern initiative. With the growing interest shown by the citizens and stakeholders, the government of Punjab has launched a program for bringing the city of Lahore to the Smart City level. The government of Punjab has partnered with several organisations, companies and investors to help realise its vision of making Lahore a Smart City. - Lahore Smart City Partnership Program - The Punjab government has partnered with city corporation, Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) to launch the Lahore Smart City Partnership Program. Under this program, LDA will partner with private investors, investors will select master plan and investment strategies/plans and LSE will partner with the investors to help them launch a fund. - City-State Partnership Program - The government of Punjab has also partnered with the government of Japan for partnership. Under the city-state partnership, the Japanese government will help the government of Punjab to make the city of Lahore a Smart City. - Urban Development Authority Partnership - The Urban Development Authority of Punjab is another significant partner for the government of Punjab.
IT Infrastructure and Services in the Lahore Smart City Program
Lahore is one of the oldest cities of the subcontinent and has a rich history. A lot of development work has been done in the city over the years, which has resulted in a large number of modern infrastructure and services. With the arrival of modern technologies, however, the city is yet to achieve its full potential. The government of Punjab is working towards making it a Smart City, so that it can benefit from the modern technologies and have a modern digital infrastructure. Today, Lahore is one such city with enormous potential that can be unleashed if only its residents and stakeholders collaborate more towards making it a Smart city. If you want to know more about smart cities read this article: What Are Smart Cities?
Conclusion
With the rapid rise in the popularity of Smart Cities, new cities are also stepping into this modern initiative. With the growing interest shown by the citizens and stakeholders, the government of Punjab has launched a program for bringing the city of Lahore to the Smart City level. Lahore is one of the oldest cities of the subcontinent and has a rich history. It is known as the City of Nawabs and has a rich history that dates back to over 500 years. With a population of over 6 million, the city is one of the largest in the province of Punjab. Lahore has a substantial growth potential, as the current urban population is only about 60%. With proper implementation of smart city initiatives, the city can serve as a model for other cities to look up to.
Comments
Post a Comment