Why is achieving SDGs important for cities?

Cities need urgent solutions to address poverty, climate crisis, sanitation, and other critical issues. AIILSG understood this urgency and decided to invite all concerned stakeholders under one roof to draw a strategic plan with collaboration and knowledge sharing to achieve all the objectives under SDGs within the timeline in the next 10 years

All India Institute of Local Self-Government is hosting the 5th South Asian Cities Summit in the coastal state of Goa. Goa has been chosen very judiciously. We have had earlier editions of the Summit in the national capital Delhi to highlight the emerging urban issues at Asia level. But this time, we have chosen Goa to highlight the issues of coastal cities, climate change; and keep shifting the venue to cover different parts of India and South Asia. The state has been a dream destination for Indian and foreign tourists alike. It is also known as “Rome of East” or “Pearl of the Orient”. Goa has the amalgam of Indian and Portuguese culture because it had been a Portuguese colony till 1961. It has a rich heritage and is famous for its culture, cuisines, cartoons, cashew, and fun-filled nightlife.
Gradually, the city-state has grown considerably in size and population over the years. The city is attracting many outsiders to come and settle here because of calm and serene environment or say, comfortable urban lifestyle in a natural setting. Despite this, with increasing urban population and more inflow of floating population, the city is also glaring at similar urban challenges like any other city. Goa, being a coastal city-state, will also need to address the issues emanating from the climate change such as sea-level rise.

In any city of South Asia, you will find problems of urban poverty, unemployment, housing, sanitation, civic services, and these issues are being handled by municipalities which largely do not have capacity and resources. Yet, people are moving to urban areas because of access to better economic and social facilities in the city set up. People will keep moving to cities and the problem is going to get bigger, if not handled properly. India itself is projected to add 416 million urban dwellers between 2018 and 2050. By 2030, India is expected to be home to seven mega-cities with populations above 10 million. The population rise is going to have an impact on the environment and livability in cities. Are the cities in India or elsewhere ready with infra and solutions? 

This year the theme of the Summit is ‘10 Years to SDGs’. Our objective is to strategise our time-bound commitments to achieve the desired results. I am very hopeful that we would come out with a concrete plan of action.
Many people have asked why has this theme been chosen? What is the relevance? What is the urgency? Are these goals relevant for every city or just the poorest ones? The answer is simple. This Summit has been designed to bring together all urban stakeholders, irrespective of their work and experience in a big or small city, to sit together and chart out their problems and find out solutions collectively. This summit is going to help every city in the region and beyond.
The Summit is a distinctive opportunity to deliberate on techniques, solutions and innovative means to reduce the burden of cities and make them lighthouses by optimizing the usage of natural and existing urban infrastructure resources. This Summit is also the right platform to discuss the timeline of urban action plans and set a strict deadline for each target for cities. National governments have set their targets and timeline. Now, each city has to come forward and align its programs for achieving the prioritised targets and customized goals in line with the SDGs.
This is also to be noted that Poverty and Urbanisation is the topmost priority in the Strategic Priority Areas, as mentioned in the Sustainable Development Framework jointly prepared by the Government of India and the United Nations.
Sustainable Development Goals address a variety of issues ranging from poverty, gender discrimination to sanitation and climate emergency. All of us know that a majority of the world population now lives in cities. That’s why cities need to take lead in achieving the targets under each of the SDGs. The targets set under them are humongous and need exhaustive planning and efficient implementation. Sustainable Development Goal-11: ‘Sustainable Cities And Communities’ aims for “Making Cities and Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable”. SDG 11 specifically deals with the issues of the urban areas which in itself seem limitless.
In any city of South Asia, you will find problems of urban poverty, unemployment, housing, sanitation, civic services, and these issues are being handled by municipalities which largely do not have capacity and resources. Yet, people are moving to urban areas because of access to better economic and social facilities in the city set up. People will keep moving to cities and the problem is going to get bigger, if not handled properly. India itself is projected to add 416 million urban dwellers between 2018 and 2050. By 2030, India is expected to be home to seven mega-cities with populations above 10 million. The population rise is going to have an impact on the environment and livability in cities. Are the cities in India or elsewhere ready with infra and solutions?
According to the most recent IPCC report, restricting climate change to 1.5°C would need “rapid and far-reaching” changes around energy use, industry, and buildings design, as well as the wider planning of cities and infrastructure. According to the International Resource Panel’s recent publication “Weight of Cities”, the integration of urban infrastructure can achieve significantly higher resource savings than taking siloed sectoral approaches; savings are in the order of 30 to 60 per cent by leveraging connections, interactions, and resource sharing across multiple urban systems.
I am grateful to all the honorable ministers, esteemed delegates, mayors and city officials who have accepted our invitation and agreed to be part of our endeavor. We are also organising the South Asian Mayors Forum which will emphasise on the changed leadership role of mayors in the new era of urban development. This year, we are also going to elect the two Co-Presidents of SAMF. The election for these posts will be held biennially and AIILSG will take the responsibility of running its secretariat. We will be announcing other details in our Forum.

Welcome to SAC Summit. Welcome to India.