Policy Brief
Fostering a Sustainable Urban Future
25 Mar 2020
| Ms Adishree Panda
| Ms Bhavya Bogra
With growing urbanisation, sustainable development will continue to increasingly depend on the successful management of urban growth and natural resources. This discussion paper suggests recommendations to incorporate and adapt sustainable solutions in cities in India.
Mainstreaming urban resilience: Lessons from Indian cities
12 Feb 2020
| Ms Adishree Panda
| Ms Bhavya Bogra
| Ms Raina Singh (NIUA)
Building urban resilience is imperative for safeguarding urban investments and paving the way for a forward-looking, risk-aware, inclusive and integrated approach to sustainable urban development in India.
Making Indian Cities Energy Smart
29 Mar 2019
| Ms Riya Rahiman
| Ms Adishree Panda
| UNSW Sydney
Managing the energy footprint of cities is one of the most challenging goals, and with the evolution and transformation of existing cities into smart cities, smart energy management (SEM) becomes an integral component of this urban transformation.
Making Liveable Cities: Challenges and Way Forward for India
25 Oct 2018
| Ms Raina Singh
| Ms Adishree Panda
| Ms Palak Thakur
More than 40% of India's population is expected to reside in its urban centres by 2050 (UNDESA, 2014). While these rapidly expanding urban centres in India are seen as the engines of economic growth, they also face tremendous pressures on their civic infrastructure systems and issues of environmental degradation, air pollution, and increasing frequency of climate-induced events and disasters. It is, thus, now critical to relook at the ways in which we manage these challenges for enhancing the liveability of cities.
Road Map for Mainstreaming Urban Climate Resilience in Goa
26 Jul 2016
| Ms Riya Rahiman
This policy brief is based on the learning that emerged from The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI) two-year long program on 'State-level policy engagement for mainstreaming urban climate resilience' in Goa and Uttarakhand, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation under its Asian Cities Climate Change Resilient Network (ACCCRN) initiative. ACCCRN—a 9-year initiative (2008–16)—has been instrumental in bringing forth the urban climate change resilience agenda to cities in Asia.
Smart Solutions for Sustainable Cities: A Policy Perspective
09 Oct 2014
| Ms Mili Majumdar
| Ms Priyanka Kochhar
| Ms Akshima Tejas Ghate
| Ms Sangeetha Ann Wilson
Urban India has grown at an unprecedented rate in the last two decades. The level of urbanisation increased from 25 per cent in 1991 to 31 per cent in 2011 with a total urban population of 377 million in 2011. A conservative estimate of India's population growth shows that it is expected to reach about 1.5 billion by 2031, of which the urban population is estimated to be about 600 million, i.e., about 40 per cent1. The contribution of urban areas to the national GDP is expected to increase from about 60 per cent in 2009-10 to about 75 per cent in 20302 indicating the continued trends in terms of cities being the engines for economic growth of the country.
Proliferation of Cars in Indian Cities: Let Us Not Ape the West
03 Jul 2014
| Ms Akshima Tejas Ghate
| Mr S Sundar
India currently has about 15 million cars, which is equivalent to 13 cars per 1,000 population. While this by itself is not high, it has to be noted that it is a national average and some cities like Delhi, Chennai, and Coimbatore have more than 100 cars per 1,000 population. Different estimates show that the number of cars in India will increase to about 35 cars per 1,000 population by 2025. This would amount to about 45-60 million cars on our roads and in some cities more than 300 cars per 1,000 population.