The EU-funded International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) Asia & Australasia programme in India was officially launched at the end of February. The city-to-city cooperation will see 25 city authorities from Europe and India work together until the end of 2023 in the areas of ecological transition, urban and regional renewal, and sustainable and carbon-neutral ecosystems, according to an article in The Times of India’s Economic Times newspaper.
Partnerships include Porbandar and Rotterdam (Netherlands), as well as Kochi and Messina (Italy), and Panaji and Almada (Portugal) working on flood management. Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Karlsruhe (Germany) will work on urban planning and governance, an area that will also be covered by Gwalior and Leuven (Belgium) and Leeds (UK) and Jaipur. Meanwhile, urban mobility will be the focus of Chennai and Trier (Germany) and Ranchi and Reggio Emilia (Italy).
Speaking on the occasion of the programme launch, which was held virtually, Sanjay Kumar, Additional Secretary (International Cooperation) in the Indian Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, emphasized the importance of ongoing rapid urbanization as an enabling factor in economic growth and poverty reduction in India.
Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India and Bhutan, said he hoped the programme would help strengthen and decentralize sustainable urban development in India. “We hope this will also help to demonstrate the role of cities in finding local and global solutions in the areas including urban water challenges, urban resilience and urban mobility,” he added.
