Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu today said that urban renaissance is taking place in India as the country is moving towards unprecedented development. <br/><br/>Addressing a workshop on Smart Cities and Urbanization organised by NITI Aayog in New Delhi today, Mr Naidu said, the Smart Cities competition has brought about a certain level of competitive spirit among states to improve their parameters and all the states are competing with each other on cleanliness and other fronts. <br/><br/>He said, every state government is asking for smart cities in their states. He added that Smart Cities are being chosen after tough competition without any bias. Mr Naidu said, smart cities need huge investments and that's why government is stressing on Public Private Partnership, PPP model and has allowed Foreign Direct Investments. <br/><br/>The Minister said, earlier there was lack of civic participation and civic governance but now there is community awareness. He said, last three decades saw rapid urbanization and the composition of cities are changing. Mr Naidu said, cities are engines of growth and the Centre has come with various schemes for cities like AMRUT, Smart City Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. <br/><br/>He informed that more than 2 lakh 85 thousand crore ruprees were sanctioned for Urban Development and Housing. He said, the main focus of the government is development and urbanization is a crucial component in it.