Growing urbanisation and its resultant problems and issues have drawn the attention of international organisations, national governments and the civil society. The United Nations (2012) has reported that while "unprecedented increase in urban population will provide new opportunities to improve education and public services in Africa and Asia,...
Growing urbanisation and its resultant problems and issues have drawn the attention of international organisations, national governments and the civil society. The United Nations (2012)1 has reported that while "unprecedented increase in urban population will provide new opportunities to improve education and public services in Africa and Asia, ... However, this will also pose new challenges of providing urban jobs, housing, energy and infrastructure to mitigate urban poverty, expansion of slums and a deterioration of the urban environment".
At the Earth Summit 2012 (or Rio+20) recently, urban problems and challenges were also identified as a critical issue and taken up for discussion. Efforts are being made in various parts of the world to address the present day urban challenges. New combinations, mechanisms, approaches and strategies are being developed, tried and tested for achieving the goals of equity and sustainability. There is an emphasis on sharing of experiences and documentation of success stories (or best practices).
Considering the significance of urbanisation in current times, Observer Research Foundation and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung organised an international conference on ’Global Urbanisation Experiences’ in New Delhi on 8-9 November 2011. The conference aimed to cover five important topics / themes, namely urban governance and participation, planning and design, transportation and networks, energy consumption and emissions, and social exclusion. Urban experts from Austria, China, Colombia, Germany, India, UK and USA participated and presented papers. They shared valuable information and suggested ways to overcome contemporary problems. The main idea behind holding the event was that while urban problems experienced in nations around the world differ, there is much benefit to be derived by sharing research findings and practical experiences.
The conference had the following objectives:
• To bring together urban experts for exchanging knowledge about urbanisation
• To deliberate upon complex urban issues and challenges to progress
• To explore options and opportunities for the creation of habitable and sustainable urban centres
• To publish and disseminate the proceedings and research papers
The papers presented at the conference on important urban topics have been published in the Seminar - The Monthly Symposium (# 635, July 2012: Urban Transformations - A symposium on the problems of urbanisation and haphazard growth of our cities). Further information is available at: http://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.html.
1 United Nations (2012): ’Africa and Asia to lead urban population growth in the next four decades, Press Release, 5 April 2012, New York.
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