“Building Smart and Sustainable Urban Infrastructure”, the fourth in the InfraNirbhar webinar series, will focus on building smart cities. The webinar is scheduled from 2:00 to 3:30 pm tomorrow, Wednesday, 3 March 2021. The keynote address will be delivered by Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser to the Government of India. Is planning not part of our urban growth story? Why have smart cities gone silent? Will they come alive when they are announced as part of some scheme or the other? There are questions aplenty on the status of our smart cities. Smart cities were considered a grandiose idea when they were proposed, and with lessons and increments, they have grown to be an important component of urban development in India. The government’s vision of building smart and sustainable cities is complemented by the private sector, in both smart innovation and sustainable initiatives. Yet, independent research, however, indicates that we have a long way to go in both building and governing the most livable cities. That is why it is interesting to observe whether smart cities’ fight against the Covid-19 pandemic has had better outcomes., how cities have been utilising━and leveraging━Smart Cities funding, and how nimble-footed they have been in adopting new technologies. With an eclectic mix of speakers from public, private and non-governmental sectors, the webinar promises to enclose answers to some of the most intriguing questions on modern urban infrastructure development.Speakers include:Raj Cherubal, CEO of Chennai Smart CitySandeep Mahatme, Director of Urban Development in AgartalaRamnath Sonawne, Secretary at Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory AuthorityRajendra Jagtap, CMD, Pune Mahanagar Parivahan MahamandalS Kirupa Shankar, Head of Safe and Smart Segment at L&T, which owns the largest construction company in IndiaSrikant Vishwanathan, CEO of Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, a Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation that conducts research on and advocates urban governance. Pratap Padode, Editor-in-Chief of Construction World and President of FIRST Construction Council, will moderate the webinar.Click here to register here for the webinar.