Roundtable on Clustered City Development - India 

Supported by Asian Development Bank (ADB) 

Date: 16  July 2008

Venue: Conference Room, NIUA, New Delhi

The urban sector community at ADB has identified Cluster City Development (CCD) as a key strategy for urban lead development. This approach enhances the development potential of cities by linking their development fields through improved infrastructure, innovative financing and good governance. ADB is supporting a study on CCD in National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi. The study is being carried out by SPMS and NIUA. The 1st Roundtable on CCD for NCR of Delhi was organized at NIUA on July 16, 2008.

Prof. Chetan Vaidya, Director, NIUA welcomed the guests and gave a brief background of the study. Dr. Kyeong-Ae Choe, Principal Urban Development Specialist, ADB stated that the CCD project will help in sustainable and inclusive urban growth. She also stated that the study would provide important inputs to the two technical assistance projects being provided to National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB). Professor Emeritus Brian Roberts gave a background of the project. He said that the objectives of CCD in NCR are to assess and understand spatial and economic characteristics and patterns, explore good practices and innovations, develop solutions, and disseminate knowledge. Outcomes of the CCD Project will be:

  1. New projects for a clustered urban development strategy;
  2. Better understanding of drivers that contribute to city development;
  3. Better information base; and

  4. Identify actions to improve investment in business, infrastructure and capacity building for CCD.

Dr. P.K.Mohanty, JS, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Director JNNURM said that India's urbanization pattern is different from other countries. There is need to explain to political leaders, NGO's and stakeholders lessons of planning urban areas in other countries. He suggested that the study should bring in best practices from other countries like Korea, China, Philippines and Indonesia. He also said there is need to develop a strategy to finance urban poverty alleviation in India. Prof. O.P.Mathur, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) said that the study would help to explain why certain activities cluster together and provide an information base for explaining the process of urbanization.

The Roundtable was attended by about 30 professionals representing the NCRPB, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), Housing & Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO), National Housing Bank (NHB), School of Planning (SPA) and other organizations. The discussions were divided into three topics: constraints; information base and way forward.

Some of the important conclusions of the roundtable were: · there is need to identify better ways of public-private partnership in urban infrastructure; · identify participation of urban poor in property markets; · improved human capital base; · provide seamless transportation system; and · identify long term impacts of urban development and develop livable cities.

The meeting ended with thanks to Prof. Brian Roberts, Dr. Kyeong-Ae Choe, Dr. P.K.Mohanty, Prof. Om Mathur and other participants.