Sitting right on the second position of the recently announced government’s list of Top-20 cities selected to be developed as smart cities, is the city of Pune. The Cultural capital of Maharashtra, Pune, was picked along with nineteen others from a list of 97 cities submitted by states during a competition held last year. The cities were selected on the basis of their infrastructure, service levels and track record.

A city is earmarked as a smart city when its investments in traditional (transport) and modern (ICT) communication infrastructure and social and human capital give rise to sustainable economic development and a high quality of life to the city residents. Further, a Smart city has the best quality government services including water, waste, healthcare, traffic management and transport.

So, what made Pune make the cut? Here are the top 4 reasons.

1. High Literacy Rate :– Education is that strong foundation that can not only help an individual go a long way in their career but also put a city on the the fastrack to development. Pune as a city has been consistently ranked as amongst the topmost cities in the country on several parameters. It’s literacy rate of 01.42 % of Pune Urban Agglomeration (UA) is the highest amongst the top ten urban agglomerations in India. The city comes at 5th position all over the country in terms of literacy.

2. Quality of Life :– In the 21st century, all that one is looking for is an international level standard of living at a decent rate in a decent city. The city of Pune fits the bill to the tee. According to data released by ‘Mercer Quality of Living Survey 2015″ which ranks around 440 cities all around the world based on their living conditions, Pune was placed at a decent 145th position globally and at good 2nd position out of the only 7 Indian cities that made it to the list.

3. IT Destination :– Over the years, Pune has able to establish itself as a notable IT destination in the country. Home to hundreds of top IT companies like WIPRO, Accenture, Accenture, TCS and Volkswagen, the city sees hundreds of youths shifting their base to the city in need of employment. IT employees are said to enjoy decent salaries with a promising future graph and hence the sector has become one of the driving factors in the city’s development.

4. Education Hub :– Crowned with the title of being the Oxford of the East, the city has more than 9 deemed universities and 400 colleges affiliated to the Pune University, offering courses across various streams. Almost 45% of foreign students who come to study in India choose Pune as their education city.

5. The Smart city Real Estate Boost :- Pune for sure has a lot of potential to grow and develop in the coming years and now with the smart city tag associated to it, the development can be expected to take place at a jet-speed rate. This means a golden spell for the real estate sector is in store. According to experts, the city could witness investments to the tune of Rs. 30,000 crores in the next five years because of the new smart city tag christened to it.

In order to compliment the pace of growth, the city has already started with some basic infrastructural development in the city like street cobbling and underground wiring etc. With everything on the track for the city, coming years could see Pune transform into a real estate powerhouse.