Bhubaneswar: The two-day National Urban Conclave 2026 concluded here Sunday with a comprehensive set of recommendations aimed at strengthening urban governance, improving municipal capacity, promoting integrated infrastructure planning and ensuring sustainable financing for cities.
The deliberations across seven sessions outlined key priorities for the next phase of urban reforms, with a strong focus on accountable service delivery, inclusive development and resource efficiency.
The conclave examined critical challenges confronting urban areas, including pedestrian safety, water and waste management, affordable housing, infrastructure coordination, municipal service delivery, building regulations and urban governance.
The recommendations emphasised the need for stronger institutions, coordinated planning, greater financial autonomy for urban local bodies (ULBs) and improved accountability in delivering essential services.
The session on ‘Right to Walk’ highlighted fragmented pedestrian spaces, poor accessibility, inadequate integration of pedestrian facilities into urban planning, unclear institutional responsibilities and funding gaps.
It recommended incorporating the ‘Right to Walk’ into statutory plans, protecting pedestrian right-of-way and strengthening the capacity and accountability of ULBs.
The session on ‘Water, Waste and Resource Efficiency’ called for an integrated approach to water supply, wastewater treatment and solid waste management.
It recommended shifting towards outcome-based service delivery, strengthening performance monitoring and ensuring maintenance throughout the lifecycle of infrastructure assets.
Addressing the challenges of affordable housing, the session on ‘Affordable Housing – Demand and Supply Dynamics’ recommended reserving land for affordable housing and integrating residential development with public transport networks and employment centres.
The session called for viable rental and transit housing models, single-window approval systems and the use of Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and Transferable Development Rights (TDR) incentives to support cross-subsidisation.
Greater government participation through housing boards and PPPs was also recommended.
The deliberations underlined that affordability must extend beyond initial construction costs, with quality building standards and long-term maintenance playing a crucial role in ensuring sustainable housing.
The session on ‘Integrated Urban Development and Infrastructure Delivery’ emphasised the need to align spatial planning with infrastructure development to avoid fragmented investments and improve coordination among agencies.
The session on ‘New Paradigms for Urban Service Delivery’ called for a fundamental shift from measuring progress through asset creation to assessing the actual outcomes of public services.
The recommendations included clearly defining responsibilities among municipal agencies, strengthening digital monitoring and citizen feedback systems, and institutionalising performance-based contracts.
The session also stressed the need to develop specialised municipal cadres, improve the mobilisation of municipalities’ own-source revenues and establish a national framework for accountable, citizen-centric urban services.
The session on ‘Model Building Bye-Laws’ recommended simplifying building regulations and approval procedures through integrated digital platforms.
Risk-based scrutiny and self-certification were proposed to make the approval process more efficient.
The recommendations also called for rationalising FAR, density and parking norms, promoting mixed-use and transit-oriented development, and incorporating climate resilience and disaster safety standards into building regulations.
The session on ‘Model Municipal Law’ focused on strengthening elected municipal leadership, improving the devolution of functions and enhancing the institutional and financial autonomy of urban local bodies.
It recommended five-year tenures for mayors, clearly defined executive powers and better coordination between municipalities and parastatal agencies.
Other priorities included improving own-source revenue generation, ensuring adequate technical staffing and empowering ward and zonal committees.
The conclave’s recommendations across the seven sessions collectively highlighted the need to move towards integrated urban planning, stronger municipal institutions, innovative financing mechanisms and measurable service delivery outcomes.
