The 21st Century Indian City: Towns, Metros, and the Indian Economy – March 2013
The Center for South Asia Studies, at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore, organised a 2-day conference on urbanisation in India titled:The 21st Century Indian City: Towns, Metros, and the Indian Economy on 26 and 27 March, 2013 at the IIHS Bangalore City Campus, India.
The “urban” economy plays an increasingly vital role in India’s economic development. This workshop/conference sought to address many critical questions relating to the effective and equitable functioning of the economy of Indian towns, cities and metros. We expect to analyse real estate markets, agglomeration economies, new modes of urbanisation and structural problems of urban governance. Discussions focused on ways to help promote sound policies for a developed urban infrastructure, growth in job creation, increased access to affordable housing, developing transparent mechanisms of governance, generating new sources of urban finance, and constructing viable social welfare systems for the urban poor.
The Negotiation City – September 2012
The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) in collaboration with the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Delhi conducted a workshop on The Negotiation City on 28 and 29 September, 2012 at the IIHS Bangalore City Campus.
The Negotiation City attempted to understand the relationship between the stakeholders in a city, emphasising the connection between the residents and the various levels of government. In particular, the workshop highlighted how residents regard different forms of the state and how these state actors view the residents in the context of the availability or lack of various services. We also explored how various stakeholders negotiate access to these services, from the state, from private providers, and through self-provision in the shadow of legal responsibilities assigned to various arms of the state.
Urban Land in India: The Case of Mumbai – March 2012
The Department of Economics, Mumbai University in collaboration with the Indian Institute for Human Settlements organised a two-day conference on urban land in India. The conference used Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s land market as a lens through which larger theoretical and policy issues relevant for urban land markets in India can be understood. The conference brought together 50-60 students, academic experts, and practitioners to formulate a pragmatic, well-grounded research agenda on urban land with special focus on the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
India Urban Conference (IUC) – November 2011
The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), in partnership with the South Asian Studies Council at Yale University and Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (JCCD) organised the India Urban Conference: Evidence and Experience (IUC) as a counterpart to the series of international conferences on Urban India beginning in April 2011.
The IUC was a series of events designed to raise the salience of urban challenges and opportunities in the ongoing debate of India’s development. IUC incorporated the practitioner perspective in Mysore (17-20 November, 2011) and presented focused discussions for policy impact in Delhi (22 November, 2011).
Inclusive Cities Workshop – June 2011
To deliberate on the multiple facets of this exclusion, a workshop on Inclusive Cities in India was jointly organised by SEWA, IIHS, World Bank and DFID, UK. The main objectives of this workshop were to understand what exclusion means in an urban context; begin to develop a “vision” of inclusive Indian cities; examine the “inclusion and exclusion” impacts of existing urban development policies and programmes; and understand potential policy directions to inform urban inclusion in government policies and programs in the XII Plan.
