Mayor Soumini Jain of Kochi: Good Leadership for City’s Sustainable Development
PLANNING for Kochi’s Sustainable Future. Mayor Soumini Jain of Kochi (India), firmly stated the idea when invited to present about Leadership in New Urban Agenda at 6th UCLG ASPAC Congress, September 2016. What she has done in Kochi reflects her efforts in leading Kochi to a better and sustainable future. Mayor Soumini Jain highlights that there is a need on leadership that involves public and stimulates emergence of innovation from grass root level. The lady mayor considered important to develop citizen-‐centered city planning. She, then, has translated this idea to the establishment of community driven rehabilitation for vulnerable sections in the society, community driven financial resource pooling for management and involvement of various stakeholders such as NGOs to manage social issues. Mayor Soumini Jain also considers important the integration of gender into city planning; an idea that she translates to gender-‐sensitive policy. In implementation, city of Kochi has provided for its local people the 24/7 water and energy supply to households; ensured shelter, basic services, and employment opportunities for women; adequate primary and secondary healthcare with special care centers within reachable distances; and scaled-‐up surveillance points in the city for safety and security of women and children. Inaugurated in late 2015, the Mayor took time to reflect on what she has thus far done in the city and connected it to her city’s development and future needs. For her, it is urgently crucial for leaders to understand and learn specific
technologies, the processes involved and digitally-‐integrated business models. Encouraging ideas and innovation to bubble-‐up from the grass root level is also critical to secure and improve economic, social and environmental outcomes from local businesses and residents over the long-‐term. Essential also is encouraging the participation of more people, especially women. Kochi is a major port city on the south-‐west coast of India. Climate change, poorly managed public transport, water pollution, blocked waterways leading to floods are some challenges Mayor Soumini Jain has acknowledged. With her long-‐term vision, however, we can surely expect much better and sustainable development of Kochi in the future.