NEW DELHI: The four-day Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Human Settlements that concluded here on Saturday set the mechanism and agenda for future regional cooperation and adopted the `Delhi Declaration' calling for the transformation of urban areas into better-managed, more inclusive and sustainable towns and cities.

Apart from providing the Enhanced Framework of Implementation of Sustainable Urbanisation in Asia Pacific, the Ministerial also resolved to set up a permanent mechanism to facilitate closer cooperation to benefit all countries of the region in meeting the infrastructure, housing and other related urban challenges, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja and the Executive Director, UN-HABITAT, Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuk, said. Asia-Pacific Ministers' Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCUD) will be the new consultative mechanism that would facilitate exchange of expertise, research, experience and best practices in civic governance and human settlement in sharing of experience, knowledge and technology. Being the host country for the first meet, India has been chosen the first chairman of the APMCUD Bureau. The next Ministerial would be held in Iran, as its offer to host the conference was accepted.

Urban challenge

Ms. Selja the conference would serve as a forum and network to discuss the urban challenge at the continental level and regional level, as a basis for national, provincial and local level strategies and policies with focus on the Habitat Agenda and Millennium Development Goals and Targets.

The Delhi Declaration also commands the participating countries to take steps for promoting slum upgrading and other pro-poor housing and infrastructure finance.

It also advocates enhancement of the role of gender in local government management for the development process to be achieved by providing a bigger role for women in local governance, particularly in areas related to slum eradication programme.

Earlier, in his valedictory address, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia stressed the need for galvanising national policies in the region towards achieving growth with equity and inclusive urbanisation as was being attempted by India, which recently held discussions on the approach to the forthcoming 11th Five Year Plan.

Funds for infrastructure

Referring to the huge requirement of funds for creating infrastructure in cities and meeting the housing needs, he said the Central Government alone would not be able to subsidise development of infrastructure both in urban and rural areas.

In urban areas, the large majority would have to cough up the cost by way of user charges while subsidies could be provided for the benefit of a small percentage of the poor living in urban areas.

The Sates too would have to mobilise resources by chipping in to meet the cost of the infrastructure, he said.

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