ACS can be a platform for collaboration

The successful organising of the Asian Cities Summit in Delhi earlier this month is a satisfying experience for us all. We thank all delegates, many of whom travelled from distant counties and cities, for their participation. Our thanks also to our partners who worked tirelessly to make the event such a grand success; to the urban local body officials, policy makers and other guests who added valuable insights to the deliberations; to the media personnel; and to numerous others. The Summit showed us how much can be achieved in such events, and these could be indispensable in our quest for sustainable urbanisation.
The Summit and its takeaways present significant opportunities for collaboration and cooperation in addressing the challenges being thrown up in our urban landscape. Several innovative practices in different cities of the world offer learnings in building cleaner and safer cities. One of the metro networks in India, for example, uses the regenerative braking system to generate power from running metro trains. Power thus generated accounts for upto 40 per cent of the total traction energy requirement of the network. One can imagine the big benefits of this reduced power demand through reduction in emission of air pollutants and particulate matter in the thermal power generation process. There are, similarly, a number of initiatives being undertaken in the fields of municipal waste management, clean mobility, urban resilience, etc. The deliberations during the Summit touched upon some of these.
We believe that cities across Asia could set up several networks, each focusing on one key urban priority, say water conservation, clean mobility, affordable housing, etc. so that there are joint efforts in addressing pressing demands and then knowledge sharing on these topics with the wider community. Such initiatives could enable faster and more effective solutions to the pressing urban issues of the day and even enable tackle potential future challenges which cities could face. One such is the looming water crisis. Many cities of the world are already in the midst of it while many more could run out of clean water in the coming few years. Several coastal cities are having to resort to sea water desalination in a big way to augment their water resources. There is thus need to join hands and urgently figure out just, fair, and inclusive ways to manage water supply in our cities including conservation, rational usage, recycling and reuse, and restoring natural water bodies. In all these efforts, the local communities must be kept at the centre and all interventions must actively seek the cooperation and support of the citizens. Events such as the ACS offer a platform for extensive cooperation in such areas.
We at AIILSG are working to enable such wider exchange of views and encourage greater participation of urban experts and other stakeholders to build a sustainable urban future. Urban Update, as part of this effort, is bringing us views and ideas from a large cross section of urbanists while also sharing examples of global initiatives for a better urban future. We will continue our mission with greater zeal and seek inputs from our readers towards this effort.