Towards Smart Urban Regeneration: Findings of an Urban Footprint Survey in Port Louis, Mauritius
Zaheer Allam 
1
Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia
2
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Moka 80801, Mauritius
3
The Port Louis Development Initiative, 22 Rue St Georges, Port Louis 56290, Mauritius
4
School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Smart Cities 2018, 1(1), 121-133; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities1010007
Received: 24 September 2018 / Revised: 15 October 2018 / Accepted: 17 October 2018 / Published: 23 October 2018
The Smart City Scheme, as part of the Smart Mauritius initiative, adopted by the Government of Mauritius in 2014, heavily incentivised the emergence of new smart cities in greenfields. The resulting migration of business and residents from existing cities to new cities affected the liveability standard of existing cities and encouraged property speculation. This shift reduced home pricing affordability further from the grasp of young professionals. With the Mauritian Landlord and Tenant Act of 1999 discouraging investment in Mauritian city centres, property developers were additionally encouraged to invest in housing projects in these emerging Smart Cities. As part of the Smart Urban Regeneration strategy of Port Louis that sought to reduce competition between new and existing cities, the provision of housing was seen as paramount to enabling the Smart Cities concept as promoted by the Government. The findings of this paper, which explores the urban footprint of Port Louis through field survey, provides insights, as to the components of the city, that can assist policy-makers and developers to better shape projects that are more responsive to the Smart Urban Regeneration plan.
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Keywords:
smart city; urban regeneration; Port Louis; Mauritius; footprint; urban survey
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MDPI and ACS Style
Allam, Z.; Dhunny, A.Z.; Siew, G.; Jones, D.S. Towards Smart Urban Regeneration: Findings of an Urban Footprint Survey in Port Louis, Mauritius. Smart Cities 2018, 1, 121-133.
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