ENHANCING URBAN RESILIENCE THROUGH SMART CITY CONCEPT

Abstract

The transformation from Rural to Urban population is increasing sharply. According to an estimate, it is expected that about 70% of World’s population will be living in Urban areas till 2050. This has created a strong need for transitioning cities into resilient cities. As a result, several ideas and techniques has been developed for preparing cities to cope with future challenges. Pakistan is among the most urbanized countries of South Asia. The current growth rate of Pakistan is 2.0 % (2020), with this rate Pakistanis are flocking to cities faster than any other country in South Asia. By 2030, more than half of Pakistan’s projected 250 million citizens are expected to live in cities. Other than urbanization cities are also facing other challenges like Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Economic Development, haphazard development, Urban Governance etc. Urban Resilieance and Smart city factors have been indicated for the analysis. Urban Resilience is based on 4 dimensions (Infrastructure Resilience, Environmental Resilience, Physical Resilience, Economic Resilience).While Smart City is based under 6 dimensions (Smart Economy, Smart People, Smart Mobility, Smart Governance, ICT and Smart Environment).On the other hand, Smart City concept has emerged worldwide to promote responsive, intelligent, connected and sustainable cities. In short self-sufficient city is a Smart city. So, the basic aim of this research is to look into options for enhancement of Urban resilience of 4 metropolitans of Pakistan, by using Smart City Concept. For this study primary and secondary data has been collected and analysed with respect to each city.