India is home to the world’s largest network of urban and rural settlements, varying in size, complexity, and geographical diversity. While cities serve as economic growth drivers of the nation, the way they are urbanizing poses significant challenges.

Unplanned urban growth strains infrastructure and urban services delivery, depletes natural resources and increases people’s vulnerability to climate change risks. Fragmented urban governance, limited technical capacity and low financial autonomy of concerned stakeholders hamper  effective planning and management of our cities and city regions.

Our Expertise

The Urban Development team brings in-depth knowledge in urban planning, governance reforms, and sustainable development to address the urbanization challenges. We assess spatial, socio-economic, and environmental challenges of urban expansion and identify gaps in institutional setups, legal frameworks, and the financial and technical capacities of government bodies.

Through a collaborative and consultative approach, we provide evidence-based technical inputs that empower city governments to make informed decisions, enhance the transparency and accountability of urban local bodies and strengthen urban governance frameworks for efficient service delivery.

Our Focus Areas

Providing Technical Assistance to Bengaluru’s Restructuring Expert Committee  

WRI India provided technical inputs to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Restructuring Expert Committee towards reimagining Bengaluru’s administration and governance. We reviewed relevant acts on planning and governance and interacted with key stakeholders to understand urban expansion challenges, inter-departmental coordination and administrative challenges. We provided recommendations on strategic spatial planning, land procurement mechanisms for public purposes and the framework for the Bengaluru Spatial Information Centre.

Managing the Rural Urban Transition

Our rural-urban transition research highlights the need to recognize rural areas transitioning to urban areas and acknowledge them as key contributors to economic development. By addressing the ambiguities in governance, inadequacies in spatial planning, and challenges in service provisioning in the peri-urban areas of Tamil Nadu, we aim to develop a sustainable urban management framework that can guide such areas along a sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient pathway. Our focus is on ensuring that this transition fosters social equity, environmental sustainability, and long-term prosperity.  

Supporting the Climate Budget Exercise 

On 5th June 2024, Mumbai released its first-ever Climate Budget Report marking the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as India’s first urban local body to take this step.  Mumbai’s climate budgeting process integrates climate targets from the Mumbai Climate Action Plan into the city's financial budgeting process. This is an annual iterative process that will involve incorporating climate targets into financial planning to enable allocation of resources to support climate action and sustainability efforts in Mumbai.