“By the middle of this century, the world’s urban population will likely have doubled to reach 7 billion people. In Asia alone, cities are projected to reach 2.5 billion people by 2025. The scale and pace of urbanization is unprecedented and its impact will be felt in all spheres on human life. Quite simply, this will be one of the defining features of the 21st century.

There is a need for cities to move towards sustainability or else the living conditions will get worse due to rapid and haphazard urbanization. Most of the cities in South Asia face common problems such as lack of housing, poverty, high levels of pollution, inadequate water supplies, sewage, waste disposal and many others. Here the urban world comes with a complex set of environmental, economic and social challenges, but also represents a unique opportunity to build more sustainable, vibrant, innovative, and equitable communities. The Government of India has come up with an investment of $1.2 billion for 100 smart cities in the next 15 years. The project will ensure the basic guidelines of smart city which reduces traffic as it promotes use of green vehicles or more public transport usage, better living conditions as the cities will be clean and it will increase employment and provide for better urban governance.

Finding solutions for a smart urban future involves developing new forms of collaboration and partnerships. Inspired by the possibilities of this new and smart urban era, and driven by the philosophy of ‘Connecting Cities. Building Knowledge’ the Cities Network Campaign in association with All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG) and CDKN is organising the South Asian Cities Summit 2015 from 22-23 May, 2015 at New Delhi, India.

The objective of the Summit is to convene a high‐profile gathering of Hon’ble Ministers/Mayors/Commissioner/CEO , Government officials, senior local governments officials from South Asian cities, international subject experts, policy makers, national/international organizations, technology providers, financial institutions, funding organisations working in the area of Smart and Sustainable cities and climate change in the South Asian countries. During the Summit, the meeting of the South Asian Mayors’ Forum would convene. The Summit is expected to witness a participation of approx 300 delegates from across the world.”