Interaction among stakeholders in urban regional development is crucial

Dr Sudhir Krishna, Former Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India "Built spaces mirror the growth and development of a society. It is, therefore, a momentous occasion where we are honouring acknowledged leaders and innovators. This event should also be considered as an occasion to recall the experiences that we as individuals, institutions and the society have had and identifying the policies and practices we ought to pursue in the days and years to come. The critical issues the country has resolved to pursue are to make India´s society transparent, secular, egalitarian, efficient, sustainable and inclusive. The policies and practices, including all the levels of government and non-government systems, be it policy planners, administrators, technocrats, professionals, media and even regulators, will need to align their approaches to the attainment of these objectives. We are having these awards in the backdrop of the phenomenon of smart cities blooming in the horizon; I would like to appeal to you not to leave the matter of smart cites in the hands of only the Government. Every habitation, locality, building you are planning and constructing should be smart and self-sufficient. Waste recycling should be looked at, water requirement should be reduced, solar energy should be optimised. We have also looked at the Bhuvan platform; the Ministry of Urban Development in collaboration with the Department of Space has brought geospatial technology and maps applications to the public domain using open architecture software. It is also available free of cost, and can be used for various applications. You are the leaders in the sector; you are not builders but town planners too. Interaction among all stakeholders in urban regional development is crucial - it is not only desirable but achievable as well.´ To view the video of this speech, log on to www.constructionworld.in/cwabawards2014/sudhirkrishna