ISRO's Bhuvan Will Map Cities For The Smart City Project. Know Why This Matters

Planning of the urban space of a city is a complex job due to the absence of an organised set of data in this regards. While two cities may look similar when you walk the streets, they may have strikingly different spatial structures, when you check the data (whatever is available) . But, modern technology is changing the way urban and central governments function. The lack of data would be a major constraint the Government's smart city mission would face. To work on this, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) has joined hands with the Ministry of Urban Development to map over 500 towns and cities in India. Its Bhuvan app, which Isro refers to as India's Google Earth, will create one- meter satellite images for over 300 Indian cities.

How would this facilitate urban planning in cities and towns across India?

Direct, casual observation and anecdotal information is not enough to understand the organisation of urban space in a city. You need broader information. When authorities across the world prepare master plans, they often fail because they miss out on what this means.

Mapping cities across India would help urban-local authorities prepare master plans, armed with information on topographical constraints a city faces, the projected population growth and the availability of natural resources. Land in India is often not utilised in the best possible manner. Master plans and the urban policy is often designed without paying much attention to how people really want to consume real estate in India.

Cities might have various topographical constraints and the urban policy should be formulated by paying a close attention to these. For instance, restrictions on building near a coastal zone would be a trade-off worth making in a village or a small town. But, such restrictions might be disastrous in a large metropolis, which has less land. Similarly, constructing low- rise buildings might not be very costly in cities built on flat plains such as Paris, London and Berlin, but it would be enormously costly in Hong Kong, New York, Singapore or Mumbai.

The shape of a city influences the commuting time and costs. Metrics on city shape would allow urban planners to estimate the travel time and costs within a city. For instance, a compact city has a shorter commute time from different parts of the city to its centre.

Data on urban road density in census and other studies are typically based on boundaries of cities. Such information is not updated frequently. But, by mapping cities, we can find the total length of road networks, and estimate how much land roads, highways and railway networks in a city occupy. The maps would also be able to ensure that the road infrastructure is in sync with city shape. For instance, bridges can turn topographical constraints in cities such as Mumbai, San Francisco and Singapore into an asset by allowing shorter commutes.

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