LUCKNOW: The importance of UP in Centre's Smart Cities mission can be gauged from the fact that 4% of India's total population lives in the 12 selected smart cities of the state. This population will play a major role in determining the vision plan and necessary features required in a smart city for the entire country, claimed experts in Smart Cities Convention.

It also becomes imperative to know that 34% of UP's population is residing in these 12 cities. Jagan Shah, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs, said, "The biggest change which emerged in Census 2011 is the exponential growth of towns or urban centres in India over the past 10 years. UP has shown emergence of maximum towns in the period."

Data suggests that in UP, urban centres have grown by almost 80% over past 10 years. Shah suggested that the government should focus on developing all these towns into potential smart cities as population is increasingly migrating to urban centres for job opportunities and better lifestyle.