The country is to have a 100 smart cities that will be both greenfield and brownfield. While details of the scheme are not yet known, Shankar Aggarwal, the secretary to the Union government for urban development, has provided a preview. Issues related to land, and to red tape, rules and regulations are being addressed so that the private sector can be brought in; it will provide 90 per cent of the investment. The government is looking at building by-laws and floor area ratio (FAR) so that you can build up instead of out, thus requiring less land. A smart city will have smart infrastructure - roads, water and sewer networks, solid-waste management systems, drainage network, street lighting, pedestrian walkways, signal system, public toilets, gas supply, and safety and security systems.

This looks like a laundry list of what any well-run city with a decent quality of life should have. To be "smart" beyond this presumably means extensively using information technology for better management and delivery. But what is disturbing is the continued faith in raising the FAR as a substitute to bringing more urban land into play, despite contrary empirical evidence. A study by Bimal Patel and V K Pathak, after looking at Ahmedabad and Mumbai, concludes that "if FSI [floor space index] norms are relaxed without a substantial increase in the supply of land to be developed, the price of land can increase, favouring land owners and developers who hold large land banks, without resulting in a desired decrease in property prices in favour of the consumers".

The way to arrive at smart cities is to reform urban local bodies (ULBs). A Report on Intelligent Urbanization, prepared in 2010 for the Confederation of Indian Industry by Booz & Co and Cisco, offers some bold and comprehensive ideas. It says the ULBs are weak and ineffective, lacking finances and capabilities, and suffering from inadequate devolution of functions and powers. The way to begin is to create a "fourth" list in the Constitution called the "local list" after the central, state and concurrent lists. This list will reserve subjects in the 11th and 12th Schedules of the Constitution for local bodies. This will formalise the third or "local" tier of government. Such enabling is necessary to strengthen the basics - revamping governance and financing. This in turn will allow capabilities to be built up.

To address the issue of transfer of executive powers, what is enumerated in the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution should be made mandatory. It will include transfer of fiscal authority. The Finance Commission should specify the allocation of resources among the Centre, states and local bodies. A share of the goods and services tax, or the GST, collected in a jurisdiction can be allocated to the respective urban local body.

To be able to exercise these powers and function with the resources made available, the ULBs should give top priority to improving their capabilities. There should be a state-level municipal cadre so that talent can be attracted, careers foreseen and skill traditions built up. A sea change has to come in training and a whole apparatus of information technology deployed under the leadership of a chief information officer. On the financial front, the ULBs should invariably shift to accrual accounting and proper budgeting, put in place internal controls and assessment systems, and maintain asset registers. They should also publish balance sheets, and income and expenditure accounts.

The bottom line is you cannot do a thing to create a better urban India without the active involvement of the states in empowering and energising the ULBs. While Hyderabad and Ahmedabad have taken some steps forward, see what has happened to Bangalore. There is wide consensus that the best way to energise a local body with credible political leadership is for it to have a directly elected mayor. Realising this, the Bharatiya Janata Party, in its manifesto for the 2008 Karnataka Assembly elections, promised a directly elected mayor for Bangalore. Then a year after coming to power, it quietly buried the idea because of internal opposition. State politicians across parties like to have the ULBs feeding out of their hands, keeping them weak and inefficient. Cities will remain unsmart unless the Modi government is able to change this.

Two states, Odisha and West Bengal, have offered the Centre lists of cities that they want developed as smart cities. This means they may be willing to carry out the necessary reforms. But the states' moves can also be a ploy to get central funding while changing as little as possible. A look at how the United Progressive Alliance government's flagship urban-renewal programme fared gives us some idea. States and the ULBs primarily tried to tick off items in a list of reforms they needed to carry out, so as to continue to receive funding with little change on the ground. Truly smart cities are a long way off.

subirkroy@gmail.com

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Subir Roy: How to make unsmart cities smart

A Report on Intelligent Urbanization, prepared in 2010 for the Confederation of Indian Industry by Booz & Co and Cisco, offers some bold and comprehensive ideas, notes Subir Roy

The country is to have a 100 smart cities that will be both greenfield and brownfield.

While details of the scheme are not yet known, Shankar Aggarwal, the secretary to the Union government for urban development, has provided a preview.

Issues related to land, and to red tape, rules and regulations are being addressed so that the private sector can be brought in; it will provide 90 per cent of the investment.

The government is looking at building by-laws and floor area ratio so that you can build up instead of out, thus requiring less land.

A smart city will have smart infrastructure -- roads, water and sewer networks, solid-waste management systems, drainage network, street lighting, pedestrian walkways, signal system, public toilets, gas supply, and safety and security systems.

This looks like a laundry list of what any well-run city with a decent quality of life should have.

To be 'smart' beyond this presumably means extensively using information technology for better management and delivery.

But what is disturbing is the continued faith in raising the FAR as a substitute to bringing more urban land into play, despite contrary empirical evidence.

Originally posted here:
How to make unsmart cities smart

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Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers were divided into lines of ten men, given rushed interrogations by Islamic State fighters and shot dead, says a survivor. By dawn, he was one of only 20 left alive.

Lalish, northern Iraq: Barefoot on the burning road, a handful of families walk up the hill towards the holiest site of the Yazidi faith the temple of Sheikh Adi in Lalish.

These families are not making a pilgrimage. They are seeking refuge, some of the tens of thousands who fled the brutal advance of the militants from Islamic State through Yazidi towns and villages in northern Iraq last month.

At first they fled mostly on foot to rocky Mount Sinjar, where many died of thirst, hunger and exposure to the unrelenting elements of the Iraqi summer.

At just 18, Geni Abdullah (centre) is the oldest surviving member of her large, extended family. Photo: Ruth Pollard

When they could endure no more, and with the Kurdish People's Protection Units or YPG providing safe passage down the mountain, they fled across the nearby Syrian border and again walked for days, crossing back into the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region exhausted and traumatised.

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Persecuted throughout the ages, Yazidis speak of 72 genocides in their nearly 6700-year history, and many say this is the 73rd.

Those who survived are now homeless, spread through the northern towns and villages of Iraqi Kurdistan, living around the temple in Lalish, in unfinished houses in the nearby town of Baadra, in tents on the side of nearby hills and in halls and other shelters in the Kurdish city of Dohuk.

Continued here:
Yazidis' Iraq horror: 'I know what happened to them, but I cannot bear to say it'

Getty Center, Los Angeles

The Getty Center is a cultural hotbed encompassing all that you could wish for: a computer-operated tram; panoramic views of LA, the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean; stunning gardens designed by Robert Irwin, including work from a number of the best 20th-century sculptors such as Henry Moore; curvilinear architecture designed by Richard Meier; illuminated manuscript covers from the Middle Ages; drawings dating from the 14th century to the early 1840s; decorative art and furniture from the 17th century; room sets including an elaborate sofa bed made of beech and upholstered in silk; European paintings from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and works by the French impressionists including Van Goghs Irises; best of all it is free. Heather Marshall, Hampshire

Dubai mall

The Dubai Mall in the Downtown area is the worlds largest shopping mall with more than 1,200 shops and 200 places to eat. It is also a great free day out for the family. Visit the souk and gaze at the gold and jewellery on display. Stroll through Fashion Avenue with its high-end designer shops.

Marvel at one of the largest aquariums in the world. On the other side of the mall are the Dubai Fountains, overlooked by the worlds tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. The fountains have several free shows every day but are best viewed in the evening to get the combined effect of light and water. Its a great day out for all. Stan Kirby, Kent

Wallace Collection, London

This wonderful museum in London has everything for a visitor to enjoy, with the bonus of free expert advice on its daily specialist tours. I learnt about the history of furniture and what happens to the metal cut-out for brass patterns; the travelling tastes of people on the Grand Tour; that The Laughing Cavalier is not in fact laughing; why George IV was made to look so trim by Thomas Lawrence; how finding the unique blue colour made the name of Svres and so on delightful. An extra bonus is that it is a great place to meet family and friends and it does marvellous lunches. Ian Elliott, Belfast

St Fagans Cardiff

Without doubt the best seven hours I have spent recently was at the St Fagans National History Museum in Cardiff. Being half Welsh, I spent childhood holidays in south Wales. St Fagans took me back to those idyllic days on my aunts farm, the whitewashed buildings, the small dark living rooms, the solid wooden tables and Welsh dressers, the lustreware pottery and the feel of a genuinely warm Welsh welcome. However, St Fagans is more than just a trip down memory lane. This is an interesting potted history of Welsh life from the Iron Age through to the Eighties that caters for all age groups. There are too many attractions to highlight, but the Celtic village, St Teilos Church, the Rhyd-y-Car terraced houses, the Workmens Institute, the Gwalia Stores and the lovely park and gardens of St Fagans Castle are a must, and all for free. Peter Currell, Essex

Parc du Chateau, Nice

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The best free attractions in the world: readers' tips

WARREN Some 90 years after it last powered a mill there, Chuck Eddy thinks putting a dam back on Black Brook along with a multi-use pond would help put the town famous for its Redstone rocket on the Green back on the tourism map. And by doing so, Eddy sees such changes as a means to provide some much-needed economic vitality to the town.

A longtime Warren resident, Eddy owns the property on the corner of route 25 and 25C, currently home to Greenhouse Pizza and behind which Black Brook runs on its way to joining the Baker River.

The brook, a short distance downstream from the pizzeria, had been dammed since Colonial times, according to Eddy, who said that the town fathers needed someone to grind corn and wheat into flour for local consumption.

Like their brethren who did likewise throughout New England, those early Warren leaders came upon a scheme known as a mill privilege under which a private party, in exchange for making flour, would be entitled to earn a profit and have what Eddy said was the exclusive license to construct a dam, flood a pond and with rights to all flowage necessary in order to power the new mill.

The flour mill on Black Brook eventually became a lumber mill and remained in operation until about 1927, when it was damaged by a torrential flood, said Eddy. Three years later, when then-owner William Park died, his daughter sold the property to Charles Little, although the town of Warren, he maintained, reserved the mill privileges.

Later, Little built what Eddy called a fine home at the site and operated a lunch room there, which after several iterations and owners, is now Greenhouse Pizza. Down a steep bank from the restaurants parking lot, the base logs of the log-and-stone crib-style dam are still visible in Black Brook as is some brick foundation on the bank.

The dam had been 15 feet deep, 40 feet across and 9 feet high, said Eddy.

Under a tentative plan that Eddy will present to the community at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at Warren Town Hall, the dam, mill and a half-mile long pond would be re-created, resulting in what Eddy said would be a historic-village destination for tourism, construction employment, then service jobs and opportunity for small business entrepreneurs.

Eddy sees a community asset that could include a hydro-electric generator at the dam site as well as in the mill a harness shop and exhibits such as wood turning, blacksmithing, carding wool and weaving.

He said the Park Mill Pond could have lighted walkways and be accessible in warm weather to canoes, kayaks and paddle boats, while in the winter it could host ice skaters and also be popular with cross-country skiers and other outdoorsmen and women.

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Owner seeks to put Warren back on tourism map

A simple thing can change your lifelike tripping on a rug or slipping on a wet floor. If you fall, you could break a bone, like thousands of older men and women do each year. A broken bone might not sound awful. But, for older people, a break can be the start of more serious problems.

Many things can cause a fall. Your eyesight, hearing, and reflexes might not be as sharp as they were when you were younger. Diabetes, heart disease, or problems with your thyroid, nerves, feet, or blood vessels can affect your balance. Some medicines can cause you to feel dizzy or sleepy, making you more likely to fall. And for people with osteoporosis which affects both women and men even a minor fall may be dangerous.

But don't let a fear of falling keep you from being active. Doing things like getting together with friends, gardening, walking, or going to the local senior center helps you stay healthy. The good news is that there are simple ways you can prevent most falls.

Take The Right Steps

If you take care of your overall health, you may be able to lower your chances of falling. Most of the time, falls and accidents don't "just happen." Here are a few hints that will help you avoid falls and broken bones:

STAY PHYSICALLY ACTIVE. Plan an exercise program that is right for you. Regular exercise improves muscles and makes you stronger. It also helps keep your joints, tendons, and ligaments flexible. Mild weight-bearing activities, such as walking or climbing stairs, may slow bone loss from osteoporosis.

HAVE YOUR EYES AND HEARING TESTED. Even small changes in sight and hearing may cause you to fall. When you get new eyeglasses, take time to get used to them. Always wear your glasses when you need them. If you have a hearing aid, be sure it fits well, and wear it.

FIND OUT ABOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS OF MEDICINES YOU TAKE. If a drug makes you sleepy or dizzy, tell your doctor or pharmacist.

GET ENOUGH SLEEP. If you are sleepy, you are more likely to fall.

LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL YOU DRINK. Even a small amount of alcohol can affect your balance and reflexes.

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Preventing Falls and Fractures

NUMBER 3 Flowery Bank is a deceptively spacious and beautifully presented two bedroom cottage, set in a sought-after location on the edge of the village of Broughton.

On the market with the Malton office of Boulton and Cooper Stephensons, there is an open day at the cottage on Saturday, from 11am until noon.

The cottage is complimented by substantial and delightfully landscaped gardens, extending to in excess of half an acre, with brick outbuildings and a timber field shelter.

The 12ft living room enjoys a front aspect and has a multi-fuel cast iron stove set into a recess on a stone-flagged hearth. It has a stripped pine floor, double radiator, exposed and timber beams (painted white).

The kitchen is fitted with a range of stained solid maple wall and base units and solid beech worksurfaces. There is a Belfast sink with chrome mixer taps, tiled and mosaic tiled splashbacks, plumbing for washing machine, exposed beams (again painted white), stone flagged floor and double radiator.

The kitchen opens to an 11ft dining room which enjoys rear and side views and has a stripped pine floor and double radiator.

There is a 17ft conservatory of uPVC construction on a brick base with internal and external French doors, stone-flagged floor and four double radiators. There is also a downstairs cloakroom and WC.

On the first floor are two bedrooms and a bathroom. Both bedrooms have pine floors and double radiators and the bathroom is fitted with a modern, white three-piece suite. The room has a vaulted ceiling with Velux roof light, fitted cupboards and double radiator.

Outside is a small gravelled front garden and to the rear is a sunken patio area with attractive planting along the trellis and an outside power socket.

Steps with trellis archways lead to the first part of the garden with meandering stone-flagged walkways sweeping through attractive herbaceous borders and lawned areas. There is a brick shed which has power and light, an Al Fresco patio area and a timber shed.

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Property open day for Ryedale cottage

SALISBURY, Md. - A flying piece of history landed in Salisbury on Monday morning and will call the airport home for the next week. A B-17 bomber, part of the Commemorative Air Force, landed in Salisbury and is open to tours and even flights for visitors.

The plane is nearly 70 years old and a quick step inside of the cabin and you will quickly realize that it is nothing like the aircraft in the skies today.

"This aircraft's mission typically went to 25 to 30 thousand feet. It would be 50 degrees below zero inside the airplane. Airplane is not pressurized, not heated. You'll also find out how tight it was inside. We like to tell people it was built for your freedom and not your comfort," said Russ Gilmore, the pilot of the B-17.

The plane, known as "Sentimental Journey," has low ceilings and very narrow walkways. It has been restored to replicate as much as possible from the day it was originally built in 1944 so visitors get as close to authentic as possible.

The plane flew mainly in the Pacific during the war, mainly to map out areas and assist in search and rescue missions. Anyone who steps inside for a tour will see the replicated side guns and turrets, bombs inside the bomb bay, and what it was like to be a pilot of a B-17. And speaking of the pilots, those who fly the plane these days said they wouldn't trade it for anything.

"It's an honor to be able to do it. It's my way to pay back the veterans. And we never want to forget the younger folks in the community who may not have heard of WWII, so this is our chance and rather than just see a movie on TV, this is the real thing," Gilmore said.

A tour of the B-17 will cost $5 while a flight is going to run you $425. People can visit the plane until Saturday.

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Flying History Lands in Salisbury

KL has gone from tin-mining shanty town to Asian cyber city in under two centuries: glittering skyscrapers dwarf Tudor buildings, Hindu shrines and Buddhist temples sit side by side with neon-lit retail temples, and cars bearing McDonalds VIP drive-thru stickers pause by hawker stalls to pick up skewers of spiced stingray.

There is more than a hint of KLs admiration for America (Amreeka) in its skyscrapers, shopping malls littered with cookie, pretzel and hot-dog stands, and even its National Monument. One of several attractions in the vast Lake Gardens, a former tin mine transformed into a park under British colonial rule, the monument commemorates those who died in Malaysias struggle for freedom, with over-muscled bronze soldiers that are pure Hollywood.

The exuberant Bird Park, the under-visited Islamic Arts Museum and the magnificent Sri Mahamariamman Temple (Malaysias oldest Hindu shrine located near the Lake Gardens) are more indicative of Malaysias natural and cultural bounty.

Given its relative youth, its small wonder that KL is still finding its own identity, but the resulting mishmash is a delight for the curious tourist. Within a few minutes walk of Merdeka Square, with its mix of British colonial, North African and contemporary architecture, youll find Masjid Jamek, an intricate Moorish-style mosque and the Art Deco faade of the covered Central Market, whose stalls sell jade, wooden sculptures and other handicrafts.

The narrow streets of Chinatown are here, too, packed with stalls selling fake handbags, wallets, phones and clothing, all infused by the arresting smells of hawker stalls. Farther south of the city centre, you can buy saris, lotus flowers and authentic banana leaf curry in Brickfields, or Little India.

Trendy young KL-ites congregate around Kuala Lumpur City Centre and the Golden Triangle, incorporating the Bukit Bintang strip. Dominated by the Petronas Towers, this is the concrete jungle of refrigerated shopping malls, luxury hotels, chic bars and unashamed consumerism that Malaysians are most proud of.

Bukit Bintang is where locals celebrate Merdeka Eve and do what they love best shopping and eating. Just be sure to duck out of the air-conditioned malls, Starbucks and KFCs lining Bintang Walk to sample the sizzling skewers and steaming bowls of noodles at the hawker stalls along Jalan Alor.

Its also worth hopping on KLs impressive public transport system (or taking an inexpensive taxi) to explore the citys hinterland, which includes the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, which has treetop canopy walkways for a taste of the rainforest; and Kuala Selangor Nature park for its magical fireflies.

A must-visit is the Batu Caves, a towering limestone outcrop containing Malaysias most sacred Hindu shrine: embrace your inner Indiana Jones to clamber 300 steps to a labyrinth of caves and shrines to the chattering encouragement of the athletic local monkeys.

To truly escape the heat and bustle of KL, however, follow in the footsteps of Twenties colonials and retreat to the Cameron Highlands. Discovered by Sir William Cameron in 1885, the highlands to which he gave his name became one of Malaysias largest hill stations. Located 120 miles from Kuala Lumpur, the highlands are home to an ecosystem that combines tropical flora and fauna with those that thrive in cooler climes.

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Kuala Lumpur and Cameron Highlands: where to go and what to see

A rock is a hard place to grow a garden, but Bisbee homeowners will show how theyve done it during a self-guided garden tour on Saturday.

The 13th annual Bisbee garden tour by the Bisbee Bloomers features 11 stops, including several on rocky ledges above Old Bisbee.

Ken Budge, a Bisbee councilman, and his wife, Mary Alice, have built up the soil in their front, back and side yards surrounding their home, which sits on rocky and caliche-filled Bee Mountain.

The hard soil was made even less plant-friendly by three cottonwood trees whose knotty roots left little space and water for anything else to grow.

Ever since the couple removed the trees 10 years ago, the soil has loosened up, Mary Alice Budge says.

The couple has hauled topsoil, fertilizer and mulch to the yards and vigorously composted leaf litter to add to the dirt.

Today the landscape features Cypress, flowering plum, desert willow and mulberry trees, as well as wisteria, Tombstone rose, barrel cactus, prickly pear, salvia, marigold and bushes that attract butterflies.

Budge suggests patience when it comes to building up nurturing soil.

Its a long process, she says. Over time, as the plants get bigger and leaves start to drop, that naturally will build up your soil.

Susan and Jim Miller, whose home sits on a caliche bed, didnt bother making the existing land friendly for growing.

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Bisbee Garden Tour