Cultural Infrastructure and the Planning of Future Cities

Abstract

Culture is an important aspect of human civilization. Preserving and giving value to the cultural heritage of a region can pave the way for local as well as regional development. This includes tangible, intangible and the natural heritage of cities. It is necessary to develop a cultural infrastructure plan along with other aspects such as transportation, built, green and grey in frastructure. Cultural infrastructure refers to places where culture is experienced, participated in or showcased in. This includes the existing cultural heritage of a place as well as the planning of spaces for cultural stimulation and involvement. With the advent of fourth industrial revolution smart cities are gradually becoming the way of life across the world. The Smart City uses Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Internet of Things (IoT) to effectively manage transportation, water services, waste disposal, energy and other community services. In this scenario it becomes imperative to have strategic infrastructure planning. Indian Government has recently launched the Smart City Mission in India and several smart city projects are underway across the country. It becomes necessar y in this context that Indian cities with their rich tradition and cultural heritage do not lose their unique identity in this process of transformation into smart cities. Even as smart city projects stress the need for heritage preservation there is a lot of ambiguity in how they can be integrated and used to advance urban intelligence. The technologies of the smart city have considerable potential to be used for the management and enhancement its cultural heritage and can help in the creation of a cultural infrastructure plan. This paper will examine the significance of cultural infrastructure in future cities and how it can be integrated into the city planning process of Indian cities through the study of relevant case studies from around the world.