Bengaluru: Plantation drive marks World Cities Day week

Bengaluru: The United Nations General Assembly has designated the October 31 as World Cities Day to promote the international community's interest in global urbanization and cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.

Bengaluru Smart City during the celebration of the week from October 25 to October 31 organized an advocacy campaign on World Cities Day, led by interns appointed under the TULIP program of the Smart Cities Mission.

The campaign focused on building a consensus around 'Sustainable Urbanism'. Under this campaign, Bengaluru Smart City Limited introduced the seven distinct themes of 'Sustainable Urbanism for Urban Planning and Building Cities' to achieve the sustainable development goals. The seven themes are Accessibility, Inclusivity, Sustainability, Resilience, Innovation, Heritage, and Equity.

World Cities Day was celebrated with the introduction of the themes related to sustainable urbanism via the projects being implemented by the Bengaluru Smart City Limited. The posters were shared on the official social media handles of the organization, with the intent of informing the public of the projects undertaken. The week concluded with a plantation drive followed by a virtual dialog on Designing Mobility for Next Generation Cities, organized by Bengaluru Smart city in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.

The plantation drive of 100 saplings commenced in the morning along the Raj Bhavan Road. It may be noted that tree plantation, tree mapping, tree grates, and green buffer alongside the carriageway have been identified as integral components of road architecture for improving the walkability on the footpath and sustainable mobility. The designs are developed by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport and WRI consultants in close coordination with Bengaluru Smart City Limited.

During the event, 50 saplings were planted each on Raj Bhavan Road and Planetarium Road by 100 individuals. The plantation event was inaugurated by Ni Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, BBMP and Hephsiba Rani Korlapati, Managing Director of Bengaluru Smart City.

The whole event was in accordance with the Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA, emphasizing the post-COVID-19 Sustainable Mobility Planning by more focus on the integrated planning seamless connectivity, local commute, and involvement of communities for promoting the use of non-motorized transport.