Transforming Economy of Calicut to Smart Economy

Abstract

Calicut City had a glorious history dating back to twelfth century with a vibrant trade base due to an established trade route connecting Europe and the South Asia thus making it once an internationally acclaimed city. Thus, the city was ruled by many rulers across the globe until India’s independence. Of late, the city lost its global stature due to many reasons, though it still has much aspirations and potential to become one such city. Calicut is fortunate enough to have a reasonably good economic base with mostly employment in tertiary sectors along with service- and IT-based industries. The city is also a destination with a remarkable presence in the international tourist map. The city can boast about being the center for some of the best educational institutes in India. A good portion of the revenue comes from the remittance of expatriate nonresident Keralites along with income from industries, trade and commerce though other sectors like fisheries, and health tourism contributes reasonably well to the economic development of the region. The city and its surroundings have got some of the best socioeconomic profiles with high literacy rates, better female work participation and overall a high HDI, which is comparable with some of the well-developed countries of the world. Further, an analysis is performed based on the six key building blocks of smart city namely smart people, smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart living and smart governance. Based on this analysis, it can be said that Calicut can truly aspire and has all the potentials to become a future smart city.