Women’s Safety in Smart Cities: Bhubaneswar’s Unfinished Promise
By | Sashi Sekhar Samanta |
When Bhubaneswar was selected among the first batch of India’s Smart Cities in 2016, the promise was bold and inspiring: a city powered by digital infrastructure, transparent governance, modern mobility, sustainability, and above all, a human-first approach. For thousands of women across the capital—students, IT professionals, nurses, corporate staff, domestic workers—this promise held a quiet hope: a safer, freer, more accessible city.
Nearly a decade later, Bhubaneswar has indeed changed. It has grown cleaner, greener, more organized, and even proud of its smart identity. Yet, one thing remains painfully inadequate: women’s safety. A smart city cannot be truly smart if its women are afraid to walk freely, travel safely, or participate fully in public life. Safety is not an add-on; it is the foundation of urban intelligence.
In Bhubaneswar today, the reality is both encouraging and unsettling—encouraging in the infrastructure created, unsettling in the gaps that still leave women vulnerable.
The Illusion of Modernity :
Technology, infrastructure, and aesthetics often create a superficial feeling of progress. Bright LED lights, new footpaths, widened roads, and cycling tracks do make the city look modern, but appearances don’t necessarily translate into everyday safety.
In many parts of Bhubaneswar—Kalinga Nagar, Chandaka, Infocity-II, and newer residential pockets—the streets are developed but deserted after sunset. High-rise apartments cast long shadows over empty roads. Public transport thins out. Commercial areas go dark early. These zones give the impression of safety, yet they are often the most intimidating for women returning from offices, coaching institutes, hospitals, or hostels.
A smart city is not defined by how it looks at 12 noon; it is defined by how safe a woman feels at 10 PM, walking home or waiting for an auto.
The Data Gap: Underreporting Masks the Reality : Odisha’s NCRB data consistently shows an uncomfortable truth: crimes against women remain significantly underreported. Social stigma, fear of retaliation, slow legal processes, and lack of trust in law enforcement contribute to this hesitation.
Bhubaneswar is no exception : The city’s image as an educated, progressive urban centre ironically fuels underreporting even further. Families and institutions want to preserve reputations. Women fear being blamed for their “carelessness” or “decision to stay alone.” Young female employees avoid filing complaints to protect their jobs or dignity.
A smart city must build confidence in its systems—not fear of them.
Public Transport: A Critical Weak Link , For any modern city, women’s mobility is the real measure of safety. Bhubaneswar has made improvements—MoBus, MoCycle, and app-based autos—but significant challenges remain:
Last-Mile Connectivity : Most women have to walk through poorly lit interior lanes after getting off a bus or auto. These 200–400 metres often feel like the most dangerous part of their journey.
Night-Time Transport Scarcity : IT employees, medical staff, hotel workers, students preparing for exams—all need mobility beyond 8 PM. With fewer buses and unpredictable autos, women often depend on colleagues, strangers, or expensive private cabs.
Smart Infrastructure Without Smart Safety : GPS-enabled buses and CCTV cameras exist, but monitoring is inconsistent. Panic buttons remain unused due to lack of awareness or poor functioning. A safe city cannot shut down its public transport at night. It must run robustly and reliably, especially when women need it the most. The Urban Blind Spots ,
Women’s safety is compromised in several “blind spots” across the city: isolated footpaths near the railway station , the empty spaces around Unit-9 hospital area after evening,
deserted stretches near SUM, KIIT, and Infosys campuses , the neglected edges of Jaydev Vihar flyover , half-finished construction zones , dimly lit bus stops in peripheral areas
These are not law-and-order failures—they are urban-planning failures. A smart city must design spaces that prevent crime through: constant activity , better lighting, visible police presence, street vendors,monitored public places,functional CCTV networks, Safety is created not by architecture alone, but by people, presence, and visibility.
Workplaces Are Safer Than the Journey : One of the most revealing facts about Bhubaneswar’s gendered safety landscape is this: women often feel safer inside workplaces than on the commute to and from them. IT parks, hospitals, banks, media houses, and educational institutions now have better security, ID access, professional HR policies, and POSH committees. But the moment a woman steps out to return home, she enters an uncertain environment dominated by: speeding bikes, poorly lit streets, lack of police patrolling, unpredictable auto drivers, groups of intoxicated men, empty bus stops ,
dark parks and open grounds, A city cannot call itself “smart” when the act of going home becomes a daily fear. Digital Surveillance: Promise vs. Practice .
Bhubaneswar has installed numerous CCTV cameras under the Smart City Mission. But two issues persist: Coverage Gaps , Not all areas—especially interior lanes—are under surveillance. Crimes often occur in these unmonitored pockets.
Monitoring Inefficiency : CCTV footage is useful after a crime, not always for prevention. Real-time monitoring requires trained staff, quick response teams, and coordination between police and control rooms.
Women need prevention, not retrospective justice.
Social Attitudes: The Hardest Barrier , Even with technology, policing, and infrastructure, safety remains incomplete if society continues to blame women for crime.
The social commentary around clothing, nightlife, hostel timings, or “safety rules” often shifts responsibility from potential offenders to women themselves. College hostels enforce curfews for girls; companies encourage “cab pooling” for women only; PG owners impose restrictions—all designed to “protect” women, yet ironically limiting their freedom.
A smart city must not control women. It must control the conditions that endanger them.
What Bhubaneswar Must Do: If Bhubaneswar is to truly become a safe smart city, it needs an integrated, long-term strategy built on technology, policy, urban design, and social change. Safe Mobility for All Women, More night buses, especially from major workplaces,
Mandatory GPS + verified identity for auto and taxi drivers,Dedicated women-only night service in busy corridors,Better street lighting and footpath redesign,Eliminate dark corners through lighting and open views,Activate public spaces at night with kiosks, vendors, and cultural activities,Ensure busy police patrolling in high-risk zones,Real-time CCTV monitoring with dedicated staff, Visible emergency panic button stations in commercial hubs,Mobile apps for quick SOS alerts,Integration of MoBus, police, and smart city dashboards,Fast-track FIR filing for women, More women police officers in patrol teams,Sensitisation training for all police personnel, Anonymous reporting options to reduce fear,Workshops in colleges and offices on safety rights,Self-defence training, especially for women who travel alone,Public campaigns promoting zero-tolerance for harassment,Neighbourhood watch groups,
Volunteers in student-heavy zones,Engaging RWAs to create safe internal roads,A safe city is built collectively—by government, citizens, and institutions together.
Safety Is the New Smart : Bhubaneswar has made progress. But a city cannot claim modernity simply through buildings, apps, or dashboards. The real test of a smart city is how safe women feel at dawn, dusk, and midnight—in crowded markets, deserted roads, and public transport. A woman walking confidently through city streets without fear—that is the true symbol of a smart city. Bhubaneswar stands at a crossroads. It has the infrastructure, the resources, the vision, and the opportunity. What it needs now is the will to put women at the centre of city planning, not at the margins of safety debates.
For it is only when its women move freely, fearlessly, and with dignity that Bhubaneswar can proudly call itself truly smart.
