Three-day Happy Cities Summit in Vijayawada from April 10

Amaravati: The State government will host ‘Happy Cities Summit: Amaravati 2018,’ the first edition of an annual global event on urban innovation, in Vijayawada from April 10 to 12.

The summit is aimed at bringing together experts in the global urban landscape such as designers, planners, city leaders, industry and entrepreneurs to discuss and share best practices, innovations and ideas for Amaravati.

Officials of AP Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) said the summit would help the cities to be truly people-centric, a principle that the State government was embedding in the design of Amaravati since its inception.  

The summit will have several events, including panel discussions with global experts, a pitch competition to identify cutting-edge urban innovations, a hackathon where citizens redesign public spaces, focused workshops for experience sharing and skill building, and a roundtable with city leaders.

It will also have an exhibition area for showcasing technologies, products, and designs in urban innovation from India and globally. The state government, in partnership with Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (APIS) and Dalberg Advisors, will launch the ‘Happy City Hackathon’, a unique event whereby school and college students of the state are invited to re-imagine the Punnami Ghat near Vijayawada to make it a vibrant, inclusive and ‘happy’ public space.  

The hackathon is based on the concept of ‘tactical urbanism’, which means urban interventions that involve low-cost quick transformations of public spaces by citizens to improve their usability, accessibility and aesthetics.

Officials said students of classes 9 to 12 and college students of AP are required to form into teams and send their vision and concept for making the Punnami Ghat active, vibrant, and happy.  

The students are required to submit their idea in the form of an essay, powerpoint presentation, drawing, photo or video. The shortlisted teams will be invited for a design workshop. They can contact S Sreenivasa Jeevan, APCRDA , on mobile phone No. +91 70955 99857  and at jeevan@apcrda.org.