Page 20 - Shelter, October 2024

THEME PAPER

Agenda%2C%20adopted Spaces: Global Results Accountability. Accessed
Report 2017–2020. at: https://www.
• UN-Habitat Youth. 2024. Accessed at: https:// psupress.org/books/
Young Gamechangers w w w . u n w o m e n . titles/978-0-271-03252-8.
Initiative (YGI). Accessed or g/sites/default/ html
at: https://www. files/Headquarters/
unhabitatyouth.org/en/ Attachments/ • World Bank. 2020.
young-gamechangers/ Handbook for Gender-
Sections/Library/ Inclusive Urban Planning
• UNICEF. 2020. Youth Publications/2017/Safe- and Design. Accessed
Advocacy Guide. Accessed Cities-and-Safe-Public- at: https://www.
at: https://www.unicef. Spaces-Global-results- worldbank.org/en/topic/
org/lac/media/38341/ report-en.pdf urbandevelopment/
file/ENG-Unicef-youth- publication/handbook-
advocacy-guide.pdf • Wampler, Brian. 2010.
Participatory Budgeting for-gender-inclusive-
• UN Women. 2021. Safe in Brazil: Contestation, urban-planning-and-
Cities and Safe Public Cooperation, and design

GIFT CITY is the central pillar of the tri-city approach, located on the banks of the Sabarmati River between
Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) International Financial Services
Centre (IFSC) began operations in April 2015 as India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

GIFT City is an integrated development on 886 acres of land with 62 mn sq. ft. of Built Up area which includes Office
spaces, Residential Apartments, Schools, Hospital, Hotels, Clubs, Retail and various Recreational facilities, which
makes this City a truly “Walk to Work” City. GIFT City consist of a conducive Multi-Service SEZ (Special Economic
Zone) and an exclusive Domestic Area. The city has an integrated development model which has been spread out in
three phases. Each phase is designed as integrated sustainable development, for example the first phase itself includes
development of office space, residential, school, hotel, club, etc.

The salient features of the project are:
¾ India’s first city-level DCS (district cooling system) is operational at Gift City. It reduces the operational cost by
30-40% and avoids the capital cost of implementing individual air conditioner in each building.
¾ The 400MW electricity supply is planned to be 99.999% reliable (about 5.3minutes of outage per year). All the
electricity cables are laid in the Utility Tunnel in dry area protected by thick concrete wall in redundant paths.
¾ Natural gas is distributed to every house and building via pipes, which is cheaper and safer than cylinders.
¾ All Waste in the city are collected and taken to processing plant by vaccum chutes installed at every floor of the
buildings. The waste is automatically sucked through underground chutes at a high speed of 90km/h (56mph),
and is being treated through various methods including plasma gasification.
¾ Gift aims at providing a transportation network that ensures accessibility, easy and fast mobility and accidental
free traffic.
¾ GIFT City’s development has been a boon for job creation, generating thousands of opportunities across various
sectors. This isn’t just limited to high-profile finance and technology positions. Prestigious universities like
Deakin University has already established campus in GIFT City.
¾ The ongoing development of GIFT City require a skilled workforce for construction, maintenance, and facility
management. Increased job creation helps bring down unemployment rates in the region, uplifting the standard
of living for many families.

18 HUDCO-HSMI Publication