9.4. Local capacity building

A real step-up in the capabilities and expertise of urban local bodies will be critical to devolution and improvement of service delivery. Reforms will have to address the development of professional managers for urban management functions, who are in short supply and will be required in large numbers. New innovative approaches will have to be explored to tap into the expertise available in the private and social sectors.

Over the longer term, India needs to introduce more fundamental changes to turn our cities into 21st century spaces. We need to introduce spatial planning that simultaneously addresses developmental needs of metropolitan, municipal and ward-level areas. We need to genuinely devolve power to urban local bodies and financially empower them.

The outcome of the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, “The future we want”, recognized both the plight of the urban poor and the need for sustainable cities as matters of great urgency for the United Nations development agenda. Time has come to forge a new model of urban development that integrates all facets of sustainable development, to promote equity, welfare and shared prosperity in an urbanizing world.