VIJAYAWADA: The three-day Happy Cities Summit will kick-start on April 10 at CK Convention Centre in Mangalagiri. Disclosing this here on Saturday, CRDA Commissioner Cherukuri Sreedhar said the summit will focus on four central themes - citizen-centric governance, liveable communities, clean and healthy environment and vibrant economies.
The main objectives of the summit are to draft a framework for measuring happiness of people living in cities and set up a ‘happy cities innovation lab.’
Sreedhar said the ‘innovation lab’ is expected to act as an institutional anchor in developing happy cities globally in collaboration with various countries and institutions.
A declaration with guiding principles for ‘development of happy cities’ would also be drafted after conclusion of the summit. These principles, the commissioner said, would be used in the creation of Amaravati, a city that would inspire others across the globe to emulate its development model.
The CRDA has, so far, partnered with Singapore, UK, Finland and Japan. Besides panel discussions with global experts, an urban tech-pitch competition, a hackathon on developing public spaces with citizens’ participation and workshops would also be held.
“The State government will sign MoUs with winners of the pitch competition for incorporating innovation in urban development at Amaravati and other cities of AP,” another official from CRDA explained.
Along with Isha Foundation founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, with whom Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu was scheduled to have ‘Happiness Dialogue’, eminent speakers Peter Vesterbacka - the man behind development of Angry Birds game, Anibal Gaviria - former mayor of Medellin (Colombia), Edgar Mora -Mayor of Costa Rica, Julie Rusk - Chief Civic Wellbeing Officer of Santa Monica (USA), Jane Wiseman from Harvard Kennedy School and other experts would participate in the summit.