MYSORE, DHNS: More than 100 stakeholders took part in a day-long meeting on Wednesday, organised by the district administration, to discuss strategies under Cities Alliance with an aim to improve the living conditions of the poor through action in two key areas - City Development Strategies (CDS) and Cities Without Slums.

Inaugurating the meeting at ZP office here, Mr Ravikumar, Secretary, Department of Urban Development said, “Development in Bangalore is not actually development. It is madness. Mysore should not go the Bangalore way, and it should retain its old charm of culture and heritage.”

This is the first meeting convened to explain the objectives and plans under Cities Alliance to the stakeholders.

Cities Alliance is a global coalition of cities and their development partners committed to improve the living conditions of the urban poor. The key areas are - City Development Strategies (CDS) which link the process by which the local stakeholders define their vision for their city, analyse its economic prospects and establish clear priorities for action and investment.

City-wide and nation-wide slum upgrading is another key area to improving the living conditions of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020 in accordance with the Cities Without Slums Initiative.

After a brief inaugural speech, Mr Ravikumar invited the stakeholders to speak about their plans for Mysore and strategies to be adopted to develop the City and living conditions of the citizens, by retaining its charm.

Representatives from Mysore Agenda Task Force, Mysore Grahakara Parishat, Slum Dwellers’ Federation, Street Vendors’ Association, experts, eminent citizens, NGOs and officials attended the meeting.

Municipal Administration Director Nilai Mitash and Deputy Commissioner G Kumar Nayak were present. Alison Barret, Advisor, Cities Alliance, made a power point presentation on Cities Alliance programme.

MATF Member H R Bapu Satyanarayana opined that there is need to address matters like congestion of roads, increase of vehicular traffic, footpath encroachment, etc. He stressed the need for co-ordination between authorities and civic agencies.

Former CFTRI director and MATF Member H A B Parpia said Mysore Vision 2020 contains all the strategies that are required to develop Mysore. Under the Cities Alliance programme, a competent working group comprising experts should be formed within three months so that an action plan for the City could be prepared, he advised.

Recalling the urban planning during the times of Mysore Maharajas, veteran journalist and INTACH Convener Krishna Vattam said Mysore City was the first to have urban planning in the country and Mysore Dewans planned this royal City.

But today, the lung spaces are encroached upon and the City’s greenery is fast depleting, said Mr Vattam.

Stressing the connectivity issue, Prof M N Shivaram, President, Institution of Engineers, Mysore chapter said lack of connectivity - road, air and rail - was coming in the way of comprehensive development of the city. Infrastructure has to be developed to ensure proper connectivity which is key to the City’s growth.

CART Director U N Ravikumar said Mysore needs sustainable economic and ecological development. The strength of Mysore is that the people have concern towards the city and experience to tackle any issues. There is a need to bring them on a common platform to plan strategies, he suggested.

Street Vendors’ Association President Nanjundaswamy argued that small-scale industries are closing down owing to globalisation, thereby increasing unemployment. With the failure of crops owing to drought in the past years, migration from rural areas had increased.

He suggested that a hawker zone should be set up here to encourage employment and improve quality of life.

Here are the reasons on the need to focus on the urban poor according to Cities Alliance.

Over the next two decades, 90 per cent of population growth in developing countries will be urban.

Already close to 30 per cent of the developing world’s urban population lives below poverty line.

Pre-poor policies are needed to cope with this explosive growth of urban poverty and growing inequality because they threaten the social cohesion and political stability needed for social development and economic growth.

Demand is high - the urban poor are influencing investment priorities since they are voting in increasing numbers, and decentralisation has put pressure on local governments to be more accountable.