Smart cities can blend heritage, future: French envoy

Panaji, May 3 (IANS) Smart cities are not just about the future, but ideally should be rooted in the past too, suggests Francois Richier, ambassador of France.

France along with the US, Japan and Singapore is keen on partnering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to build 100 smart cities across the country.

Speaking to IANS on Saturday, Richier said the city of Toulouse in southern France, which is already recognised as a smart city by the European Union, is a perfect example of the glorious past blending with cutting edge futuristic concepts.

"To make a smart city, you do not need to destroy the city. You have to ensure that you can put in all the urban services within the city while respecting it," said Richier, who was in Goa to attend a function onboard French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which is off Goa conducting a joint naval exercise with the Indian Navy.

France has already expressed a keen interest to participate in the National Democratic Alliance’s flagship smart cities project, even as it awaits the unveiling of the list of 100 cities by the Indian government, for which Rs.48,000 crore has been earmarked.

"…once the list is out, we will express our preferences and will discuss with the government of India and…the state government to agree on which cities we will take care of. Of course, it has to come from the city as well. We are not going to take over the city, but it has to come from the people in the place because if they want to have an American city, they should not ask the French to develop that," Richier said.

The envoy said that Toulouse, a popular southern French historic walled city, which has been recognized by the European Union as a smart city, was a perfect mix of the past and the future.

"When the prime minister (Modi) was in France, he went to visit the city of Toulouse in southern France, which has the status of smart city in the European Union, but has also been kept absolutely intact (as a) historical walled city."

"We wanted to showcase this, because we very much wanted to showcase that this was absolutely possible to keep the old city intact and to develop services like water, electricity, transport all this without destroying it," Richier said.