City Connects are city-specific, multistakeholder collaboration platforms led by the Industry City Connects are essentially Industry-led autonomous platforms that bring together different stakeholders in the city to work collaboratively with the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to create sustainable urban spaces. It acts as the conduit between the local administration and local citizenry thereby ensuring participatory development.
A next practice Next practice is one that is pivoted in the future. India@75 Foundation came across City Connects Platforms in Chennai and Benagluru and recognized them as a next practice for all cities. It studied the model, created a toolkit for successful adoption and championed its replication in Pune, Trivandrum, Panjim, Gurugram and Chandigarh. The untimate objective of all City Connect Platforms are to be seen as the preferred planning partners for all ULBs.
City Connects need to be formed as not for profit bodies with three to seven founding members. Industry is expected to play the lead role in facilitating this formation. It is advisable for the founding team to have representation from all walks of life. Thereafter citizens who meet meet the membership criteria can join the latform by paying a membership fee. City Connects have a statutory governing council, an executive committee and working committees. Funds are raised through donations. Once these platforms build their credibility, they can also opt for crowd funding. No money is to be taken from any government agency.
The City Connect platform undertakes projects and initiatives based on inputs from its members. For operational purposes, there are working committees under the Executive Council set up to handle the various projects, functions. Apart from providing a citizen’s perspective on policy issues, City Connects also proactively design and implement projects in areas that are important to the well-being of the city. Typically these are: traffic, pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, public transport, power, garbage, roads, water supply, sewage, corruption, power, health, stray dogs, pollution, safety and arts & culture
