Rourkela among 25 Cohort Cities Shortlisted for Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge

New Delhi: Odisha’s Rourkela is among the 25 cities shortlisted for the the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’ cohort.

The Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, today announced the shortlisted cities for the cohort, in collaboration with the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) and technical partner WRI India.

The Challenge is a 3-year initiative aimed at supporting early childhood-friendly neighbourhoods under the government’s Smart Cities Mission.

Other cities, which have been selected for the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’ cohort are Agartala, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Dharamshala, Erode, Hubballi-Dharwad, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Kakinada, Kochi, Kohima, Kota, Nagpur, Rajkot, Ranchi, Rohtak, Salem, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruppur, Ujjain, Vadodara, and Warangal.

The cohort will receive technical assistance, capacity building and scale-up support to experiment, and implement trials and pilots over the next six months to demonstrate early wins, solicit citizen participation, and build consensus around their proposals.

The first stage of the Challenge involved an open call for applications from city agencies and closed on February 7th, 2021. 63 cities from across India submitted applications proposing neighbourhood-level pilot projects in public space, mobility, and access to services to enhance the physical and psychological health of young children and their caregivers. From the list of applicant cities, the evaluation committee chose 25 cities based on the strength of their applications, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs said.

Cities proposed a diverse array of pilot projects, including creating toddler-friendly walking corridors in residential neighbourhooods; safer commutes to early childhood services for vulnerable young children and caregivers living in urban slums; increasing opportunities for nature play and sensory stimulation; and adapting underused open spaces within government school grounds into public play areas after school hours.

Besides streets and open spaces, other proposed pilots aim to address the need for early childhood amenities in government office premises, bus shelters and transit hubs; developing Anganwadis with nutrigardens and age-appropriate play equipment; and transforming outdoor waiting areas for PHCs with shade, seating, and lactation cubicles.