News : Indo-German project for sustainable Hyderabad

Hyderabad is poised to become a low emission city in Asia

Indo-German project for sustainable Hyderabad

March 31, 2009

A consortium of Indian and German institutions is developing a Perspective Action Plan to establish the southern Indian megapolis of Hyderabad as a ‘Low Emission City in Asia’ in 30 years time. The five-year Sustainable Hyderabad project is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of its programme “Research for Sustainable Development of the Megacities of tomorrow”.

It is estimated that approximately two thirds of humanity will live in cities by the year 2030. By 2015, there will be nearly 60 cities with populations of over than 10 million, the vast majority of them in developing countries. Cities such as Lagos in Nigeria or Dhaka in Bangladesh with populations growing more than 10 times faster than New York or Los Angeles, illustrate the acute stress placed upon authorities in developing countries to provide food, shelter, and infrastructure for their citizens.

About 78 percent of all global CO2 emissions originate in cities. Megacities around the world are a major contributor to climate change. They are also very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. At the same time, megacities are growing at an unprecedented rate.

In newly industrialising and less developed countries, 80 percent of economic growth will take place in cities. On scales this large, these ‘megacities’ become much more complicated than anything planners, scientists, and politicians are accustomed to dealing with. Therefore significant effort and research needs to be put into ensuring that these megacities develop sustainably and successfully.

Spread across 217 square km and with a bulging population of over six million, Hyderabad is expected to grow to 10.5 million inhabitants by 2015. Driven by consumption and lifestyle changes, per capita greenhouse gas emissions are constantly increasing in Hyderabad. The use of traditional biomass for fuel (e.g., firewood) is high in peri-urban areas; at the same time, modernisation and urbanisation processes have led to a growth of commercial energy and indirect energy uses.

Severe floods in 2002, strong heat waves in 2003 and three drought years between 2000 and 2007 in Hyderabad and its surrounding region have caused serious damage to human life, property and economic advancement. These effects illustrate the vulnerability to climate change in the region in terms of food production, water management, biodiversity and livelihoods. Therefore, the assessment of the role of climate change in the everyday life of people in Hyderabad has become a central issue. This is the aim of the Sustainable Hyderabad project.

Adaptation to Climate Change
To implement adaptation measures for climate change, a comprehensive study of its potential impacts will be conducted for Hyderabad and its peri-urban regions, which is the first such attempt for a megacity in Asia. This study will also focus on rural-urban linkages, since issues such as energy security, environmental and water management as well as the design of measures for transition towards sustainability in Hyderabad cannot be treated only for the city, but need to take account of the rural-urban linkages.

Scenario Framework
The approach of the Sustainable Hyderabad project relies on the scenario building methodology. Scenario techniques aim to provide a holistic picture of the future by including influential indicators and their relevant intervention points. At a recently concluded Scenario Workshop in Hyderabad, the Indian and German project partners developed a framework of indicators and intervention points for transport, energy, water, food and social conditions in Hyderabad.

This scenario framework serves as a baseline for further cooperation strategies and for the implementation capacity building and pilot projects. The inclusion of governmental, non-governmental, scientific and private actors of all relevant sectors in Hyderabad lead to fruitful working group discussions and development of a holistic scenario framework for the city of Hyderabad. A strong focus of this framework has been put on the compatibility with the Hyderabad City Development Plan and the implications for concrete implementation and further research on the entire issue.

Background of the Megacity project
The Hyderabad project is part of the BMBF- funded programme on the ‘Megacities of Tomorrow’. In the context of Germany’s overall approach to climate issues and efficient mitigation strategies in the international and the national arenas, it is the goal of the Future Megacities programme to create good or even best practice examples for sustainable urban development. The bilateral approach of the programme aims to research and develop innovative energy- and climate-efficient structures, enable the city, along with its decision makers and inhabitants, to bring about energy efficiency and demonstrate sustainable ways to reduce resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Bilateral Relations in the Hyderabad Megacity Project
The participants involved in the Sustainable Hyderabad project consists of eight consortium partners from Germany and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, D.C., eight associated research partners from India and actors or stakeholders from Germany and India.

The Project Partners from Germany are from the Humboldt University, Berlin, which is the Lead Partner; Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK); the University of Freiburg (CULT-GEO); PTV, Karlsruhe; NEXUS GmbH, Berlin; and the Institute for Cooperative Sciences, Berlin (IfG).

The India partners are The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI); the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS); the International Crops Research Institute for Semiarid Tropics (ICRISAT); Engineering Staff College of India (ESCI); the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN); Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) ; Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) and University of Hyderabad (UoH); and the Regional Centre for Urban and Environmental Studies (RCUES-OU).

Key actors and stakeholders from Germany and India include the state Government of Andhra Pradesh, municipal authorities, the Indian Ministries of Environment & Forestry and Science & Technology, industry associations in Germany and India and non-profit organisations working in Hyderabad.