Asia Urbs EcoCities Project

Today the urban areas in India are facing problems of deterioration of environmental and socio-economic conditions. The major concerns are unplanned and haphazard development, poor sanitary and living conditions, rapid urbanization and associated problems including slums, poor/inadequate infrastructure and pollution problems. While there are several causes for urban degradation such as population migration, environmental considerations not adequately being incorporated into plans (Master Plans), uncoordinated and haphazard development, weak implementation of plans and laws and inadequate institutional competences, one of the major concerns is also resource crunch. Considering the severe lacking or inadequate infrastructure facilities, deteriorating environmental quality and living conditions on one hand and the lack of finances, awareness, adequate technical competences and organizational set up on the other, there is a need for looking into custom made non-conventional solutions, best practices for application of urban sustainability management in cities in India.

The project’s overall objective is therefore to promote the concept of urban sustainability management, to support decentralisation of urban planning in India, to enhance the creation of new regional and international partnerships, to reinforce existing partnerships between European and Indian stakeholders and to strengthen EU-India cooperation in the area of urban sustainability management with special focus on environmental issues.

The project’s purpose is to develop, to enhance and to strengthen the network, the capacity and the competence of all relevant stakeholders of selected municipalities of EcoCities in India and Europe for the challenges of urban sustainability management and to upgrade their skills in being capable in identifying, designing and implementing bankable urban projects with particular focus on environmental issues (sewerage system, garbage and solid waste management, infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity, green belts, plantation and landscaping).

This capacity building and networking approach on urban sustainability management in EcoCities (core cities) in India disseminates and integrates into practice, successfully proven, sustainable oriented concepts, strategies and approaches, helping municipalities to convert their goals and visions and fostering a multi-stakeholder approach at the same time.
The project focuses on municipalities in five selected EcoCities all over India assisting their staff members and associated intermediaries in enhancing their technical and managerial capabilities on urban sustainability management and supports the development of long term projects for the EcoCities.

The following main activities are envisaged within the project approach:

• To conduct an assessment on training needs in urban sustainability management in the context of EU-India cooperation
• To establish linkages between stakeholders in the core cities and the EcoCity counterparts Vienna, Graz, Berlin, Regensburg in the arena of urban sustainability management at three levels (micro, meso and macro level) through an exposure in Europe.
• To promote the exchange of know-how for urban sustainability management between existing networks
• To train staff and local intermediaries on municipality level concepts, methods, approaches of urban sustainability management in various topics (waste, water and infrastructure as core elements)
• To develop a brochure encompassing the overall approach of the project and highlighting relevant methods, concepts and approaches for urban sustainability management at the municipal level and to design an Indo-European web-portal on urban sustainability management for efficient networking, information exchange and discussion.