Context of the talk

Though the state of urban services has improved in the recent years, India is far from meeting all the Service Level Benchmarks that are necessary to offer a good quality of life to the citizens. Since late 1980s, there has been significant global advocacy and agreements for achieving the goals of inclusive and sustainable urban development. But Indian cities are still faced with devastating climate risks such
as frequent flooding and urban heat islands. Also, even after a series of urban poverty reduction programmes being implemented, inclusive cities remains yet a distant dream. This is largely because post-independent India started with a deep rooted anti-urban bias which later tuned into reluctant urbanism. Only recently has this mindset changed. The government has now accepted urbanisation as a necessary condition for national development. However, the Indian urban governance system is too complex and fraught with a number of challenges that are difficult to fix. Dr. Pathak’s talk will highlight these challenges and explore a way forward.