U-CAN Newsletter — July 2024

Housing Ministry Extends Smart Cities Mission

03 Jul, 2024 The Union housing and urban affairs Ministry has extended the Smart Cities Mission to March 2025, emphasising the completion of housing-related projects within the initiative.

This extension aims to enhance urban living by improving housing infrastructure, ensuring adequate residential facilities, and integrating smart solutions for efficient city management.

By focusing on sustainable and inclusive housing development, the mission seeks to elevate the quality of life for residents across 100 designated smart cities.

Empowering resettled communities through women- led safety audits in Chennai

9 Jul, 2024 Resettlement sites in Chennai face significant housing challenges, as revealed by women-led safety audits conducted by IRCDUC. These audits identified critical issues such as inadequate street lighting, poor infrastructure, and lack of safety measures. The findings have led to tangible improvements, including the installation of streetlights, safety gates, and CCTV, enhancing the overall safety and living conditions for residents. These initiatives emphasize the need for continuous community engagement to address housing and safety concerns effectively.

Inclusive Cities Barometer:

EMEA Report

The Cushman & Wakefield Inclusive Cities Barometer evaluates global cities on their inclusivity, highlighting how they support diverse populations. It examines various factors like social integration, economic participation, and quality of life to provide a comprehensive overview of each city's inclusiveness. The barometer aims to identify areas where cities excel and where they need improvement, promoting best practices and inspiring city planners to create more inclusive urban environments.

Studies on Children in Cities

Sources:

https://880cities.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/BvLF-8-80-Cities-Report-Final.pdf

https://www.arup.com/insights/cities-alive-designing-for-urban-

childhoods/#:~:text=This%20report%20proposes%20a%20child,cities%20that%20work%20for%20every

one.&text=A%20child%2Dfriendly%20approach%20to%20urban%20planning%20is%20a%20vital,that%

20work%20better%20for%20everyone.

https://niua.in/intranet/sites/default/files/2877.pdf

https://cities4children.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1-C4C-Overview.pdf?

utm_source=SCRescourceCentre

Featuring: Shelter Associates

Shelter Associates, partnering with Google, is transforming lives by assigning Plus Codes— unique digital addresses based on latitude and longitude—to slum households. This initiative enhances service delivery, including postal and emergency services. Notably, the Ray Nagar Housing Project in Solapur, Maharashtra, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, saw 15,000 houses digitally addressed and navigable on Google Maps, providing significant benefits to urban poor communities.

U-CAN Member Spotlight: Janaagraha

At the World Bank Land Conference in May 2024 at Washington DC, Namita Aggarwal, Janaagraha presented on "Empowering Indian Cities to Drive Climate Action - Expanding Fiscal Space through Property Taxation Reforms." Her talk underscored the vital role of cities in climate action, the heavy reliance on national and state grants, and the lag in property tax collections compared to OECD countries. Highlighting a 90% increase in property tax collections due to recent reforms, Aggarwal emphasized the need for innovative state-level reforms, transparency through platforms like www.cityfinance.in, and policy-driven approaches to realize fiscal potential.