24-Feb-2022: World Economic Forum and the National Institute of Urban Affairs sign a MoU to collaborate on a jointly designed ‘Sustainable Cities India program’

The World Economic Forum and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a jointly designed ‘Sustainable Cities India program’ which will aim to create an enabling environment for cities to generate decarbonization solutions across the energy, transport, and the built environment sectors.

This initiative is particularly noteworthy as it comes after the Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated India’s commitment to turn net zero by 2070 as a climate mitigation response at COP26.

The ‘Sustainable Cities India program’ intends to enable cities to decarbonize in a systematic and sustainable way that will reduce emissions and deliver resilient and equitable urban ecosystems. The Forum and NIUA will adapt the Forum’s City Sprint process and Toolbox of Solutions for decarbonization in the context of five to seven Indian cities across two years. The City Sprint process is a series of multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder workshops involving business, government, and civil society leaders to enable decarbonization, especially through clean electrification and circularity. The outcome of the workshop series will be a shortlist of relevant policies and business models, which not only reduce emissions but also maximize System Value, such as improved air quality or job creation. City Sprints will help to jumpstart and/or accelerate net zero planning and action. The City Sprint process uses the Toolbox of Solutions - a digital platform containing over 200 examples of clean electrification, efficiency and smart infrastructure best practices and case studies across buildings, energy systems and mobility from over 110 cities around the world. The City Sprint process will also enable cities to run pilot solutions and, based on findings, India will be able contribute 10 to 40 best practice case studies which will be integrated into the Toolbox of Solutions and showcased across the world.

Speaking at the MoU signing event, Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary & Mission Director (Smart Cities Mission), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, said, “India is committed to become Net Zero by 2070, aligning with its vision for a ‘future ready’ India set by the Honorable Prime Minister during the COP26 summit in Glasgow. In realizing this vision to accelerate the clean energy transition, conversation and more importantly, action amongst all actors of the quadruple helix is critical. This partnership between NIUA and WEF is an important step towards that direction. This collaboration will help cities in India and cities globally to learn from one another and drive action towards sustainable development and climate resilience.”

Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs said, “India is rapidly urbanizing; it’s scale and pace is unprecedented. It is imperative for institutions to prioritize and embed climate resilience in the urban development process. In this regard, cross-sector and inter-organizational partnerships are crucial to foster an exchange of knowledge and identify best practices which can be applied effectively in the Indian context. I see great value in NIUA’s collaboration with WEF as it will not only build the capacities of urban practitioners in India through the City Sprint workshops, but also provide them access to a global Toolbox of Solutions and connect with other potential partners in our vision to make Indian cities future-ready.”

Kristen Panerali, Head of Energy, Materials, Infrastructure Program - Net Zero Carbon Cities, World Economic Forum, on the occasion, commented, “New models of public and private collaboration are needed to make progress towards net zero goals.  The City Sprint workshops are designed to enable government and business leaders to work together to identify and implement solutions across energy, mobility and the built environment. We don’t need to wait for the next breakthrough idea – the technologies and business models already exist.  Through this collaboration, the Toolbox of Solutions will continue to evolve and expand to provide ideas to urban centers in India, and around the world.”  

As per the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022, densely populated countries that are highly dependent on agriculture, such as India, are especially vulnerable to climate insecurity. Decarbonization in cities is a real opportunity to keep global warming well below 2°C and cities in India can make an enormous contribution in reaching this goal.

About Net Zero Carbon Cities: The World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities’ mission is to create an enabling environment for clean electrification and circularity, resulting in urban decarbonization and resilience. The program aims to do this by fostering public-private collaboration to bridge the gap across the energy, built environment and transport sectors.

About NIUA: Established in 1976, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is India’s leading national think tank on urban planning and development. As a hub for the generation and dissemination of cutting-edge research in the urban sector, NIUA seeks to provide innovative solutions to address the challenges of a fast urbanizing India, and pave the way for more inclusive and sustainable cities of the future.

19-Aug-2021: Namami Gange in association with NIUA announced winners of ‘Re-Imagining Urban Rivers’, a national-level thesis competition.

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the National Institute for Urban Affairs (NIUA) had organised ‘Re-Imagining Urban Rivers’, a national level thesis competition in September 2020, under a joint project that the two organizations are implementing to promulgate river- sensitive development in our cities. This is a first of its kind initiative to engage young minds to research and envisage solutions for urban river issues.  The purpose of this sponsored thesis competition is to tap into the intellect and creativity of students to arrive at innovative solutions for re-imagining the outlook and management of rivers that flow through cities and their associated features. The competition had three themes - Re-imagining water bodies and/or wetlands, developing eco-friendly riverfront projects and Promoting River tourism. Students from leading institutes across the country presented their thesis in the grand finale of the competition on 19th Aug 2021 at Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

“Namami Gange is an integrated program with many innovative features and which has been engaging with academic institutes to get new ideas and perspectives in river rejuvenation,” said Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga. He shared that the idea behind this thesis competition was to continuously engage with young researchers and scholars who can think in integrated ways and have new planning perspectives. They can also share fresh and innovative ideas. He also shared the idea of developing a river city alliance for institutionalising such thinking.

Sh. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, in his special address emphasised the importance of river tourism in urban areas. Citing success stories of Sabarmati River Front, Ahmedabad and making Indore water plus city, he said, “The development which we had been planning for so many years is happening today.”   Addressing the participants he added, “Now you don’t have be wait for government to work on your projects. Each one of you have a potential to make it a huge success.”

Second edition of the Sponsored Thesis Project Competition was launched at the event. This year’s themes will be ‘Reducing River pollution’, ‘Rejuvenating water bodies’, ‘Creating a vibrant river zone’, ‘Generating river-related economy’ and ‘Engaging citizens in river management activities.’ Entries can be mailed at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The last date of submission will be 26th September 2021.

13-April-2021: Infant, Toddler and Caregiver-Friendly Neighbourhoods Training and Capacity Building Programme Launched

The ‘Infant Toddler and Caregiver-friendly Neighbourhoods (ITCN) Training and Capacity Building Programme’ was launched virtually today by National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) in partnership with Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF). The Programme is designed to help build capacities of city officials and young professionals for developing young children and family-friendly neighbourhoods within cities in India. Shri Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director (Smart Cities), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs remotely launched the event. The attendees of the event included Shri Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA, Ms. Rushda Majeed, India Representative, BvLF, Ms. Kakul Misra, National Program Head- Centre for Digital Governance, NIUA, Shri Utsav Choudhury, Team Leader - Building Accessible, Safe, and Inclusive Indian Cities, NIUA. The Smart City CEOs, Municipal Commissioners and young professionals were also among the remote participants.

Shri Kunal Kumar said that a city designed for children is a city for everyone. He added that capacity building of cities to ensure data smart, infant toddlers and care givers friendly neighbourhoods is an investment into a future productive economy.

The programme is a continuation of the long-term partnership between NIUA and BvLF to scale up the efforts and embed the lessons of ITC needs at neighbourhood level within the city level programmes. Under the programme, city officials and young professionals are proposed to be skilled through certified training and capacity building modules. The training is proposed to be delivered through well-structured training modules, provided online through National Urban Learning Platform (NULP), the platform developed for knowledge dissemination by MoHUA and NIUA.

The programme is envisioned with the twin objectives: first, embedding the learnings from the inventory of knowledge developed by NIUA and BvLF within the on-going and proposed urban development initiatives at neighbourhood and city level; and second, handholding participants to embed learnings into the various initiatives of the cities which take into account the everyday needs of young children and caregivers. In addition, an academic certified course for young professionals has been planned to sensitize them about the needs of young citizens (0-5 years) in the city and to equip them with the adequate tools for the purpose.

Shri Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs said that when we plan city from a child’s perspective, we not only invest for the present but also for next generations to cherish and enjoy the fruits of development.

Ms. Rushda Majeed, India Representative, Bernard van Leer Foundation said that in partnership with NIUA, the foundation aims to provide city officials and young urban planners with the right training, tools, and resources to make their cities more equitable, inclusive and friendly for young children and their families.

About NIUA: Established in 1976, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA, is a premier Institute of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India for research and capacity building for the urban sector in India. The Institution has been actively working on bringing forth key areas of concern for urban India to build the urban discourse at various urban scales and committed towards aligning its efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through all its initiatives and programs. It has utilized its competencies in research, knowledge management, policy advocacy and capacity building to address urban challenges and continuously striving to develop sustainable, inclusive, and productive urban ecosystems in the country. It has emerged as a thought leader and knowledge hub for urban development in India and is sought out by both Indian and International organizations for collaborations and partnerships in India’s urban transforming journey. https://www.niua.org/

About NULP: The National Urban Learning Platform (NULP) is envisioned as a means of digitally consolidating key skills and knowledge required by urban stakeholders and making these available to all actors on a channel of their choice. The NULP will include tools to enable and streamline content creation, content organisation and management, course building, course management, assessment and certification. https://nulp.nuis.in/