Commissioner inaugurates Open Street Campaign
Chandigarh, November 28:- Sh. K.K. Yadav, IAS, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh-cum- CEO, Chandigarh Smart City Ltd. today inaugurated ‘Open Street Campaign’ at Rose Garden -Sec 17 underpass. During the inauguration officials of CSCL and citizens of Chandigarh were present.
While sharing about the challange, the CEO said that the Streets for People Challenge pushes cities to reimagine their streets as public spaces through the lens of economic regeneration, safety, and child-friendly interventions, in order to ensure a green recovery from COVID-19.
He said that the Challenge comprises two stages. Stage 1 of the challenge, which runs until February 2021, requires each city to identify and test at least one flagship walking project and enhance liveability in one neighbourhood. The potential locations for the flagship project may include streets and public spaces around transit hubs, heritage zones, commercial streets, market areas, recreational corridors, or any zone with high footfall. The Challenge considers participatory approach as its core value. A city-led design competition will form an integral component of the Challenge to gather innovative ideas from professionals across the country. The Smart Cities Mission will shortlist 11 cities, through a reputed panel of experts, which would then move to Stage 2 of the Challenge. The evaluation will be based on the pilots and conceptual city-wide scale-up proposals submitted by the registered cities. The shortlisted cities will receive an award, a citation, and guidance from national and international experts to further develop and commence their scale-up plans submitted in Stage 1. This stage will extend until May 2021.
During the course of the Challenge, cities will receive assistance through online training workshops, knowledge resources, peer-to-peer learning discussions with fellow cities, and interactions with local civil society organisations (CSOs) and design experts to strategise and implement pilots, while also developing their scale-up proposal. The Challenge is intended to inspire cities to transform these temporary interventions into permanent infrastructural facilities.
He said that Chandigarh is one of the 113 cities to have registered for the Streets for People Challenge, an initiative of Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India. The India Programme of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) is the knowledge partner of the Smart Cities Mission in conducting this challenge and guiding cities through it.
He said that the registered cities will implement quick, innovative, and low-cost interventions to make their cities walkable, with a focus on placemaking and liveability. Community engagement is a key component of the Challenge, and its success depends on active coordination between the city and its citizens. To ensure this transformation, Chandigarh is committed to working with its citizens as it develops and implements the proposals.
Chandigarh envisions citizens to participate in its efforts to achieve community driven public spaces.
During the inaguration various unique initiatives event comprised such as:
a. Sketch your Vision for the Street
b. Art Exhibition
The objective of the event was to make the participants aware about the challenge and take suggestions of the residents of the city on the design of the Flagship and neighbourhood Pilot Locations. The vision of the citizens shall be taken forward and various design groups comprising of students shall take it forward through design competition and shall prepare the concept design which again will be put forward for citizen’s review.
