Concept Note

3rd BRICS Urbanisation Forum

Urban Transition in BRICS
14 - 16 September 2016 | Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Urbanisation Pattern in BRICS

BRICS, an association of five major emerging economies was formed in 2009. The BRICS
members are all developing or newly industrialized countries and all five are G-20
members. They are distinguished by their large, fast growing economies and significant
influence on regional and global affairs. The similarities arise from rapid economic
growth and collective economic potential resultant of new industrialisation and
liberalisation policies. Together, the countries comprise more than 3 billion people or
42 % of the world’s population, cover 29% of the world's land area on four continents,
and account for approximately 20% of the global GDP. The level of urbanisation among
BRICS countries are 90.6 per cent (Brazil), 73.8 per cent (Russia), 62 per cent (South
Africa), 56 per cent (China) and 31.3 per cent in India. McGranahan and Martine
(2012:2) observe that "the entire developing world is in the midst of a global urban
transition that, together with economic globalisation, is shifting the economic loci of
development and the economic power is drifting southward, most notably towards the
large and emerging economies of the BRICS". However, as these are not geographically
contiguous or culturally similar countries, the growth patterns require in-depth
understanding to ensure achieving its collective potential in an increasingly tumultuous
global economic order.

The BRICS Forum was established in 2011 at the 3rd annual BRICS summit in Sanya,
China, and, the 1st BRICS Urbanization Forum was held in New Delhi, India in February
2013 with a special focus on Urban Infrastructure, followed by the 2nd BRICS
Urbanization Forum in November 2013 at Durban, South Africa under the theme
'Towards Sustainable Urbanization'. The Urbanization Forums were created with a
focus on urban infrastructure to specifically discuss various thematic areas within the
umbrella of urbanization and infrastructure.

The 3rd Urbanisation Forum with the theme ‘Urban Transition in BRICS' will ensure that
key issues of urbanization are placed on the global agenda of the BRICS member

1
 Concept Note

countries and the thematic issues will focus on building productive and sustainable
urban economies and livelihood survival strategies in urban environments as well as
creating inclusive urban spaces. Also, all these countries have been experimenting with
various policies addressing housing challenges, skilling and empowering the
marginalized sections, new town developments, harnessing the power of technology
through smart city interventions and increasing public participation in local
governance.

The Smart Cities conclave will share various examples of smart urban growth models
across the BRICS cities which are effective integration of physical, digital and human
systems in the built environment to deliver a sustainable, prosperous and inclusive
future for its citizens. Inclusion, the right to shelter, and the provision of sustainable
housing and related services is one of the key themes of the SDG agenda and is
particularly relevant to BRICS nations given expanding urban slums and an increasing
demand for sustainable housing. Housing and economic activity are intrinsically
interwoven especially for those sections of the society which have limited access to
several opportunities.

The Paris climate conference (COP21) of 2015, which resulted in formalizing the first
ever universal, legally binding global climate agreement, identified specific areas of
actions that cities could embark upon. This has given a further push to the UN new
framework for guiding development between 2015 and 2030 known as Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals. The Goal 11 or Urban SDG aims to make
cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The forum will
give a unique opportunity to review and share progressive practices for institutional
mechanisms to promote preventive environmental management.

Infrastructural challenges for most of the BRICS cities extend across transportation,
energy, telecommunications, sanitation and housing. With many emerging economies
suffering from a slowdown and capital outflow, the gap between infrastructure needs
and ability of the governments to deliver infrastructure investments is getting ever
wider. The Report on Indian Urban Infrastructure and Services, 2011, estimates the
investment for urban infrastructure over the 20-year period at Rs 39.2 lakh crore at
2009-10 prices (approx. 583 billion USD) of which 20% is estimated for water supply,

2
 Concept Note

sanitation and waste management requiring a shift in the focus of policy from creating
physical infrastructure to delivering services. Reforming governance for service
delivery therefore assumes as much importance as the technical and financial
challenges of providing services. The Swachh Bharat or the Clean India Mission
estimates a cost of Rs. 62,009 crores (approx. 9.2 billion USD) to be spent on various
components of sanitation and solid waste management in urban areas alone over the
next five years. Deliberations in the session on Cross Learning on Water, Sanitation and
Waste Management in BRICS will provide an opportunity to deliberate on policy actions,
fiscal reforms etc. taken by member nations at both central and local levels to meet the
infrastructure investment needs.

As discussed in the World Urban Forum, 2004, the need for an urban renaissance arises
in an unprecedented context where the majority of the world’s population is expected
to be living in urban areas. It has been estimated a major demographic change is
expected in the African and Asia continents. By the turn of 2016, it has been seen that 8
of the top 10 world’s cities with more than a million population are in Asia. Urban
renaissance calls for decentralisation of powers and capacities of local governments
empowering them to pursue global standards or objectives, such as the Millennium
Development Goals and now the Sustainable Development Goals. In India, Urban
Renaissance has been perceived through five pillars of policy interventions. These are a)
Empowering ULBs especially the Mayors, b) Public participation in policy formulation
and execution, c) Building Capacity to deliver on goals, d) Changing urban planning
structures and frameworks and e) making ULBs financially self-reliant.

While the BRICS cities are presently plagued with challenges of increasing
demographies, economic growth and inadequate infrastructure, for promoting
sustainable development it would be crucial to integrate measures in various sectors
such as social, economic, health, water supply, sanitation, housing, education,
environment, and so on, and, maintain a balance between the desired objectives in each
sector for improving economic productivity and ensuring that such growth is
environmentally sustainable and equitable. The discussions from this will help define
the new reform agenda, more so in Indian context, which will be reflected in the policy
frameworks.

3
 Concept Note

Strategic Cooperation

The underlying rationale of cooperation on urbanization between the BRICS countries is

to share urban knowledge, develop mechanisms for peer-to-peer partnerships, promote
evidence-based policymaking and learn useful lessons from individual experiences of
‘urban transition’. While the member countries are distinguished by their large, fast-
growing economies, they differ vastly from one another in their urbanization
trajectories, and each BRICS country's experience with urbanization has its distinct
characteristics. The growth of the secondary cities and small towns due to being major
investment destinations and many other indicators, all reveal the agility of the urban
land and labour markets in BRICS cities.

Need for deliberation, sharing and documenting

Since the BRICS countries have several commonalities and collective bargaining power
in the global economic order, the deliberations on the urban transitions are critical. The
degree of urbanisation among the five countries is different and the cultural and
ecological impacts of an urban led economy are worth understanding. The increased
number of business partnerships and diplomatic relations led by cities demand a
cohesive knowledge base that can improve local governance in the cities. This will in
turn help them to attract global capital and technology required for enhancing their
prosperity and liveability. Apart from these, there are important global agendas framed
through Sendai Framework, SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement that demand a lot of
knowledge-technology transfer and shared learning. The announcement of New Urban
Agenda in Quito in October 2016 will accelerate national efforts towards achieving
these global commitments. Hence the city agenda within BRICS is going to get
empowered along with other agendas that are already well embedded into the BRICS
deliberations.

4
 Concept Note

About the 3rd BRICS Urban Forum

The 3 day forum will be held in Visakhapatnam (also called as Vizag), the coastal city in
the state of Andhra Pradesh, which is not only a major economic and tourist centre of
India, but is also one of the lighthouse cities of the Smart Cities Mission. The theme for
this forum will be “Urban Transition in BRICS”.

The conference aims to coordinate efforts to learn from best practices and access
available technologies in order to better manage and plan for the rapid rate of
urbanisation in the BRICS partner countries. The discussion will focus on themes such
as building productive and sustainable urban economies; livelihood survival strategies
in urban environments; creating inclusive urban spaces; decentralisation of powers and
functions as well as spatial and economic interfaces. The forum shall bring together
various stakeholders from the BRICS countries including BRICS Ministerial delegations,
representatives of local governments, policy makers, academia, professionals, private
sector, media and various civil society groups. The programme is proposed to contain
the following sub themes:

DAY 1
14.30 – 15.30 INAUGURAL SESSION
16.00 – 17.30 Plenary Session I on National Urban Agenda

20.00 Dinner hosted by Hon’ble Urban Development Minister

DAY 2
09.30 – 11.00 Plenary Session II on BRICS Smart Cities Conclave
11.30 – 13.00 Plenary Session III on Financing Urban Infrastructure
14.00 – 15.30 Breakout Session I on Inclusive Housing & Informal Economies
16.00 – 17.30 Breakout Session II on Climate Change, SDG & Urban Environment

20.00 Dinner hosted by Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

DAY 3
09.30 – 11.00 Plenary Session IV on Resilient Water & Sanitation Management
11.30 – 13.00 Plenary Session V on News Towns and Regional Planning
14.00 – 15.30 Plenary Session VI on Urban Renaissance: New Reform Agenda

16.00 – 17.30 VALEDICTORY SESSION

5
 Concept Note

The forum would also see the announcement of the VIZAG DECLARATION, which would
highlight the key deliberations and the way forward for the next forum.

It is expected that the outcomes of the BRICS Urbanization Forum, shall feed into the
deliberations of the 8th annual BRICS Summit that shall be held from 15th to 16th
October 2016 in Panaji, Goa.