The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH) invite you to a workshop on:
Planning Climate Futures: Why One Size Doesn’t Fit All in Indian Cities
Speaker:
Jaya Dhindaw, Executive Director, Sustainable Cities, WRI India
Tuesday, 27th May 2025, 3:45 PM IST onwards.
The event will be held online via Zoom. Please register below to attend.
About the talk
As Indian cities respond to national and global mandates for Climate Action Plans (CAPs), their planning processes reveal significant differences shaped by city scale, governance structures, and local political economies. This presentation offers a comparative analysis of CAP development across cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Nashik, and Patan, drawing on WRI India’s multi-city engagement. It highlights how megacities like Mumbai benefit from stronger political mandates, institutional capacity, and formal data systems, while smaller or mid-sized cities like Nashik operate in more resource-constrained, adaptive, and often locally embedded contexts. These variations lead to divergent process orientations — from technocratically led, consultant-driven planning to more iterative, locally owned approaches. The presentation attempts to unpack who drives CAPs, how tools are adapted, and what happens post-plan. Ultimately, CAPs reflect climate intent and cities’ institutional readiness and political economy, each shaped by its scale and context.
About the speaker
Jaya Dhindaw is an urban strategist with over two decades of global experience in sustainable cities, climate resilience, mobility, and urban planning. As Executive Director of Sustainable Cities at WRI India, she leads cross-cutting initiatives that integrate data, policy, and multi-level governance to drive inclusive urban transformation. Jaya has worked with governments, academia, and private firms across India and the U.S., including the City of Charlotte and IISc Bangalore. A systems thinker and published author, she holds degrees in Architecture, City Planning (IIT Kharagpur), and Environmental Policy (University of Cincinnati), and serves as Managing Associate Editor for the Journal of Sustainable Urbanisation, Planning and Progress.
