Bhubaneswar, April 28: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated the state capital and those associated with the smart city project for winning the coveted Pierre L'enfant International Planning Excellence Award of the American Planning Association (APA).
Adding another feather to its already decorated cap, Bhubaneswar became the first Indian city to receive the award for its comprehensive smart city proposal.
"Congratulate #SmartCityBhubaneswar on becoming 1st Indian city to win @APA_Planning Pierre L'Enfant International Planning Excellence Award," Naveen has tweeted.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation will receive the award on May 8 at an event in New York.
"It is a proud moment for us that our proposal is not only winning laurels from within the country for being good and comprehensive, but also from other leading international agencies," said municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar, who is also the managing director of the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited.
An APA jury had selected five recipients for the excellence award. The Bhub-aneswar Municipal Corporation was selected in the excellence in planning category.
The civic body's citizen engagement model, including inclusive planning for all categories of residents worked in its favour.
Last November, Bhub-aneswar took part in the World Smart City Expo held in Barcelona as one of the finalists. Although, it didn't win the award, it's child-friendly proposal earned appreciation. Bhubaneswar was adjudged the country's top smart city in January 2016.
"We believe that the involvement of citizens is a key issue in the smart city mission. We conducted a number of citizen connect programmes and that gave us an idea on transforming the city according to the need," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
Citizens Connect was a three-month project that obtained inputs from nearly a third of the residents using diverse channels, including discussion forums, face-to-face meetings with slum dwellers and street vendors, online polls, social media outreach, volunteer programmes, idea papers and design competitions.
It achieved youth engagement through street plays, flash mobs and information kiosks. Community dialogues engaged workers in local businesses and industries. Public personalities also joined in as campaign ambassadors.
"Citizen involvement is necessary in making a place smart. There should be focus on the need of citizens rather than planning arbitrarily. I congratulate the city for the feat. But instead of glorifying themselves after receiving awards, the city should focus on executing the projects at ground level," said Unit-III resident Biraj Mishra.
