India, with a population exceeding 1.21 billion, constitutes 17.5% of the global population as per the Census of India 2011. The provisional figures from the same census reveal that 377 million people reside in the country's urban areas, accounting for 31.16% of the total population. Projections indicate that by 2030, nearly half of India's population will be living in urban areas, marking a significant increase. This urbanization trend is expected to double the urban population over the next two decades, with approximately 40% of the population residing in cities.

The urbanization process, a long-standing phenomenon in India, has led to increased population density and presented substantial challenges for the country's service delivery systems and living conditions in cities. The urban economy contributes around 60% to the GDP. However, the lack of a centralized institution at the municipal level with clear planning authority and institutional accountability for service delivery remains a persistent challenge. The ongoing pace of urbanization raises concerns, particularly regarding the management of cities. Unplanned development has been a significant contributor to various issues, including increased energy consumption, waste generation, pressure on food production systems, and a rise in greenhouse gas emissions. These challenges underscore the need for effective urban planning and management to address environmental and social problems in Indian cities.

The primary challenge in achieving sustainable city development in the Indian context stems from the rapid growth of the urban population. If left unmanaged, this growth leads to several interconnected issues:

High Urban Sprawl: Unchecked urban expansion results in severe environmental, social, and economic problems.

Limited Efficiency of Urban Structure: The sprawling urban structure leads to economic losses, a decline in local revenue (both public and private), inadequate management of economic growth, and a lack of funds for infrastructure improvement.

Increased Unemployment: The rise in population contributes to unemployment, creating economic burdens and crime problems. This situation necessitates a large police force to manage social unrest.

The strain on Education and Health Infrastructure: The influx of population places an unusual strain on education and health infrastructure.

Traffic Congestion and Pollution: The increase in vehicles within a constrained transportation network results in pollution and wasted man-hours due to commuting.

Low Environmental Awareness: The urban population's low environmental awareness leads to unsustainable lifestyles.

Inefficient Funding: Funding for necessary investments is often insufficient, and the implementation of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) formula faces challenges in India.

Segmented Approach: The segmented approach in the city's political and operational structures results in poor coordination and integrated planning.

The SCIAP project in India, funded by GEF-6 and executed by UNIDO and UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, is designed to implement holistic sustainability planning in Indian cities. It comprises four main components. The primary component involves developing integrated sustainability plans for selected cities, focusing on smart development, followed by the elaboration of strategies for these cities. The project's unique feature is a systemic approach to planning, with the development of a specific methodology for sustainable planning tailored to India, considering international guidelines and trends.

To ensure maximum effectiveness, other components are designed to facilitate the development and implementation of strategies. These include the selection and implementation of pilot projects (technology demonstration), capacity building, knowledge management, and monitoring and evaluation. The project aims to address UN-Habitat's commitments to support the Government of India in promoting sustainable urban planning and management, integrating urban infrastructure and service delivery in cities.

The project further aims to

• Enhance institutional capacities in urban planning and management.
• Build awareness through knowledge-sharing systems on sustainable city development.
• Enhance municipal institutional capacity in financing sustainability.
• Address roadblocks to developing sustainable cities, emphasizing partnership and financing mechanisms.
• Produce and disseminate information on lessons learned, best practices, technologies, and establish a network for collaboration and sharing.

The project's components contribute to the improvement of planning and investment processes in cities, leading to enhanced quality of life, resource efficiency, increased environmental performance, and the involvement of a wider set of stakeholders in sustainability planning. The definition of Sustainable Cities Strategy involves three phases: building on the City Profile, defining goals and scenarios, and selecting strategies, strategic projects, and an action plan. The strategy proposal will leverage existing initiatives in the selected cities, formulating integrated, resilient, and financially viable action strategies based on existing planning instruments and peer-reviewed from national and global perspectives.

Pathways to Sustainable Urbanization through Urban Sustainability Assessment Framework (USAF) 

In aiming to embed climate resilience and achieve carbon neutrality by 2070, strategic planning and urban management functions were aligned with the overall objectives. The USAF employed an integrated and whole-system approach, addressing systemic barriers through institutional, political, and financial strategies to advance sustainability solutions. It encouraged the convergence of central and state government policies and resources, promoting equitable distribution. The spatial evidence-based approach enhanced capacity and technical knowledge at the municipal level, facilitating collaborations through extensive stakeholder consultations. It created a scope for innovative funding mechanisms and motivated decision-makers to shift from the business-as-usual path toward sustainable urban transformation based on context-specific, nature-based solutions.

Evaluation through USAF: USAF, grounded in evidence-based urban planning, aimed to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in various sustainable sectors for each city where applied. Through spatial evidence, USAF directed city priorities and allocated resources to align with master plan objectives. It collected data on 131 indicators, including spatial ones, scoring each on a seven-point gradient, promoting continuous self-evaluation by cities. Additionally, six mandatory maps were created, aiding in assessing spatial equity, particularly for municipal amenities and their catchment areas. Results were summarized in an Urban Sustainability Indicators (USI) report, offering insights across various implementation scales.

City Profile & Diagnostics: The USI report, with its wealth of information, facilitated the development of a comprehensive, evidence-based sectoral profile for each city. It synthesized insights from relevant documents, policies, and programs governing city planning, conducting a critical assessment of these materials. USAF outcomes provided a critical analysis of the city's least and best-performing sectors, guiding city planners and managers in determining the development trajectory. Subsequently, key diagnostic issues were identified, considering interlinkages among implementing departments and stakeholders. This process generated a multisectoral roadmap for city challenges, laying the foundation for a spatial strategic plan aimed at reducing the city's GHG inventory.

Spatial City Strategies: This step acknowledged and addressed specific issues identified in the city profile and diagnostic phase. It recognized and tackled specific opportunities and constraints while supporting institutions in evidence-based policymaking and decision-making, fostering institutional partnerships. By promoting the formulation of spatial city strategies, this step facilitated the creation of action-oriented plans to encourage equitable resource distribution and reduce cities' GHG inventory through strategic interventions. Additionally, it encouraged cities to undertake financial planning based on innovative mechanisms, such as the Climate Investment Pipeline (CIP).

Actions & Interventions: As a result of the spatial city strategies identified in the previous step, this phase equipped the cities to identify core planning principles and design strategic interventions based on these principles. The interventions were ranked for prioritization in implementation, considering their potential for GHG emissions reduction. For instance, if principles like transit-oriented development were identified through the analysis of the previous three steps, actionable interventions such as developing street sections, establishing a well-designated transit system, and creating multimodal hubs were proposed to address the city's needs.

The project has achieved several key milestones 

Intra-City Spatial Review

Sectoral Assessment and Diagnostics

Development of Sustainable City Strategies

Integration into Master Plans

Review Process for Master Plans

Analysis of Regulatory and Planning Instruments

Incorporation of Evidence-Based Decision Making

In summary, the project has not only addressed immediate urban development challenges but has also laid the groundwork for sustained, evidence-based, and resilient urban growth in the participating cities.

The Sustainable Cities project was developed within the context of GEF Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot (SC-IAP). GEF SC-IAP is an integrated program consisting of two tracks: (a) City-level projects in 27 cities across 11 countries, with around US$140 million in GEF grant funding. Each country is supported by one or several implementing agencies to manage the various projects in the participating cities; (b) The Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC), led by the World Bank with US$10 million in GEF grant funding.

In India, it is being implemented by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UN-Habitat with funding assistance from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and in close cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Municipal Corporations of Jaipur (Rajasthan), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Mysuru (Karnataka), Vijayawada and Guntur (Andhra Pradesh).