Safe-City Implementation, A Continuous Process
McKinsey Global Institute report on urbanization projects that by 2025 the world will have more than one billion new city consumers. The study said these will live in some 440 dynamic emerging market cities (the 'Emerging 440'), that are set to generate close to half (47 per cent) of expected global GDP growth between 2010 and 2025. Among these, 36 cities are from India.
While urbanization is taking its shape one must not forget that urban security should be given highest priority. The process of making a safe city is evolving and continuous in nature. It requires lots of efforts & partnership among various sectors of the society.
"Safe City is a community based system that leverages partnerships and technology to help communities and businesses to reduce crime and create an environment where people can live safely and feel secure."
It should be noted that the safe city implementation is not a onetime go process, but it will require continuous efforts & partnerships from different segments of the society to make a practically safe & secure city.
Safe City Implementation Cycle:
- The First step will include a detailed study for understanding the existing system in the city for safety. This will also include the study of primary and authentic data of a particular city.
- Second, to understand the exact need for creating safe cities. This includes the gap identification & creating awareness among the Government, private & society as a whole.
- Third, since every city is different; so the needs will be different for different Based on the study, there is a need to define priority areas and correspondingly plan resource allocation. An effective blueprint of strategy should then be developed.
- Fourth, the blueprint of the strategy is implemented in to a proper system, which will include:
- Secure communication channel.
- Surveillance and video analytics
- Alert & warning system.
- Vehicle location system.
- Traffic management.
- Emergency operating system.
- Fifth, the system thus formed will help in continuous monitoring & coordination among the various govt. & non-govt. agencies.
- Sixth, there should be continuous audits & reviews for the system which will help in identifying the loop holes in the implemented system.
It should be noted that the technology is only a media for the solution, unless it is not incorporated with the civil society system it is of no use. The Government should take a lead role in incorporating the technology into a system which can be implemented with compliance. These should be a set of proper rules & procedures which has to be followed for making a city safe & secure for living.
Urban Security: What It Is All About?
There is a increasing threat among the people for security in the city due to rise in various anti social activity in the society causing damages as a result the need is felt to built a safer city for better living of the people.
Urban security is a concentrated exercise aimed at maintaining territorial integrity of a state and ensuring sustained peace, public order and rule of law in the area. Due to evolving nature of threats and increasing insecurity among the people its scope has evolved beyond policing and border management to include coastal surveillance, anti-insurgency, counter- terrorism , protection of sensitive infrastructures , cyber security and disaster management. Urban security insures the people for building the safe and secure city.
Constituents of a Safe-City:
Source: A&S India, May 2011
Cyber security:
Every technology has its own advantages & dis-advantages. With the advent of universally accessible data comes the fall side of sensitive data falling in the wrong hands. To prevent this there should be adequate safe guards in place, like firewalls, data encryption, password management etc.
Counter terrorism:
Terror activities could be avoided by implementing following counter measures:
- Use of metal detector, sensors.
- Video surveillance with video analytics.
- Control & command centre for monitoring & coordination.
- Secure alternate communication medium.
- Disaster Management plan must be formulated to meet the emergency.
- Use of x-ray machine/screening machine for baggage scanning at the public transportation stations like railway stations, airports etc.
Disaster Management:
A disaster can interrupt essential services, such as the provision of health care, electricity, water, sewage/garbage removal, transportation and communications. The interruption can seriously affect the health, social and economic networks of local communities and countries. Disasters have a major and long-lasting impact on people long after the immediate effect has been mitigated.
It is very necessary to have a proper system which is effective & efficient in both pre & post disaster. This system should include communicating system for coordination among various agencies such as police, metrological dept. etc. and mass alert & warning system.
Protection of Sensitive Infrastructure:
Sensitive & critical infrastructure includes sectors, as diverse as food and agriculture, emergency services, transportation and information technology.
There is a continuous threat to these infrastructure posed by terrorists, pandemic diseases and natural disasters. These threats can have serious effects, such as cutting populations off from clean water, power, transportation, or emergency supplies.
It consists of the proactive activity to protect indispensable people, physical assets and communication system from any degradation and destruction caused by all hazard. It pertains to the activities for protecting critical infrastructures. This includes people, physical assets, and communication (cyber) systems that are indispensably necessary for national, state and urban security, economic stability, and public safety.
