Fourth Annual Research on Cities Summit ARCS 4.0 Cities for People: Plans, Programs and Policies
Xavier Centre for Urban Management and Governance (XUMG), in association with knowledge partner UN Habitat India, will be hosting the Fourth Annual Research on Cities Summit ARCS 4.0 on 7-8 February 2020, at the Xavier University Bhubaneswar (XUB) campus. This year, the conference will revolve around the theme Cities for People – Plans, Programs and Policies.
The conference aims to explore and deepen the meanings of people friendliness and city prosperity in urban governance, management and planning. By positing two apparently contradictory views of the city – from being an enabler about the rights of the people, and especially those from various disadvantaged background, to a platform for efficient accumulation of capital, the conference will seek to tease out crucial questions and answers about the contemporary processes of urban transformation in the developing countries. The question people-centeredness seeks to bring the ‘people’ element back to the city as a lens through which citizens are not just considered as a passive force adapting them to the city, but through which the city is actually shaped by the people. Again the question of urban prosperity is explored beyond the material wealth.
Here at ARCS 4.0 we are particularly interested to explore how tensions, contradictions and collaborations over these issues frame debates in the broad thematic areas noted below. We are particularly interested in papers which unpack the urban complexities through the processes of localisation of global frameworks (such as Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Livelihood Framework) and national missions
Theme – 1: Institutions and actors in urban local governance
How institutions shape cities
- Approach towards the city by private actors
- Roles of Special Purpose Vehicles and Public Private Partnerships
- Community based organisations and Special interest groups
- International consultants and policy portability
- Interface between global and local actors
Theme – 2: Patterns of economy and employment generation
- What are the economic roles of cities
- How municipal regulations impact ease of doing business
- Informal sector employment and municipal state
- Micro entrepreneurship, trading and local networks
- Global supply chains and urban competitiveness
- Special economic zones and industrial clustering
Theme – 3: Infrastructure networks and delivery patterns
- Mobility networks and urban land use
- Delivery and access to urban basic services
- How privatisation of services delivery impacts urban poor
- Efficiency in services delivery and Investment patterns
- Gender issues in infrastructure delivery
- Digital and intelligent technology platforms
- Command and control centres in monitoring network flows
Theme – 4: Land use patterns and place making
- Informal and formal settlements
- Zoning and regulations
- Slum redevelopment
- City beautification and urban renewal
- Gender and urban space
Theme – 5: Environmental Risks and Resilience
- Protection of urban commons
- Disaster resilience and urban vulnerabilities
- Adaptation and mitigation measures
- Cities in climate change leadership
- Financing for environmental management
Theme – 6: Management and leadership
- Municipal revenue generation
- Training and capacity building
- Public private partnerships and outsourcing
- E- governance and public engagement
- Global role of cities
Theme – 7: City and the regional settings
- Linkages and flows between bigger and small settlements
- Labour migrations
- Supply chain linkages between city and hinterland
- Role of small towns in rural-urban linkages
- Regional spatial strategies
- Inter-city linkages
Please send an abstract of 150-200 words and a short biography of 100 words to arcs@xuconf.edu.in by 15 December 2019. Successful participants will be notified by 10 January 2020.
Tathagata Chatterji
Conference Convener
Annual Research on Cities Summit
Xavier Centre for Urban Management & Governance
Xavier University Bhubaneswar
Plot No - 12 (A) Nijigada, Kurki
P.O. Harirajpur - 752050, Dist. Puri
Odisha, INDIA