Spatial Development for Sustainable Urbanisation

With 377 million people living in about 8000 urban centers in 2011, India faces a multitude of challenges in meeting the global standards of SDGs and NUA. To address these challenges and those thrown up by its urban spatial expansion, India is formulating its first National Urban Policy (NUP) which needs serious research. This event titled "Spatial Development for Sustainable Urbanisation" will help to draw synergies from developed and developing countries to address the challenges India is facing.rnNIUA is one of eight partners in the GCRF Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (SHLC) supported by UK government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). This centre aims to strengthen capacities of researchers and through a comparative study of 14 cities in seven countries will address three inter-related urban challenges across Africa and Asia: sustainable health; inclusive education; and sustainable neighborhoods and communities. This event will outline the aims of SHLC and discuss how this challenge-led research will support developing countries to address the urbanisation challenges.

The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) advises the Federal Government of Germany with sectoral scientific consultation in the fields of spatial planning, urban development, housing and building. This event will also develop an understanding of spatial analyses through GIS tools developed by BBSR, Germany. Eminent scholars will showcase these innovative tools to help support researchers to analyze and address challenges thrown up by the spatial expansion taking place in cities across developing countries.

The major outcome of the event will be: Increasing awareness and understanding of urbanisation, health and education challenges in developing world; Insights for informing NUP for India; Pioneer networking of researchers and institutions to increase collaboration; and Exchange of knowledge on spatial data science for monitoring SDGs and NUPs.