Cities 42 (2015) 118129

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Cities
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities

City prole

Chennai, India
Rashmi Krishnamurthy a,, Kevin C. Desouza b,c
a
School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Mail Code 3720, Suite # 400, 411 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004-0687, USA
b
School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, 411 N. Central Ave., Mail Code 3520, Suite #750, Phoenix, AZ 85004-0687, USA
c
Decision Theater, Ofce of Knowledge Enterprise Development, Arizona State University, 21 E 6th Street, Suite 126A, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Cities around the world are experiencing tremendous population growth, and this is especially true in the
Received 19 January 2014 developing world. In this prole, we feature the city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, India. Chennai
Received in revised form 19 September 2014 is the largest industrial commercial center in South India; it is often referred as the Detroit of India and
Accepted 20 September 2014
the Gateway to South India. In recent decades, large industrial facilities have been established in
Available online 28 October 2014
Chennai and its suburbsresulting in large-scale population growth. However, this explosive growth
has strained the urban infrastructure of this prominent city. In this prole, we provide an overview of
Keywords:
Chennais urban history from social, economic, political, and environmental perspectives. We highlight
Information technology
Corporation of Chennai
the current and future challenges faced by the city, and we argue that it is well poised to leverage emerg-
Chennai ing smart city technologies. However, to effectively implement these technologies, city administrators
Urban development need to undertake several measures; for example, a database capturing all dimensions of the city must
Governance be developed. By clearly delineating the urban planning and policy efforts to the present and offering
Smart city a way forward, this paper contributes to the growing literature on smart cities and the unique urban
challenges faced by cities in the developing world.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction Detroit of India and Gateway to South India (U.S.

In 2008, a report by United Nations (UN) Habitat concluded that
half of the worlds population now resides in urban areas and that
within 2 decades, this number will increase to 60%. In addition, cit-
ies in developing countries are more likely to experience higher
urban growth compared to cities in developing countries. Urban
growth in developing world is responsible for 95% of the worlds
urban population growth (UN-Habitat, 2008, p. xi). Given this
rapid growth, cities such as Chennai1 (formerly known as Madras)
are expected to become megacities2 by 2025 (Joerin, Shaw,
Takeuchi, & Krishnamurthy, 2014).
The explosive increase in the population of Chennai and its sub-
urbs can be attributed to the tremendous growth in its industrial,
educational, and health sectors. The metropolitan area is the larg-
est industrial center in South Indiait is often referred to as the
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 480 231 7650.
E-mail addresses: Rashmi.Krishnamurthy@asu.edu (R. Krishnamurthy), kev.
desouza@gmail.com (K.C. Desouza).
URL: http://www.kevindesouza.net (K.C. Desouza).
1
The City of Madras was ofcially changed to Chennai in 1996. During this time,
many Indian cities were renamed. For instance, Bombay was renamed as Mumbai and
Calcutta was changed to Kolkata.
2
A megacity is a term used to describe a city that is home to more than 10 million
people.
International Trade Commission, 2007). With a population of
4.68 million, Chennai is now the fourth largest city in India
(Census of India, 2011), and according to Tholons (2013), Chennai
ranks fth among the top outsourcing destinations in the world.
The size of the manufacturing and IT sectors in particular attracts
professionals from both other parts of India (both rural and urban)
and foreign countries. In addition, many skilled and unskilled
laborers migrate to Chennai in search of job opportunities. How-
ever, a portion of this migrant population ends up residing in slums
(Viswanathan & Tharkar, 2010). According to the Census of India
(2011), 28% of the urban population in Chennai lives in slums.
To meet the growing demands of its diverse population, city
administrators have undertaken measures to revamp the urban
space. For example, the government of Tamil Nadu commissioned
a Second Master Plan to (1) guide the urban development in the
city of Chennai and its suburbs and (2) develop satellite towns to
offer efcient, effective, and timely services to their residents while
maintaining a competitive edge in the globalized world (Chennai
Metropolitan Development Authority [CMDA], 2008). The city
administrators have made signicant efforts to accomplish these
two goals, such as by introducing e-services for birth and death
certicates, property taxes, and an online public grievances sys-
tems (ELCOT to help corporation computerise all operations,
2009). While it is clear that Chennai administrators are taking

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.09.004
0264-2751/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129
measures to meet the growing demands of its people, it is critical
to nd answers for the following questions: (1) what are the key
urban planning challenges faced by the city? How can Chennai
leverage IT to transform itself into a smart city to meet the grow-
ing demands of its residents, businesses, and tourists? How will
the city ensure sustainable growth?
In this prole, we highlight the policy efforts undertaken by
the city of Chennai to fulll its vision of becoming a smart and
intelligent city. More specically, we discuss how the city admin-
istrators have harnessed IT to address challenges related to social,
economic, and environmental issues. Furthermore, we explore
the key efforts of urban planners and city administrators to rede-
sign the urban space for inclusive growth and development. Dis-
cussion of these efforts is important for several reasons. First,
many cities in developing countries are experiencing rapid
urbanization. Second, many cities are increasingly experiencing
challenges related to housing, employment, education, and cul-
ture. Third, due to the current global nancial crisis, resources
available to cities around the world are shrinking. Fourth, many
cities are facing the challenge of designing and structuring urban
space for inclusive growth. For these reasons, it is important to
understand how cities leverage their social, economic, and intel-
lectual capital to transform urban spaces and ensure sustainable
development.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. We begin by dis-
cussing the urban history of Chennai within social, economic, polit-
ical, and environmental contexts. We then explore the present and
future challenges faced by the city. Next, we evaluate the efforts
undertaken by the city of Chennai to address its growing urban
challenges. We conclude the paper by outlining the various oppor-
tunities and barriers that the city faces in addressing its pressing
issues.
Background: overview of urban growth
The city of Chennai (Madras) has a long history, and its begin-
ning can be traced back to the British East India Company. Under
the direction of Mr. Francis Day, the East India Company acquired
a grant to build a fort near the Coromandel Coast in 1640. The com-
pany began the construction of St. George Fort on March 1, 1940.
The construction was completed in 1653. The East India Company
encouraged merchants and articers to settle around the fort, and
the city of Chennai began to grow (chennaicorporation.gov, n.d.).
The city of Chennai played a critical role in Indias struggle for inde-
pendence. After independence was achieved, most Indian cities
were reorganized based on the linguistic identities of the local peo-
ple groups; for Chennai, this was the Tamil. While Chennai quickly
emerged as one of the fastest growing cities in India, due to the
dominance of the Tamil (of Darvidian heritage), the city main-
tained an orthodox and conservative outlook (Arabindoo, 2011).
Over past several decades, the city of Chennai has transformed
from a commercial and manufacturing base to a growing IT hub.
In this section, we provide a brief description of the citys location,
demographics, economy, administration, environment, and urban
infrastructure.
Location
Chennai is located between 12500 4900 and 13170 2400 latitude
and 79590 5300 and 80200 1200 longitude on the Coromandel Coast
off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai covers an area of 426 km2. It sits
on the southeastern coastal plain of India and lies closer to the
equator. As a result, Chennai has a tropical wet and dry climate
with little variation in temperature. The Cocum and Adyar rivers
pass through the city (see Fig. 1).
119
Administrative structure
Chennai falls within the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), which
covers an area of 1189 km2 and includes the city of Chennai, 16
municipalities, 20 town panchayats3, and 10 panchayat unions (com-
prising 214 villages) in the Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram Districts
(Fig. 2). The Corporation of Chennai4 (CoC) serves as the regions gov-
erning body. The CoC is housed in the Ripon Building, which was built
during British rule. The mayor serves as the political head of the CoC
and is assisted by 200 councilors who are directly elected by the citi-
zens of Chennai. The commissioner is the executive head of the CoC;
a deputy commissioner, numerous department heads, and 15 zonal
ofcers aid the commissioner. During the 20122013 scal year, it
was estimated that the CoCs total revenue was 1326.11 crores
(approximately $212.68 million) and that expenditures were 1232.97
crores (approximately $197.75 million) (chennaicorporation.gov, n.d.).
Demographics
Chennais urban population has grown from 2.64 million in
1971 to 4.68 million in 2011 (Table 1). Various factors have con-
tributed to the growth in migration, including large-scale invest-
ments from multinational companies (MNCs), growth within the
automobile and manufacturing industries, the presence of foreign
embassies, the growth of educational institutions, and cultural
institutions such as dance and music (Achuthan & Ramakrishnan,
2009; Aggarwal, 2012). For instance, the total migrant population
rose from 0.78 million in 1971 to 0.93 million in 2001.5 In 2001,
of the total population, the city recorded 21.57% migrant population
from other parts of India and 1.7% migrant population from foreign
countries. Additionally, the city has experienced outmigration to
its suburb areas, mainly due to the conversion of city land space into
nonresidential complexes, such as ofces, hotels, and shopping
malls. From 1991 to 2001, approximately 1 million individuals emi-
grated out of the city proper and into the surrounding areas. In addi-
tion, since 2000, Chennai has experienced an increasing surge of
migrants from foreign countries (Venkatraman & Sivakumar,
2009). It is one of the three cities in India with the largest expatriate
populations, with a growth of 35,000 in 2009 to 82,790 in 2011
(India exploring an Asian giant, 2013).
In terms of spatial area, since 1901, Chennai has expanded from
68 km2 to 426 km2. This natural growthcoupled with an inux of
migrantshas forced the spatial expansion of the city. To effec-
tively plan the urban growth of Chennai and its suburbs, the gov-
ernment of Tamil Nadu established a committee to outline a new
city corporation for the city and its suburbs. After studying the
patterns of urban growth, the committee proposed two models
of expansion (Fig. 3): (1) megacity development involving an
extension of the citys area from 176 km2 to 800 km2 or (2) smaller
expansion (extending the area to 426 km2) coupled with the
establishment of two more governing bodies to oversee the
development of suburbs (Srivathsan, 2009).
When the government of Tamil Nadu rst proposed CoC expan-
sion in 2001, it faced stiff opposition in the assembly. Members of
opposition parties questioned the rationale behind CoC expansion
and proposed the establishment of new governing bodies to
oversee the suburbs. However, the government of Tamil Nadu
3
The term panchayat is used to describe a local government body in India.
4
The Corporation of Chennai is the oldest municipal institution in India. It was
established in 1688 under British rule. The British Parliamentary Act of 1792 gave the
Corporation of Madras the power to levy municipal taxes and govern the adminis-
tration of the city. The current administration of the Corporation of Chennai is based
on the Madras Municipal Corporation Act of 1919 (amended) (For more information,
please visit http://www.chennaicorporation.gov.in).
5
At the time of writing this paper, the provisional data from the Census of India
(2011) were not available.
120 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129
Fig. 1. City of Chennai.
did successfully pass a bill to expand the area governed by the CoC
to 426 km2 and argued that a precedent existed for the expansion
model; i.e., other cities in India such as Mumbai, New Delhi, and
Bangalore, had expanded in a similar fashion. The new expanded
corporation included 42 local bodies9 municipalities, 8 town
panchayats, and 25 panchayatsin the areas surrounding Chennai.
The government also increased the number of wards from 150 to
200 (TNN, 2011). The expanded CoC was divided into three
regionsNorth, South, and Central. The expanded CoC will be in
charge of the three regions (Expanded Chennai Corporation to
be divided into 3 regions, 2011).
Education
The CMA is home to several top-tier educational and research
institutes. Moreover, Chennai has the second largest educated
populous in India (Census of India, 2011). For example, three
world-renowned institutes are located in the citythe Indian Insti-
tute of Technology Madras (one of the top ve research institutes
in India) and its Research Park6; the Anna University (a Tamil
Government Stateowned engineering institute), and the Central
Leather Research Institute7 (the worlds largest leather institute).
Additionally, Chennai and its suburbs house several institutes
6
The aim of the IITM Research Park is to facilitate collaboration between IIT
students and facultyand research and development (R&D) centers. As the cost of
innovation in India is a tenth of the costs in the United States, it is anticipated the
IITM Research Park will attract multinational companies and facilitate collaboration
between academics, students, and companies to help increase Indias R&D compet-
itive edge.
7
Established in 1948, CLRI is the central hub of the Indian leather sector, directing
various education, research, training, testing, designing, forecasting, and planning
activities related to leather.
 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129 121

Fig. 2. Chennai Metropolitan Area.

Table 1
Population growth in Chennai, CMA, and inow of migrant population to Chennai. Source: CMDA 2008 and Census of India 2011.

Year Population (in lakhs) Migrant population (in lakhs) to Chennai

Chennai CMA Other parts of Tamil Nadu Other parts of India Other countries
1971 26.42 35.04 5.51 2 0.29
1981 32.85 46.01 7.19 2.55 0.34
1991 38.43 58.18 6.44 2.42 0.28
2001 43.43 70.41 6.98 2.33 0.16
2011 48.6 86.9 na na na

offering courses in the liberal arts, including the University of
Madras, Madras Christian College, Presidency College, Pachaiyappa
College, Queen Mary College, and the Womens Christian College.
A mix of private and public schools8 are situated in the CMA.
Some schools even offer curriculums based on the International
Baccalaureate and American systems. For instance, the American
8
Public schools in the city are managed by the CoC, whereas the private schools are
afliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education, the Indian Certicate of
Secondary Education, Montessori education, etc.
International School follows a U.S. curriculum and offers education
from preschool to Grade 12 (Chennai, n.d.). Furthermore, to
encourage kids from poor families to attend school, the state govern-
ment of Tamil Nadu and the CoC have initiated several welfare
schemes, such as free education and midday meals (TNN, 2012b).
Economy
According to Forbes, Chennai is one of the top 10 fastest grow-
ing cities in the world, and it is the only city in India to be included
122 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129
Fig. 3. Expansion of city of Chennai: proposed models.
on this list (Kotkin, 2010). Chennai has a large of base of industries,
including automobile, IT (software services and hardware manu-
facturing), manufacturing, medical, nancial, cinema, and health-
care. In 2001, approximately 1.5% of employed individuals were
working on primary activities (e.g., farming) and 98% of workers
were employed in secondary (e.g., manufacturing) and tertiary
(e.g., nursing) activities. The decline in the number of primary
activities in and around the city can be contributed to the growth
of the manufacturing sector (Chennai Metropolitan Development
Authority, 2008). In 2012, it was estimated that Chennai had the
fourth largest number of Fortune 500 companies in India, with
4260 companies in its 15 zones and 24 of these companies having
a net worth of more than $1 billion (Company tax upped, capped
at Rs. 30,000, 2012). Due to its large industrial base, in 2010 alone,
Chennai created more than 100,000 jobs (Kotkin, 2010). The Con-
federation of Indian Industry has estimated that Chennai will grow
into $100 billion economy by 2025 (Seminar to focus on Chennais
growth potential, 2008).
The area in and around Chennai accounts for 30% of Indias
automobile industry and 40% of its auto components industry
(Chennai: The next global auto manufacturing hub?, 2011). It is
the third largest market for luxury cars in India (Aravind, 2012).
The city also manufactures vehicles for the Indian military and
coaches for the Indian Railway. Further, Chennai houses textile
and footwear manufacturing industries, which account for 50% of
Indias leather exports (Kumar, 2004). Many software companies
have opened ofces in the CMA since the turn of the century.
In 20062007 alone, IT companies contributed to 14% of
Indias software exportsa value of INR 1,442,410 million ($
23,434.18 million) (Chandramouli, 2008). Chennai also houses
TIDEL Park, which is one of the largest IT parks in Asia (Fords
Rs. 200-cr. IT hub in Chennai, 2000). Additionally, many MNCs
have established electronic manufacturing units in the city of
Chennai and its surrounding areas.
In 20102011, Chennai accounted for 45% of Indias electronic
hardware exports (Electronics Hardware Report 201011, n.d.).
Chennai houses biotechnology parks and laboratories, such as the
TICEL Biopark Limited and the Golden Jubilee Biotech Park for
Women Society. In addition, Chennai is known as the Banking
Capital of India (City Spotlight: Chennai, 2013). It houses the
ofces of several international nancial institutes, such as The
World Bank, Goldman Sachs, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the
Asian Development Bank. The city is also famous for its medical
industry and attracts healthcare professionals from all over the
world (NASSCOM, n.d.). To accommodate these growing industries,
the CoC undertook a project to construct houses and apartments to
meet the lifestyle requirement of the expat population. For
instance, when Japanese MNCs began to invest in Chennai, their
employees required certain models of houses and apartments to
accommodate their needs (Venkatraman & Sivakumar, 2009).
However, despite this cross-sector economic growth, the city
faces substantial challenges due to the parallel growth of slum
dwellers. In 2001, 18.9% of Chennais urban population was living
in slums (Fig. 4) (CMDA, 2008), and since then, this number has
continued to grow. According to the Census of India (2011),
28.5% of households are now slum dwellers in Chennai. They gen-
erally live in subhuman conditions with very limited access to
basic amenities such as clean water and electricity. The rapid urban
growth has been uneven; i.e., it has forced a portion of the popula-
tion to live in unsanitary conditions with a high exposure to pollu-
tion, natural calamities, and other disasters (Viswanathan &
Tharkar, 2010).
Urban transport and planning
Chennai maintains a multimodal transportation system (Fig. 5),
including, air, rail (interstate and suburb), bus, and port. The city
airport maintains two terminalsthe Anna International Terminal
 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129 123

Fig. 4. Percentage of urban slum population to total population in Chennai Municipal Corporation.

and the Kamaraj Domestic Terminaland there are two ports
Chennai Port (the largest articial port in India) and Ennor Port.
Chennai also maintains two rail terminals: Chennai Central Station,
which is connected to other cities and smaller towns in India, and
Chennai Egmore Station, which mainly connects cities and towns
within Tamil Nadu. Chennai also maintains a suburban railway
network, which provides affordable transportation between the
city and its many suburbs. In 2007, the government of Tamil Nadu
announced construction of Chennai Metro Rail (CMRL) and
approved INR 500 million ($8.1 million) for the initial planning
phase. The project is estimated to be completed by the scal year
20142015 (Chennai Metro Rail, n.d.).
Chennai is connected to Indias Golden Quadrilateral National
Highway9 system (Joshi, 2012). The Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus
is one of the largest bus stations in Asia, providing both intercity and
interstate bus services (Karthikeya, 2011). To improve the quality of
the bus system, the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTC) is
experimenting with bus tracking services to provide users with
real-time information about bus arrivals (Sreevatsan, 2010). In
2012, the MTC also announced plans introduce 200 more buses to
cater to the needs of the growing population. The new buses will
be mainly added within the IT corridor to reduce congestion and pol-
lution (TNN, 2012a), as it is estimated that more than 100,000
employees work for 100 companies located in this section of the city
(3 new MTC services to ply on IT Corridor, n.d.).
To plan and develop the CMA, the government of Tamil Nadu
asked the CMDA10 to prepare the Second Master Plan. A draft of this
plan was approved in 2008 (CMDA, 2008). However, the city and its
peripheral areas face challenges in terms of catering to the needs of
heterogeneous population. Arabindoo (2009), for instance, notes that
while agencies such as CMDA were created to design strategies for
urban development, the urban-rural conation in the peripheral

10
In 1972, under the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act of 1971, the
9
This is the largest highway project in India, connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, government of Tamil Nadu created CMDA as an ad-hoc body and granted it statutory
and Kolkata. status. For more information, visit http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/aboutcmda.html.
124 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129
Fig. 5. Transportation in Chennai.
areas have led to fragmentation and polarization. By analyzing the
social and spatial transformation of two nearby neighborhoods, the
author found that class conict between residents has resulted in
marginalization and exploitation. For example, in one area, sher-
men turned hostile to middle- and upper-class residents for
encroaching onto their traditional territories, and the middle-class
residents accused the shermen of creating pseudo land records.
Environment
Rapid urbanization and population growth have placed a strain
on the citys critical infrastructure systems, such as sewage, the
water supply, and electricity. For instance, the sewage system is
below capacity to allow free storm water run-off (Gupta & Nair,
2011). Joerin, Shaw, Takeuchi, and Krishnamurthy (2012) found
that communities living near canals and rivers in the city face
higher risks from oods and lack the necessary capacity to recover
from disaster-related events. Despite past experiences, the city has
not enhanced its capacity to cope with oods, and the increased
growth of slum dwellers around the river canals in the city has
resulted in water pollution, deteriorated water supply, and damage
to the sewage systems (Joerin et al., 2014).
Another critical challenge facing Chennai is uneven urbaniza-
tion, which has led to increased vulnerability to droughts and
oods. Srinivasan, Seto, Emerson, and Gorelick (2013) found that
uneven urbanization in the CMA has resulted in highly site-specic
water vulnerabilities. Using a coupled human-environment sys-
tems modeling approach, the authors found that an urban water
shortage depends on a number of factors, including the adaptation
characteristics of households, spatial patterns of land use, and the
formal water system. While in the short term, household invest-
ment in private wells make them less vulnerable to droughts, in
the long run, this decentralized approach to water management
makes the region more vulnerable. However, Joerin et al. (2014)
note that communities living in the northern and older parts of
Chennai have a lower resilience capacity for withstanding
 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129
climate-related disasters compared to newly ourishing urban
fringes. While this study may suggests that some areas are more
resilient than others, urban planners cannot ignore the evidence
that the rapid urbanization has resulted in unplanned and uneven
growth, which has increased the vulnerability of certain areas of
the city. If this trend continues, the overall region may become
more vulnerable and lose its capacity to withstand climate-
induced and manmade disasters.
The high rate of population growth in Chennai has led to a
reduction in green space and increased pollution levels. The lack
of green space is likely to affect the capacity of the land to hold
water, resulting in increased surface water run-off and reduced
groundwater recharge rates (Gupta & Nair, 2011). Moreover, pollu-
tion levels in the CMA have increased as a result of this green space
loss and increased use of personal vehicles. In 2011, Chennai
recorded PM10 emissions at 94 microgramme per cubic meter (a
193% increase), compared to 32 microgramme per cubic meter in
2007 (Chennai faces a unique pollution challenge, 2013). In
2013, the city had more than 3,000,000 vehiclesup from less than
500,000 vehicles in 1991. The use of two-wheeled vehicles has
grown dramatically as wellfrom 400,000 in 1991 to 2,160,000
in 2013. In fact, the percentage of personal vehicles in Chennai is
even higher than western countries. As a result, by 2008, the level
of congestion had increased more than eight-fold from 1984
(Chennai faces a unique pollution challenge, 2013). A study
reported that in six Indian citiesPune, Indore, Chennai, Ahmeda-
bad, Surat, and Rajkotair pollution was responsible for more
15,200 premature deaths per year (Pollutants in Chennai air
dangerously exceed WHO limits, 2012).
Critical evaluation
Administrative challenges and overlapping authorities
Since its inception in 1972, the CMDA has faced seemingly over-
whelming challenges in carrying out its objective. It took the
CMDA more than 20 years to formulate its First Master Plan for
the city, and immediately after being released, it was met with crit-
icisms from civil society organizations. These criticisms mostly
focused on the fact that public opinion was not solicited during
the creation of the master plan. As a result, the Chennai High Court
stalled the plan. In 2007, the CMDA drafted the Second Master Plan
(Ellis, 2012). In 2013, it was reported that due to a lack of man-
power, the CMDA had not prepared detailed development plan
(DDA) for the majority of areas in Chennai. As the preparation of
a DDA is a critical rst step toward implementing any master plan,
in March 2013, CMDA ofcials announced that they would be
recruiting 54 temporary urban planners to develop the DDP.
Despite this announcement, however, the senior ofcials supervis-
ing the implementation of the Second Master Plan raised concerns
that this delay had already adversely impacted the (1) develop-
ment of land use policies and (2) infrastructure improvements in
suburb areas within the CMA (Janardhanan, 2013). Additionally,
due to a lack of adequate staff, the CMDA has still not been able
to perform some of its key functions and has a huge work backlog.
For example, over the years, the CMDA has received complaints
that hundreds of residential apartments and high-rise buildings
lack re safety measures; this is a violation of the National Building
Code (NBC), which requires builders and enforcement departments
to implement and conduct periodic maintenance drills to check the
proper functioning of re safety measures. However, due to a lack
of manpower, the CMDA has done little to investigate this matter.
Appropriate actions have been pending for months, and CMDA of-
cials are struggling to keep pace with the growing number of
reports (TNN, 2013a).
125
Lack of data for urban planning
One of the rationales used to justify expanding the area gov-
erned by the CoC was to increase the citys revenue and resources.
However, despite increasing the area under the control of the CoC,
the government recorded a marginal increase in property tax, esti-
mated as INR 430 crore ($69.3 million) in 2012 to INR 500 crore
($80.6 million) in 2013. One of the key reasons attributed to the
marginal increase in revenue is the lack of accessible data related
to lease and rental value of properties within the city area
(Lopez, 2012). Also, the CoC has not conduced property tax audits
since 2009. When a news organization led a Right to Information
application to obtain audit reports, city ofcials claimed that the
CoC received INR 3,600 crore ($580.8 million) for maintaining
and developing the city. However, the CoC is the only civic body
in the country that had not conducted and published annual audit
reports for the previous 4 years. At the same time, the ofcials
noted that an audit report for scal year 20102011 was ready,
but due to a lack of information related to the annual accounts of
different departments, the CoC had delayed publication. In addi-
tion, the ofcials did not disclose information regarding the annual
audit reports for scal years 20112012 and 20122013 (Philip,
2013b). Similarly, the government of Tamil Nadu noted that the
CMDA had not transferred open areas to local bodies such as the
CoC. Government ofcials noted that the lack of transparent access
to data had caused this mismanagement of land areas. The report
tabled at the State Assembly noted that the CMDA, CoC, and other
local bodies needed to maintain and share information to avoid
encroachment of civic property among different bodies (Transfer
of OSR lands irregular: report, 2013).
Developing robust public transportation
A serious challenges faced by rapidly growing cities is
developing robust urban transportation to cater to the needs of
the growing population and connect the urban peripheries to the
city center for improved accessibility. Drawing from 3 years of data
(19901991, 19951996, and 20002001), Badami and Haider
(2007) found that Chennais public bus transit had the lowest
and slowly growing operating costs per passenger-kilometer com-
pared to other major Indian cities (i.e., Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai,
Ahmedabad, Kolhapur, Pune, and Thane). However, due to the
rapid urbanization and increased number of vehicles in the city,
the level of congestion increased more than eight-fold between
1984 and 2008. To address trafc congestion and pollution, the city
has increased public transportation services. For example, they
increased the number of buses from 3260 in 2008 to 3637 in
20122013. However, the city recorded a decrease in train and
bus ridership, from 5,500,000 in 20102011 to 4,800,000 in
20122013. One of the key reasons for this reduced ridership is
attributed to the lack of reliable services coupled with an increase
in fares, which has motivated residents to opt for two-wheelers
and cars as their regular mode of transport. However, the use of
personal vehicles in the city and its suburbs has increased parking
woes (Chennai faces a unique pollution challenge, 2013). Many
commuters spend an inordinate amount of time and resources
nding parking spots in the city. Moreover, in the search for park-
ing spaces, drivers often circle around their destination several
times, thereby increasing pollution.
Another factor contributing to the decrease in public transport
ridership is the lack of reliable information. For example, there is
no publically available map of the bus routes or rail systems. In
an attempt to ameliorate this problem, Transparent Chennai, a
nongovernmental organization (NGO) that is focused on creating
and disseminating data related to civic issues in Chennai,
approached the MTC, which is in charge of more than 700 bus
126 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129
routes in the city. After several visits, Transparent Chennai found
that MTC had little organized information regarding the bus routes.
However, one of their employees was able to compile a list of 22
major routes and bus stops based on his own memory (Raman,
2012).
Improving public transport ridership is critical for addressing
trafc congestion. Moreover, it is assumed that lower-income peo-
ple depend upon an urban transportation system for traveling and
accessing services in the city. S. Srinivasan (2005) notes that
employment in the city of Chennai is centralized. Moreover, low-
income families often nd employment in high-income homes
located in the center for the city. Furthermore, she argues that
despite investing over INR 7 billion ($116.6 million) in heavy-rail,
the city administration found that middle- and low-income travel-
ers did not patronize the new rail system. Several reasons for this
were the higher fares, the lack of connecting bus services, and the
absence of parking facilities. Furthermore, urban planners have
mainly focused on improving travel times and building y-overs
to reduce congestion, ignoring issues such as the concentration
of employment opportunities, connectivity between bus and rail
routes, and an integrated ticket system to reduce costs.
Lack of inclusiveness
Involving residents in the policy process is critical for exercising
authority and maintaining legitimacy. As outlined in this paper, the
inability of the CMDA to solicit public opinion halted the imple-
mentation of the First Master Plan. Realizing the need to connect
and hear public opinion, the CoC reached out to the residents to
plan Chennais urban space. In March 2013, the state government
of Tamil Nadu allocated funds to build two y-overs to reduce traf-
c congestion. After receiving these orders, the CoC not only
announced their intent to Chennai residents, but also took steps
to organize public hearings at different locations to deliberate with
citizens about their plans (Ramkumar, 2013). Additionally, the CoC
allowed citizens to vote on a y-over design that would help
reduce trafc congestion in key areas within the city (TNN, 2013b).
However, despite good intentions and desires, a large portion of
the population is often not included in the decision-making pro-
cesses. Baud and Dhanalakshmi (2007) found that while commu-
nity engagement improved municipalities decision making in
two areas in Chennai and helped citizen voice their opinions,
lower-income populations were predominantly missing from the
deliberation process. Middle- and higher-income neighborhoods
successfully gathered support to voice their feedback through Res-
ident Welfare Associations, but lower-income neighborhoods
lacked the social capital necessary to garner support to voice their
opinion and therefore did not participate in the decision-making
process.
Moreover, a lack of understanding of socio-economic realities
can often lead to bad policy outcomes. Ruet, Gambiez, and
Lacour (2007) note that the Chennai Water Boards (CWBs) Tri-
partite Agreement altered socio-economic structures in the urban
periphery. The CWB introduced an agreement to buy water from
farmers in the urban periphery during periods of water scarcity.
It was assumed that by selling their extra water, farmers could
expand their income sources. However, this new agreement
resulted in increasing the income per capita of rich farmers and
adversely affected the middle- and low-income farmers. Further-
more, Ruet et al. (2007) note that the agreement was based on
the assumption that all the farmers owned private wells, while
in reality, a majority of the farmers were buying water from the
wealthier farmers. As this new policy rolled out, the rich farmers
were able to sell their extra water for a higher price to the
government.
A way forward: policy implications for the future
In this paper, we have highlighted several urban, social, admin-
istrative, and environmental challenges facing the city of Chennai
despite the best efforts of city administrators. Given the social, eco-
nomic, and political realities of the city, we identify key policy
areas that will be critical for the citys future development and
growth. As outlined in this paper, over the years, the CoC has
invested considerable resources in building its electronic capacity
(e-government). Many cities both in developed and developing
countries are realizing the potential of technology in transforming
urban space, including electricity, water, parking, and transporta-
tion, etc.
In the recent years, the concept of a smart city or intelligent
city has captured the attention of policy makers. Many city
governments around the globe are searching for innovative ways
to improve service delivery at lower costs. Toward this end, many
policy makers have realized the potential of using technology to
improve service delivery. Even the academic literature is predict-
ing a shift from smart growth to smart cities (Desouza, 2012b).
The concept of a smart city can mean different things to different
people, but the main tenet focuses on the use of information and
communication technologies (Caragliu, Del Bo, & Nijkamp, 2011).
According to Desouza (2012b), a smart city is livable, resilient,
sustainable, and designed through open and collaborative
governance (2012, p. 2). To become a smart city, a city needs to
critically develop its capacity in ve core areas: (1) smart infra-
structures, (2) smart sustainable growth, (3) smart operations,
(4) smart citizens, and (5) smart governance. Turning these con-
cepts into a concrete plan may seem difcult, but given the rapid
pace of urbanization, cities such as Chennai should move toward
leveraging ICT to solve their complex urban challenges and to
develop their capacity in these core areas.
Smart infrastructures
To become a smart city, city planners need to pay critical atten-
tion to building, managing, and modifying the citys infrastruc-
tures. The city needs to leverage its limited resources to
effectively and efciently address community needs. For instance,
buildings consume enormous resources, and much of these
resources is often wasted due to ill management and outdated
infrastructures. But given the paucity of resources (e.g., water
and electricity), city planners need to develop blueprints to
encourage developers to build smart buildings. Achieving this will
require employing smart technologies to reduce consumption and
build an integrated system. Similarly, to address congestion and
pollution, the city must deploy sensors, smart meters, and an
integrated trafc system. Planners need to pay critical attention
to improving connectivity within and across the city. A well-
connected transportation system is crucial for improved connectiv-
ity, socio-economic development, and reduced trafc congestion
and pollution. A well-connected city serves as a hub for developing
businesses and connects people with each other and the services
they need to experience a high quality of life.
In 2013, the CoC collaborated with the National Informatics
Centre to launch a mobile-based waste bin clearance monitoring
system. This system was developed to monitor the timely clear-
ance of garbage in 15 zones (200 wards covering 29,864 streets
within the CoC). Every street was provided with bin(s) coded with
a unique ID number. The ward inspectors can upload photos of the
garbage areas to a central system, and corporation ofcials can log
on to the system to monitor the status of garbage collection at any
time of the day. Additionally, the CoC plans to introduce mobile
applications for the user community to allow users to upload the
 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129
status of garbage collection (Gayatri, 2013). While the city of Chen-
nai has also undertaken other initiatives, such as online bus track-
ing, metro rail, new buses and routes, online parking, and mobile
garbage collection, it needs to develop its capacity in other critical
areas, such as trafc management, energy-efcient facilities and
water recycling. Given the limited resources and increasing
demands, cities cannot ignore the need to invest in and develop
smarter infrastructures.
Smart sustainable growth
Cities must develop measures to incorporate inclusive growth
into sustainable development. This is a more critical concern for
cities in the developing world, as they tend to have large popula-
tions living in slum areas with very limited access to basic ameni-
ties such as water, sanitation, and electricity. The populations
residing in these areas usually work in the informal job sector, with
no guaranteed source of income and employment. Cities must
develop their capacity to include the populations in slum areas,
and they must invest resources to develop the capacity of this pop-
ulation to help them nd jobs and improve their living conditions.
The rst step toward achieving this goal is to recognize the slums
and provide services to improve the conditions of people living
there. While the city of Chennai has taken steps to recognize the
slums, these efforts have had limited impact. Moreover, the city
lacks accurate data about the number of slums within its jurisdic-
tion. A study conducted in 2002 found that there were 444 unrec-
ognized slums in the CMA; a population of more than half a million
live in these areas (Raman & Narayan, 2013). When a city envisions
becoming smart, it cannot ignore this subset of the population.
With the growing rate of urbanization in cities all over the world,
it is important to develop strategies to develop underdeveloped
areas within the city to gain economic and social value. More
importantly, if leveraged correctly, human are a critical asset
who can help public agencies create and transform a society.
As previously mentioned, many commuters spend inordinate
amount of time and resources to nd parking spots in the city.
While the city administration is keen on increasing the frequency
of bus and train services, due to the lack of reliable information,
residents are increasingly opting for personalized vehicles. To
address the congestion and pollution caused by these vehicles, in
2013, the CoC announced a plan to implement an online parking
system through the corporation website. The CoC has allocated
INR 25 crore (approximately $4 million) to build this system,
which will help drivers nd parking spots within the city and make
online payments (Philip, 2013a).
Smart operations
Cities are governed by a collection of public agencies. If a city
desires to become smart and intelligent, it must use technologies
to optimize the operations of these public agencies. If they function
effectively and efciently, the city as whole will develop into a
community that is attractive to its residents, businesses, and tour-
ists. Moreover, if public agencies are integrated, they can collabo-
rate their efforts to (1) satisfy the needs of the people, (2) reduce
wasteful expenditures, and (3) address intricate problems facing
society. A rst critical step toward developing a smart city is data
management. City administrators need to use resources to trans-
form, collect, organize, and manage data related to all dimensions
of the city. Some cities have developed partnerships with the
private sector, which can play a critical role in addressing the lack
of resources, skills, and expertise, especially for cities in the
developing world. For example, in Brazil, the city of Rio de Janeiro
partnered with IBM to design and install a new integrated trafc
system. Information from more than 20 city departments was
127
consolidated to produce trafc maps. The availability of real-time
trafc information allowed different city departments to coordi-
nate their responses during crises or accidents. With this new sys-
tem in place, the city recorded a 30% decrease in response times to
evacuate or aid accident victims. Social media, such as Twitter and
Facebook, can also be used to provide information about alternate
travel routes (Carter, 2012).
While the city of Chennai has undertaken measures to automate
its process of governance, it needs to develop the capacity of its
agencies to cross-collaborate. To achieve this objective, the city
administration should invest in resources to consolidate work pro-
cesses within and across agencies and encourage cross-agency col-
laboration. Moreover, many of the contemporary challenges
cannot be effectively addressed by one agency. As public agencies
collaborate and develop optimal processes for governance, the city
automatically raises its competitive edge and attracts people for
business and tourism. Additionally, by optimizing its operations,
city administration can reduce its expenditures and accomplish
more with limited resources. By embracing new technologies, a
city can optimize its operations and transform itself into a sustain-
able and vibrant urban center.
Smart citizens
With the rise of the Internet and other technologies, people
around the world are playing active roles in the processes of gov-
ernance. For example, people are engaging in online forums to
voice their concerns, share perspectives, and collaborate with oth-
ers. By creatively engaging with the general public, public agencies
can tap into their collective intelligence and encourage innovation
beyond the public sector. Moreover, we have seen numerous
instances where a community invested its time, effort, and
resources to solve complex social problems. If leveraged effec-
tively, public agencies can utilize crowd intelligence to reduce their
burden, engage the public in the processes of governance, encour-
age innovation outside the realm of the public sphere, and concrete
knowledge to address complex social problems. As illustrated in
this paper, Transparent Chennai undertook several measures to
collect and organize data on civic issues to create maps to help
Chennai residents and nonresident navigate the city. Public agen-
cies within the city should encourage such initiatives and help
NGOs, private businesses, and individuals create knowledge and
solutions to address messy social problems. Moreover, if given
resources and opportunities, users can collaborate with public
agencies to create solutions and products that meet their needs.
A smart city taps into the intelligence of its citizens and engages
them to co-design a city that satises the needs of its inhabitants
(Desouza, 2012a).
Smart governance
A city is a complex system, and public ofcials alone cannot
address the contemporary challenges facing society. A smart city
adopts a collaborative approach and encourages diverse stakehold-
ersincluding private industry, NGOs, and the communityto col-
lectively address various issues facing society. By encouraging the
participation of these diverse stakeholders, a city can reduce its
burden, offer avenues to hear diverse perspectives, and cultivates
a culture of self-governance. Moreover, by adopting transparent
and collaborative governance approaches, city administrators can
encourage people outside the public sphere to create knowledge
and provide real-time information for evidence-driven decision
making. Businesses, NGOs, and the general public are constantly
creating data and knowledge to navigate their daily requirements,
and public agencies can use this knowledge and data to make evi-
dence-driven decisions and to collaborate with other stakeholders
128 R. Krishnamurthy, K.C. Desouza / Cities 42 (2015) 118129
to deliver services that meets the demands of a citys residents. In
other words, if there is a lack of resources, public agencies can cre-
atively engage with the public to reduce its burden and explore
innovative solutions.
While the Chennai city administrators are engaging with the
public to solicit ideas, they need to think more creatively and stra-
tegically to develop partnership with diverse stakeholders to deli-
ver services. One way to achieve this is would be to make public
data open and to let creative minds inside and outside the public
sector create solutions to address complex social problems. For
instance, Mapunity, an NGO, uses mobile devices and taxi radios
to determine trafc movement in Bangalore and then provides traf-
c alerts via text messages (Townsend, 2013). Similarly, Babajob, a
Bangalore-based start-up, uses mobile technology and the Internet
to connect informal sector workers with potential employers.
Famously dubbed as LinkedIn for Villages, the site lists jobs for
cooks, drivers, housekeepers, painters, and so on (Dhara., 2007).
In developing countries, wireless technologies, such as mobile
phones and broadband, provide cheap and fast connectivity options
to cover large sections of the population (Townsend, 2013). Many
entrepreneurs are using mobile technologies as sensors to track
human movement in cities. City ofcials could develop partner-
ships with these individuals and organizations to develop innova-
tive services that would improve the quality of life of residents.
Furthermore, by leveraging mobile technologies, cities in develop-
ing countries can develop more inclusive service delivery.
Conclusion
As illustrated in this prole, the city of Chennai has a diverse
base of industries, including automobile, manufacturing, IT, the
health sector, and the nancial sector, as well as a large number
of academic institutions. Due to its large industrial base and cul-
tural heritage, the city has attracted a diverse migrant population
from all over India and world. Moreover, due its cosmopolitan nat-
ure, the city has a high literate populous. It is well positioned to
take advantage of its educated population and IT infrastructure
to harness technology to become a smart city. But despite good
intention and desires, the city of Chennai is still in the early stages
of transformation. To achieve its intended goals and aspirations,
the city needs to focus on (1) transforming data within its admin-
istrative boundaries, (2) developing a culture of sharing data
within and across different departments, (3) developing metrics
to monitor and evaluate its investment and resources, and (4) har-
nessing the potential of its educated population to co-create
knowledge and innovative solutions for social problems. It is
important to note that transitioning an urban and social sphere
is a complex process that requires strategic planning and signi-
cant resources and must evolve over time. This transformation
even more challenging in the context of the developing world,
where the cities are more constrained in terms of both human
and physical resources. But despite limitations, if planned and lev-
eraged effectively, the city of Chennai can tap into its human and IT
resources to transform itself into a smart city.
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