New Delhi, India – The International Conference on Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Development in Indiaattracted more than 370 attendees from different parts of India and abroad. The audience included renowned social scientists, high-powered national, state and city-level policy makers, planners, development practitioners, private sector representatives, members of international organizations, students, social workers and activists from across the world. There were 110 resource persons who actively contributed in the conference proceedings. This was one of the most successful urban conferences for the University of Florida and one of the largest organized in India.
The conference, which was held from August 1-3, was jointly organized by the Institute for Human Development in New Delhi, DCP and the NITI Aayog(National Institution for Transforming India). High-level experts from countries all over the world, including Canada, U.S., China, Singapore, South Africa, Brazil, Germany and Belgium, and from many states in India, presented their research, experiences and opinions on ways to ensure cities become inclusive and sustainable during the process of urbanization, which is likely to accelerate in near future. Also, there were two heavily attended panel discussions on Smart Cities and the Swachh Bharat, which is the Clean India Mission.
The Urban Development Union Minister Venkiah Naiduinaugurated the conference. The Government of India also launched the Swachh Bharat e-Learning Portal and the First Training Modules on Sanitation. The platform is aimed towards facilitating capacity building of municipal employees and those linked to the field of sanitation and solid waste management.
“The conference provided a platform to discuss policy options to build more
inclusive and sustainable cities, and people wanted to learn from the international experiences and the best practices in the field of urban development,” said Abhinav Alakshendra, coordinator of the conference and assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. “It was great to see such an awesome response to our initiative.”