SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, MM UNIVERSITY, SADOPUR HOSTS TWO-DAY NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RE-DISCOVERING CITIES

School of Architecture, MMU, Sadopur organized a National Conference on “Re-Discovering Cities” on April 10-11 in collaboration with IIA (Chd-Pb Chapter).

Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki, Hon’ble Governor of Haryana and Punjab was the Chief Guest on the inaugural day. Prof. Solanki stressed on making urban areas sustainable to ensure healthy living for residents. Prof. Aradhana Jindal, convener welcomed the delegates and in her inaugural speech expressed her deep concern on the growing menace of unorganized haphazard growth in the urban areas. Ar. SurinderBahga, chairperson talked about the need to gather ideas about future smart cities through the conference.

Er. Himanshu Parikh, Aga Khan Award winner was one of the keynote speakers to speak on ‘Slum Networking- transforming settlements’ from within where he raised the issues of plight of rural settlements. Around 300 delegates from all over country and abroad participated in the conference.

The two day national conference discussed the concerns and issues of the cities like inadequate basic services (water supply, sewage disposal & solid waste management); traffic & parking problems; high urban poverty and unemployment levels; increase in housing shortage & consequent urban slums; degraded urban health & environment (air/water quality); high energy consumption, lack of respect for built heritage and much more due to rapid growth of urbanization.

The National Conference on Re-Discovering Cities was a humble attempt in the same regard to bring together all the issues pertaining to the cities on a common platform and initiate dialogue on re-discovering our roots so that the challenges of rising urbanization are coped up by bridging the gaps between the old and the new; the past and the future; the traditional and the modern.