In his address at the inaugural of the XI Metropolis World Congress, Mr.Naidu cited studies that suggested 54 per cent of the global population was living in urban areas with the numbers poised to rise to 66 per cent by the year 2030.
“Around 82 per cent of population in North America is in urban areas, 73 per cent in Europe while 40 per cent and 48 per cent of African and Asian population respectively, is also urban,” he said. According to the 2011 census, around 32 per cent of Indian population was already in urban areas and the same would cross 50 per cent mark in coming decades. “This throws challenges in ensuring basic amenities and quality living in the urban areas,” he said.
Describing urban areas as engines of growth, the Union Minister called for sustained efforts to address issues that confront urbanisation and said 80 per cent of transport in cities here was private as against more than 80 per cent of Barcelona population relying on public transport.
The Governor, E.S.L.Narasimhan, after declaring open the Metropolis Congress which is being attended by Mayors, administrators and experts from different parts of the globe, called upon measures to address the issues of urban living such as efficient and affordable medicare, tapping into alternative energy sources and public transport. Decrying the trend of urban areas rapidly turning into concrete jungles, he said efforts should be made towards green metros.
The Chief Minister, K.Chandrasekhar Rao, said the TS government was coming up with a comprehensive master plan for Hyderabad and also plans were afoot for sustainable growth of tier-2 cities. The Metropolis president, Jean Paul Huchon, Mayor, Mohammed Majid Hussain and GHMC Commissioner, Somesh Kumar also spoke.
Media denied entry again
During the second day of the Metropolis World Congress too, the media was denied entry to the venue at HICC and left restricted at Hitex block, about a kilometre away. A few television sets were installed offering live feed from the venue for the presspersons to cover the inaugural which was attended by the Union Minister, M.Venkaiah Naidu, Governor, E.S.L.Narasimhan and Chief Minister, K.Chandrasekhar Rao.
The erratic audio feed which at times kept dropping only added to the woes and the media personnel had no opportunity of directly covering the plenary sessions or interacting with delegates of their choice but had to depend on few interactions arranged by the Information & Public Relations (I&PR) department.