“The process of urbanisation has just begun in India and the biggest challenge for Indian smart cities is not to follow western world and create cities for people and not for cars. Smart cities are about people and better livability,” he said. Kant was speaking at a panel discussion on The City That Never Sleeps: Cities of Tomorrow which also had Anjana Menon, founder and CEO, Content Pixies, Amory Lovins, co-founder, Rocky Mountain Institute and Priyanka Bakaya, founder and CEO, Renewlogy.

Criticising the United States for massive urbanisation without any regard for the people and climate, Kant said that most Indian urban planners are trained in America and that is why they need to unlearn what America has done. And they have to develop innovative and sustainable smart cities.

Supporting him on this, Bakaya also spoke about how younger generation needs to look back to their roots. “Traditional models of waste management and usage made more sense to the planet earth and we need to go back to that,” she said.

She spoke about availability of cold drinks in glass bottles and not in plastic bottles and our culture of packing lunch in steel boxes and not the currently used plastic boxes. And this, according to her, will make our Earth a better place.

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