Rajasthan Rising: A Partnership for Strong Institutions and More Livable Cities by Manoj Sharma & Melissa Alipalo

Author:Manoj Sharma & Melissa Alipalo [Sharma, Manoj & Alipalo, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Public Policy, City Planning & Urban Development, Economic Conditions, Infrastructure, Political Science, Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789292626662
Google: tSg5EAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
Published: 2021-02-01T13:09:05+00:00

Government of India-initiated Clean India Movement (Swachh Bharat Mission). A garbage truck collects solid waste at the doorsteps of residents in the Hammir Nagar colony in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. The ADB–RUIDP investments struggled to find sustainable solutions to solid waste management and at a meaningful scale within the project scope.

RESULTS

MORE LIVABLE CITIES

Hospital waiting room in Jaipur. ADB invested in patient receiving and waiting areas, as well as in operation theaters and intensive care wards at hospitals in Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota, and Udaipur. The investments, implemented by RUIDP, catalyzed additional renovations and services at the hospitals.

The results of the ADB–RUIDP partnership exemplify ADB’s strategic vision of “livable cities,” which puts the well-being of people and communities at the center of decision-making on urban development. The public health and economic crisis set off by the COVID-19 pandemic places cities at the epicenter of traumatic impact and recovery. In Asia and the Pacific, especially in India, development professionals have seen the impact of economic displacement in the cities on migrant populations and slum communities. Without safety nets in the city, migrants and poor residents are exposed to unacceptable, unlivable, and dangerous conditions that threaten their health, nutrition, safety, and even survival.

ADB’s Strategy 2030 identifies “making cities more livable” as one of its seven operational priorities.16 With COVID-19 still bearing down, this priority will guide ADB’s urban operations more forcefully than ever, in order to leverage further investments for outcomes that contribute to public health and urban governance. The companion document to ADB’s 2030 Strategy, the Livable Cities Operational Priority Plan, 2019–2024, sets out ADB’s approach to supporting the efforts of its developing member countries to build livable cities. That approach entails: (i) improving the access, quality, and reliability of urban services; (ii) strengthening urban planning and financial sustainability; and (iii) improving urban environments, climate resilience, and disaster management. The plan also helps developing member countries create better institutions, policies, and enabling environments.17 Altogether, ADB’s goals can be summed up in the “5Es” of livable cities: (i) economic competitiveness, (ii) environmental sustainability and resilience, (iii) equity and inclusion, (iv) enabling environment, and (v) engagement. The conditions under COVID-19 will not change this course of action; if anything, they amplify its urgency. So, the 5Es will be unequivocally present in the design of forthcoming urban investments.

“RUIDP understands very clearly that its job is to make Rajasthan’s cities more livable,” said former RUIDP Project Director Jitendra Kumar Soni. “There are many facets of making a city livable. A city is not as livable as it can be if governance isn’t what it should be. We are working on all aspects of urban development: social safeguards, governance, skills development, participatory design, sustainable infrastructure, and good service.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.