Germany took its time deciding, but it has finally zeroed in on the three cities it wants to associate with in the Smart City Mission—Bhubaneswar, Kochi and Coimbatore. All the three are in the list of the first 20 cities that was announced by Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu some weeks ago. Bhubaneshwar had topped the list.
Germany's state secretary Gunther Adler, who is in the Ministry for Environment, Nature, Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety made the announcement. He was in New Delhi on a two- day visit. Germany has a special connect with Bhubaneswar as the modern city was designed by German architect Otto Konigsberger in 1946.
Adler said they would now look into areas of engagements to get into with these three cities towards the Smart Cities Mission. “They will be in the nature of Public Private Partnerships,'' he said.
While several countries have associated themselves in the smart city mission in varying capacities, France and the US had formally adopted three cities each. France adopted Puduchery, Chandigarh and Nagpur while the US adopted Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam. OF these six, only Visakhapatnam was selected in the top 20. It was eighth in the list.
