Urban95: Shaping Udaipur’s Urban Future for the Next Generation

Creating healthy, vibrant cities where children and communities thrive is crucial for long-term societal and economic prosperity. Family-friendly cities promote equity, sustainability, and public health, fostering stronger communities. This is why the city of Udaipur, India engaged in the Urban95 initiative to support healthier, safer, and more engaging urban neighbourhoods for young children, their caregivers, and the wider community.

Background

Urban95 is The Bernard van Leer’s Foundation global initiative to foster inclusive societies where all children and communities can flourish. Ecorys India, as part of a consortium led by ICLEI South Asia, is proud to have collaborated as an implementing partner in the second phase of this project.

Udaipur Municipal Corporation (UMC) joined hands with Van Leer Foundation to transform the city’s environment into an ITC (Infant, Toddler, Caregiver) friendly landscape. The first phase of Urban95 in Udaipur saw the implementation of temporary interventions including traffic calming, upgrading public space, and a festival for kids. The city collected baseline data on young children and families, and offered additional training to the workers in the city’s Anganwadis – state-run service centres for young children.

After the success of Urban95-Phase-I, Udaipur embarked on Phase-II, focusing on scaling up and ensuring the sustainability of key projects. Through “lighthouse” projects, policy integration, and capacity-building workshops, our consortium helped shape urban neighbourhoods that are healthier, safer, and more exciting for young children and everyone who cares for them.

Together, ICLEI and Ecorys contributed to making lasting changes to the urban landscape, paving the way for a brighter future for Udaipur’s youngest citizens.

Key achievements

Key projects included the creation of child priority zones, connected shared streets, sensory parks, and retrofitting of crucial health and educational facilities. Our team prepared lay-out plans, designs, detailed project reports and supervised designs for 3 child and family-friendly traffic junctions, a city-level sensory park, one Anganwadi centre (state-run service centre for young children), and one primary health centre with features designed for young children, along with 2 child priority zones.
Successfully developed the Institutional Document – Child Safety Guidelines as part of the Urban95 Phase-II initiative. This crucial document guides the creation of safer and more child-friendly urban environments.
Identified significant convergence opportunities between smart city projects and infant, toddler, caregiver-friendly neighbourhood objectives, enhancing the city’s transformation journey. Prepared Urban95 ITC master checklist for UMC tender documents, incorporating Urban95-specific elements, materials, and rates into the existing Schedule of Rates.
Developed Early Childhood Development Policy Document and Child Safety Guidelines Document for Udaipur city.
Supported Udaipur Municipal Corporation (UMC) and stakeholders in hosting the annual conference for knowledge sharing.
Organised a comprehensive closure and learning conference, culminating in a detailed lessons learned report and a yearly program assessment report, documenting Urban95 Phase-II’s progress, observations, learnings, and recommendations for scaling up.

Outcomes

Udaipur is set to become a lighthouse city, guiding other cities in India towards incorporating ITC-friendly principles in urban planning.
The initiative enhanced institutional capacities through training and peer learning workshops, ensuring that Udaipur remains a model of child-friendly urban development.