MoHUA holds two-day brainstorming session on urban challenges

Before the elections started, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked his cabinet ministries to come up with a 100-day plan and work on a long-term “vision document” that will guide the priorities of his third term, if he is re-elected.

According to sources, the MoHUA’s brainstorming session and its recommendations would be helpful for the long-term national vision document.

The session was attended by Union and state government officials, as well as experts to brainstorm on the topics of reimagining urban governance; urban planning and making disaster resilient cities; urban mobility; innovative urban financing; and affordable housing, urban economy and social infrastructure.

The session started with addresses by 16th Finance Commission Chairman Arvind Panagariya, NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam and MoHUA secretary Anuraj Jain, sources said.

According to the officials familiar with the developments, one of the topics discussed on Wednesday was the fundamental question of whether urban planning should be extended to peri-urban planning, which would include the areas in the periphery of cities. A common minimum program for urban and peri-urban areas to ensure seamless delivery of certain services like transit was on the agenda, they said.

Making disaster management more proactive by integrating it into planning was another topic discussed by officials.

A national-level cooling action plan for households, neighborhoods and cities, with an emphasis on sustainable materials, was also on the agenda.

After the session ends on Thursday, the recommendations on multiple topics would be drawn and these would be useful for state governments when they recast their urban schemes, an official said.