CITIIS Program: Redefining Urban Development For A Sustainable Future

Policy Update

Vaishnavi Nandedkar

Background

As India undergoes rapid urbanisation, cities are discovering opportunities such as economic growth, innovation and employment. But, the rapid nature of urbanization also creates challenges in terms of waste management, resource consumption, climate vulnerability and infrastructure stress. To address these development challenges, Government of India adopted a new initiative termed “the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS)”. The initiative is crafted to function through city-specific approaches.

CITIIS was announced by the Government of India in 2018 under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Union.It was designed as a challenge-based funding model aimed at promoting sustainable and integrated urban development.

The first phase (CITIIS 1.0) of this project involved 12 cities and focused mainly on themes of sustainable mobility, public open spaces, urban e-governance, and social innovation for low-income settlements. Following the success of the first phase, the Government of India launched CITIIS 2.0 for the period 2023-27. The focus of the new phase revolves around circular economy, climate resilience and integrated waste management systems[VN1] , thereby aligning with the SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities) priorities for India and the national climate action plans.

The CITIIS programme is a breakthrough for India’s urban policy agenda as it moves from conventional development of urban infrastructure towards a more systems-based approach to urban development and sustainability.

Functioning

The CITIIS program operates through a competitive program basis in which the cities present project proposals to address various urban challenges they are facing. Once the cities are selected for the program, they get an opportunity to apply for the funding, technical assistance, capacity building support and knowledge sharing and access to national and international knowledge networks.

The CITIIS programme differs from the other centrally sponsored schemes which primarily focus on infrastructure projects as it places greater emphasis on innovation and institutional strengthening as well as project implementation.

Major theme areas for CITIIS 1.0 were sustainable mobility, public open spaces, urban e-governance, and social innovation for low-income settlements.

The selected 12 cities in this phase were encouraged to create solutions specific to their contexts which involved planning, implementation and project management. The cities were also provided with technical assistance through national and international partners for effective execution. The first phase also served as a platform for testing innovative urban solutions that could potentially be adapted and replicated in other Indian cities.

Drawing upon the lessons learned in the first phase, The Government of India launched the next phase termed as CITIIS 2.0 in the year 2023, which retained the challenge-based approach and capacity-building framework but shifted its focus towards Integrated waste management systems, Circular economy and Climate oriented urban governance. The program’s scope is also significantly expanded in the 2.0 phase and involves 18 cities.

The aims of the 2.0 phase include reducing waste generation, increasing recycling capacity and boosting urban climate resilience.Encouraging innovation in the urban sector is a key aspect of the CITIIS program and capacity building has been a vital characteristic.

This is achieved with the help of a number of workshops and technical training programs conducted in the participant cities to ensure implementation, knowledge sharing at national and international platforms and networking among participants and with key stakeholders.These partnerships are aimed to gain easy access to knowledge and technology and to enhance urban governance and planning in Indian cities.

Performance

The performance of the CITIIS program can be assessed through its growth, investments, and its success at incorporating new urban development innovations into practice. Since its inception in 2018, CITIIS has developed from a pilot program with a small number of cities, to an expanded program with increased number of cities and with an emphasis on climate resilience and circular economy.

CITIIS 1.0 was initiated with a total budget of ₹933 crore (EUR 106 million) and included 12 city-level projects selected through a competitive program, capacity-building activities and other activities at the national level undertaken by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).

CITIIS developed a financing model that combined challenge-based financing with grants and the provision of technical assistance. With the help of this model, cities could carry out initiatives in sustainable mobility, public open spaces, e- governance and infrastructure. CITIIS also strengthened the institutional capacity of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and incorporated Integrated Planning.

CITIIS 2.0 was approved by the Union Cabinet in May 2023 due to the success of CITIIS 1.0 phase. The scale and financial investments in the 2.0 phase are substantially bigger than the 1.0 phase. The second phase of the program has secured ₹1,760 crore (EUR 200 million) of loans from the French Development Agency (AFD) and Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), in addition to a technical assistance grant of ₹106 crore (EUR 12 million) from the European Union. The total budget of CITIIS 2.0 is nearly double than that of CITIIS 1.0 indicating increased confidence in the program.

Impact

Due to its relatively new nature, the CITIIS programme’s current impact is limited in scale, duration and reach. The outcomes are largely limited to individual participants and participating cities and the programme is yet to have a quantifiable impact on the mainstream development agenda in the participating cities. The learnings from the program has so far only been limited to municipal administration and development institutions.

Neverthless, The CITIIS program has introduced a new framework for urban development in India, with a shift from infrastructure focused projects to capacity building and emphasis on sustainability and innovation.

Mainstreaming of circular economy principles in urban policy and discourse is one the most significant impacts of the CITIIS program. The programme has also encouraged cities to see waste management not as a liability, but as a valuable resource that can contribute to sustainable development.

The programme has also contributed to institutional learning and development effectiveness in participant city governments. Knowledge and capacity building interventions have improved the ability of city officials to manage complex urban challenges.

From an environmental perspective, the programme has the potential to contribute to sustainable environmental governance through reduced landfill dependence and improved waste management which leads to reduced pollution, and reduced environmental degradation. Improved waste management also results in better public health and increased climate resilience.

Above all, CITIIS has been encouraging the cities to pursue data driven planning and development. Such capacity building measures along with data, evidence and fact-based systems will strengthen the urban governance and development toolkit of participating cities, which in turn will help to address complex challenges resulting from urbanisation, climate degradation and resource scarcity.

Ultimately, the programme’s long-term impact will heavily rely on it being able to scale-up successful interventions to have a measurable impact on mainstream urban governance and development processes.

Emerging issues

1.Limited Municipal Capacity: A shortage of technical expertise, skilled personnel and institutional capacity is the most commonly observed challenge for many Urban Local Bodies. It can be resolved with the help of dedicated technical support teams and training programs for the ULB personnel.

2. Scalability of the pilot projects: Successful projects often do not enjoy replication beyond the pilot cities. To tackle this challenge, creating country-level frameworks for scaling up and replicating best practices and lessons learnt across cities is required.

3. Monitoring and evaluation challenges: It is difficult to determine the impact of the program due to the lack of standardised performance indicators. This can be resolved by improving monitoring programs with the help of data driven systems, digital dashboards and scheduled monitoring reviews.

4. Financial sustainability: The long-term sustainability and scalability of pilot projects remains dependent on continued financial support which may go beyond the municipal budgets and central government sponsorship. Which is why, public-private partnerships and innovative financing is required.

5. Citizen participation: The involvement of citizens and the general public often remains limited in some project areas. Hence, strengthening participatory planning and feedback sessions with citizens throughout project duration is essential.

Way Forward

CITIIS 2.0 is a stepping stone towards the sustainable, climate-resilient and resource-conscious cities of the future.

With this in mind, the focus should be shifted to measurable objectives, and the strengthening of institutional capacity and the replication of successful initiatives. Strengthening the governance frameworks of the municipalities, scaling up the provision of advisory services, and the embedding of digital monitoring frameworks will improve the efficiency of the program.

Since India is currently undergoing a rapid process of urbanization, programs such as CITIIS will be critical in defining the sustainable cities of the future. The real success will be determined by the capacity of the program to evolve the new urban solutions from the innovative pilot projects to a large-scale and long-lasting impact. By integrating climate action and resource governance reform, CITIIS will be able to realize a resilient and sustainable New India.

References

Agence Française de Développement. (2023). France announces €100 million loan for India’s CITIIS 2.0 programme. https://www.afd.fr/en/actualites/communique-de-presse/france-announces-100-m-euros-loan-indias-citiis-20-program

Agence Française de Développement. (2019). Sustainable, innovative and participative urban development through CITIIS. https://www.afd.fr/en/carte-des-projets/sustainable-innovative-and-participative-urban-development-through-citiis

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (2023, August 10). CITIIS 2.0 to drive integrated waste management and climate-oriented reform actions. Press Information Bureau, Government of India. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PRID=1945495&reg=48&lang=1

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (2023, June 7). Cabinet approves City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) 2.0 from 2023 to 2027. Press Information Bureau, Government of India. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1928607&reg=48&lang=2

National Institute of Urban Affairs. (n.d.). CITIIS official programme portal. https://citiis.niua.in/

National Institute of Urban Affairs. (n.d.). CITIIS programme resources and knowledge products. https://citiis.niua.in/publications

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR:

Vaishnavi Nandedkar is a research and editorial intern at IMPRI and has an academic background in Architecture and Urban Development. Her interests lie in urban governance, policy and planning.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author extends sincere thanks to the IMPRI team for their guidance and the reviewers- Asmatwali and Simona Hughes for their valuable feedback.

Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organization.

REVIEWERS: Asmatwali and Simona Miriam Hughes