Inclusive Cities Partnership Programme (ICPP)

Project description

Title: Inclusive Cities Partnership Programme (ICPP)
Commissioned by: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Government of Germany
Country: India
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India
Overall term: 2014 to 2018

Context

During the last years India has become more urban and the need for housing in cities has expanded rapidly. The housing market has not been able to adapt to this pace, creating a stark demand-supply mismatch. Increasing land and real estate prices have pushed people to occupy marginal lands in and around cities. In most Indian cities, a significant share of the population lives in slums or similar precarious settlements, which are characterised by substandard housing and inadequate access to clean water and sanitation. This exposes the public to health hazards and significant environmental threats. In 2012, the housing shortage in India was estimated at 18.78 million homes, most significantly for poor and low-income households in urban areas. It is widely acknowledged that in order to address the housing requirements of the urban poor, it is crucial to make housing markets more inclusive and transparent, to set adequate standards for the delivery of housing and basic services, and to streamline processes and procedures for housing supply provision both by the private and public sectors. A particular challenge is to improve the housing and living conditions in existing slums and other infor-mal settlements as well as to integrate them into the formally recognised areas of the cities. Studies have shown that an improvement in housing conditions and basic services have positive impacts on the health and wellbeing of the urban poor.

The Inclusive Cities Partnership Programme (ICPP) facilitates the implementation of the Housing for All Mission (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - PMAY). Together with other urban development pro-grammes in India, the project strives to promote more integrated planning and development of Indian cities.

Objective

National ministries, states, and cities receive support in implementing measures for housing for the urban poor in a socially inclusive and environment friendly manner. 

Approach

The ICPP comprises the following work packages:

  • Support to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and selected state governments in formulating housing policies for the poor, which includes rolling-out well-targeted support programmes and providing the necessary financial means.
  • Support to selected states and cities in planning and implementing measures to improve access to safe and environment-friendly housing.
  • Development of knowledge products based on the learnings from project implementation for further dissemination and capacity-building.

This multi-level approach encourages vertical cooperation between all three tiers of government, i.e. national, state, and municipal level. This way, actors from all tiers are engaged. Insights are captured and developed further. Simultaneously, ICPP strengthens horizontal cooperation among public sector agencies, private sector housing providers, and civil society (universities and think tanks) by promot-ing city networks and mutual advisory services for knowledge exchange.
 

Results

The project is expected to achieve the following main results:

  • National ministries and state governments have been provided with guidelines that support the inclusion of the urban poor into their respective housing and rental housing policies.
  • State governments and urban local bodies use integrated approaches and instruments to plan and implement urban upgrading projects that aim at improving housing conditions for the urban poor.
  • Knowledge management on environment-friendly and social housing solutions of national ministries and state governments has improved.
  • Training institutes at the national and state level have included training programmes on housing solutions and integrated urban upgrading into their curricula.

Intermediate achievements are:

At national level the MoHUA receives support in formulating a national Urban Rental Housing Policy and a template for preparation of State Housing Policy in urban areas. Moreover, the New Urban Agenda, which will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), will be backed.

  • National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2017 (under preparation).

State and city level: states/cities are supported in the following activities:

  • An approach on implementing Beneficiary-Led Individual Housing Construction/Enhancement (BLC) vertical of PMAY for Odisha is formulated, and released by MoHUA on ‘World Habitat Day: 2017’; a similar document is under preparation for Tamil Nadu.
  • Recommendations of land tenure issues in smaller cities of Odisha are developed.
  • Two Housing for All Plans of Action plus (HfAPoA+) of Berhampur and Puri in Odisha using Integrated Urban Development Concept are prepared; HfAPoA+ of Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) is being prepared.
  • Two DPRs (Berhampur and Puri) under BLC vertical are prepared, and approved by MoHUA.
  • Tamil Nadu State Urban Housing and Habitat Policy (SUHHP) is being drafted in partnership with the State Government.