The World Habitat Day was observed by the Institution of Engineers (India), Rourkela here.
In the beginning honorary secretary Prof M Panda welcomed members and guests. After a brief introduction on the theme “Public Spaces for All”, he invited the speaker Prof J Pradhan, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, NIT, Rourkela to present his paper.
Pradhan said that streets and public spaces have often been overlooked and undervalued, but are increasingly being considered the backbone of cities. Public spaces are places which are accessible and enjoyable by all without a profit motive e.g. parks, streets, sidewalks, markets and playgrounds.
In 2011, UN-Habitat adopted resolution on sustainable urban development through access to quality urban public spaces. Cities of the future should be ‘designed to live together’ and urban planning is the tool that will help us accomplish this. Rapid urbanization is one of the major challenges of contemporary societies, he stated.
He also stressed on the fact that for cities to realize the potentials and avoid the pitfalls of population and economic growth, good urban planning is critical. A lack of planning has also led to slum formation, spatial inequality and segregated communities which is exacerbating inequality and injustice and triggering turmoil and revolt. He enumerated on several proposed sustainable development goals. A good urban planning also fosters sustainable use of shared resources and inspires lively neighbourhoods, he maintained.
The presentation was followed by a brief interactive discussion on the central theme.