THE SMART CITIES MISSION

India's cities are at a turning point. Providing infrastructure, services, and habitable spaces has never been more challenging than it is now, as more than a third of India's population now resides in cities, and forecasts indicate that by 2036, approximately 600 million Indians will live in cities. In June 2015, the Government of India announced the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) with much hype. The mission's goal was to make 100 cities more "citizen-friendly and sustainable" through technology, strong urban design, and participatory government (MoHUA, 2015). _x000D_ It was meant to be a game-changing program for urban redevelopment and retrofitting. More than ten years later, the mission has a mixed record. Some towns have adopted new technologies and improved their infrastructure, but concerns remain about unfinished projects, uneven results, and whether everyone is included. _x000D_ This article examines the history, objectives, achievements, and challenges of the Smart Cities Mission, situating them within the broader context of discussions on modernizing and making Indian cities more livable.