India is building a high-tech sustainable city from scratch
![An aerial view of a central district of Mumbai December 22, 2006. As global firms and some of their overseas staff flock to India to tap opportunities in its burgeoning economy, premium residential rents in cities like Mumbai and the capital, New Delhi, are going through the roof. Add a rising number of high-income Indian professionals and a shift to a nuclear family from the traditional extended one, and the number of people looking for good homes is pushing rents to levels seen in the more desirable parts of London and New York. Picture taken December 22, 2006. To match feature INDIA-PROPERTY/RENT REUTERS/Arko Datta (INDIA) - GM1DUHLUQQAA](https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_d3t_bRAf4AeSJq6Z3Nu6t8uP_8NN0FVopdW42OYq7tY.jpg)
Andhra Pradesh has enlisted Norman Foster to help redesign its capital city, Amaravati. Image: REUTERS/Arko Datta
![A hand holding a looking glass by a lake](/uplink.jpg)
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
Long-Term Investing, Infrastructure and Development
Skyscrapers, high-rise apartments, neon signs and congested roads. These are a few things that might spring to mind when you think about a modern city.
Many of the world’s major conurbations are organically grown sprawls – think of London, Tokyo, New York or Mexico City – and face challenges including air pollution, traffic jams, waste disposal and homelessness.
So what if you could start from scratch and try to create utopia? And what if one of the world’s leading architects designed the centre?
That’s happening in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where the local government has enlisted Norman Foster to help redesign the capital city for the province, Amaravati. Singapore-based urban consultants Surbana Jurong are also involved in the planning, which aims to create jobs and homes for all, a world-class infrastructure, a green city and efficient resource management.
Foster’s team is designing the central focus of the 217-square-km city, including the Legislature Assembly and High Court Complex, and according to the architect, the design will incorporate “decades-long research into sustainable cities” as well as the latest technologies being developed in India.
Large shaded walkways to encourage people to walk through the city, lots of green spaces, widespread use of solar energy and a transportation strategy that includes electric vehicles, water taxis, and dedicated cycle routes characterize the plans, which are set to be realized within 25 years.
![Amaravati envisioned as modern and sustainable.](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/DXTBt5dJRWCkmJHmgg_lbwzIntaDBcKZZHWjqG2Qosg.png)
The plans could help illustrate how to address the challenges faced by other cities around the world and those discussed by the World Economic Forum Council on Cities and Urbanization.
This will become more important as the planet becomes increasingly urban, with around 70% of the world’s population forecast to live in cities by 2050.
In its report Harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution for Sustainable Emerging Cities, the Forum looks at how the world’s emerging cities can harness rapid and disruptive technological change to help build a sustainable future.
“Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and drones, the internet of things, advanced materials, 3D printing and biotechnology are particularly relevant,” Celine Herweijer, a partner at PwC UK wrote in the report. “Many are already showing promise at reshaping urban sectors – including transport, energy, waste, water and buildings – and change will only accelerate.”
A $5 billion annual opportunity
In a separate paper, the Forum assesses how the state of Andhra Pradesh could benefit from harnessing new technologies and concludes there could be a $5 billion annual opportunity by 2022.
Cities in other locations are also aiming to become more sustainable. Copenhagen wants to become the world's first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. Norway is building Oslo Airport City, a 4 million square metre city that will take 30 years to build and be powered entirely by renewable energy and served by electric vehicles.
In a Forum podcast on the future of cities and urbanization, Abha Joshi-Ghani, Senior Advisor on Infrastructure, Public-Private Partnerships and Guarantees at The World Bank discussed simple ways that technology can be harnessed to address waste and mobility problems, for example waste bins that send messages when they are full.
Joshi-Ghani and her co-chair of the Forum’s Council on Cities and Urbanization, Carlo Ratti, discussed how cities need strong leadership and a space for young graduates to experiment with new ideas for innovation to flourish.
“Look at technology and look at how data can change a city,” said Ratti, who is also director of the SENSEable City Laboratory at MIT. “But for the ultimate goal, never forget the three most important things: people, people and people.”
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Urban TransformationSee all
Lisa Chamberlain
July 25, 2024
Madeleine North
July 24, 2024
Natalie Marchant and Julie Masiga
July 19, 2024
Andras Szorenyi
July 14, 2024
Lisa Chamberlain
June 28, 2024
Matthew Cooper and Marco Fengler
June 19, 2024