Sustainable cities integrated approach pilot – India

Context

The project falls under the global parent Global Environment Facility (GEF) project on Sustainable Cities, implemented in parallel by World Bank and UNIDO in cities in different developing countries, and supported by Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (managed by the World Bank, https://www.thegpsc.org/). The Indian pilot is implemented by UNIDO with inputs from UN Habitat and covers five pilot cities - Jaipur, Mysore, Vijayawada, Guntur and Bhopal. These represent the diverse urban environment of India. All pilot site locations have been selected in collaboration with the Municipal Corporations and taking into account integrated urban planning principles, as well as alignment of the demonstration pilots with the national and local priorities including sustainable city development. This project is aligned with the Government of India’s programs on waste management, one of which is the ‘Swachh Bharat’ (Clean India) Mission.

The project aims to integrate sustainability strategies into urban planning and management to create favourable environment for investment in infrastructure and service delivery, thus building the resilience of pilot cities. The general framework of the project is organized into the following components:

• Sustainable urban planning and management (in partnership with UN HABITAT)

• Investment projects and technology demonstration

• Partnership and knowledge platform

Expected Impact

The project is expected to reduce cities’ greenhouse gas emissions through investment projects and low-emission and environmentally-sound technology demonstration. The goal is to increase scope and depth of integrated urban sustainability management policies and processes, including institutionalization within the local governance structure, and to facilitate partnerships for implementation of sustainable cities.

Outcomes

The main outcomes of this project are:

1. Guidance and development of methodology for sustainability plan for adoption by relevant national and local stakeholders.
2. Development of Integrated sustainability and resilience plans (SCS – Sustainable City Strategy) for cities.
3. Demonstration of innovative and low carbon technologies in liquid and solid waste management in pilot cities.
4. Capacity building of local urban bodies in promoting investments in sustainability projects.
5. Operationalization of a Platform for Urban Sustainability (PLATFUS).
6. Increased awareness on sustainability issues in cities and enhanced capacities of local urban bodies in promoting sustainable cities.