Urban Update May 2018

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume V, Issue I

MaY 2018

Special Edition

4

South Asian Cities Summit

New Urban Agenda & Localising SDGs

This special edition features analytical write-ups from some of the brightest experts in urban development domain and also from young professionals.

We are hopeful that readers, especially those working in the domain, will find the new ideas in the articles engaging, refreshing and inspiring

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

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ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate

Akash Mandyal Reporter

Volume V, Issue I

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We are hopeful that readers, especially those working in the domain, will find the new ideas in the articles engaging, refreshing and inspiring

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May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

EDITORIAL

South Asian Cities Summit to drive sustainable urban development

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he South Asian Cities Summit is the flagship event of All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment. This year, AIILSG is organising the Summit in partnership with United Cities Local Governments – Asia Pacific (UCLGASPAC), UN-Habitat and International Urban Cooperation (IUC) of the European Union.

National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Cities Alliance and CITYNET are among the several other partners.

The event recognizes the crucial importance of cooperation, collaboration and collective action among cities and organisations in addressing and overcoming the similar and sometimes, common challenges faced by cities in a region – South Asia in this case. The 2018 Summit, the Fourth of the series is being held at New Delhi on 4th and 5th May. The Theme for this Summit is ‘New Urban Agenda & Localising SDGs’. We have felt the need to bring together minds from the region – mayors, municipal authorities, architects, urban planners, environmentalists and several others in order to leverage the multi-disciplinary expertise to address the complex challenges cities face. With the global population racing towards a majorly urban character with about two-thirds of the population to be city dwellers within the next 20-25 years, there is need not just for addressing the challenges effectively but for preparing cities to welcome the new city dwellers. During the last few decades, the rapid and relentless urbanisation has been viewed in several quarters as an undesirable, yet essential outcome of economic development.

Policies have sometimes been crafted to resist the onslaught. Urbanisation nonetheless, has not been halted. But this circumspect approach has left cities ill-equipped and manifests in many of the pervasive problems that we see today, such as housing shortages leading to proliferation of slums and service delivery deficits.

The New Urban Agenda seeks to address these

issues and urge cities towards more sustainable development on several dimensions – economic, social and environmental. It acknowledges subnational and local governments as key players in addition to national governments. Their role in promoting social inclusion and ending poverty cannot be overe mphasized. Local governments have crucial roles in the areas of education and public health which are key inputs in the transformative process towards more equitable societies. We are confident that these and several other aspects will be addressed in detail with wide ranging consultations and sharing among the delegates at the Summit.

Alongside we are holding the International Skill Conclave 2018 on 5th May at the same venue. Skilling of the growing youth populations in several South Asian countries, notably India is a crucial input in order to provide gainful employment to large numbers. At the same time, it can provide a steady supply of wellequipped, efficient and competitive workforce to meet the demands of various sectors of the economy. In view of this pivotal role of skilling in the economies of several nations, the event will bring together policymakers, industry, non-government actors and several others from the international arena to share ideas and experiences. There will be domain experts from several industry sectors such as IT, healthcare, education and manufacturing.

We are sure that these events will enable cities in the South Asian region to benefit significantly in their quest for better livability and sustainability. This issue of Urban Update is a special edition devoted to the Summit. We carry contributions by some of the speakers and panellists thus adding greater variety and depth to urban issues and a more enriching experience.

Rajiv Agarwal Editor-In-Chief dg@aiilsg.org

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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PIN POINT

BUZZ

Vice President Of India @VPSecretariat

There’s ample evidence that Swachhata has become a Jan Andolan. From being a project of the govt., it has become a project of the people. This was on display during the ISC-FICCI Sanitation Awards where corporate houses & individuals put their best foot forward for @SwachhBharatGov

Reviewed urban issues with local bodies. Directed MCDs to build vertical gardens at flyovers, to be watered with non-potable water only. DDA shall also take up a massive plantation exercise. Vacant Gram Sabha lands to be developed as green parks. Our focus - Green Delhi

Hardeep Singh Puri Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs

Anil Baijal LG Delhi

One more important strategic element of the Smart Cities Mission is the use of digital technology to bring about transparency and accountability, as well as improving the service delivery to its citizens

Scott Wiener @Scott_Wiener CA State Senator, Urbanist

Our profound lack of housing leads to “super commutes,” which are awful for our environment & well-being. We need much more housing in our job centers near transit. We will keep fighting for a sane & sustainable approach to housing

Maimunah Mohd Sharif @MaimunahSharif Executive Director, UNHABITAT

Of the many institutional reforms that have been sabotaged in the past, none stands out so starkly as the sabotage of the 74th constitutional amendment providing for the empowerment of urban local bodies

Diu Smart City is the first Indian city that runs on 100% Renewable Energy during the daytime. It is saving 13,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year, setting a benchmark for other cities

Vijaya V @vijayavee

Avaada Avaada is a leading independent developer of renewable energy projects

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May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Without addressing those left behind in urbanisation, the 2030 Agenda cannot be achieved. @UNHABITAT’s achievements in this regard are discussed in our Cross-Cutting Report 2017, addressing gender, youth, human rights and climate change

AsianDevelopmentBank @ADB_HQ

Climate change and natural disasters can have lasting consequences on livelihoods, economies, and fiscal balances of nations. Pacific island countries are the most exposed and need to build resilience now

Inside

Volume 5, Issue 1

LEADerspeak

May 2018

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10 Transformative power of public participation Community participation is becoming increasingly important for improving urban local governance. The initiative of GoI to engage public in finalising ‘smart cities’ is considered a pioneering step in strengthening ULBs

ARTICLE

12 Where do we stand on the New Urban Agenda?

The New Urban Agenda (NUA) was adopted in Quito, the capital of Ecuador in October 2016. Over 193 countries discussed and adopted the future agenda on urbanisation

14 Financing new urban India challenges & solutions

RegularS

6 34

Pin Point Newscan

8 46

Equi-City Urban Agenda

article

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Urban Local Bodies and SDGs in India

As we embark on ‘New Urban Agenda” and proceed to institutionalize and localise development initiative, India has to play a very important role. India must take a lead to drive the global effort to mitigate the challenges

16 Future challenges for our cities According to Darwin, “species that survive are not the largest nor the most powerful, not even the smartest or changing or improving fast: no, the species that survive are those that are best suited”

22 Role of cities in achieving MDGs and SDGs Cities have higher per capita incomes, more modern schools and superior state of art health infrastructure than the villages. Thus, they should be in the forefront in the achievement of the development goals

Sustainable Development Goals are universal in nature with local implications and intervention possibilities to ensure relevance, applicability and accountability in the planning, design and implementation of policies and programs. Most SDGs have targets that are functions of local governments. Recognizing the rapid rate of urbanization, the then UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon sent a clear message, “our struggle for global sustainability will be won or lost in cities”

28 Asian cities pollute our Seas the most Eight of the ten rivers, that carry almost 95 percent of all the plastic debris into the Seas, are from Asia. Ganges and Indus are among them. A recent scientific study has this shocking revelation to make. The study, that analysed data from 79 sampling sites along 57 rivers, found that 5 trillion pounds of plastic is floating in the seas.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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feature | Equi-City

Equi-City – towards more equitable cities Equi-City is a pioneering project to enhance inclusiveness. The first of its kind, the project is intended to increase capacity building of everyone involved in the process from lower rung to the highest. We are working on every layer of the governance to ensure that an equitable system of services is ensured. This is going to be a model of governance in the days to come Equi-City Team

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he main aim of the EquiCity project is promoting inclusive and sustainable growth of Indian cities through collaborative multi-stakeholder approach using participatory governance between local authorities and stakeholders to ensure equitable provision of municipal services, which would be achieved through set diverse activities. The project is directly in line with capacity development of Local Authorities (LA) and diversity. It addresses all actions required to mobilise resources, accountability, diversity, and sharing of knowledge and best practices.

The Equi-City project has a core element of capacity building wherein officials are capacitated and sensitised and honed to become leaders and tackle specialised issued faced by the target cities to ensure equitable service delivery. The capacity building programme will be developed by engaging with the stakeholders (CDF) through interactive participatory sessions and strengthened by research.

The project advocates for diversity in the work place while ensuring future human resources policies promote equitable and merit based opportunities. The project consists of setting up of Diversity Committees within LA organisation and help create Diversity and Equality Policy Framework, which will act as a base for ensuring diversity in the future.

Diversity Committees will also act as a forum for grievance redressal.

The project also sets up monitoring

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May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

and implementation mechanisms to ensure accountability and transparency in delivery of municipal services, using tools that create a demand pull by citizens and supply push by local authorities. Towards the end, the project will develop and implement a Citizen based Municipal Rating System. Efforts will be made to encourage widespread adoption of the rating system in other cities. The project will develop the monitoring and implementation tools from a menu of relevant information technology (IT)/non-IT based solutions. The project ensures that all the relevant information and best practices reach the stakeholders and municipal officials located in target cities. The project also focuses on real-time information dissemination using technology based and non-web-based tools. The project ensures that poor urban dwellers are sensitised and updated on their request for and delivery of municipal services.

An Urban Update newsletter will be sent out to various stakeholders to highlight the various initiatives and ensure accountability and transparency in operations, including initiatives.

In this background, it is worth mentioning that the first year of the Project focused on establishing the Participatory Forum i.e., the City Development Forum (CDF), organizing Zone level sensitization workshops on sanitation and municipal services, conducting the diversity survey for the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and conducting the Training Needs Assessment (TNA). Following these the second year focused on formation of Diversity Committee and formulation

of Training Policy, increasing the technical capacity of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation Employees through various Training Workshops (10), developing the Monitoring and Evaluation Research framework for developing M&E Tools, etc.

Equi-City Project is also in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation) and 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities).

January 2016marked the official launch of the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted universally in 2015 by all 193 member countries of the United Nations. The 2030 Agenda calls on countries to commence efforts to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the following 15 years.

SDGs explicitly acknowledge the significant role that cities play in the interest of sustainable development through Goal 11, which aims to ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, secure, resilient and sustainable’.

However, cities will play a vital part in the execution of the entirety of the 2030 Agenda as all of the SDGs contain targets that will demand local action.

Cities have the intent to generate new modes and advanced solutions for the implementation of sustainable development initiatives.At the same time, cities require support to address barriers in terms of capabilities, financing, administration, access to appropriate and affordable technologies. Sharing best practices among cities will be critical to maximize the impact of the SDGs and create a more sustainable future for all.

The New Urban Agenda, which

was agreed upon at the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador during 17-20 October, 2016 offers a new model of urbanization in response to the challenges of rapid urban growth and specifically acknowledges local authorities as key partners in shaping the global agenda.

There are ten targets for SDG#11 that start to unpack the SDG’s meaning and philosophy, and also imply actual measures of progress: ♦♦ By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums ♦♦ By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons ♦♦ By 2030, enhance inclusive and

sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage ♦♦ By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations ♦♦ By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management ♦♦ By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

Support positive economic, social

Pic Courtesy: Healthy Teen Network

and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning ♦♦ By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels ♦♦ Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials A key focus of Habitat III and the New Urban Agenda is equity and social inclusion. By ensuring equity in opportunities and services, as well as fair distribution of society’s benefits and burdens, states and local actors advance social and urban development in line with human rights, and give individuals the chance to live to their full potential.

Through projects like Equi-City, the Government of India, state governments and urban local bodies are working hard to transform India’s cities for the better. India’s cities continue to grow. Unless this massive development is planned and made sustainable, the costs will be enormous, especially for the urban poor.The urban poor are the most vulnerable to current climate variability, such as regular floods and water deficits. Investments in new city infrastructure offers a tremendous opportunity to build sustainable and resilient cities using less energy and water. India, unlike other emerging economies, still has tremendous choices about how it can arise along a sustainable growth route. Choices in housing, energy and public transport could reap massive local and global benefits over decades: the right choices will save water, energy and carbon, and improve health and quality of life.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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leaderspeak | public participation

Transformative power of public participation In the age of new age development, community participation is becoming increasingly important for improving urban local governance. The initiative of Government of India to engage public in finalising area-based development plans and pan-city plans for ‘smart cities’ is considered a pioneering step in strengthening local governments. Similar initiatives could help in achieving the SDGs and targets under New Urban Agenda. This year’s SAC Summit will focus on building such platforms where people, city leaders and officials can work together on a common mission of building better cities

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

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inking public participation with policy-making and project finalisation for municipalities is instrumental in making inclusive cities for all. All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) is organising the 4th SAC Summit-2018 to bring all stakeholders together and accelerate the process of public participation in charting the layout for cities’ future.

To create livable and inclusive cities in India, urban governance by city leaders has to be restructured to ensure that the urban environment and mechanism of governance they create and maintain for their citizens is socially just, ecologically sustainable, participatory, productive and culturally vibrant. The role of knowledge-sharing and collaboration between cities within India and in the South Asian region is going to be significant. And, I am sure that the events like SAC Summit will provide a platform to all cities

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May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

to come together and discuss their problems and share their experiences for mutual benefit. I am glad that the representatives from more than 15 countries and over 100 cities will take part in the Summit taking place in Delhi. This year, we have the provision for providing the city officials and municipal leaders space for meetings.

The 3rd South Asian Cities Summit witnessed the participation of over 300 national and international delegates, and over 70 city mayors and commissioners from India and other South Asian countries. This year, we are expecting over 500 participants from the world over. I am hopeful that all of us together can work together to transform our governance systems and in turn transform our cities into livable and inclusive habitats.

The last edition of the Summit was to explore the new avenues of urban development in evolving urban agglomerations in the South Asian Region. The theme of the Summit

was ‘Smart Cities—Aspirations and Challenges’. On the basis of deliberations during eight sessions held at the two-day conference, city leaders from South Asian cities along with dignitaries from national and International development agencies, donor organizations, civil society organizations and representatives of wider urban development fraternity signed an 11-point declaration to make cities inclusive, better governed, smart and sustainable. You can refer the archives of our magazine to know the details of the commitments made at the last Summit. Since then we as an institution are making all efforts to strengthen local governance and empowering local bodies with training their workforce. We have trained more than 3000 municipal officials in last two years. We are still committed to do our bit to transform cities and our new program in the City of Nagpur is closely working with the corporation and the local community to ensure

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan delivering Chief Guest address at the 3rd South Asian Cities Summit

equitable delivery of municipal services and diversify the municipal workforce.

This is being done in close coordination with the local community in the city.

Collaboration and community participation

For too long, cities have underleveraged the opportunities provided by collaborations. One city can certainly learn from the experiences of another city and can offer a helping hand. We need to reach out to each other for help.

The new Urban Agenda also talks about: “Adopt sustainable, peoplecentred, age- and gender-responsive and integrated approaches to urban and territorial development by implementing policies, strategies, capacity development and actions at all levels, based on fundamental drivers of change, including …

Strengthening urban governance, with sound institutions and mechanisms that empower and include urban stakeholders, as well as appropriate checks and balances, providing predictability and coherence in urban development plans to enable social inclusion, sustained inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and environmental protection.”

Technology is continuing to move

The 3rd South Asian Cities Summit witnessed the participation of over 300 national and international delegates, and over 70 city mayors and commissioners from India and other South Asian countries. This year, we are expecting over 500 participants across from the world. I am hopeful that all of us can work together to change our governance systems and in turn transform our cities into livable and inclusive habitats

at an immensely fast pace, and cities need to keep themselves updated with this change by implementing new innovative technologies in their systems. Our government has already taken such an initiative under Smart Cities Mission and the result was encouraging.

An action-oriented approach like this can tackle the fundamental challenges of urban governance and public participation.

The experiments in India in urban governance and public engagement can be shared with our friends in South Asia region.

A variety of forms of citizen-state engagement are in practice around

the world. However, we need to assess how such initiatives work in practice, for whom and with what social justice outcomes.

These experiments and learning from these programs can build on the momentum for smart and sustainable urban development elsewhere too. For the 2018 Summit, we will focus on bringing together small and large cities to build on collaboration and address the common problems through shared knowledge and resources.

We are also making efforts to widen the horizons of South Asian Mayors’ Forum and have regular such dialogues in different cities.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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Article | NEW URBAN AGENDA

Where do we stand on the NEW URBAN AGENDA?

The New Urban Agenda (NUA) was adopted in Quito, the capital of Ecuador in October 2016. Over 193 countries discussed and adopted the future agenda on urbanisation. Since then, over 18 months have passed and it is apt to comment on where we have reached to achieve the goals of Habitat III Conference

Tikender Singh Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla

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lthough it is not a legally binding document but for sure it provides a future roadmap on urbanisation in the world. For India which is fast urbanising, it is all the more important to address issues like housing, transport, energy, social equity, employment-all of which are part of the agenda. This is important to secure a sustainable environment. There are 17 sustainable development goals mentioned in the conference to ensure a secure and better future for mankind.

The statistics however are not very encouraging as far as the interventions are concerned. Cities which generate more than 80 percent of the World’s GDP also emit 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly 20percent of the urban population continues to live in slums where the basic necessities are far away. The social divide in increasingly widening as stated by the data from various sources. It (data) is screaming for pro-active interventions from the National, State and City governments.

The NUA calls for an urban paradigm shift to re-address the way planning is done. The shift in planning of cities in

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India must address issues like finance, governance and housing. The slogan of ‘cities for all’, where all inhabitants are able to inhabit and produce safe, resilient, affordable and sustainable cities is part of the NUA. Radical slogans like ‘right to the city’ also find mention in it. And this right is irrespective of their legal status over the city’s resources and spaces. The cities

must be empowered both politically and financially.

Mathew Idiculla very aptly writes about the Indian commitment even at the NUA, which was quite ‘limited’.

It is believed that even during the negotiations, “the Indian position unlike other member states who made detailed suggestions for revisions, the Indian delegations mostly gave

short, cryptic comments expressing discontent with certain sections.

India wanted provisions supporting refugees and migrants circumscribed by a proviso stating “where applicable as permitted by laws of the land”.

India also preferred a more generic commitment on the right to housing instead of one that denounced discrimination and forced evictions.

India sought restrictions on provisions that increased local government autonomy over taxes. The nature of India’s engagement raises concerns about our seriousness in empowering cities and their inhabitants.

As evident, the urban priority does not give credence to the NUA spirit.

However, the urban policy and the interventions like the smart city project and the Pradhan MantriAwasYojana do speak about inclusivity, sustainability and equity. But it does not fulfil the approach that all inhabitants have a ‘right to the city’.

This is becoming all the more evident from the ‘removal of the poor’ from the core of the city to the periphery. Either their habitations are demolished under one reason or the other or they have been termed as outsiders. In Delhi large scale eviction drive carried out at the behest of the Courts’ order is another pointer. The executive does not commit to the right of the individual to the city

and hence does not come forward to intervene through a legislation, etc.

It looks like the NUA is more like a normative agenda for India. Some of the concrete realities in urban spatial planning, urban governance and municipal finance continue to be decrepit.

Just a look at the urban planners will further substantiate the point. The number of urban planners is very small.

Britainhas 38 planners per 100,000 people, whereas in India, the figure is just 0.23. There are several urban local bodies without a single qualified urban planner.

The common issues and challenges that most of the Indian cities face are poor governance, multiple jurisdictions (despite 74th constitutional amendment), very weak revenue base and understaffed local bodies. The flagship Smart Cities Programme(SCP) of Government of India which should have become the lighthouse for mitigating these challenges has further accentuated the problems. Instead of strengthening the democratic structure and the authority of elected bodies it has undermined them altogether. Some of the commentators have even termed the SCP as ‘an obituary of the 74th constitutional amendment’.

John Closs the former Executive Director of UN Habitat III has strongly

criticised the laissez-faire approach to city building by saying that “urban planning has fallen out of fashion.

The development strategy of many countries has been relying a lot on the Washington Consensus which had no specifics on the relevant role that urbanisation plays in development”.

He has given a call to return to the fundamentals of urbanisation where the free market economy must be discarded and stress has to be laid on planning. In an interview he further said, “as urbanisation becomes a huge process affecting billions of people there is a need to come back to the fundamentals that perhaps in the past 30 to 40 years have been a bit forgotten.

In fact, when we analyse the kind of urbanisation that is being built now, we see that what is failing are very fundamental issues of urbanisation, such as proper rules and regulations and a lack of adequate urban planning.”

Much of urban planning, Clos notes, was in line with the Washington Consensus — a set of economic reforms that policymakers from the World Bank, IMF and other D.C.institutions prescribed for developing countries several decades ago as a way to boost growth. Their recommendations, broadly, placed a strong emphasis on the free market. By lowering government regulations, opening up to trade and privatizing industries, markets would thrive and industries would grow. But those types of open and deregulated policies overly exposed developing economies, economists have argued, and have had destabilizing effects when global markets took drastic turns. The Washington Consensus has come to be maligned in some development circles.

While the New Urban Agenda has brought planning back at the centre, it is, however, questionable whether the ruling dispensation so obsessed with neo liberal paradigm of economics will lay emphasis on more interventionist strategies. The flagship programmes on urban India bring in a PPP model which has not even taken off. It seems the NUA will be more of a rhetoric rather than a tool to carry on the urban agenda in India.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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Article | urban financing

Financing New Urban India challenges & solutions

As we embark on ‘New Urban Agenda” and proceed to institutionalize and localise development initiative, India has to play a very important role. We must take the challenge head on and ensure that we meet the commitments made at international forums. India must take a lead to drive the global effort to mitigate the challenges

Ravi Ranjan Guru Deputy Director General, AIILSG

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Indian urban population is growing every day.

People are migrating to the cities in search of better opportunities. Even if we go by 2011 census, the data tells us that this population has grown by thirty two percent. The urban population has grown by 32% from 2001 to 2011 as compared to 18% growth in total population count. As per Census 2011, 31% of the country’s population (377 million people) live in cities, and contribute to 63% of the country’s GDP. The urban population is projected to grow to 600 million by 2031. With increasing urban population, the need for providing better infrastructure and services in cities is increasing. The government is acting and taking steps to address urban issues. These include the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission, Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Housing for All (Urban) (PMAY-U), and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

The ministry has already announced the name of cities under the smart cities mission. In addition, the government

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has also announced policies and released data indicators to help with the implementation of the urban schemes.

All the announcements sound good but we are confronting financing issues in the urban landscape today. We are facing challenges of implementing such schemes and the policies that are trying to address some of the urban issues.

Urbanising India

The process that began with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM), launched in 2005 has now been converted into AMRUT. JNNURM was the first of its kind scheme to finance urban infrastructure. It was under this scheme that the central government

specified certain mandatory and some optional reforms for cities, and provided assistance to the state governments and cities that were linked to the implementation of these reforms.

JnNURM focused on improving urban infrastructure and service delivery, community participation, and accountability of city governments towards citizens. The new urban schemes moved beyond the mandate of JnNURM. While AMRUT captures almost all the elements of the earlier scheme, it has also included and has brought issues like ‘Swachh Bharat”, affordable housing (through PMAY-U), and technology into decision making.

What we need to look at is that while earlier, majority of the funding came from the government, central and the state, now a significant part of the funding will have to be raised by the cities themselves. The cities will have to raise almost sixty percent of the amount that they need for execution of the work. The new scheme suggests that

cities need to raise these funds either as collection of user fees or borrow from financial institutions and engage in public-private partnership.

Urban financing

The question that confronts us now is how in a new urbanizing India our cities can sustain themselves and be financially viable. At the moment municipal corporations have access to revenues in different forms such as tax revenue like property tax, toll tax, entertainment tax, and in addition non-tax revenue such as user charges, building permission fees, sale and hire charges. What the urban local bodies need to do is to urgently enhance their financing capabilities. It is very much necessary to execute the projects that citizens are looking forward to. Cities in India have a very poor track record in executing urban projects as well as raising the required financial and technical capacity. Though cities are now getting higher allocations from

Urban financing in India has become a major problem.

This issue needs to be addressed and tended to immediately. We must attain the sustainibility goals

centre and states, their own tax base remains narrow.

Value Capture Financing (VCF) framework

This was introduced by the Ministry of Urban Development in February 2017. VCF is a principle that helps the people benefit from public investments in infrastructure. At the moment governments are investing in roads, airports, and industries and the maximum benefit is going to private citizens in the local area. The government recovery from such investment is not that big. It recovers only a limited value from such investments and therefore restricts government’s ability for further public investments elsewhere. VCF has many components like land value tax, fee for changing land use, betterment levy, development charges, transfer of development rights, and land pooling systems. For example Karnataka uses certain value capture methods to fund its mass transit projects. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), and City and Industrial Development Corporation Limited (CIDCO) have used betterment levy (tax levied on land that has gained in value because of public infrastructure investments) to finance infrastructure projects. Municipal bonds are issued by urban local bodies to raise and finance specific projects. India’s urban population is expected to cross fifty percent by 2030. As per the census of 2011, thirty one percent of population is living in cities and contributes sixty three percent of GDP. By 2030, our urban population is expected to cross six hundred million. We must boost our infrastructure spending to meet the growing demands of the people. The need for providing better infrastructure and services in cities is increasing.

As we struggle to find the finances and meet the demands of the ever increasing population, there is a need to innovate and look for new ideas and methods to meet the resource needs. Let there be no doubt that aspirations are growing and we cannot take a back seat.

Demands must be met and resources found to enable this.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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Article | future challenges

Future Challenges for Our Cities According to Darwin, “species that survive are not the largest nor the most powerful, not even the smartest or changing or improving fast: no, the species that survive are those that are best suited�

Raj Liberhan Former Director India Habitat Center

I

f this is to be a fairly logical normative prescription, the well-being and happiness of citizens should be a leading objective in urban planning and development. Indeed, the world’s cities are growing at a rapid pace and India is no exception. The challenge is to match the population growth with the ability of the City to accommodate everything that comes with such a population increase. In a sense this is the challenge of all challenges.

The physical space of cities is a given and supplementing is possible only through imaginative planning and usage. The limitations are all too evident in our metropolitan cities.

The efforts so far have been futile and all we see is congestion on our roads, widespread slums and chawls, poor and inadequate waste management facilities and huge deficits in shelter and housing and grossly insufficient civic management in all spheres of the city and much more. Each one of these deficits is a gigantic challenge and combined together, they are monumental.

The existential challenge is one of social cohesion and cities and

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planners bear the consequences of ethnic contestations but have neither the means to read and analyze trends that result in conflicts, sometimes so prolonged that they have consumed populations and laid waste the cities into ruins. Cities are meant to nurture prosperity and the dreams of prosperity, and once peaceful neighbours covet superiority of their own race, colour or creed, humanity loses one more chance to redeem goodness, hope

and cultural coexistence. The cities of the once great civilizations, in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and many others have lost their glory in our own time. The longevity of social cohesion is under severe strain in all societies pushing democratic governments to legislate draconian laws which will doubtless inhibit cordiality and neighbourliness in our cities. Currently, we too have the shadow of ethnic conflict and terror manifestations in many of

our cities and city planners or city managers have not even reckoned that there is a responsibility to avoid or at least manage the fallouts of such social dynamics. The future means of earning will be through enterprise and delivery of services will be the principal product. Our cities have been providers of economic opportunities largely through employments and jobs. People have been coming to the cities in search of jobs. As we see today, the cost of long term capital having come down, the drive to automation and robotics has brought down the jobs availability.

This would obviously need enterprise friendly bye-laws with flexibility of operating times for all activities including schools and colleges. And we need to start some serious thinking as our present responses have been to enforce shut downs on one pretext or the other, thus curtailing economic activity and drastically hitting livelihoods.

The key solution to urban planning and intelligent cities management lies in public transport. Fast connectivity over long leads going out of a major

metropolis is an incentive and an attraction to city dwellers to choose ‘farther from the hub’ colonies and settlements for comfortable and spacious, but cheaper living in the suburbs or outskirts. But this is conditional on two vital but concurrent developments: attractive social infrastructure, comprising the schools, colleges, hospitals and leisure spaces, and ability of the public transport to move people quickly and cost effectively to the commercial hubs. If any of the components of this development axis is missing, the whole urban eco-system of the metropolis collapses. We are in the midst of a transport revolution, with electric powered vehicles under commercial development, owner driven cars are becoming less advantageous and public transits are rapidly getting better. The tax regime has to be re-configured to give impetus to the usage and production to induce the consumers for adopting these choices. Still, this is a long and sustained initiative and the optimum benefits have yet to accrue.

A major, major challenge, if there was

The world of tomorrow will belong to women. The march of their roles and their influence is unstoppable, given their multi dimensional skills and abilities, patent superiority of their gender in energy and intelligence

The key solution to urban planning and intelligent cities management lies in public transport. Fast connectivity over long leads going out of a major metropolis is an incentive and an attraction to city dwellers to choose ‘farther from the hub’ colonies and settlements one. The world of tomorrow will belong to women. The march of their roles and their influence is unstoppable, given their multi dimensional skills and abilities, patent superiority of their gender in energy and intelligence. And it is ironic that cities have largely been designed for and by men with little regard for women’s needs. Apart from safety concerns of the women, their social and cultural preferences and the absence of child friendly environment, the city intimidates single women, single mother, and not to forget the elderly. This challenge for the urban planners and the city managers is complex and has no easy solutions. We have not even begun to recognize the housing needs of working women. The long road to better cities for women must start now.

There is a wind blowing that is asking for change. Change in the way we think, change in the way we do and even more importantly, anticipate change to adapt and adjust before the change has compelled and forced its impact on us and we are left struggling to cope.

Creating an agenda for the future needs the best minds to come together with a freedom to pioneer developments and the support to implement ideas without bias and preference for any class or section of society. In reality, the future of our Cities is already here, but by all accounts in evidence, we are not ready.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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Article | sdgs

URBAN LOCAL BODIES and SDGs IN INDIA Sustainable Development Goals are universal in nature with local implications and intervention possibilities to ensure relevance, applicability and accountability in the planning, design and implementation of policies and programs

Chetan Vaidya Former Director, SPA, Delhi

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t’s been three years since member states of the United Nations adopted sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is high time that each country started localizing these goals as per their context so as to achieve their envisaged objectives.The action on these global frameworks cannot be successful without bringing on board elected representstives and city functionaries.

This paper provides possible steps for orienting local representatives towards aligning these goals in day to day city operations. These SDGs are universal in nature with local implications and intervention possibilities to ensure relevance, applicability and accountability in the planning, design and implementation of policies and programs.

There are 17 SDGs with 169 targets. They place the principles of ‘leave no one behind’, aiming to ensure the inclusion of marginalized, disempowered and excluded groups.

This is about first reaching people that are, or are at risk of being, left behind in the development process.

Most SDGs have targets that are functions of local governments.

Recognizing the rapid rate of urbanization, the then UN Secretary

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Hitesh Vaidya India Country Manager, UN Habitat

General, Ban Ki-moon sent a clear message, “our struggle for global sustainability will be won or lost in cities”. In this context, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have a crucial role to play in achieving the SDGs. The roadmap for localizing the SDGs has been drawn up by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, UNDP and UN Habitat to support cities and regions to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. The five parts of the roadmap are: Awareness raising, Advocacy, Implementation, Monitoring and Where do we go from here.

In India, the 74th Constitutional Amendment, 1992, also known as Nagarpalika Act, was promulgated to enable the ULBs to perform effectively as vibrant democratic units of selfgovernment. ULBs are expected to play an effective role in the planning and implementation of functions related to the 18 subjects enlisted in the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution. Many SDGs are directly relevantwithin the purview of these subjects.

In India, ULBs, which are in the process of preparing the statutory master plan or urban mission-linked city development plans, have the opportunity to synchronize their plans with SDGs. Furthermore, each of the

18 functions of the ULBs as mandated under the 74th amendment, directly contributes to the fulfilment of India’s commitment to the SDGs. Resources from various centrally and state sponsored schemes can be leveraged and converged at the urban level. It is important to set urban/wards (zonal)/ ward level targets with measurable indicators that will have vertical and horizontal linkages, convergence possibilities, resource mobilization potential and is actionable by the ULBs. In this context, the focus of this paper is to highlight tangible actionpoints that cities and its decision makers can fulfil that will contribute to the achievement of the urban aspects of Agenda 2030, while being mindful of the interlinkages therein. Pursuant to the background section, the second section of this paper describes the process of introducing SDGs to urban elected representatives and officials.

This is followed by specific discussion on three SDGs most relevant to ULBs: The SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere; SDG6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all; and SDG11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient

and sustainable. This is followed by sections illuminating the linkages among SDGs, linkages between SDGs and urban missions as well as SDGs and City Liveability Index. The final section suggests a way forward.

Introducing SDGs

Introduction of SDGs to urban elected representatives and officials should include information on concepts andperspectives about development and its linkages to the local context (Figure 1). This would require an understanding of principles of assigning development functions to ULBs and awareness about SDGs. Finally, this needs an orientation on the role of ward committees, zonal committees and ULBs in the implementation of SDGs. The objective is to mobilise ULBs to set Ward, Zonal, and ULB specific targets, coordinate with government and non-government agencies, coordinate centrally and state sponsored schemes and ensure that services reach communities.

End poverty

The objective of SDG 1is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere.

A survey should be carried out to identify the poor, destitute and others who are critically vulnerable to shocks and disasters; and spaces and

incidence of discrimination against women and other vulnerable groups.

This should be followed bypro-poor urban planning, operational plan for care and protection of destitute and vulnerable groups with convergence of ULB funds and programmes. The plan should provide universal access to housing and homeless shelters, water and sanitation, jobs and employment, financial services, social protection such as community kitchens, helplines, support to institutions like selfhelp groups, career counselling and skill training. It should be based on active and meaningful participation of all social groups to reduce vulnerability. Potential resources to achieve this goal could befrom Deendayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAYNULM), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)Urban, Public Distribution System (PDS), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (PMJJBY), Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)-Urban, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, other state and central schemes.

Ensure sustainable water and sanitation

The objective of SDG 6 is to ensure availability and sustainable

management of water and sanitation for all. To achieve this goal, ULBs have to identify households without access to toilets and piped water, ensure proper use and maintenance of toilets and facilities for solid and liquid waste management. Hygiene education has to be promoted as part of this program.

ULBs have to get open defecation free status with adequate faecal sludge and septage management. Moreover, ULBs have to establish local environmental safeguard measures, make efforts to maintain and rejuvenate water bodies, reduce urban flooding and efficiently manage storm water runoff. Potential resources to achieve this goal could befrom the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Swachh Bharat Mission, other relevant centrally and state sponsored programmes and schemes.

Make cities inclusive and sustainable

SDG 11 focuses on makingcities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

This would require mapping of access to affordable housing, basic infrastructure, public spaces for all, particularly slum dwellers. Also, there is a need to review types and causes of various past disasters and carry

Introducing SDGs to Urban Local Bodies Awareness about concepts and perceptions about developmenthuman and socioeconomic, linking to local development

Understanding of the basic principles of assigning development functions to ULBs

Awareness about SDGs

Orientation on role of ward committes, zonal committees and ULBs in development and SDGs

Source: Adopted from SDGs and Gram Panchayats TOT Handbook, 2017 GOI and UNDP

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out analysis of urban policies and plans,identify and track potential areas for upgrading, redevelopment, greenfield development and environmental sensitive development. ULBs should facilitate an analysis of existing status of infrastructure, projection of population and requirements; adopt inclusive urban planning practices, a sustainable mobility plan for transportation services with focus on walkability and non-motorised mode, climate - resilient planning, link public transport to land use with higher floor space index and density; develop avision and strategy for integrated planning, City Development Plan and an operational mechanism to implement it. Potential resources for this could be available from AMRUT, Smart City Program, Housing for AllUrban, and other central and statesponsored schemes.

Sustainable Dev

Inter-linkages amongst three SDGs

The three urban-oriented SDGs of 1, 6 and 11, have close linkages among themselves. Figure 2 presents linkages of the SDGs. Provision of services like water supply, sewerage and solid waste management under SDG 6 is linked to SDG 11 for ensuring access of adequate basic services and upgradingslums.

Similarly, steps taken for affordable housing and inclusive planning under SDG 11 also helps to achieve objectives of SDG 1 on eradicating poverty.

Ensuring access of basic services to vulnerable groups under SDG 1 is linked to universal and equitable access of drinking water and sanitation. Thus,

AMRUT NULM Housing for All

Swacch Bharat & Smart Cities Mission

Linkages between sdgs and Urban Missions

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each SDG should not be seen as an isolated goal but part of an integrated framework.

SDGs and urban missions

The overall objective of urban development in India is creation of sustainable and inclusive urban development.

To meet these objectives, the Government has launched five urban missions:Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities, Housing for All (Urban), National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) and Swachch Bharat Mission (urban). Figure 3 presents links between three urban-oriented SDGs and urban missions. The goal of NULM to reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor meets objectives of SDG 1 that deals with

eradication of poverty. The SDG 6 objective of universal and equitable access of affordable drinking water and sanitation also aligns to objectives of AMRUT and Smart City missions to improve water supply, sanitation and other services. The mission of Housing for All (urban) focuses on providing affordable housing. Similarly, the objective of open defecation free cities under Swachch Bharat Mission meets objectives of SGDs 1 and 6.

SDGs and city liveability index

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched the ‘City Liveability Index (CLI)’ for measuring the quality of life in over 110 major cities. The Index isa common minimum reference framework to enable the cities to know where they

presents the process of monitoring SDGs. This includes finalizing of set of sub-indicators; identifying data sources; identifying key or nodal agencies for providing data; setting baseline data; collecting data and finally reporting and disseminating the information. Such measurements should be carried out at the city, state and central levels. It is expected that this process will help cities and states to learn from experiences of each other.

velopment Goals

Way forward

stand in terms of quality of life and the interventions required to improve the same. Cities are being assessed on a comprehensive set of 79 parameters to capture the extent and quality of infrastructure including availability of roads, education and health care, mobility, employment opportunities, emergency response, grievance redressal, pollution, availability of open and green spaces, cultural and entertainment opportunities etc. CLI can help to measure and track urban oriented SDGs. Some of the CLI indicators that will help to monitor urban oriented SDGs are: ♦♦ Percentage of urban households with coverage of direct drinking water supply connections; ♦♦ Percentage of urban households with access to toilets; ♦♦ Percentage of population covered

under ward committee/area sabhas; ♦♦ Percentage of slums covered by formal housing; ♦♦ Level of air pollution in cities; ♦♦ Household level coverage of waste collection; ♦♦ Coverage of sewerage network and/ or septage; ♦♦ Extent of reuse and recycling of waste water; ♦♦ Extent of municipal solid waste recovered through reuse; ♦♦ Per capita availability of green spaces; ♦♦ Geographical coverage of public transport; and ♦♦ Rehabilitation and reuse of historic buildings.

Monitoring SDGs

Monitoring of progress in achieving SDGs is very important. Figure 4

India has played an important role in shaping the SDGs. As signatory to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it is committed to participate in the international review of progress of SDGs on a regular basis.

The central platform for international follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda is the High-Level Political Forum.

In this forum, India is expected to present their Voluntary National Review on implementation of SDGs. The VNRs thus serve as a basis for international review of progress of SDGs. The next meeting of the Forum will take place in July 2018 and the theme will be “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies” (https://sustainabledevelopment. un.org/hlpf/2018). The set of goals to be reviewed in depth will include: Goal 6 on sustainable water and sanitation for all and Goal 11 on making cities sustainable. The city Liveability Index launched by MoHUA for measuring the quality of life in over 110 major cities will provide a common minimum reference framework for these two goals in India.

Moreover, there is a need to raise awareness among urban elected representatives and officials about SDGs. UNDP and UN Habitat have taken the first step in preparing a framework on SDGs and ULBs in India. A training manual is under preparation. Both these documents will help in carrying out capacity building of all stakeholders in the urban sector.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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Article | mdgs and SDGs

Role of Cities in achieving MDGs and SDGs

Cities, by and large, have higher per capita incomes, better and more modern schools and superior state of art health infrastructure than the villages. Thus, it is logical that they should be in the forefront in the achievement of the development goals. It is pertinent to note that the better schools and hospitals in the cities are often provided by the private sector and their charges are beyond the affordability levels of the poor

Dr Jairaj Phatak Former Municipal Commissioner, Mumbai

Cities everywhere are makers of wealth, magnets for the industrious and motors of invention’. (Livable Cities for the Twentieth Century: World Bank) Cities, by and large, have higher per capita incomes, better and more modern schools and superior state of art health infrastructure than the villages.

Thus, it is logical that they should be in the forefront in the achievement of the development goals.

It is pertinent to note that the better schools and hospitals in the cities are often provided by the private sector and their charges are beyond the affordability levels of the poor.

Nevertheless, they provide services to a large number of citizens, typically to more than half the population in large cities.

The Millennium Development Goals, adopted in 2000 for completion by 2015 were the following. ♦♦ To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; ♦♦ To achieve universal primary education; ♦♦ To promote gender equality and empower women;

22 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

♦♦ To reduce child mortality; ♦♦ To improve maternal health; ♦♦ To combat HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ♦♦ To ensure environmental sustainability; ♦♦ To develop a global partnership for development; The City Administrations had important roles in achieving the MDGs 2 to 7, since the main functions of municipal governments, called the ULBs in India, are solid waste management, water supply and sewerage, health and education. Almost the entire garbage collected in the City and the drinking water supplied to a City is by the municipal administration, where they have a near monopolistic role. About 50 percent of the provision for primary education and basic health cover in a city is made by the municipal / public schools and hospitals. In the MDG of gender equality, the women’s reservation of 50 percent to the elected posts in the ULBs has ensured that this vertical reservation for women is across all tiers. Further, in most city level jobs, there is a vertical reservation for women for one-third of the jobs. Thus,

the message of gender equality has been passed on to all the communities and income groups.

During the last two decades, substantial progress has been achieved on the MDGs. As per the MDGFinal Country Report for India, the net enrolment in primary grade has improved from 77 per cent in 1990 to more than 87 per cent in 2015. The literacy rate of the 15 to 24 years old has improved from 61 per cent 86 per cent. Although these fell short of the MDG target of 11 percent, nevertheless it was a good achievement. In the child mortality rates, the country did even better. The Under-five morality rate (per 1000 live births) came down from 126 during 1990 to 43 in 2015 against the MDG target off 42. The Infant Mortality Rate reduced from 80 in 1990 to 34 in 2016 against the MDG target of 27.

The cities usually lead the rural areas by about ten points in the achievement of the goals and thereby push up the national average. For example the latest IMR (Infant Mortality Ratio) of Maharashtra is 19 per 1000, 13 for urban areas and 24 for rural areas. Similarly

the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) for Maharashtra is 21 per 100000, 14 for urban and 27 for rural areas. As per 2011 census, nearly 50 percent of the population in developing countries lived in urban areas, as against less than 30 percent in 1980s. This urbanization led to increased achievements in development indicators. Urbanization, which reduces the population pressure on farm land and shifts the population to better paying jobs is also accompanied by tapped water supply, better health cover and more productive education.

More urbanized countries have lower poverty rates and better development indicators.

Although the rural poverty tends to spill over to the urban areas giving rise to slums, there is a wide disparity between different Indian states in Poverty Head Count Ratio (PHCR) of rural and urban areas. The NITI Aayog reports that the states with high rural-urban gap in PHCR during 2011-12 were Mizoram (more than 20 percent), Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Maharashtra (more than 15 percent), Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Pondicherry (more than 10 percent).

In these states, cities were much better off than the rural areas.

The Poverty Gap Ratio, i.e. the depth of poverty or the distance of the poor people from the poverty line is also higher in the rural areas. Thus, with their shift of primary sector jobs to

secondary and tertiary sectors, the cities serve as leaders in prosperity.

The three components of the HDI, i.e. per capita GDP, literacy and life expectancy are themselves closely related to one another. A correlation study of these figures for the Indian states and different countries found that while the correlation coefficient for literacy and life expectancy was +0.81, the correlation coefficient of per capita GDP with life expectancy was +0.75. Thus, all the three indicators are closely linked with one another and countries that do well in one are quite likely to do well in the other development indicators also. Better education inculcates better health practices and a higher prosperity enables provision of better education and health infrastructure.

The state provisioning for health and education gets usually targeted towards the poor people. In these two sectors, exclusive hospitals and elite schools get set up in all democracies as per the affordability of higher-income groups. Since democracy gives a choice of where the child should be admitted and to which doctor a patient should go, relatively better off persons go to private doctors and private schools. The municipal schools and hospitals are left to take care of those who cannot afford this private provisioning.

This does not mean that the municipal services are no good. Dr. Furqun Qamar and Mohammad Zahid of Jamia Mazil

Millennium Development Goals

have shown that the value addition for the society in state-run schools is, indeed, higher than in private schools.

In layman’s terms, while the municipal school will educate an illiterate maid’s child up to the S.S.C. examination, a private school may groom the son of a millionaire to only a slightly higher level of education than his parents.

Thus, in the country’s giant strides in literacy levels since independence, state schools have played a bigger role than the private schools.

After many countries striving for and making reasonable progress in the achievement of MDGs, the UNDP adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, to be achieved by 2030. SDG 3 aims at a global maternal mortality rate of less than 70 per 100,000 live births.

Neo-natal mortality to be brought down to 12 per 1000 live births and under 5 mortality to less than 25 live births. Achievements of these targets will require extension of Preventive and Social Medicine practices to poor areas and to slums. The city administration has a high role to play in this extension to lower income groups. The city administration has a particularly important role when infectious epidemics like swine flu or bird flu strike the city.

Private sector may not have adequate quantities of prophylactic or specialized medicines. Moreover, the highly ‘infectious’ nature of such diseases deter private hospitals from admitting such patients in their wards as inmates. In Mumbai, individual city municipal hospitals were earmarked and provided with specialized staff to treat patients of such large scale infectious diseases.

In education, SDG emphasizes quality education, gender equality and early childhood care and pre-primary education for all.

Goal Sustainable cities and infrastructure aims at ensuring access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services to all and also aims at sustainable and safe transport with holistic disaster risk management.

City administrations can facilitate this through better land-use planning.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

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Article | GREEN URBANISM

evolving energy efficient design of Urban Settlements

The limited availability of conventional sources of energy coupled with ever-rising demand and spiralling market prices, issues related to energy consumption, energy conservation and promoting non-conventional and alternate sources of energy have assumed global concerns. There is a bigger need of research in this context

AR. Anubha Ashtikar Project Officer- ECBC cell, AIILSG

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ith rapid industrialization, urbanization, globalization, and concentration of large population in urban centres, cities and towns are fast emerging as centres of large consumers of energy.

Accordingly, we need to critically look at the existing pattern of energy consumption in urban centres in day-today operation and also, at the manner in which existing patterns of urban growth / development has adversely affected and distorted the energy consumption by the urban centres. In search of various options and possible solutions to make cities and towns highly energy efficient, we need to understand the importance of redefining promoting Pedestrianization; Greening cities; redefining the local planning processes and designing of building for making cities sustainable.

Our cities have now been named as the saving places of a planet in crisis.

And yet we cannot decide on the principles that make for a good city. Everybody has a view, but some views are more sustainable than others.

The way cities use land, consume energy, eat up resources and influence

24 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

the quality of life and environment, they are fast emerging as ecological disasters. Uncontrolled and haphazard growth has created patterns of settlements, which have high level of energy consumption due to auto dependence, high energy demand for buildings, water pollution from excessive toxic run off, air pollution, and other environmental effects, which considerably increase health risks. Cities of the 21st Century are very divorced from aesthetic and ecological experience of nature. They are noisy, energy inefficient, congested, and largely frustrating. High levels of energy consumption by cities have created host of local ecological problems. Urban heat islands created drive up energy use for cooling besides trapping pollution in the city. All these problems, collectively and individually, have adversely affected the local ecology. Accordingly, local ecological systems are rapidly losing their ability to produce clean water, air and food and are fast losing their ability to sustain life.

Each of these environmental problems has their genesis in the design of cities, settlement patterns and urban spatial fabric. Human habitat needs restructuring on priority. Energy and

ecology have emerged as the major threats to the human habitat. To minimize the energy consumption levels and the ecological disasters caused by today’s grey cities, we have to change our perceptions, planning tools, planning strategies, designing options for the built environment, pattern of travel and learn to think ecologically to create green cities, which are both humane and sustainable besides least consumers of energy.

Green Urbanism

Considering the large-scale implications of urban areas in promoting local and global sustainability, optimization of available resources, minimizing nonrenewable resources and as consumers of large amounts of energy, generators of enormous waste, creating high degree of pollution etc., it becomes critical that growth and development of urban centres is critically looked into and rationalized. Best option to make cities sustainable will be to plan these centres with high degree of rationality leading to minimizing travel, creating buildings with focus on reduction of energy consumption and using natural sources for meeting the energy needs of the people. Globally efforts are on

to make existing cities sustainable and create new cities, which are highly energy efficient. Solar city, Linz, Masdar in UAE and Dongtan in China are a few examples, built as state of the art green and sustainable cities.

Masdar (UAE)

Masdar is designed for a population of 50,000 & 1500 business covering an area of 6 sq. kms. The city is planned in a manner, where automobiles are totally prohibited within the city and mobility is through public mass transit and personal rapid transit system.

City is planned to keep out hot desert winds and to make optimum use of cool breeze from the sea to reduce the temperature within the city and the buildings. Streets are narrow in order to provide natural shading to the buildings and allowing cool breeze to pass through streets/buildings. City is designed to deploy number of options of renewable power resources to meet the energy needs including setting up of Solar Power Plant at city level, Photo Voltaic modules placed on the rooftops of buildings, Wind Farm and geothermal power. In addition, city plans to host the world’s largest Hydrogen Power Plant to generate clean energy.

In addition, water management has been planned in an eco-friendly manner. Solar-based desalination plant will be used to meet the water requirement of the city. 80% of the water used will be recycled and wastewater will be reused as many times as possible. City

will have a system of zero waste with biological waste used for creating nutrient rich soil and fertilizers while other waste is incinerated to generate power.

Masdar is planned to be a city with zero car, zero waste, consuming zero energy without compromising with the quality of life and environment.

Dongtan (CHINA)

Dongtan near Shanghai is a new town planned for a population of 5, 00,000.

City is planned to be eco-friendly with zero-greenhouse emission and selfsufficient in water and energy. All the buildings in the city are to be designed on the principle of Zero-Energy Buildings. Energy demand of the city is envisioned to be much lower than the comparable conventional cities due to high performance buildings and zero emission transport zone. Waste is considered a resource with most of waste recycled. City transport system is based on green transport movement along the coastline. People will arrive at the coast leaving their cars and then travelling along the shore as pedestrians, cyclists or on sustainable public transport vehicles. Only vehicles powered by electricity and hydrogen to be permitted in City. Dongtan is planned and designed to be an eco-city.

Solar City, Pichling, Linz (AUSTRIA)

The project completed last year, was begun to build this city within a city, a ‘Solar City Linz’ capable of accom-

modating around 25,000 inhabitants.

Sustainability parameters include attention to achieve maximum density, maximum flexibility and a careful study of the feasibility to promote and facilitate pedestrian or bicycle around the centre of the settlement that will be free of car traffic. The city has a comprehensive plan. One third of the cost is utilized for developing infrastructure; transport, communication, facilities and landscaping. The project has given an emphasis on avoiding CFCs and PVCs. The residential areas and individual buildings are designed according to the principles of solar architecture. It utilizes active and passive solar energy and other renewable energy sources.

The planning has encouraged the direct use of the sun to increase welfare of people inside as well as outside of the buildings. It caters to social integration, social warmth and social energy.

The issue of sustainability will have to primarily and essentially look at the context of energy and its implications for the city. The main thrust of pedestrianization is that we need to re-think urban planning, and start designing cities for people, not cars. Proponents of pedestrianization say that fewer cars would mean less stress and more effective use of people’s time, not to mention cleaner air and more attractive cities. In the end, this would actually benefit businesses.

Radiant city

A concept of city planning given by the master architect and planner Le Corbusier – offers one of the best options of designing energy efficient and sustainable cities, where the governing factors of city planning and designing would be SUN, SPACE and GREENERY, which would provide and meet all the basic needs of the human beings.

The concept of Radiant Cities revolves around planning with nature to achieve the desired level of sustainability and energy efficiency in the cities.

How best we can leverage these principles of planning and designing of human settlements will hold the key to the survival and sustainability of human beings and human settlements.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

25

Article | Future Cities

Mega events can drive sustainable urban development Among global scale mega events, there are possibly none as fascinating as sporting events - the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup Soccer or the Commonwealth Games. Top global cities vie with each other for the honour to host these mega sporting events realizing the huge potential benefits on several fronts. Cities however need to manage the process to derive sustainable net positive benefits while mitigating likely negative fallouts

I

n a few weeks’ time, the magic of the FIFA World Cup Soccer will mesmerize fans all over the world for a whole month.

There are several such sporting events that take place every few years (some like the tennis grand slams happen every year) and bring the host cities under the global spotlight.

These cities become much talked about and researched. With high quality television broadcasting now reaching every corner of the world, these cities are able to reach out to populations in faraway lands like never before. The host city for such international sporting events is thus presented with several unique opportunities while being confronted with many challenges at the same time. Cities vie for the honour of hosting the events several years in advance and have the opportunity to become new economic powerhouses and drive prosperity as a result of the global limelight that they attract before and during the event. Cities need to prepare well so that they are able to assimilate all the developments in a sustainable manner and need to ensure that the city residents are much better off after the event rather than left in

26 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

V Vijaykumar Sr Advisor, AIILSG

despair and distress.

World class infrastructure

Among the most obvious and valuable acquisitions by the city is world-class physical infrastructure. We are likely to see rapid roll-out of spanking new roads, bridges, mass transport options, hotels, parks and so on. This new addition can happen in a short span of four-five years and actually transform the city into a glittering metropolis, something which could take a lifetime if it were not for the hosting of the grand event. City managers and urban planners will have to ensure that these facilities and infrastructure that get added are such that they will yield valuable dividend for several years after the event and trigger further economic development. For example six venues in the Rio Olympic Park will form the nucleus of Brazil’s first Olympic Training Centre and a handball venue is being converted into four schools.

Thomas Bach, President International Olympic Committee, writing the Foreword to the Olympic Review, a publication of the Olympic Games Global Impact (OGGI), a few months before the opening of the Rio

Games, said“….Meanwhile in an early sign of the legacy the Olympic Games will leave behind, a sophisticated Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system that will link the four Olympic venue clusters has already played a key role in transforming Rio de Janeiro’s transport system. It will increase access to highcapacity transport for Rio de Janeiro’s population from 19 percent to 63 percent in 2016. It is just one example of the tremendous legacy the Olympic Games will leave.”

“We have built a fantastic legacy for the city that was only possible thanks to the Olympic Games”observed Eduardo Paes, the Mayor of Rio.

Economic development

The superior infrastructure created in preparation for the event can spur all-round economic development whether in industrial manufacturing or knowledge based sectors. Housing, power, water, roads and transport are among the key inputs that drive economic activity and these cities, after the event, are likely to have the best in each category and are therefore wellplaced to deliver substantial growth in employment and self-employment.

This in turn can attract the finest national and international talent and resources, thereby putting in place a virtuous cycle of development and prosperity.

Tourism

The immense potential of tourism is among the biggest spin-offs of such international events for cities. The city is eager to put on its best in time for the guests from around the globe who will be arriving soon. Contingents will include players, athletes, support staff and officials. In addition will be the huge number of spectators from around the globe. Even those who do not actually visit the city for the events will get several glimpses and stories about the host city on their television screens 24x7, generally in between coverage of the events. This exposure can bring long lasting benefits to the city in terms of increased tourism with its large multiplier effects.According to a study by Brazil’s Ministry of Tourism after the Rio Olympics, 87% of foreign tourists have the intention to come back to Brazil and 94% want to visit Rio de Janeiro again FIFA reports that nearly 1.7 million tickets have been allotted for the 2018 World Cup during sales phases 1 & 2 against a total demand of over 4 million. 45 percent of the demand was from overseas, mainly from Germany,

Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Poland, Spain, Colombia, USA and Netherlands.

Some challenges too

Along with the opportunities will be several challenges. One could be possible dislocation of parts of the city population, usually the poor including hawkers and street-vendors.

As land is acquired for building more roads, stadia and hostels, some people could get displaced in the process.

Street-side shops and hawkers along roads leading to event venues may have to make way. Sometimes this dislocation is temporary, but often with permanent facilities coming up, the dislocation could be forever. Cities will need to resettle these vulnerable sections of the populations in a just and fair manner.

Security provision is a massive, complex and intense activity especially in light of recent terror attacks in large prominent cities. A global scale sporting event like the Olympics or the World Cup Soccer presents a large number of vulnerable targets and makes policing very challenging. The lure of grabbing world headlines and prime news hour space make itspecially enticing for the terrorist. The city will have to pool together resources from diverse areas and put in place very hi-tech measures to protect itself and its guests.

In the context of the Russia World Cup Soccer, Helmut Spahn, Director Security at FIFA, is confident that all necessary arrangements have been made to stage a well-organized and secure tournament. “The most important thing is to have a proper risk assessment on a daily basis and then the challenges can be solved if we are working on a professional level together with all the stakeholders,” he said.

And then there is the spectre of huge debt overhang on the cities. While funding for such events will come from a variety of sources including the national budget, international organisers and sponsors, large funds will need to be raised by the cities themselves, often to be serviced over many long years thereafter.

Sustainable approaches

It is thus apparent that the hosting of such mega sporting events or expos can have significant impacts –opportunities and challenges- in several dimensions. www.rt.com in a report quotes FIFA’s Head of Sustainability and Diversity Federico Addiechi. “FIFA has set up a very comprehensive sustainability strategy for the 2018 FIFA World Cup which encompasses of course all three aspects of sustainability: the social, the environmental and the economic ones,” he said. “In a nutshell, we want to maximize the positive impact that the World Cup has on society, the environment and economy and minimize the risks associated with the event in all those three aspects.” he adds.

What are these impacts and what is their net effect? In an attempt to help find answers to several of such questions, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), launched the Olympic Games Global Impact (OGGI) study. OGGI works to support the IOC in assessing and guiding the various stakeholders who work on the preparation for and hosting of Olympic Games. Among the objectives is to assist the bidding cities with strategic inputs and thereby maximize the potential benefits of hosting the games.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

27

Article | Plastic pollution

Asian Cities pollute our Seas the most, must act together

Eight of the ten rivers, that carry almost 95 percent of all the plastic debris into the Seas, are from Asia. Ganges and Indus are among them. A recent scientific study has this shocking revelation to make.

R

Ranjan K Panda Convenor, Combat Climate Change Network, India

esearchers from the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ of Germany have found that the mismanaged plastic wastes generated in the river catchments are finding their way to the seas. The debris of plastic waste that they studied included both micro plastic (particles less than 5 mm) and macro plastic (particles more than5 mm). In this global study of plastic wastes across a wide range of river sizes, analysis of data by the researchers found that large rivers with population-rich catchments are responsible for delivering a disproportionately higher fraction of mismanaged plastic wastes into the sea.

The study concluded that the 10 topranked rivers transport 88–95 percent of the global load into the sea, and eight of them are in Asia. The rest two are from Africa. (See Box: Ten Rivers,

95% plastic pollution) The study, that analysed data from 79 sampling sites along 57 rivers, found that 5 trillion pounds of plastic is floating in the seas. It claimed that targeting the most polluted rivers could halve the plastic burden of all the seas, even though that might not end the harm that micro plastic is already doing to marine life.

An earlier study by researchers at the Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch foundation, found that rivers carry an estimated 1.15-2.41 million tonnes of plastic into the sea every year. To transport this amount of plastic, we would require between 48,000 to over 100,000 dump trucks, claimed the study. This study, that found that this plastic load is carried to the sea by 20 most polluted rivers of the world, also confirmed that most of them are from Asia. According to the report of the study, published in Nature Communications, the researchers concluded that the top 20 polluting

Top 10 Rivers Transport 95% Plastic Pollution ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦

Yangtze, East China Sea, Asia Indus, Arabian Sea, Asia Yellow River, Yellow Sea, Asia Hai He, Yellow Sea, Asia Nile, Mediterranean, Africa

28 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦

Ganges, Bay of Bengal, Asia Pearl River, South China Sea, Asia Amur, Sea of Okhotsk, Asia Niger, Gulf of Guinea, Africa Mekong, South China Sea, Asia

rivers were mostly located in Asia and accounted for more than two thirds (67%) of the global annual input while covering 2.2 percent of the continental surface area and representing 21 percent of the global population. Furthermore, the top 122 polluting rivers (4% of total landmass surface area and 36% of global population) contributed for less than 90 percent of the plastic inputs with 103 rivers located in Asia, eight in Africa, eight in South and Central America, and one in Europe.

This study further claimed that the plastic releases from Asian rivers accounted for almost 86 percent of total

global inputs, and almost agreed to what the current study by HelmholtzCentre has to say about the population density of large basins contributing to large volumes of plastic pollution. In fact, the Ocean Cleanup study methodology also considers rainfall as a major determinant of carrying heavy loads of plastic wastes by the rivers to the seas. It claims that a considerably highpopulation density combined with relatively large mismanaged plastic waste production rates and episodes of heavy rainfalls, resulted in this dominant contribution from the Asian continent. The rivers of Asian continent were estimated to be carrying a plastic waste load between 1 to 2.06 million tonnes per year into the sea. According to their study, the Chinese Yangtze River is the largest contributing catchment, with an annual input between 0.31 and 0.48 million tonnes of plastic discharged into the East China Sea, followed by the Ganges River catchment, between India and Bangladesh, with a computed input between 0.10 and 0.17 million tonnes per year discharged into the Bay of Bengal.

Plastic in sea to outnumber fish by 2050!

A January 2016 report, prepared by a team from Ellen MacArthur Foundation and published by World Economic Forum, finds that at the current rate of plastic pollution - 150 million tonnes - in the sea, it could outnumber (by

weight) the production of fish by 2050.

This report points out that each year, at least 8 million tonnes of plastics leak into the ocean – which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050. Most of this plastic comes from single use packaging materials that generate significant negative externalities, estimated at 40 billion US dollar and expected to grow significantly. The oceans, as per the estimates of this report, are expected to contain 1 tonne of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight).

Sinking carbon sink

Plastic overtaking the sea is a complex problem and has many disastrous effects. The oceans are considered to be the largest carbon sink in the globe as the algae, vegetation and coral under the seas absorb almost 20-35 percent of the carbon dioxide we emit.

Things are however changing fast and Oceans are losing their capability to absorb these climate change drivers. A study by researchers at Columbia University published in the Nature in 2009 found that oceans have absorbed a smaller proportion of fossil-fuel emissions, nearly 10 percent less, since 2000. Reporting on that study, the Worldwatch Institute wrote, “Industrial carbon dioxide emis-

sions have increased dramatically since the 1950s, and oceans have until recently been able to absorb the greater amounts of emissions. Sometime after 2000, however, the rise in emissions and the oceans’ carbon uptake decoupled. Oceans continue to absorb more carbon, but the pace appears to have slowed”.

To understand how plastic pollution of the marine ecosystem affects the oceans’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide, it would be good to take the example of Phytoplankton that plays a crucial role in sequestering carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere and releasing oxygen into the water, which is part of the process photosynthesis. These onecelled plants use energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and nutrients into complex organic compounds, which form new plant material. This process, known as photosynthesis, is how phytoplankton grow, explains the National Geographic. “Half of the world’s oxygen is produced via phytoplankton photosynthesis while the other half is produced by photosynthesis on land by trees and other plants,” reports the One Green Planet.

Another species, whales, are also as critically important as phytoplankton.

In fact, phytoplanktonrely on whales to exist as they are fertilized by whale excrement that is responsible for fertilizing phytoplankton. It therefore means, we will have fewer phytoplankton if there are less whales. The less phytoplankton there is, the less zooplankton and fish there are and the less carbon dioxide sequestering that is able to occur — and the worse climate change will become, according to the One Green Planet report.

Cities must act

Cities in Asia need to take urgent note of the plastic pollution of the oceans that are largely caused by them. City life has become synonymous with a ‘plastic culture’. However, the plans to curb pollution hardly consider the damages being done to marine ecosystem. We need to integrate ocean pollution in our city development plans and work out river basin management.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

29

Article | women leadership

Role of Women in Local Governance No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens -Michelle Obama

W

omen play a very vital role in human progress and have a significant place in the society. Some think women are inferior to men but they are not. They are capable of sharing all the responsibilities of life. Women have always played an important role in the progress of a nation. Women had been great saints, scholars, poets, writers, reformers and administrators.

Women should be given proper education, training and power. Women can do much to reform society. They are serving as teachers, doctors, engineers, administrators and even heads of state.

The need is to increase this ratio. More participation among the women means more progress of the society and is a measure of equality.

According to a UN Report ‘The World’s Women 2015’, approximately only a quarter of positions in national governments are held by women. In Canada’s Parliament today, only 26% of

30 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Nancy Gupta Project Associate, AIILSG

the House of Commons is female. This just proves the underrepresentation of women in our policy making. The ideal of equal participation in decisionmaking is that all human beings have the right to participate in decisions that affect their life. Issues in terms of healthcare, labour, business, industry, education, childcare, and training affect each gender differently. For example, having men make policy on reproductive rights for females, while not understanding a woman’s anatomy and women’s issues, is completely absurd. Since women know their issues best, it’s important that they have an equal say to be effectively incorporated into all levels of decision-making.

“So women tend, when they’re in parliament, for example, to promote women’s rights legislation. When women are in sufficient numbers in parliaments they also promote children’s rights and they tend to speak up more for the interests of communities, local communities,

because of their close involvement in community life,” she added.

Female bureaucrats or leaders are more sensitive and caring towards the critical issues related to different age groups and gender as nourishment of family are inbuilt in females. Majorly they are not biased towards any category while making a decision and are overall thinkers of the society with more practical approaches. Bhagyashri Dengle, executive director, Plan India, said, “This study reveals the dismal state of feminine hygiene care in India and shows rampant unhygienic sanitary practices. In comparison, 100% women in Singapore and Japan, 88% in Indonesia and 64% in China use SNs.” In India according to the survey conducted in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Gorakhpur, Aurangabad and Vijayawada, around 31% women reported a drop in productivity levels during their periods, missing 2.2 days of work on an average. Menstrual hygiene is lowest in eastern India with 83% women saying their families can’t afford sanitary napkins. Such type of issues can be better addressed by the women leaders.

We need to start encouraging women and getting them into leadership roles in local governance for the commitment to gender parity and an inclusive culture that will ensure that women get the role they deserve. Let’s ensure that fifty percent of humanity receives the place that it deserves.

Article | eco city planning

Rethinking future with City Planning Urban agenda and sustainable development are dominating the debate today. There is a possibility that we might forget about tier 2 and tier 3 cities. We must not

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ew Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development are in vogue today. At the same time we need to focus on and address the problems of Class 2 and 3 cities. In a developing country like India there are cities and towns which are often neglected and are not on the priority. Planning and sustainability is the key to achieve success. Also it identifies innovative approaches for providing access to technology pilots and smart techniques in a holistic manner at city level.

Developing countries including India have addressed sustainable development embracing socio-cultural development, natural resources conservation, environment protection, as well as economic growth. Current urban planning system in India, however proves to be limited to coordinate its cross sectoral plans systematically with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sectoral plans such as in the field of land use, energy, transport, health, water and security, infrastructure, ecosystem plans, biodiversity and livelihoods, often conflict with each other and as a result of this urban management plan becomes fragmented and this in turn produces urban sprawls and unorganised development.

Various threats a city often deals with are: high population density; waste management; ecology crisis; land use problems; climate change; sea level rise; negative natural events such as

Akansha Sinha Senior Project Officer, AIILSG

floods and storms; over exploitation of existing resources; lack of clean water; lack of digitized connections within sectors and between sectors;

Why is Eco City Planning important with Smart City Planning?

Technologies and knowledge combined with eco planning along with strategy management and adequate financing can help reverse the downward cycle created by the negative impacts of environmental degradation and climate change till now.

Planning and Development that is low carbon and climate resilient will require widespread innovation, capacity building and knowledge sharing. As of now, development is only concentrated upon the urban spatial aspects of smart city and ecological side of the city is left unnoticed and untouched.

Eco city has to be synchronised with the smart city so that there is enhancement in the quality of the environment and liveability of the citizens is improved significantly.

Above mentioned challenges need to be solved strategically. Following suggested strategies will aid the city in its planning at local level as well as in discussions with planning authorities. ♦♦ Cooperating and regulating land use and enforcing building and land use regulations. ♦♦ Achieving low emissions development goals.

♦♦ Ensuring that the new development contributes to the quality of environment and ecology management. ♦♦ Preventing restoration of damaged environment. ♦♦ Sustainable management of natural resources. ♦♦ Managing the sense of place of the city in citizens.

Eco Urban Networking System

The planning elements which need to be critically involved in the process are ♦♦ Positive preservation of the natural topography. ♦♦ Preservation of green zones/ corridors. ♦♦ Preservation of existing water reservoirs. ♦♦ Establishment or planning of ecological pathway. ♦♦ Establishment of green network: establishment of eco fence, establishment of green network. ♦♦ Induction of ecological painting. ♦♦ Induction of terrace gardens.

These cities are the ones which go that extra mile to become environment friendly, by combining energy saving systems with the latest technology.

Today, in the current eco-crisis, it’s important that the cities consolidate their policies and goals to protect the local environment whilst also considering how they can bring the latest innovations in technology to their long term plans.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

31

BOOK REVIEW | GOOD READS

Of Delhi and its winged residents!

Abhilash Khandekar Sr Journalist

U

rban India’s residents are often heard complaining that the city life has become quite taxing and full of tensions. The citizens of Delhi or Kanpur, Indore or Pune crib that the green cover is perishing fast from their neighbourhoods. On the other hand, private behemoths in real estate sectors have been issuing large advertisements to entice new clientele by claiming their costly properties to be close to ‘ nature’ such as a natural (mostly unnatural) water body, well-manicured lawns and freshly planted trees.

What does that indicate? It suggests that people increasingly want greenery, water bodies, lawns and other such natural features in and around their world--the urban world! When readers of Urban Update would be reading this piece, the heat wave would be beyond the tolerable levels in Delhi, among many other northern states, as also in central and western India.

World over the concept of smart cities, liveable cities, sustainable cities is woven around environment-friendly architecture and planning of cities, something India is learning rather slowly.

With that in mind, I have picked up this tiny book that talks about the national capital, its trees and its birds.

It takes frequent look-backs into recent history to tell us how less urbanised

32 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

this city was and what kind of wildlife (leopards, jackals, game birds such as partridges and quails, besides mongoose and snakes) it had. In other words, it talks about a “nature that rambles through Delhi “ and is therefore worth reading in just one sitting. Those not interested in birds and nature would also find it interesting, if not highly absorbing, because of the racy style and content. It’s not a fiction but written in a manner that readers of fiction and non-fiction would both like to flip through it.

The author is not an ornithologist of repute or an urban expert but she is madly in love with Delhi, otherwise dubbed as the “world capital of pollution “. An excellent writer and a painter, she says: ‘Delhi, with its graceful old gardens and sprawling parks, sudden surprising patches of scrub forests and elegant avenues of old trees, has an amazing range of bird habitats where you can see as many as 50 species just in a few days without any effort’. She seems to have been in great love for this ordinarily looking large bird of Indian origin--the grey hornbill which finds mention at many pages in the book.

She goes on to narrate her own experiences in a lucid style “ In one hour, on a fine but not very sunny morning in ( famous) Lodi Garden, I saw four beautiful Scarlet Minivets flying around an old silk-cotton tree.

Nearby, glossy-winged Purple Sunbirds gathered nectar from a flowering shrub....and as I was leaving the garden, I saw a newly-wedded Grey Hornbill pair huddled cosily on a peepal tree, chatting about their future plans “.

This book reviewer has been watching birds for some time now but this was something beyond me to know if a pair of birds was newly married and that they could plan their future as a married couple....jokes apart, the author shares many such keen observations of this international city, which ordinary residents may fail to notice. She further adds, “ while in some cities you have to really struggle to spot birds, in Delhi they come right up to you and often follow you around,

then suddenly fly off, remembering that they have many chores to do and cannot waste precious daylight hours watching humans....”.

Giving details of various city areas of Delhi, Bulbul (incidentally the name of an Indian bird ) Sharma observes that some birds love New Delhi and thousands flock to its open parks and streets lined with mature trees and green roundabouts, others prefer Old Delhi with its secret groves of ancient trees and hidden greens. Some kinds only like to roam the riverine habitat of the Jamuna and others never leave their favourite haunt of rocky scrub forests dotted with cultivated fields on the outskirts of the city.

Taking stock of how the city has changed over the years, she talks of today’s Saket Mall where she used to go for birdwatching, as also near the pond in Vasant Kunj where people would go for fishing. She calls Vasant Kunj, among the costliest of posh localities of New Delhi, as a citadel of concrete.

Clearly, an environmentalist from within her is deeply hurt with the everincreasing urbanisation of New Delhi.

She has, however, turned Nelson’s eye towards all the negatives of this capital--overcrowding, the absence of civic amenities, garbage heaps, air pollution and so on--and has woven her story around all the positives of the city, mainly about avian fauna and their natural abodes atop beautiful trees.

Climate change signs being manifested now in all its forms in

Book Grey Hornbills at Dusk Author Bulbul Sharma Publisher Aleph Pages 170 Price Rs 295/Recommendation Buy for your library

Good

Reads

India, most environmentalists are arguing the case for liveable cities with an abundance of natural features to counter rising temperatures all over.

City planners are under unprecedented pressure to keep open spaces, plan large gardens and create tree avenues in cities that are being newly built or rebuilt.

Laced with some beautiful black and white sketches of birds, using Sanskrit references for urban planning and nature, the book makes a good light reading, reeling off untold stories in one or two lines. Believe it or not, she talks of mustard fields in Hauz Khas village which was quite a small village when she was young in the 60s. The sleepy, hukka-smoking village, where the buffaloes had the right of way, as no one had heard the word trendy here three-four decades ago. Would anyone of the scores of youngsters who go out to eat various Indian and continental delicacies in that area now, easily trust the author who says there really existed a quiet small village? But that is the beauty of this book. It’s not a handbook for bird watchers, nor a history book for a Delhi tourist yet it’s readable urban literature.

The author takes into account the changing seasons and provides the new citizen of Delhi with rare insights into Shanti Path, Nehru Park or Buddha Jayanti Park giving details of unique tree species and their flowering patterns. She also briefly touches upon the history of the Lodi Garden laid out in 1936 as Lady Willingdon Park.

Someone not much knowledgeable about trees and birds will surely benefit from this little personal experiences

and observations of an artist-writer who was brought up in a Delhi which was much different than today’s bustling city with flyovers and metro lines and noisy vehicles all around.

The author traces history to tell us how the British had planted tamarind trees on the main avenues and which have stood the test of times and are still attracting birds and langurs. An interesting tale of ‘sarkari ‘ langurs at AIIMS is quite amusing yet a real story.

She goes on to add that the Mughal city planners had a particular liking for this ( tamarind) tree which they planted along major trunk routes.

If you ask me why I have chosen this little book for review, my reply would be--to make more and more urban readers take interest in their surroundings, ask for more greenery and open spaces; lakes and ponds. That is the only way to save the city from the battering it is receiving from over a crore fume-spewing vehicles and lakhs of air conditioners that are warming the city more than 200 days a year.

My another reason for choosing this book is also its positive approach. While the author does express her sadness over what has happened to ‘ her’ beautiful green city, she has not chosen to blame anyone and has held herself back from talking about pollution side effects.

She endlessly talks about trees and birds of different species that she has been watching. Through this literary effort, she has added a new leaf to the evolving history of old Delhi which now is a New Delhi.

Is the New Delhi good or bad? Let the hornbills and bulbuls decide!

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

33

NEWSCAN

VMC to set up 6 new urban health centres

To modernize health facilities in the city, Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is all set to construct six new urban health centres (UHC) for which the state government has also given grants. The renovation work for 34 existing UHCs has already been started out of which 18 is already completed. In the second phase of the project, remaining 16 UHCs will be completed this year. The new buildings will be constructed at a cost of Rs 7.84 crore. The civic body had also proposed the construction of six more UHCs and standing committee gave nod to the project.

Solar energy to light up Pakhowal stadium The Ludhiana civic body has decided to utilize the solar energy to light up the Pakhowal Indoor Stadium. Presently, there is no electricity connection in the stadium which makes it ‘no use area’ not only at night but in a daytime as well. Under the Smart City Mission, the installation of rooftop solar panels has already started. In the first phase of the project, solar panels with the capacity of 10 kw will be installed. While confirming the move MC commissioner Jaskiran Singh said, “Solar panels were being installed on the roof of security office at the stadium’s entrance, so as to generate electricity through a natural source, and provide light at least inside the stadium. But for events, organizers will have to depend on generator sets.”

34 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

DMRC plans biometric ID for elders, students NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has come up with a new idea to introduce “biometric identification” system for students and senior citizens, which will enable discounted fares in the future. To prevent misuse discounts or rebates have not been recommended for the Delhi Metro.

On March 6, DMRC Chief Mangu Singh said, “We were considering biometric identification technology to prepare the system for concessional fares.

The proposal was devised after Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri pitched for rebates to students.” “If a (smart) card is there, how will an AFC (automatic fare collection) gate know whether the commuter is a student or a senior citizen? When the minister was informed of this, he asked if there was a technological solution to this.

And if the next FFC recommends such concessions, then technology should be able to take care of that,” he added.

“Yes, there is technology available now. We really do not know what exactly can be done but it is possible. Maybe biometric identification probably can

work. We can have some nominated gates at every station where a person with the concessional card will pass through that gate only, and the gate will prove first his identity and only then allow.”

Fare Fixation Committees FCC considered the proposal of rebates but did not recommend it to prevent misuse, as the existing system had no mechanism to differentiate between normal commuters and those in certain categories.

Last year, DMRC increased fares twice – in May and October. The current fare structure is Rs 10 for up to 2 km, Rs 20 for 2 to 5 km, Rs 30 for 5 to 12 km, Rs 40 for 12 to 21 km, Rs 50 for 21 to 32 km and Rs 60 for journeys beyond 32 km.

PWD kick starts the cycle track work in Delhi NEW DELHI: Central government came up with a new plan for commuters who don’t want to get stuck in traffic. If you want to travel from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to Mayur Vihar Phase-I, or Connaught Place to Saket, you can avoid the heavy traffic of Ring Road, BRT and Press Enclave Road by choosing a cycle over a motorized vehicle.

Former students of the School of Planning and Architecture were appointed as consultants, who designed this project. The 12-member team will now have to submit an updated proposal to connect areas in east, south and central Delhi.

“We will submit an extension of our cycle project to the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre. It has already cleared the Satpula project, which is the first step towards a cleaner and easier means of travel,” SPA student Gaurav Jangid said.

The idea had its genesis in PWD’s 2021 Master Plan. The cycle track will have 30 cycle stations and four major nodes which will allow commuters to access cycles.

The main aim is to encourage the use of non-motorized transport and to achieve a modal shift from private to public modes of transportation.

‘TheCityFix Learn’ to help city leaders make better decisions NEW DELHI: To support capacity building for urban professionals, World Resource Institute (WRI) Ross Center for Sustainable Cities launched ‘TheCityFix Learn’ (thecityfixlearn.org) a new webbased global knowledge platform. It provides an approachable, multilingual, mobile catalogue of learning products from WRI Ross Center and partners around the world.

City leaders and professionals around the world face a crush of converging pressures. They are being asked to improve urban mobility, housing, equity and access to opportunity – all while accommodating more residents, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making streets safer and healthier.

More infrastructure and funds alone are not enough to take on these challenges; cities need help making better decisions too. Ani Dasgupta, global director of WRI Ross Center said, “We must build cities that work for people and the planet. We recognize that cities need more solutions that are tailored to their local contexts,

including better ways for city leaders to learn about best practices and develop new skills. TheCityFix Learn will give urban professionals the tools and skills they need to provide services for all.”

TheCityFix Learn includes online tutorials on road safety, public transport, transit-oriented development (TOD), and walking and cycling, as well as opportunities to sign up for in-person training and peer-to-peer gatherings to build leadership and management skills.

The platform is launching with English, Spanish and Turkish language content, but more multi-lingual content will be added over the next few months.

“As the world heads towards twothirds of people residing in cities by mid-century, the need to provide cities with not just more infrastructure and monetary resources, but also skilled manpower and institutional capacities to manage and direct these investments in a sustainable manner is clear,” said Chhavi Dhingra, head of capacity building at WRI India.

Ernakulam tops in LIFE mission programme KOCHI: Ernakulam district has made it to the top by achieving 82 per cent progress in activities under the initiative LIFE (Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) Mission programme, undertaken by State government. The main aim of programme is to provide houses to all.

According to a press release by the Public Relations Department, 882 houses work has been completed in the district under the programme out of 1081 houses. Work on the remaining 199 houses will be completed by month end, said District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla, “state average in the implementation of the project was 43 per cent”, he further added. A total of 647 houses are to be constructed under this initiative, out

of which 553 houses were constructed by various local bodies. LIFE Mission project Director K.G. Thilakan gave credit to block panchayats for completing work on the maximum number of houses. “Block panchayats completed construction of 233 of the targeted 256 houses, while grama panchayats readied 205 of the targeted 235 houses. Municipalities completed 68 of the 89 houses targeted, and the Kochi Corporation completed 47 of the 67 houses planned. Houses are being constructed under the supervision of Fisheries and SC/ST Welfare departments, among others”, he added.

A press release stated that Edappally is the first block in the district to complete construction of the targeted number of houses.

PCMC to prepare town planning schemes

To ensure quality municipal services for the population of over 20 lakh in Pimpri Chinchwad, the twin towns, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will prepare three draft town planning schemes. The civic body will engage consultants to conduct various topographical surveys which will collect information on services such as water supply, roads, sanitation, solid waste management, firefighting facilities, emergency routes plan and electricity.

The survey will also focus on pedestrian plazas, street sections, segregation of pedestrian and traffic and spaces conducive to people with different abilities.

PCMC will invite people’s suggestions and objections once the final draft is prepared

BMC to restart Nariman Point cycling track The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to restart its dedicated cycling track between the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) at Nariman Point to Girgaum Chowpatty. The track will be operational on Saturdays and Sundays from 6 am to 11 am.

After facing several hurdles the project was shut in January 2018 but as the demand grew for its revival by the cyclists, the BMC has decided to restart it. This year, the civic body has allocated Rs 100 crore for the project in its budget estimates

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

35

NEWSCAN

50,000 tons plastics to pave 10,000 km roads

After banning plastic items, Maharashtra Government has come up with the plan to tackle existing plastic waste.

According to the (public works department) PWD officials, Government aims to re-lay 10,000 km of roads using 50,000 tons of plastic waste in 5-6 years.

PWD secretary C P Joshi said, “Contractors were allowed to take plastic waste from dump yards in towns within 35- 50 km of the road work sites. It has been proved that such a mixture is increasing the life of roads besides reducing the maintenance cost.”

SMC issues guidelines to conserve water To tackle the shortage of water in Gujarat, the state government has directed the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) to be a part of its Jal Shanchay Yojna.

The Yojna seeks to conserve water and make water storage facilities more efficient. The guidelines provided by the state government to the SMC are to thoroughly clean up the creeks and the river to enhance their flowing capacity and also the city ponds. The civic body has been asked to curtail daily water supply to the citizens. At present, SMC supplies nearly 1,075 million litres per day (MLD) of water to its 50 lakh population in the city. There is a possibility of the civic body cutting the water supply by 10 per cent in the coming days.

36 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Soon Mumbaiites can see live rainfall data on phones MUMBAI: Mumbaiites can soon see the live rainfall updates on their phones, after every 15 to 30 minutes. According to the plans of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), with 200 to 250 installed Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG) across the state, people will be updated about rainfall in a particular locality of Mumbai.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) along with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune will install and maintain these rain gauges. While sharing details of this firstof-its-kind project M Rajeevan, MoES secretary, said that IITM is designing and working to establish a network of at least 200 to 250 ARGs in Mumbai that will provide real-time rainfall information.

Additionally, we also plan to install a radar that will also supply rainfall details for every one-kilometre area.

These two data sets will be combined to prepare a spatial map, using which live rainfall details can be shared with people and for its effective use, this service will be introduced on mobile phones.

At present, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) owns two ARGs at its observatories in Colaba and Santacruz.

After severe flooding in 2005, BMC had installed some rain gauges. “It is true that we have a limited number of Automatic Weather Stations and AWGs in our cities and we are consciously working to increase our network under the Urban Meteorology project. Initially, it will be undertaken in metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai,” said Rajeevan. The main aim of this project is to ensure the safety of people by monitoring water levels, especially after heavy rainfall in any area. According to Rajeevan, through this network, it is possible to get an overall picture of every locality and this information would be sent to alert people. Once operational, the ministry plans to replicate similar networks in other Indian cities, the senior MoES official said.

Maharashtra govt declares the state ODF MUMBAI: Maharashtra declared itself an open defecation free (ODF) state, by providing access to toilets to all its residents, on April 18. In a press conference, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “In October 2017, the state declared its urban areas as ODF and now, rural Maharashtra has followed suit.”

“It is an astounding achievement for a government and for a government scheme. In 65 years since Independence, only 45 per cent of the population could be provided access to toilets but in just three-and-half years we have covered the remaining 55 per cent,” he added. The ODF programme was started under Swachh Bharat Mission with October 2, 2019 deadline.

According to data presented by the Centre, an area is declared ODF if 95 per cent of the population has a toilet or access to it within 100 metres from the household.

CM Fadnavis claimed that the government has spent Rs 4500 crore and, built 22.51 lakh toilets in 2017-18 and 5.5 million toilets between October 2014 and 31 March 2018. After completing the first phase work, the government has started doing work on the second phase which is to ensure people do not defecate in open.

Campaigns like ‘good morning squads’, ‘whistle squads’ and ‘Darwaja bandh’ (close the door) have been started to persuade people to use toilets.

Eastern Peripheral Expressway to decongest Delhi traffic NEW DELHI: The construction of 135 km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), signal-free connectivity between Gautam Budh Nagar, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Palwal, is complete. The Centre informed Supreme Court that it would help decongest Delhi traffic. With the opening of EPE, commute time will come down by half to just one-and-a-half hours.

The project is going to be complete in about 500 days, by setting a new record, against a target of 910 days. Advocate Aparajita Singh, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, told the Bench that the work of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway was on track and it is scheduled to be opened by the end of April. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the 135-km Kundli-Palwal stretch.

The project director of NHAI, Niraj Varma, said that the expressway will

reduce congestion in the capital and will bring down pollution in Delhi by 27 per cent. The expressway would have weighing bridges at its 30 entrances to allow only non-overloaded vehicles on the route. “This is the first expressway in the country with solar power for lighting on the entire expressway. There are eight solar power plants on this expressway having a capacity of 4000- kilowatt (4 MW). For plantation, drip irrigation has been used in the central median as well as for avenue plantation. A total of about 2.5 lakh trees will be planted as green belt,” said a minister.

A new feature, auto challans have been installed. So, if anyone crosses the speed of 120kmph, cameras would detect it and the driver would need to pay a fine at the next toll plaza. Along with auto challans, facilities like petrol pumps, motels, rest areas, washrooms, restaurants, shops, repair services etc. will also be provided.

Panel slams Central Government for slow implementation of Smart Cities Mission NEW DELHI: The slow progress of Smart Cities Mission has come under severe criticism from the Standing Committee on Urban Development.

The panel has noticed that of all the urban missions, Smart Cities has the lowest utilization of Rs 182 crore out of the total Rs 9943 crore.

The Committee said that the flagship programmes which are launched for transforming the lives of the people in the country are sidelined. According to report, as against the promised Mission support of Rs 48000 crore for 100 cities for five years, the total budget estimate until now is nearly about Rs 15000 crore, while Rs 10094 crore is the revised estimate of last three years.

The committee said that the ground reality of work done under Smart Cities Mission is different than claimed by

the Government. The panel found that in spite of available mechanism, complaints about poor work from local MPs under the mission were still coming. The panel expressed its concern about the mission that even after three years of its launch, most of the identified projects are still at the stage of preparation of detailed project report.

“The Committee is concerned to find that as against a total fund allocation of Rs 48548.64 crore for the six flagship programmes viz. AMRUT, HRIDAY, Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat, National Urban Livelihood Mission and PM Awas Yojna, the actual utilisation is only 21.6 per cent, ie. Rs 7850.72 crore out of Rs 36194.39 crore released since the launch of these schemes”, the Committee said.

E-waste industry join hands to ensure proper disposal India generates 18 lakh metric tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) per annum out of which two lakh tonnes are recycled and the rest is processed by the unorganized sector or ending up in landfills. Recyclers came together to form All India e-Waste Recyclers’ Association (AEWRA), headquartered in Bengaluru, to ensure the waste is disposed of properly.

The association will look at streamlining the dismantling and recycling cycle of e-waste in the country. AEWRA aims to bring all e-waste recyclers and dismantlers onto one platform and work with the government with enforced rules. To make it convenient for people to reach e-waste recyclers, they are planning to set up technologydriven drop boxes to enable people to put their waste and be paid back through e-wallets. The association is aiming to work with local municipal bodies to set up e-waste collection centres.

Encroachment demolished in Nashik Nashik Municipal Corporation demolished permanent structures in the plush New Pandit Colony while carrying out its anti-encroachment drive. The NMC encroachment department with police and staff of other departments demolished unauthorized constructions in New Pandit Colony off Gangapur Road and in PNT Colony.

An NMC official said that all unauthorized constructions, constructions on parking spaces, side margins, roads etc. will be demolished in stricter actions by NMC in future. Action will also be taken against vegetable and fruit vendors, kiosk owners & hawkers.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

37

NEWSCAN

Amsterdam Airport is running on wind farms & electric buses AMSTERDAM: One of Europe’s busiest airports, located in The Netherlands, is on course to become fully sustainable in the near future. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam handles 63 million passengers a year, making it the thirdhighest in the continent. To handle this volume in the right way, it has designs to become one of the most sustainable airports in the world.

Jos Nijhuis, the airport’s President and CEO has previously stated that “one thing is certain: aviation can and must be made more sustainable.”

As part of this plan, and to align itself with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Royal Schiphol Group has just opened a new wind farm.

The Autena project, built by Dutch developer Eneco, consists of three

turbines, two of which will be used to supply the airport with 10 percent of its power needs, equivalent to the annual consumption of around 17,000 households. The move forms part of a deal struck with Eneco last year to source all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The energy firm is developing more wind farms to meet this goal, which will see it provide 200-gigawatt hours of clean power to all

of Holland’s major airports, including Rotterdam, The Hague, Eindhoven, and Lelystad. Nijhuis added that the agreement will allow our airports to increase their sustainability and offer economic benefits.

Along with renewable power, Schiphol recently unveiled 100 new electric buses at the airport, which will be used 24 hours a day in and around the terminals. It has installed fastcharging infrastructure which allows batteries to be refuelled in 2-4 minutes.

Miriam Hoekstra-van der Deen, Director of Airport Operations at Schiphol commented that “It is fantastic that from today, thousands of passengers, commuters and employees will be taking green buses from and to Schiphol.”

Clean air programme to tackle air pollution NEW DELHI: Inaugurating the twoday Stakeholder Consultation on NCAP, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr Mahesh Sharma emphasised the impact of air pollution on health and general well-being of the human, floral and faunal population.

He also said that the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is expected to play a crucial role in addressing the increasing air pollution across the country in a comprehensive manner.

The Stakeholder Consultation involves all the State Governments, considering that NCAP is a pan-India programme and inputs from states will be useful in evolving an effective implementation strategy. The overall objective of the NCAP is comprehensive management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country. The NCAP focuses on collaborative and participatory approach covering all sources of pollution and coordination between relevant Central

38 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change addressed the Inaugural Session of stakeholder consultation on National Clean Air Program (NCAP)

Ministries, State Governments, local bodies and other stakeholders.

The focus is on intensive awareness, training and capacity-building drive, with specific impetus on augmentation of manpower and infrastructure facilities of CPCB and SPCB under the capacity building component of NCAP. Separate components with emphasis on three-tier mechanism for review of monitoring, assessment and inspection for effective implementation under NCAP. The key components of NCAP include - cityspecific air pollution abatement action plan for 100 polluting cities of the country

similar to one for Delhi, increasing the number of monitoring stations, data dissemination, public participation on planning and implementation, setting up of Air Information Centre for data analysis, resource apportionment studies, setting up of national inventory, guidelines for indoor air pollution and setting up of rural monitoring stations. MoEF&CC has formalized the NCAP as a long-term timebound national-level strategy to tackle the increasing air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner. The total tentative cost of NCAP is estimated at Rs 637 crore.

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Ministry of Urban Development to announce the 20 winners of Smart City Challenge in January 2016

Internet of Things supported technological solutions are leveraging ubiquitous connectivity among complex sets of distinct sensors, citizens, and apps to smoothen functioning of city systems

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2015 was a landmark year for cities all over the world and paved a concrete path for a bright urban transition. How India crafts its urban development vision this year will profoundly impact the future of our cities

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NEWSCAN

NMC hikes water tariff by 5 per cent

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation increased water tariff by 5 per cent for the eighth consecutive year. There has been a 48 per cent rise in the tariff, ever since the supply went into private hands. The water tariff is applicable for all seven categories of consumers and has come into effect from April 1. The consumers have to pay more from July 1 as the NMC needs to pay more to the water resources department for raw water. The WRD allocated 139.03 million meter cube (MMC) raw drinking water as against demand of 269.7 MMC to the NMC and will charge 1.52 times of tariff for utilization above 139.03MMC

Itanagar, Pasighat municipalities elections on May 29 The municipal elections for Itanagar and Pasighat will be held on May 29, announced State Election Commissioner Hage Kojeen at a press conference at the office of the State Election Commission. However, the schedule for panchayat polls could not be finalized due to technical reasons related to Arunachal Pradesh Panchayat Raj Amendment Bill 2018. There are 30 wards under the Itanagar municipality with 64,799 electors and 56 polling stations, while the Pasighat municipality has 12 wards and 9,646 electors and 12 polling stations. The last date for filing nominations is May 8 and counting of votes will be done on May 31.

40 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

India becomes the sixth largest economy in the world : IMF New Delhi: India is now the world’s sixth largest economy at $2.6 trillion, displacing France, according to the database of the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) for April 2018. The five countries with largest economies ahead are the United States, China, Japan, Germany and United Kingdom.

The senior economist at Rabobank, Hugo Erken, said, “India runs the risk of being caught in the middle of the trade spat between the US and China. Growth will take a hit if India takes sides as the side not chosen may retaliate by imposing duties.” IMF acknowledged the Indian turn around but kept its growth forecast unchanged to 7.4 per cent for 2018 and 7.8 per cent in 2019, up from 6.7 per cent in 2017. The World Bank forecasted growth from 6.7 per cent in 2017 to 7.3 per cent in 2018 and to subsequently stabilise at 7.5 per cent in 2019 and 2020.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s First Deputy Managing Director, David Lipton, the implementation of Goods and Services Tax is going to help secure the reliability of foundation of public finances. Lipton identified digital ID technology, steps taken to deal with the accumulated problems in banks and other structural reforms are important moves towards inclusive growth.

“India’s goal is to have sustained growth and to have a growth that boosts the living standards very broadly across

the population. The reforms that have been carried out so far have had benefits and make a very good case for carrying forward with further reforms,” Lipton said. India’s government debt remained relatively high at 70 per cent of the GDP in 2016, Abdel Senhadji, deputy director in IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, told reporters at a news conference in Washington. Further the IMF official said, “They are, in fact, targeting their federal deficit of three per cent over the medium term, and they are targeting also a debt ratio of 40 per cent over the medium term at the federal level, which corresponds to about 60 per cent at the general government level. And we believe that those targets are appropriate.”

According to IMF report India has made progress on structural reforms in the recent past, including through the implementation of the GST, which will help reduce internal barriers to trade, increase efficiency, and improve tax compliance.

“The corporate debt overhang and associated banking sector credit quality concerns exert a drag on investment in India,” report said. Official in the finance ministry in New Delhi said that they are confident India would hold on to the sixth position, despite the dynamic nature of the GDP projection.

“This is a landmark development for India. These horse races and their numbers matter and work to shape opinion,” he added.

Hardeep Puri Launches Smart Imprest Cards on PFMS Portal for CPWD NEW DELHI: Hardeep Puri, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs has launched Smart Imprest Cards & eMeasurement Book (e-MB) on PFMS portal for CPWD. Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, M/o HUA, officials of Ministry of Finance and banks were also present at the launch function.

With the launch of an e-MB module on PFMS Portal in CPWD, this will be the first integrated web-based module in Civil Ministries to monitor both the financial progress i.e. utilization of funds along with related physical progress captured as per schedule of various items of works through e-MB in all projects/works undertaken by CPWD. The launch of Smart Imprest cards with end to end digitization of entire process introduced for the first time in Civil Ministry will enable maximization of digital payments to achieve ultimately 100 per cent digitization of payments in MoHUA thereby also fulfilling objectives of Digital India Mission. The Smart Imprest cards are proposed to be introduced in more than 400 offices of Ministry spread all over the country. Three accredited banks i.e., Axis bank for main Ministry, SBI for CPWD and IDBI bank for Printing are partnering with MoHUA for this roll out on all India basis.

Government’s major construction organization Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has undergone a

major digital transformation. This has been done by networking of all the 400 field offices of CPWD across the country by rolling out a special integrated web-based system of Public Financial Management System (PFMS) ensuring digital payments and accounting w.e.f July 2017.

With this, CPWD has become the first organization of any civil ministry to become 100 per cent digital at the field level.

CPWD executes around 15,000 Projects/works across the country involving annual payments of 15,00020,000 crores every year by its 400 field offices located all over the country including Remote, Hilly and NorthEastern parts. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has evolved a special CDDO module of PFMS for CPWD which was developed by PFMS team of Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance. CDDO module of PFMS is an advanced online web-based

end-to-end integrated system/solution of e-payments (digital), e-accounting with Management Information System.

This module enables real-time monitoring of expenditure in respect of all CPWD projects thereby ensuring efficient utilization of funds along with greater transparency and accountability in expenditure.

This is the first integrated webbased module in Civil Ministries to monitor and track both the financial progress i.e. utilization of funds along with related physical progress captured through e-MB as per schedule of various items of works in CPWD works/ projects. Considering Government of India’s emphasis of transitioning from mere “Outlays” to result oriented “Outputs and Outcomes”, this webbased e-MB module will facilitate better comprehensive results-based monitoring of CPWD works/projects on a real-time basis.

Rapid metro sets up solar panel to go green New Delhi: Rapid metro Gurgaon, in partnership with Amplus Energy Solutions, has installed its own solar panels at the depot near the station at sector 54 Chowk for 25 years. Rapid Metro authorities stated that with the capacity of 403.155 kWp solar

plant will produce pollution-free solar energy of 11,839,856 units and it will also help the Rapid Metro meet around 6.5% of its total electricity needs. Through this, rapid metro aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 11,390 metric tonnes.

www.urbanupdate.in | May 2018

41

NEWSCAN

UNEP Launches Environmental Rights Initiative In 2017, four people a week were killed defending their right to a clean and healthy environment. Between 2002 and 2013, 908 people were killed in 35 countries defending the environment and land. Environmental rights are enshrined in over 100 constitutions GENEVA: With the launch of the UN Environmental Rights Initiative, UN Environment is taking a stand against the ongoing threats, intimidation, harassment, and murder of environmental defenders around the world.

By helping people to better understand their rights and how to defend them, and by assisting governments to better safeguard environmental rights, the Initiative will bring environmental protection nearer to the people. UN Environment is also calling upon the private sector to move beyond a culture of basic compliance to one where the business community champions the rights of everyone to a clean and healthy environment.

Launching the UN Environmental Rights Initiative in Geneva, Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said, “Those who struggle to protect planet and people should be celebrated as heroes, but the sad fact is that many are paying a heavy price with their safety and sometimes their lives.”

“It’s our duty to stand on the side of those who are on the right side of history. It means standing for the most fundamental and universal of human rights,” he added.By helping people to understand how to defend their rights, and by assisting governments to safeguard environmental rights, UNEP maintains that the initiative will bring environmental protection nearer to the people.

Although, since the 1970s, environmental rights have grown more rapidly than any other human right and are enshrined in over 100 constitutions, in January the international nongovernmental organization (NGO) Global Witness documented that almost four environmental defenders

42 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

are being killed weekly – with the true total likely far higher. Many more are harassed, intimidated and forced from their lands. Moreover, around 40-50 per cent of the 197 environmental defenders killed in 2017 came from indigenous and local communities.

“Violations of environmental rights have a profound impact on a wide variety of human rights, including the rights to life, self-determination, food, water, health, sanitation, housing, cultural, civil and political rights,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said, recounting recent visits to Papua New Guinea and Fiji where he was made keenly aware of the impact of extractive industries and climate change on individual rights.

“It is crucial that those most affected are able to meaningfully participate in decisions relating to land and the environment,” he stressed. Two disturbing countertrends are underway. The first is the escalating intimidation and murder of environmental defenders, and the second is some countries’ attempts to limit NGO activities.

“States have a responsibility to prevent and punish rights abuses committed by private corporations

within their territory, and businesses have an obligation to avoid infringing on the human rights of others,” Zeid continued. “I hope this new Initiative will be able to encourage States and businesses to comply with these obligations.”

Leo Heileman, UNEP director for the office in Latin America and the Caribbean called it “an opportunity to give environmental rights the same legal standing as human rights at the global level.”

Among other things, the initiative will help governments strengthen institutional capacities to develop and implement policy and legal frameworks protecting environmental rights and assist businesses to better understand their environmental rights obligations and provide guidance on how to advance beyond a compliance culture.

“I am proposing to the UN Human Rights Council that the UN should join countries in recognizing a global right to a healthy environment,” said John Knox Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment. “The time has come to recognize this formal interdependence of human rights and the environment, not only at national level but at the UN level too.”

CITY IMAGES

‘India Vision Zero’ to reduce road fatalities By engaging multi-sectorial stakeholders, ‘India Vision Zero: Towards Zero Traffic Deaths’ provided an opportunity to highlight the larger need for bus safety reforms in the country. The forum helped to discuss the role non-governmental stakeholders can play in advancing road safety, through education, advocacy, improved policies, or through CSR investment NEW DELHI: A diverse mix of stakeholders including government officials, corporates and civil society joined ‘India Vision Zero: Towards Zero Traffic Deaths’, to discuss road safety reforms in India.

Jointly organized by UL (Underwriters Laboratories), Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety and World Resources Institute (WRI) India, the summit saw participants discussing strategies to make public bus services safer, as well as the role of corporates in advancing road safety in Indian cities.

Driven by the mutual goal to explore multidimensional and workable road safety solutions that can be replicated across the country, UL and WRI embarked on a multi-year collaboration in 2015. The partners focused on studying crashes involving public buses, starting with two city bus agencies: BMTC and BEST. Between 2015 and 2016, the partnership analyzed the

crash data from these bus agencies and implemented some solutions such as retrofitting standard sized mirrors to improve visibility of drivers and upgrading the driver training program to make it relevant to today’s needs. In 2017, WRI continued its partnership with UL to expand the study to four more bus transport agencies, including both city- and state-run operations.

‘India Vision Zero: Towards Zero Traffic Deaths’ was conducted under the banner of India Vision Zero (IVZ), a road safety forum set up to deliberate on challenges, opportunities and solutions towards reducing road traffic fatalities in India. It is based on four principles: “Safety first: Protecting human life is more important than all other trafficrelated challenges”, Forgiving systems: Fail safe roads and vehicle systems are essential to minimize fatalities due to human error “Shared responsibilities: Transport providers and authorities are as responsible for road safety as

the road users.” Coordinated action: An effective road safety strategy needs coordinated action between all stakeholders, with inter-linked targets, periodic communication and corrective mechanisms.

Stressing on the importance of involving public bus services in the road safety discussion, Dr. OP Agarwal, CEO, WRI India, said, “Public bus systems form the backbone of urban mobility in India and serve as an economical and convenient mode of transport for all classes of society. Effective bus safety is vital to build a robust, welldesigned road safety system.” He added, “Together, we can drive the discussion with innovative ideas on road safety.”

IVZ follows the international Vision Zero approach to road safety, which prioritizes human life above all other traffic related issues. The Vision Zero approach to road safety was introduced in Sweden in 1997 and uses the basic principle that if transportation systems are designed to be safe for the most vulnerable user, then they will be safe for all users. By 2000, the country had reduced its road fatality numbers by half. In the last decade, over a million people have died due to road traffic crashes in India, accounting for more than 10 percent of global numbers.

The Indian government has made a number of attempts to strengthen road legislation. Recently, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016 was passed by the lower house of the Parliament. Many of the amendments suggested in the bill are aimed at empowering the national, state, and local governments to strengthen institutional mechanisms and initiate comprehensive road safety strategies.

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NEWSCAN

DTC plans GPS to track errant drivers The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) plans to install info tracking device in its fleet to discipline bus drivers and get them to ply as per the time table. On violation of rules it will provide alerts to drivers and control rooms

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) came up with a new plan to track minute-to-minute details of errant drivers. DTC is planning to start a 24x7 hours vehicle tracking system to restrain in errant drivers indulging in over-speeding, abrupt halts and route deviations. A tender has been floated for the proposed ‘Vehicle Tracking and Passenger Information System (VTPIS)’, said a DTC official.

According to an Official document, this system will enable DTC to conduct routine appraisals of the drivers’ performance in terms of punctuality, safety and adherence to prescribed routes, timings and stoppages. VTPIS will be installed in around 3375 buses operated by the corporation and the 1000 odd standard floor CNG buses.

To include DTC’s complete bus operation area, including NCR and inter-state regions where buses operate, a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) would be developed. Proposal states that it will provide alerts to drivers and control rooms on over-speeding by buses, unauthorised stoppage and/or non-

44 May 2018 | www.urbanupdate.in

It will provide alerts to drivers and control rooms on overspeeding by buses, unauthorised stoppage and/or non-stoppage of buses at designated bus stops/scheduled stoppage point, route deviation by buses etc. Such alerts should also be configurable to mobile phones on numbers prescribed by DTC stoppage of buses at designated bus stops/ scheduled stoppage point, route deviation by buses etc. Such alerts would also be configurable to mobile numbers prescribed by DTC. According to Officials, in multiple control rooms buses would be watched and tracked using ‘GPS-based, GPRSenabled vehicle mounting units.’ This would enable the control room to keep a minute-by-minute account of the positions of the buses on a digital map of the city and also detect if a driver is over speeding, skipping a stop or going off route. Through sensors it would also record fuel status, brake pressure, engine condition, temperature etc., and communicate the same to the control rooms. The project would be executed on a ‘Build, Operate & Transfer’ model and the selected vendor

will be responsible for the system’s design, installation, development, maintenance, facility management and operation. To make DTC’s buses more convenient for passengers, LED/ LCD boards and audio systems will be installed inside buses to display and announce next stops. Two panic buttons would also be added in each bus for commuters, especially for women, to send alerts to security agencies.

Officials said while the display panels at bus stops do not come under the purview of this project, five boards will be put up at various locations for demonstrative purpose and will later be installed at other stops.

Earlier in 2002 also DTC made an attempt to equip its bus fleet with GPS but it got terribly failed as most of the devices malfunctioned.

CITY IMAGES

3R mantra- ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ golden principle for sustainability: Narendra Modi The Forum seeks to engage the public and private sector to explore various partnership opportunities in areas of 3R and waste management for moving towards a zero waste society. The Forum further provides an opportunity to establish insightful linkages between the principles of 3R and resource efficiency and the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission NEW DELHI: Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has said, “The mantra of 3R – Reduce, Reuse and Recycleis at the heart of any vision towards the sustainable development of mankind. All stakeholders –producers, consumers and the State alike must adhere to this golden principle which can contribute significantly in solving the twin challenges of waste management as well as the sustainable development”.

The prime minister’s message was to participants of the Eighth Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific, held in Indore from 9 to 12 April 2018. The theme of the event was “Achieving Clean Water, Clean Land and Clean Air through 3R and Resource Efficiency – A 21st Century Vision for Asia-Pacific Communities”.

The forum started on 9th April with a pre-event ceremony welcoming more than 500 delegates from across India and the world. On April 10th, 2018 the event was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep S. Puri. Japan’s environment minister Tadahiko Ito was also present at the event.

The Eighth Regional 3R Forum saw the participation of around 40 mayors of cities around the world and mayors of more than 100 cities across India.

The highlight of the event was a series of sessions with mayors focusing on sustainable urban development and forging of inter-municipal partnerships and cooperation at the national and international level.The main aim

PM Narendra Modi addressed the participants of the Eighth Regional Forum ‘3R-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ in Asia and the Pacific

All stakeholders - producers, consumers and the state alike - must adhere to this golden principle which can contribute significantly in solving the twin challenges of waste as well as sustainable development

behind this forum was to address how 3R and resource efficiency measures can provide complementary benefits in making cities and countries clean, smart, liveable and resilient.

The Forum also aims to generate policy-level, institutional level and technological insights towards effective implementation of 3R and resource efficiency to foster circular economic development, sustainable change in

PM Narendra Modi

current use of natural resources and ultimately achieve a zero-waste society.

The Forum also hosted the International 3R Exhibition and various technical cum cultural field visits for its delegates. On April 12 the Forum also recognised and rewarded industries and civil society organisations carrying out exceptional work in the area of 3R for waste management through the 3R Awards.

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Urban Agenda | New Aspirations

Cultural Diversity to Create Resilient Cities

Culture is crucial to resilience. We all must strive in that direction. At the same time we must reform the existing culture and meet the ‘New Urban Agenda’ that we are striving for

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor

C

ulture is an integral part of human development and active participation of citizens in local cultural activities enhances quality of one’s life and increases opportunities and choices.

Local culture can be the way to address various challenges and it can also find various solutions to issues that concern citizens. It is important for us to learn about the past of our city, so that we can understand it and apply this local knowledge in the future. The knowledge of one’s own culture gives citizens a feel of belonging to one’s city and a feeling of ownership of their cities. It is vital to adopt policies which promote cultural diversity, the protection of heritage, including intangible heritage, and the development of creative pursuits.

These are key ways to contribute to social cohesion, capitalize on diversity, provide livelihoods, and empower local communities.

The New Urban Agenda calls for greater respect for culture and diversity. It’s essential to promote equality as a key element to ensure humanization of our cities. The UN Habitat declaration at Quito says “culture and cultural diversity are sources of enrichment for humankind and provide an important contribution

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to the sustainable development of cities, human settlements and citizens, empowering them to play an active and unique role in development initiatives. The New Urban Agenda further acknowledges that ensuring equal rights and opportunities, socioeconomic and cultural diversity, and integration in the urban space are important conditions to guarantee that no one will be left behind”.

The World Urban Forum held at Kuala Lumpur had a special session on ‘Leveraging Diversity & Culture, Shaping Cities for all’, which saw participation by many eminent personalities from all over the world. While addressing the session, Merola Virginio, Mayor of the city of Bologna said, “culture needs to be democratic and without the respect for the citizens or their participation, local governments and city planners would not be able to create resilient cities that reflected the needs of their constituents.” As people are continuously moving to cities for better job opportunities or for a high quality life, they are not only bringing their physical selves to the new environment but also their diverse backgrounds, traditions, ideas, and rituals. As they come to the city, initially they create small communities on the periphery

and later integrate into the larger scope of the city. Cultural diversity can help in aiding a city in a situation of conflict and disaster. For implementation of the New Urban Agenda, it is necessary to acknowledge the role of culture and diversity in our cities and their habitants.

As we rise to meet the new challenges of our times and recover from the conflict, we need to celebrate our diversity. We must recover the lost ground and rebuild a culture that can sustain our new generation.

Celebration of our lives, culture, food and art will bring that back. The new Urban Agenda acknowledges the importance of culture and diversity as drivers of development. Without the contributions of different backgrounds and the emphasis of culture, cities cannot be inclusive - they cannot be cities for all. There are no criteria to measure and monitor the culture like other areas of sustainability, as it has non-assessable and invisible dimensions. But cultural policies are like other public policies and are subject to transparency and effectiveness. There need to be some essential measurement or assessment criteria for cultural policies too, so that the value and effectiveness of cultural policies can be understood.

Organiser

Co-Organisers

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South Asian Cities Summit

New Urban Agenda & Localising SDGs

May 4-5, 2018 India Habitat Centre New Delhi

Contact us AIILSG, Bharat Ratna Sardar VallabhBhai Patel Bhawan, D- 22-23 Institutional Area, Pankha Road, Janakpuri, New Delhi-110058 Phone: +91-011-28525465, 28521783

For Speaker/Partnership/Sponsorship Opportunities Write to us at delhi@aiilsg.org

Website www.sacsummit.in