India Pavilion to host ‘Urban & Rural Development Week’ at Expo 2020 Dubai

The India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is organising ‘Urban and Rural Development Week’ from October 31 to November 6.

The Week, being organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), will focus on the development and emerging opportunities in the real estate sector.

It will have sessions on emerging themes like Future of Cities, Resurgence and Responsible Real Estate, Smart and Sustainable Transportation, Alternate Real Estate, Building Smart, Liveable and Sustainable Cities, and Electric Mobility.

The sessions will be attended by leading voices from both the Government and the industry including, Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director (Smart City Mission), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Jaideep, OSD (Urban Transport), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Dinesh Kapila, Economic Advisor (Housing), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director, Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation; Sanjay Dutt, Joint Chairman, FICCI Real Estate Committee and MD and CEO, Tata Realty & Infrastructure and Anuj Puri, Chairman and Founder, ANAROCK Property Consultants.

The inaugural session will be on ‘The Future of Cities: Perspectives on use of Technology’ which will address latest challenges and opportunities in the sector such as the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in converging data standards to provide new possibilities for the physical management and the socio-economic development of cities.

Additionally, the panel discussion on ‘Resurgence and Responsible Real Estate’ will highlight the issues, challenges, and changes in the sector due to the pandemic and the learnings from the unprecedented crisis. It will discuss the role of the government regulations and incentives in driving the sector.

The session on ‘Smart and Sustainable Transportation’ will examine the variations of mass rapid transit systems, increasing role of Intelligent Traffic and Transport System (ITS) in bolstering mass rapid transit systems, ideas on achieving multimodal integration, and alternatives to decarbonise the mobility sector.

Besides the macro developments taking place in the industry, the session on ‘Alternate Real Estate’ will see various global CEOs discuss the roadmap for the sector on ESG, infrastructure and economy and highlight their views on the current issues and challenges of alternative real estate developments.

The panel discussion on ‘Building Smart, Liveable and Sustainable Cities’ will highlight the steps required to plan sustainable cities through integrated and flexible urban planning, public urban transportation system, low carbon and resilient urban infrastructure and services, smart ICT solutions and green economies and green finance. It will also discuss the various initiatives and developments that are required from the stakeholders.

The session on ‘Electric Mobility: Towards a Sustainable Future’ will highlight the benefits of having EV for daily commute and will discuss the way forward for electric public transportation, repurposing infrastructure for future of mobility and adoption of global best practices.