While our existence in a particular geographical location and our family by birth is not in our control, it is quite intriguing to know that how our spatial environs has enabled us to grow, relate, reason and connect the events into a sequence and finally reflects the outcome of a staggeringly complex system into a clearly thoughtful decision. This system works remarkably well with our conscious and subconscious mind.  We are constantly thinking about the things going on around us; we subconsciously relate the local matters through global perspective. “Who decides that a particular incident or activity needs to be undertaken in a particular location within a geographical area?” While the question is easy to comprehend, but the answer – nobody- is dizzying.

During regular caffeine, tea work breaks with my colleague; I realize that subconsciously during our discussions, we were sharing some vital information to the coffee/tea shop vendor… In our daily life it could have been a provision store or a retail outlet also.  Perhaps we were not aware that when we left home this morning, we will come across discussions that will provide some vital information to actors present in our spatial environment. Today there are complex algorithms, data capture apps and sensing devices that will provide such data and its amazing to see how such things lead to a whole complex system that works, exploits and guide you as how you need to respond to such information.

While we constantly think, act and behave considering the spatial context we do not comprehend to the fact that “Location” factor has played a large role in creating a difference between the worlds. Perhaps this spatial context awards us the insight about our connection with global human development, technology, history, regulatory frameworks and even esoteric discoveries. Hence explore and travel became an important component of self-education.

“Human echolocation” is the ability of humans (especially blind person) to detect objects in their environment by sensing echoes from those objects, by actively creating sounds: for example, by tapping their canes, lightly stomping their foot, snapping their fingers, or making clicking noises with their mouths. People trained to orient by echolocation can interpret the sound waves reflected by nearby objects, accurately identifying their location and size. In 1940s, based on the series of experiments performed in the Cornell Psychological Laboratory indicate that sound and hearing, rather than pressure changes on the skin, were the mechanisms driving this echolocation ability.

Given this unique characteristic of echolocation, it is unsurprising that it is a technique that is used by some non-human species that have evolved to live in environments with low light levels (e.g. bats, toothed whales; Griffin, 1958; Jones, 2005), but it is quite remarkable that some blind humans have also developed this ability, often independently without any training.

Those who can see their environments often do not readily perceive echoes from nearby objects, but judges through the perceived vision and understand it in spatial context. Vision and hearing are closely related in that they can process reflected waves of energy. Vision processes light waves as they travel from their source, bounce off surfaces throughout the environment and enter the eyes. Similarly, the auditory system processes sound waves as they travel from their source, bounce off surfaces and enter the ears. Both systems can extract a great deal of information about the environment by interpreting the complex patterns of reflected energy that they receive. In the case of sound, these waves of reflected energy are called “echoes”.

When sighted people learn to navigate by sound, they engage the part of their brain that usually deals with vision. Our brain may be able to “see” with our ears – it’s just that most of us don’t try it. In everyday life, our real sensory superpower lies not in any individual skill, but their combination. This is because each sense is relatively weak on its own. Our peripheral vision, for example, is rather poor. But we can combine it with another sense, like hearing, to make out where something is – for example an approaching car and peripheral vision for safely crossing the road. There is a long way to go with experiments with echolocation, says Dr. Lore Thaler, Lecturer at Durham University in the Department of Psychology.

Understanding Spatial Perception

Spatial ability is the capacity to understand and remember the spatial relations among objects. The adult brain is more malleable than previously thought and it can teach people to develop an ability that is similar to bats and dolphins of extracting inform information about geometric shapes from complex sounds and undertake sound-based navigation. Infact, it is observed that birds, animals are more aware and possess better spatial knowledge than human beings. By virtue of birds and animals being program to sense danger, its a natural part of evolution to understand the spatial environment. For instance, a hound has an organized knowledge of objects in relation to space around it. Spatial Intelligence is also developing spatial awareness to examine shape, smell and size of the object in relation to the cognitive difference between public and professional world. Spatial awareness helps to understand the relationships between thinking about spatial attributes and active engagement in spatially related constructions and designs. The location of a particular structure – static or moving or a building has most significant advantage and not just a mere structure but a space that effectively addresses the five senses and the building material selected adds up to the conducive climatic conditions of that particular location. For instance, many times, people visit a place and describe that they had already visualize that particular place and it was exactly similar to the perceived thought. The spatial knowledge is the thinking capacity that permits an architect or a engineer to design buildings, a chemist to contemplate the three-dimensional structure of a molecule, or a surgeon to navigate the human body or a sculpture artist to visualize a future sculpture trapped inside a lump of stone.

The Spatial perception of an individual where he/she was born, played, worked, socialize creates a sizeable impact on his wellbeing So the question is, how the Indian Cities can create a “value” in a spatial context?

Smart Value for Decentralized Urban Growth

Look beyond the buildings, commercial establishments, these spaces are designed by Urban Design/ planning professionals who understand the landuse utilization in spatial context follow a pattern. Globally, Cities are moving ahead and understanding the global trends from Infrastructure driven Smart Cities to Smart City Services to rise of Meta City is crucial.

Firstly, the direction of smart city development in each city is changing. In the past, the goal of a smart city was to build urban infrastructure. The convergence of AMRUT, Housing for All, and Swachh Bharat schemes with Smart Cities were to achieve holistic and comprehensive urban development. However, the current focus is on providing smart city services. Thus, the operation and maintenance of smart city services are becoming more important than building them.

Secondly, Place and space still matter — but in new and different ways. Around the world, a new paradigm of Echolocation is emerging. Instead of being eclipsed by new technology, the boundaries of our cities have once again been expanded and redrawn. The post pandemic age of remote work has brought with it a new kind of city that combines elements of the physical and digital worlds. The Human Echolocation strategy doesn’t stop with corporate facilities or use of coworking spaces. With the rise in remote work and work from home, the issue of employees’ homes or offices also becomes important. Corporations need to work with employees or facilities’ partners to ensure that home offices are not only outfitted with state-of-the-art digital technology but companies must ensure that workers do not fall victim to isolation and loneliness. One recent survey found that of workers who say they work from home, as a many as a quarter actually work outside the home — in coffee shops, coworking spaces, libraries, or friends’ homes. Corporations can help those who work from home find such spaces as well as ensure that employees have regular contact and connection with their peers for gatherings and connective culture-building in satellite or hub spaces.

Thirdly, Urbanization trends and digital transformation are accelerating in parallel. As cities expand and populations grow, the integration of advanced technologies acts as Pillars of successful Decision Making for Cities –

• Digital Urban Twins – dynamic 3D replicas of urban infrastructure
• Mixed Reality Mobility – AI-driven autonomous transport systems and augmented Navigation
• Governance – with blockchain-enabled digital identity systems
• Digital marketplaces for assets and services – digital real estate and NFT-based asset models
• XR in Education, Health & Culture – immersive virtual learning environments, telehealth and simulated medical services via VR, Digital heritage, art, and cultural events.
• Environmental, sustainability and Resilience – What if? simulations and develop carbon-neutral urban plans, remote work and digital commuting to reduce carbon emissions
• Accessibility & Inclusion – AI-powered language and disability support
• Enabling Technology Framework
  • 5G/6G Connectivity: Backbone for low-latency, real-time applications.
  • Edge and Cloud Computing: Scalable processing for immersive experiences.
  • Blockchain Infrastructure: Secure digital identity and ownership systems.
  • AI & IoT Networks: Real-time analytics and responsive city systems.
  • AR/VR/XR Devices: Interfaces for navigating the blended digital-physical landscape

By 2040, cities will transcend into “Meta Cities” where physical space and digital realities converge, creating immersive, intelligent, inclusive, and sustainable urban environments. Citizens will engage with civic systems, work, culture, and each other through both real-world infrastructure and persistent virtual spaces. This transformative approach from a Mega City to a Smart City to a Meta City foster scope for urban innovation, harnessing digital public infrastructure alongside technologies such as AI, metaverse, digital twins, Digital Underground Utilities, and open-source solutions to reimagine cities as inclusive, resilient, and sustainable hubs of progress

Conclusion

As cities evolve into smarter, more connected entities, the spatial dimension remains both a challenge and an opportunity. True progress lies not in isolated digital islands of innovation but in spatially inclusive planning that integrates rural fringes, secondary cities, and underdeveloped regions into the smart ecosystem. The transition from Smart Cities to Meta Cities marks a paradigm shift from a world class physical infrastructure, technology driven urban development to a digitally interconnected physical ecosystem with an urban fabric of participatory metaverse platforms.

To move beyond the current conundrum of prioritizing the needs of the citizen from basic infrastructure to a digitally connected ecosystem should not be looked a futuristic fantasy but an emerging reality.

This calls for spatially adaptive policies that align national urban missions with regional planning, incentivize inter-municipal collaboration, and ensure equitable digital and physical infrastructure deployment. A robust policy ecosystem—anchored in decentralization, data interoperability, and capacity building—can bridge spatial divides and transform cities from aspirational islands into inclusive, scalable models of sustainable urbanization.