The Congress will have close to 400 international delegates from over 50 countries, including the mayors of several top cities, and 2,000 members in all.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Saturday shared details on delegate participation, prominent speakers and key sessions at the XI Metropolis World Congress scheduled for October 6th - 10th 2014, which is being jointly organized by the Government of Telangana, the GHMC and the Metropolis.
Present at the curtain-raiser event were Chief Secretary Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Advisor to Telangana Government Papa Rao, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar and Special Commissioner Ahmed Babu.
At the event, the dignitaries also launched a Conference Mobile App which is a first-of-its-kind initiative by the Government of Telangana and the GHMC to ensure easy information access and enhanced interaction between the participants. The app has already seen more than 500 downloads.
The XI Metropolis World Congress will have close to 400 international delegates from over 50 countries, including the mayors of several member cities like Johannesburg, Barcelona, Berlin and Tehran. Technocrats, administrators and experts will be part of the discussions. With the participation of the national delegates, the total attendance for the event is expected to be more than 2,000 members.
The 5-day mega event will see several renowned personalities addressing the audience and participating in the dialogue. Former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam will be delivering the keynote address on "Of the People By the People For the People" at the plenary session to be moderated by Dr V K Saraswath, former chief of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
President of India Dr. Pranab Mukherjee has confirmed his presence at the Congress to address the valedictory of the event.
Nobel award winner Dr. Rajendra Pachauri will be speaking on the topic of The Politics of Climate Change & Global Cities at the event. Other key speakers include Jean-Paul Huchon, President of Metropolis and President of Ile-de-France Region; Alain Le Saux, Metropolis Secretary General; Paul James, Director, UN Global Compact - Cities Programme; and Prof. Om Mathur, Urban Economist.
Speaking at the curtain raiser, Rajiv Sharma said, "This edition of the Metropolis World Congress is a prestigious opportunity for the city of Hyderabad, and we are confident that the event will see meaningful discussionsamongst all the participants and stakeholders."
Somesh Kumar, who is also the Director of the XI Metropolis World Congress, said, "We are enthusiastic about the response received for the Congress, and look forward to welcoming all the national and international delegates and speakers. We are hopeful that delegates from around the world will have a great experience with initiatives like the Conference Mobile App being designed for their convenience."
Ahmed Babu, during the launch of the Metropolis World Congress 2014 Mobile App, mentioned, "With the mobile app we aim to bring a seamless experience to the participating members. The enriched content and the functionalities of the mobile app will streamline processes and eliminate disruption while encouraging interactionamongst parties."
The theme of the Congress, Cities For All, represents the functioning of a democracy for all its stakeholders, and extends the living city experiences to delegates on 4 broad sub-themes - Urban Equity, Governance, Finance and Urban India.
Different subjects pertaining to the metropolis cities will come up for discussion during the meet. They include 100 Smart Cities, India Way Forward - Cooperation for Indian Smart Cities, Healthy People - Healthy Cities by World Health Organization, Green Building towards Sustainable Cities, Driving Youth Engagement in Cities, Housing for All, Satellite Cities, city management services related to waste, water, roads and sanitation, and so on.
The Metropolis Congress also has specific agendas on issues such as women and green buildings, and some cities like Barcelona, Mexico, Seoul and Sao Paulo will be demonstrating their initiatives.
The Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) as one of the knowledge partners will be anchoring some of the key sessions on smart and satellite cities, sustainable living, urban water and sanitation, and urban climate change,among others.
The Center for Good Governance (CGG) will be hosting technical sessions that will cover the urban finance and urban governance themes. Some of the topics that the sessions will cover are Financing Urban India, Urban e-Governance, Business of Cities Economy, and Social Integration and Urban Governance.
The key sessions that the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) will host as the Knowledge Partner are on sustainable housing policies, the city management series, Circles of Sustainability, urban poor and Healthy People Healthy Cities.
On the sidelines of the plenary and academic sessions, a number of events will be hosted. The shortlisted entries of the Pre-Hackathon organized in collaboration with Indian School of Business (ISB) will form the agenda for the final Hackathon event, and get audiences with international delegates for further discussion and deliberation over the proposed solutions on 6th October.
Nine technical visits are also being organized for delegates to cover the Hyderabad Metro Rail, the Hussain Sagar lake reclamation, women self-help groups, the Indian Green Building Council, the IT Corridor / Cyberabad, GVK's EMRI Emergency Services, heritage conservation, the Rs. 5 food scheme and the Outer Ring Road.
4G services will be made available around the Metropolis World Congress venue at the HICC in Madhapur.
The Metropolis World Congress is supported by Oracle and institutions like the Indian School of Business, National Institute of Urban Affairs, UNHabitat, World Health Organisation, Administrative Staff College of India, Cities Alliance, Government of India,amB (Barcelona) and iledeFranceamong others. (INN)