Firhad to inaugurate workshop on prospects, challenges of future cities

Firhad Hakim, state urban development minister will inaugurate a workshop on Future Cities: Prospects and Challenges at Eco Park on Wednesday.

The workshop has been organized by New Town Kolkata Development Authority, Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) and IIT Kharagpur.

Partha Pratim Chakraborty, director of IIT Kharagpur, will be the chief guest. Speakers from the University of Columbia and Tokyo Metropolitan University will speak at the workshop.

New Town is coming up as a planned city and is developing very fast. Over the past five years, it has become a centre for tourist attraction and a major cultural hub. It is also coming up as an educational hub, financial hub and health hub. Important health care centres have come up in New Town. 

Presidency University and St. Xavier’s University will be setting up there second campus and Ramakrishna Mission will be establishing Vivek Tirtha, a centre of excellence in value education.

Also, New Town has become a major destination for people who have purchased flats or plots to set up houses. In the next five years, it will be a major residential and office hub. Moreover, it has been planned as a green city and steps have been taken to increase its green cover. 

Over 40,000 tree saplings were planted during Banmotsav in 2016. Nurseries have been set up to grow tall trees. To develop foolproof plans, brainstorming sessions are needed where experts from different spheres give their views.