Urban planning meet to focus on regional issues
17 Aug 2012 8:56 AM IST
Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Minister of Culture Kumari Selja inaugurated a two-day working group meeting of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCHUD) on Thursday.
The meet is being held on the theme of Urban and Rural Planning and Management and would focus on the mechanisms for ensuring sustainable urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific Region. The meet is being attended by more than 15 countries including Iraq, Sri Lanka, Armenia, Thailand and Bhutan. India is the lead country for the working group on Urban and Rural Planning and Management, set up by the APMCHUD, and the Human Settlement Management Institute of HUDCO is the nodal Institution for coordination of the working group activities.
Inaugurating the international meet, the minister indicated that the Asia-Pacific Region is undergoing a rapid transition in both economic and urban growth terms. While the economic growth is indeed good for the region, the extraordinary urban growth in the region is resulting in a dichotomy in development. Where as the immigrants provide cheap labour sustaining the city’s economic growth, the urban centers are not providing adequately to meet the housing and infrastructure requirements for them.
This is resulting in the proliferation of informal settlements and slums in the cities. Highlighting various initiatives of the government of India such as land reservation for weaker sections in larger layouts, allocation of funds for urban poor by urban local bodies, through the JNNURM, the minister emphasised the need to focus on inclusive planning.
The meet is being held on the theme of Urban and Rural Planning and Management and would focus on the mechanisms for ensuring sustainable urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific Region. The meet is being attended by more than 15 countries including Iraq, Sri Lanka, Armenia, Thailand and Bhutan. India is the lead country for the working group on Urban and Rural Planning and Management, set up by the APMCHUD, and the Human Settlement Management Institute of HUDCO is the nodal Institution for coordination of the working group activities.
Inaugurating the international meet, the minister indicated that the Asia-Pacific Region is undergoing a rapid transition in both economic and urban growth terms. While the economic growth is indeed good for the region, the extraordinary urban growth in the region is resulting in a dichotomy in development. Where as the immigrants provide cheap labour sustaining the city’s economic growth, the urban centers are not providing adequately to meet the housing and infrastructure requirements for them.
This is resulting in the proliferation of informal settlements and slums in the cities. Highlighting various initiatives of the government of India such as land reservation for weaker sections in larger layouts, allocation of funds for urban poor by urban local bodies, through the JNNURM, the minister emphasised the need to focus on inclusive planning.
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