ARCS 4.0 – The fourth Annual Research on Cities Summit was held on 7th and 8th February 2020. The theme was Cities for people – Policies, Plans, and Programs’. The knowledge partners for the event were UN-Habitat India and Janagraha foundation.
The conference was inaugurated by Shri G. Mathi Mathanan, IAS, (Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Odisha). Prof. Fr. Dr. Antony Uvary SJ, Vice-Chancellor, XUB, delivered the Welcome Address. The Conference key-note address was delivered by Shri Shard Chandra Behar, IAS Retd. (former Chief Secretary, Madhya Pradesh).
Thematic key-note addresses were delivered by
- Dr. O.P. Agarwal IAS Retd, (CEO, World Resources Institute, and former Jt. Secretary Transport, GoI) on the theme “Cities on the Move”-
- Prof. Dr. Ali Alrouf, Vice President, International Society of City and Regional Planners and Professor, Hamad Bin Khalifa University Qatar) on the theme “The Post-Oil City”
Faculty, Research Scholars, and Postgraduate level students from prominent academic institutions in India such as, IIT Roorkee, IIT Bombay, SPA Delhi, SPA Bhopal, JNU, TISS, IIHS, Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, Hyderabad University, etc. participated in the conference. Overall, there were 81 registered delegates. In the 15 sessions, 62 research papers and presentations were made. These were introduced by Theme Speakers on the various sectors of urban development. The event also featured four-panel discussions and a research communication workshop as noted below:
- Round Table – 1 Citizen Engagement in Governance – was moderated by Dr. T R.Raghunandan, IAS retd. (Former Jt. Secy, Panchayati Raj GoI); and the panelists were: Ms. Sapna Karim (Janagraha Foundation), Tara Krishnaswamy (Shakti), Akhila Shivdas (CFAR) and Jagadananda (CYSD).
- Round Table – 2 People and Sustainable Urban Mobility – was moderated by Dr. Mayank Dubey Professor XAHS; and the panelists were: Mr. Arun Bothra, IPS (CEO CRUT), Dr. Stefan Bakker (GIZ) and Ms. Christina (GIZ)
- Round Table – 3 Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Cities was moderated by Dr. Tathagata Chatterji, Professor XAHS; and the panelists were: Dr. Darshini Mahadevia (Professor, Ahmedabad University), Dr. Ashoke Kumar (Professor, SPA Delhi) and Dr. Kajri Mishra (Dean, XAHS)
- Round Table – 4 Rethinking Future Urbanity was moderated by Dr. Kajri Mishra (Dean, XAHS) and the panelists were: Dr. O.P. Shri O.P. Agarwal IAS Retd, (CEO, World Resources Institute, and former Jt. Secretary Transport, GoI) and Prof. Dr. Ali Alrouf, Vice President, International Society of City and Regional Planners and Professor, Hamad Bin Khalifa University Qatar)
- Workshop on Research Communication – Prof. Kajri Mishra conducted a one-day workshop on research communication on Feb 6, 2020. It was attended by 12 participants.