23-Feb-2018: Mumbai becomes first Indian city to join World Cities Culture Forum

Mumbai is set to be the newest member and the first Indian city on the World Cities Culture Forum(WCCF), a platform for cities to share their culture.

The WCCF enables the policy makers of member cities to share research and intelligence, while exploring the vital role of culture in prosperity. Forum members collaborate via a program of events including themed symposia, regional summits and workshops.

Mumbai, like members of the Forum, will be able to share its culture as part of a comparative research to understand its role and impact. The municipal corporation will be able to maintain a relationship with the other member cities and Mumbai will be represented on the Forum at all events. Through its leadership exchange program, the city’s policy makers will be able to share ideas, technology, challenges and access cultures and arts.

Rapid urbanisation means that, by 2030, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. The very speed of change is unprecedented and governments are facing increasingly complex challenges. Many of the great policy issues of our age, from tackling climate change to promoting social equality, are being led at city, rather than national, level. As urban populations grow, so does the pressure on leaders to maintain their city’s distinctiveness, attract business and skilled jobs, and stay resilient and adaptable in the face of change.

The World Cities Culture Forum (WCCF), which BOP convenes, provides a way for policy makers to share research and intelligence, and explore the vital role of culture in their future prosperity. The forum, which began in 2012 with eight members, is a network of 32 key cities today, including London, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Cape Town, Dakar, Edinburgh, Lisbon, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, Toronto et al.