- It will be officially inaugurated on 7 July by Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore
- Over 500 participants, including Mayors, Deputy Mayors, and city officials and knowledge partners to attend one of the largest U20 summits ever
- Thematic sessions included on Decarbonising Built Environment, Mainstreaming Women, Youth and Children in Urban Development and Redefining City Investments: a global urban framework utilizing future technologies
- Knowledge partners, including World Economic Forum (WEF), C40 Cities, All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG), UNESCO, UNICEF, GIZ, and ICLEI collaborating
R ARIVANANTHAM
AHMEDABAD, JULY 5
Delegates from 57 cities across the world and 35 cities from India will gather on 7-8 July in the twin cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat for the Mayoral Summit of the sixth cycle of Urban 20, an Engagement Group under the G20.
માનનીય કેન્દ્રીય ગૃહ-સહકાર મંત્રી શ્રી અમિતભાઈ શાહ દ્વારા વિડીયો કોન્ફરન્સના માધ્યમથી મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલની ઉપસ્થિતિમાં શ્રી મોતીભાઈ ચૌધરી સાગર સૈનિક સ્કૂલનું ખાતમુહૂર્ત. સ્થળ : બોરિયાવી, જિ.મહેસાણા https://t.co/Dma63RtJMM
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) July 4, 2023
By facilitating discussions among cities from the G20 countries, the U20 establishes a platform for cities to collectively inform G20 negotiations with respect to urban priorities. With over 500 participants, including mayors, deputy mayors, and city officials besides government delegates and knowledge partners, this is poised to become one of the largest U20 summits ever. The twin cities are bedecked with banners and posters highlighting the priorities of Ahmedabad City, the U20 Chair.
Ahmedabad is all set to welcome the delegates, and extensive preparations are going on to make the summit a success. Besides the inaugural session and the handover of the U20 Communiqué by the Mayors to the G20 leaders, a number of thematic sessions and spotlight events have been included in the two-day schedule.
In this endeavour, Ahmedabad is supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) as the nodal ministry, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), the Technical Secretariat of U20, and the U20 Conveners, C40 Cities and UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments).
The Mayoral Meet will be officially inaugurated on 7 July by Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore. Mayor of Ahmedabad Kiritkumar J Parmar, on behalf of Ahmedabad city, will welcome the delegates and Abhay Thakur, Sous Sherpa of G20 and Manoj Joshi, Secretary, MoHUA will share their perspectives on the development journey of Indian cities.
Thematic sessions on the six U20 priority areas will be organised during the summit. The U20 priority areas echo the emphasis G20 is laying on environmental responsibility, climate finance, and cities of the future. The six priorities under U20 are namely; ‘encouraging environmentally responsible behaviours’, ‘accelerating climate finance’, ‘ensuring water security’, ‘promoting local culture and economy’, ‘reinventing frameworks for urban governance and planning’, and ‘catalyzing digital urban futures.’
The Thematic Sessions will include talks and presentations by Mayors or equivalent city leaders from the cities of Tokyo, Riyadh, Paris, Surat, Srinagar, Amman, Los Angeles, New York City, Katowice, Rio de Janeiro, Dubai, Indore, Kitchener, London, Montevideo, Johannesburg, Kochi and Durban among others.
Spotlight Sessions on topics such as Decarbonising the Built Environment; Mainstreaming Women, Youth and Children in Urban Development; Redefining City Investments: a global urban framework utilizing future technologies; Closing the Loop: circular economy in water, wastewater and solid waste; Building Climate-Responsive and Resilient Cities; and Making Data Work for People will be part of the subjects to be discussed.
The participating Mayors from across the world would also engage during closed doors sessions on both days to further deliberate on U20 priorities and sustainability agenda for cities. The closed-door session on the second day of the summit has been designed as a cities’ roundtable on the issue of ‘climate finance.’
મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલે તેમની મહેસાણાની મુલાકાત દરમ્યાન દૂધસાગર રિસર્ચ એન્ડ ડેવલપમેન્ટ એસોસિએશન (દૂરડા) ના જગુદણ ખાતેના અત્યાધુનિક પશુ સંવર્ધન કેન્દ્રની મુલાકાત લીધી હતી. pic.twitter.com/Un26XrZOCa
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) July 4, 2023
During the Mayoral Summit, delegates will visit the GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City), a state-of-the-art business district in Gandhinagar. The delegates would also explore the architectural marvels of the old city of Ahmedabad through a heritage walk, and visit Sabarmati Ashram to understand the pivotal role played by Mahatma Gandhi in the Independence Movement of India and his messages of peace and non-violence to the world. They will also visit various urban development initiatives undertaken in Ahmedabad city, including the Sabarmati Riverfront. Delegates will also attend events reflecting various facets of the culture of Gujarat and India and experience the taste of authentic Gujarati cuisines.
