Urban Living Labs have recently gained a lot of attention globally but their application is still missing in urbanization of developing economies especially India. India’s Smart Cities Mission provides a pathway for its structured implementation but there is rarely any evidence of public awareness and participatory readiness. This paper mainly discusses the public knowledge and willingness along with a primary survey of 103 respondents across Rajasthan. The formal awareness is low but there is a strong willingness to participate, broad support for public- private models. Sustainable green infrastructure has also emerged as the most dominant preference for development. A study on secondary initiatives from Goa, Kuala Lumpur also provide a base for a comparative framework. The paper contends that there is a strong need of systematic integration of systematic policies and frameworks and public receptivity is a latent asset that can be highly used through awareness and government policies.