WORD CITIES DAY—OCT 31, 2025 CITIES WHERE BEAUTY, POSSIBILITIES AND SENSITIVITY ARE SPREAD—LALIT GARG

WORD CITIES DAY—OCT 31, 2025 CITIES WHERE BEAUTY, POSSIBILITIES AND SENSITIVITY ARE SPREAD—LALIT GARG

30-OCT-ENG 24

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA------------------------World Cities Day is celebrated every year on October 31. Its purpose is to increase the international community's interest in urbanization, encourage cooperation among countries to address the challenges of urbanization, and develop sustainable global city planning that is more humane, crime-free, and environmentally sustainable. The day was first celebrated in 2014. Its purpose is to raise international awareness about urbanization trends, challenges, and approaches to sustainable urban development, promote international cooperation, and contribute to global efforts to build equitable, prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive cities that provide a better living environment and quality of life for their communities. This year, the global event of World Cities Day will be held in Bogotá, Colombia, under the theme of "People-Centered Smart Cities." The event will showcase how data-driven decision-making, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to improve urban life and recover from current shocks and crises. The event will also focus on promoting people-centered smart city initiatives. Cities should certainly become a beacon of hope, where beauty and emotions are interwoven in a variety of forms, some new and some old, yet all captivating.

This year's theme reflects the growing recognition that the transformative power of digital technologies is reshaping urban life globally and providing vast opportunities to improve the way cities and human settlements are designed, planned, managed, and operated. Focused on innovative development, building a people-centered smart city, the theme emphasizes the rapid adoption of digital technology solutions and data to provide better services to residents and address critical urban challenges and opportunities in an era marked by both urban and digital transformation. Emphasizing the principle of "Strong Communities, Prosperous Cities," this day is an initiative to empower communities with awareness, collaboration, and self-reliance, so that cities can truly develop, develop, and prosper. Today, as the world rapidly urbanizes, this day becomes an opportunity for introspection: whether our cities are merely extensions of concrete buildings and glitz, or whether they are also fostering human sensibilities, culture, environmental balance, and social harmony.

In India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a new model of urbanization has emerged, developing a new India, a developed India. This model has integrated urban development beyond mere physical structures, but also with life values ​​and citizen participation. Schemes like the AMRUT Mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Swasth Bharat Mission, Smart Cities Scheme, and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan have infused a new consciousness into urban infrastructure. These schemes have proven that when public participation and transparency are integrated into government policies, development is visible not only in statistics but also in practice. Urbanization isn't just about tall buildings, wide roads, and vibrant markets; it's a vibrant social process that encompasses quality of life, thoughts, and behavior. Cities have provided employment, education, health, and convenience, but they've also brought pollution, congestion, stress, crime, inequality, and a disconnect between human relationships. Every major city today yearns for air to breathe, clean water to drink, and peace to live. In the name of development, nature is being degraded, and mental fatigue is increasing alongside material progress.

Ancient Indian cities like Kashi, Ujjain, Pushkar, Mathura, and Ayodhya weren't merely commercial or political centers; they were vibrant laboratories of culture, spirituality, and coexistence. A city there wasn't just a place to live, it was an art of living. If today's cities re-embraced these values, they could become not only modern but also humane. While urbanization in Western countries is advanced in terms of technological efficiency and convenience, it lacks human warmth and intimacy. If India maintains a blend of humanity, environment, and culture in its urbanization, it can set an example for the entire world. Cities will truly become vibrant when their inhabitants are environmentally sensitive, socially conscious, and dedicated to humanity. Preventing pollution, increasing greenery, making cleanliness a way of life, providing decent housing to slum dwellers, and strengthening public participation and a sense of civic responsibility are the path to true urbanization.

Indian cities are rapidly changing today. Metros, tall buildings, wide roads, and shiny malls have reshaped their faces. This change reflects the radiance of development, but within it also lies a deep pain: somewhere, the soul of cities, their identity, and their warmth are being lost. The streets that once reeked of intimacy and relationships have now become symbols of rush, congestion, and indifference. After independence, India moved rapidly towards modernity, but in this race for material development, human sensibilities and social connections were left behind. Cities are now expanding according to market demands rather than human needs. New colonies and high-rise buildings are replacing old neighborhoods, but they lack the intimacy and sensitivity that once connected people's hearts. Cities are no longer just places to live; they have become centers of consumerism and competition. Modernity has provided convenience, but it has dulled the colors of culture, history, and tradition. The squares of memory that once housed a world of dialogue and empathy now hold only the sounds of machines and the noise of haste.

For the new generation, cities are now merely a vehicle for employment, glamour, and opportunity. Their ability to understand the soul of their city is diminishing. The question is becoming more pressing: does development mean only tall buildings, wide roads, and malls, or should it also include the warmth of human relationships, a vibrant sense of culture and history? Today's cities shine, but are empty within. They offer conveniences but no comfort, speed but no spiritual stability. This time forces us to consider whether we are building cities that leave space for humanity, where history and empathy can breathe together. True development will occur where cities expand, yet the roots of humanity remain equally deep.

The message of World Cities Day is that cities are not just a network of walls and roads, but a culture of life. Only when citizens cultivate sensitivity, simplicity, and social responsibility does a city become truly beautiful. The beauty of a city lies not in its buildings, but in the thoughts, behaviors, and sensibilities of its inhabitants. Only when communities are empowered will cities prosper, and only when cities prosper will humanity truly progress.