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metropolitan areas, but are self-suffi cient and the main city, satellite cities serve a larger
independent entities. Th ese cities are planned purpose. Th ey provide citizens working in the
cities and are designed to help a major city main city with a feasible option for availing
extend in all possible ways. aff ordable housing. Moreover, by itself, a
satellite city provides its residents with job
Purpose Served by Satellite Cities
opportunities, infrastructure facilities as well
Rapid urbanisation is posing a serious as commercial and residential spaces.
challenge to many major cities across the Some examples of satellite cities in India are
globe and in India too. Cities are fi lled to their Gurugram (satellite city of Delhi), Noida
brims on account of the infl ux of migrants (satellite city of Delhi), Kalyani (satellite city
from diff erent parts of the country. Cities of Kolkata), Th ane (satellite city of Mumbai)
have already reached a saturation point in and HITEC City (satellite city of Hyderabad).
terms of available space. Th e paucity of space
has led to land being sold at exorbitant prices Smart Cities
which are outside the budget of many. Th is
Th e term ‘smart city’ is a concept that came
has given rise to satellite cities. Besides being
about towards the end of the 20th century.
in the vicinity of major cities they also provide
Th e idea is rooted in the future of cities and
most of the conveniences and facilities that
their development. Smart cities integrate
major cities provide. Satellite cities are
information and communication technology
developed based on the integrated township
(ICT) and Internet of things (IoT) in a manner
model providing residents easy access to all
to manage the city’s assets and thereby,
comforts and infrastructure facilities that
promote a better quality of life. Th ese assets
they would have in major cities.
could be the systems of local departments,
It is a relatively new concept of urbanisation
schools, libraries, transportation, hospitals,
in India and has gained prominence across
power plants, water supply networks, waste
all major cities. Besides decongestion of
management, law enforcement and other
such services.
When the defi nition is narrowed down,
it could vary from country to country or
even city to city, depending on the level of
development, willingness to change and
reform, and the resources and aspirations
of the city residents. For example, a smart
city would have one connotation in India
and a diff erent one in Europe. Even within
India, there is no one way of defi ning a
Satellite cities provide decongestion of main cities. smart city.
paucity: the presence of something in only small or insuffi cient quantities or amounts
exorbitant: unreasonably high
integrated township: balanced mix of residential and commercial spaces, along with well developed
infrastructures
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