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Page 14 of 16 Kodag et al. Dis Prev Res 2023;2:12 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/dpr.2023.11

The aim of smart city initiatives to provide more facilities and improve the quality of life of citizens is
appreciable, but the repercussions it can have on different aspects of urban infrastructure need
consideration, especially for the impacts of natural hazards. The disaster prevention and mitigation
measures are not the direct agenda of the smart city initiative; however, safety should be the priority for any
initiative and should not be an afterthought. Natural hazards have the potential to rip off all the
developmental initiatives if their impacts are not contemplated and consolidated in spatial planning
decisions. Smart cities should smartly navigate through the complexities and intricacies of the urban agenda
and infrastructure challenges. Furthermore, DRR requires a conscious and persistent effort, not a forced
activity.

CONCLUSION
Smart city initiatives have built aspirational values in citizens to satisfy their basic civic needs and improve
their quality of life. Hence, more people will choose to live in Pune, increasing the population density. The
rise in population will further drive the demand for residential and commercial spaces, stimulating the
changes in landuse patterns. The stress on transport facilities will require larger roads to accommodate
private and public vehicles. There will be a greater need for open spaces to suffice the growing population.
The demand for physical and critical infrastructure facilities and services shall exhaust the resources and
carrying capacity of the city, as evident from past experiences. The study reveals that smart city initiatives
proposed for Pune city influence each spatial component, resulting in increasing exposure to disaster risks
due to two main reasons: not addressing the issue or partially addressing the issue and not considering the
repercussions of the initiatives on disaster risks. The study further divulges the poor contribution to risk
reduction measures; on the contrary, the disaster risk exposure may increase due to the increase in
population density, changing landuse, road conditions, inadequacy of open spaces, obnoxiously growing
built infrastructure, and quantitative and qualitative inadequacy of critical infrastructure facilities. It is
observed that there is a wide gap between the aspirations of the citizens and the choices of the initiatives
made by the administration.

Smart city initiatives, if integrated into spatial planning holistically, could help in managing the
performance of civic facilities and services by its ICT components. It can be instrumental in DRR with its
ICT approach and real-time data for making informed decisions for DRR, such as urban flood
management. Smart city initiatives should refrain from being an “add-on feature” and another “top down”
governance mechanism.

DECLARATIONS
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to all the participants and volunteers of the Eco-Logic Foundation.

Authors’ contributions
Made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study and performed data analysis and
interpretation: Kodag S
Performed data acquisition and provided administrative, technical, and material support: Kodag A

Availability of data and materials
Not Applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
None.