Yug Sanskriti Nyas Organized High-Level Seminar: High-level seminar organized on the topic ‘Delhi 2047: Building a Dense, Connected and Livable City’

New Delhi. A high-level leadership symposium on “Exploring Density – An Opportunity to Reshape Delhi’s Urban Future” was successfully organized by Yug Sanskriti Nyas (YSN) on 27th June at NDMC Convention Centre, New Delhi. The main theme of the program was “Delhi 2047: Building a Dense, Connected and Liveable City”, under which meaningful discussions were held towards developing the Delhi of the year 2047 as a more dense, better connected, environment-friendly and liveable capital. Delhi Government’s Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood was present as the chief guest in the program. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Managing Director Vikas Kumar participated in the program as a special guest. Renowned urban economist and planning expert Dr. Arvind Varshney presented his views as a special speaker. Dharamveer Acharya, founder of Yug Sanskriti Nyas, presided over the program, while eminent architect and urban thinker Deepak Gehlot was the coordinator of the program. It was conducted by senior journalist Sanjay Jha.

In the presidential address, Dharamveer Acharya said, today all the big cities of the country including Delhi are going through a phase of rapid urbanization. At such a time, we need to look at population density not just as a challenge, but as a new opportunity through better planning, modern transportation, green infrastructure and citizen participation. We believe that ‘density’, if planned with visionary thinking and a scientific approach, can be the biggest force behind safe, inclusive, sustainable and livable cities of the future. He said that to achieve the goal of ‘Developed India 2047’, Delhi will have to develop an urban model that establishes an effective balance between development, environmental balance and citizen participation. Chief guest Ashish Sood said that modern, inclusive and citizen-centric urban development is essential to achieve the goal of developed India. He said that better public transport, well-organized urban planning and citizen participation will be the biggest strengths of future Delhi. Calling for public participation, he said that through this, Delhi can be made a safe, clean and environment-friendly ‘livable city’.

Special guest Vikas Kumar described Delhi Metro as the most effective mode of sustainable urban transport and said that the expansion of public transport not only reduces pollution and traffic pressure, but also makes cities more accessible, safe and livable. Keeping in mind the future needs, he stressed on giving priority to public transport, Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and metro based urban planning. Special speaker Dr. Arvind Varshney, while highlighting various dimensions of urban economy, land use, population density and planned development in detail, said that the role of scientific and long-term urban planning will be very important in India’s journey of becoming a developed nation. In the program, experts had in-depth discussions on important topics like challenges and prospects of increasing urban density, environmental benefits of metro-based public transport, sustainable urban mobility, citizen participation in dense urban areas and child safety. Policy makers, urban planners, academicians, architects, environmental experts, industry representatives, students and participants from various fields participated actively and presented their suggestions.

Many distinguished personalities were honored with “Yug Sanskriti Samman”

On this occasion, many distinguished personalities who made excellent and inspirational contributions in various fields of the society were honored with “Yug Sanskriti Samman”. Those who received the honor include Alisha Madhuvarshi and Rakesh Nikhaj for innovative initiatives like ‘Library on Wheels’, ‘Helmet Man of India’ Raghavendra Kumar, famous for public awareness campaign in the field of road safety, Shashank Gaurav, who got All India Second Position (AIR-2) in the 70th BPSC examination, eminent urban economist Dr. Arvind Varshney, ‘Blood Man of India’ famous for voluntary blood donation movement. Delhi’ Vipin Garg, renowned industrialist Vivek Vashishtha, social worker J. Of. Jain and the street theater team ‘Jijeevisha’ of Lady Hardinge Medical College were included. All the honored personalities were given mementoes and certificates for their special social contribution, public service and notable role in nation building.

The program ended with a collective resolution

The program concluded with the collective resolve that to realize the vision of a developed India by the year 2047, it is necessary to build such cities which are not only more dense but also well-planned, environment-friendly, safe, inclusive and ensure better quality of life for every citizen. Yug Sanskriti Trust expressed its resolve to continue this series of dialogues on this subject with policy-makers, experts and different sections of the society in the future also.