High-Level Policy Workshop “South Asia Region Urbanization Knowledge Platform Launch: Sustainable Urban Regeneration and Inclusive Growth for South Asian Cities”

IPS, together with the World Bank, organized a High-Level Policy Workshop, on “South Asia Region Urbanization Knowledge Platform Launch: Sustainable Urban Regeneration and Inclusive Growth for South Asian Cities”, during March 20th- 21st, 2012 at l Cinnamon Grand Hote, Colombo.

The key note address was delivered by the Mr. Gotabaya Rajapakse, Secretary, Ministry of Defense and Urban Development, Sri Lanka. Mr. Jesse Robredo, Secretary, Department of Interior and Local Government, Philippines was the Guest of Honour

The Urbanization Knowledge Platform (UrbKP) is an initiative launched by the World Bank’s Urban Development and Local Government Unit in February 2011. It is part of the World Bank\’s \”Open Development- Open Knowledge\” agenda. The mission of the UrbKP is to put the world’s best knowledge and data in the hands of policymakers and practitioners, to harness urban growth for better development outcome. It will convene and connect research institutes, agencies, and governments around urban and regional development topics, and foster the creation of a global urban community of practice. Further, the UrbKP aims at co-generating knowledge products that will close knowledge gaps on complex urban issues under debate, and influence policy reforms in developing client countries. The open data component of the platform seeks to facilitate access to city-level data for cross-city comparisons and new policy insights.

The objective of the launch in South Asia was to provide a platform for government and policy makers in South Asia to gather and discuss the urban issues which are unique to them and meanwhile learn from each other. The event included three panel-discussion sessions focused on three main themes: (1) Inclusive Urban Growth, (2) Urban Development and Climate Change, and (3) Sustainable Urban Regeneration, followed by a wrap up discussion and a half-day field visit. The key lessons and international experiences of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Korea and Singapore were presented and discussed together with international experts from other regions and the World Bank.