While there is growing talk of smart cities in conversations on global development, a majority of people in emerging market economies live in villages.
This is leading some to ask: what about smart villages?
In India, where about 70 percent of the population lives in villages, Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed his smart cities campaign with a smart villages campaign, to address suboptimal conditions and to provide people with reasons to stay, rather than move to the cities. As they build smart cities, governments and their partners — from the world of technology to the global development community — tend to overlook villages. But India offers a model of how to pursue both plans.
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About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
