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The Technical Secretariat
of Urban 20

NIUA @U20

NIUA is pleased to serve as the technical secretariat of Urban20 for the year 2023, while India holds the G20 Presidency. This once in a lifetime opportunity is augmented by NIUA’s initiatives on the priorities of this year’s U20 summit. Furthermore, as India’s leading “think and do tank” on urban development, this is more than just an occasion to learn; it’s also a chance to highlight India’s innovative triumphs to the world’s urban complexities. Since the 6th U20 aims to move from intention to action, and to draft a roadmap for global change, we must work to ensure that we leave a sustainable environment for our future generations. NIUA is excited to take on this role going ahead and promote quick and inclusive development!

Hitesh Vaidya | Director, NIUA

Priority Areas

Concerted action and behavioural change across the urban ecosystem - day to day lives of people, government policies, industry actions etc.
Recast prevalent legal, policy, financial and technological instruments to localise global agendas
Rethink policies, regulations and processes to mainstream ‘just transitions’ that leave no one behind
Awareness, engagement and empowerment to nudge environmentally responsible individual choices and behaviour
Focus on circular economy, low carbon mobility, green energy, urban farming

Reform institutional and regulatory frameworks to protect and revitalize vulnerable water resources and ecosystems
Mainstream integrated and sustainable urban water management practices
Ensure equitable and safe access to water through accountable service delivery
Reduce incidents and impacts of water-related hazards like water logging, urban flooding and droughts

Improve uptake of climate financing instruments particularly by cities in the developing world
Create enabling environment at the global, national and sub-national levels for ensuring the flow of climate finance
Build capacities and ‘readiness’ of cities for attracting and accessing climate finance
Facilitate standardization of definitions, processes, rating and monitoring systems

Hybrid planning and governance models to respond to new spatial patterns of urban growth such as peri-urban areas, corridors and conurbations, mega-regions etc.
Shift from a ‘regulatory’ to a ‘strategic’ urban planning framework
Reshaping existing built-environments through ‘urban regeneration’ to adapt to emerging needs and imperatives of sustainable development

Strengthening local identities, practices and economies to ensure long-term resilience
Reinforcing the ‘sense of place’, boosting creative and cultural economies, protecting historical city fabrics
Leverage traditional place-specific knowledge, solutions and frugal innovations.
Government strategies to promote local economic development and strengthen traditional socio-economic networks

Foster an inclusive and non-discriminatory digital economy.
Global and national frameworks for supporting large scale roll-out of digital public goods
Incubation ecosystems for spurring and maturing digital innovations
Transfer of technology and sharing of smart solutions among cities
Data sharing protocols to ensure data-driven decision-making and encourage further re- search