SHILLONG: Urban Habitations in the Himalayan region are expanding at a pace faster than cities in the rest of the country. Comprising 7 out of 10 Indian Himalayan States, the Northeastern region is also urbanising at an unprecedented pace with Nagaland reporting highest incremental rate of urban population increase in the country.
The theme of the 3rd urban futures conference organised in New Delhi on February 9-10 was Mou-ntain and the City. Due to challenges created by topography, weather, demography and land availability, urban management solutions required for urban habitations in mountains are quite different in scale, complexity and technology.
This regional dimension of urban development has not been focused upon holistically as required leading to haphazard urban development in the Himalayas and the montane regions of India, and its neighborhood.
An already grim situation is further compounded by unfolding scenario of Climate Change that poses major challenges to the task of ensuring sustainability and liveability of urban habitations in Himalayan states. This is more than evident from destruction caused in Himalayan cities by extreme climate events in the recent years
These were the issues that were at table at 3rd International Congress on Green Urban Futures (urban futures 2017). The conference brought are compounded by unfolding scenario of Climate Change that poses a major challenges to the task of ensuring sustainability and liveability of urban habitations in Himalayan states.
More than 150 experts from all Indian Himalayan states, Nepal, Bhutan, Chile and Germany along with thought leaders from various walks of life on a single platform to deliberate on implications of planning, management and policy deficits that have led to current messy condition of most urban centres in the Himalayan region.
Organised by Center for Urban Green Spaces (Aravali Foundation for Education), New Delhi in association with Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Germany, School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi and Fore School of Management, New Delhi urbanFutures2017 was supported by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, GoI; Ministry of Water Resources GoI and Ministry of Science and Technology, GoI.
Speakers at the conference included Zodintluanga, Minister for Urban Development, Mizoram, PD Rai, MP-Loksabha; . Navin Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Kamal Bawa, Professor, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Dr. Bernhard Muller, Director, Leibniz Institute for Eco-regional and Urban Development, Dresden, Germany. Patricia Mukhim, Editor, The Shillong Times delivered a keynote address to kickstart the deliberations on the second day of the meeting which involved a large number of other experts from fields of town planning, architecture, forestry, tourism, disaster management and climate change.
A web portal dedicated to mountain cities was also launched on the occasion. According to Manoj Dabas, Director, Center for Urban Green Spaces and Organising Secretary of the conference, the web portal www.mountaincities.org is aimed as a vibrant and participative platform for stakeholders in mountain cities to exchange ideas and information.
