aRTICLE | Mayors’ Forums
Untapped potential lies in forum of mayors
Decentralisation gives power to the people by establishing urban local bodies consisting of elected representatives, but leaves much at the hands of bureaucrats and state governments to decide the contours of local governance. Mayors’ Forum at the state level give them a unified and strong voice to raise their issues of concern. It brings together mayors from various cities of the state to handhold each other in the all-round development of their cities. It also gives them a platform to demand their due rights and powers Pooja Upadhyay| Trainee Reporter
mayor is not only the legislative head and representative of municipal corporations, but also the representative, the voice, and ears of the citizens. Through the urban local bodies, mayors are required to ensure efficient delivery of civic services to the people and guide formation and implementation of development programmes according to the needs of the city. Mayors are the city leaders for they are involved in the development of the cities at the grassroots level and are directly answerable to the citizens.
38 April 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in
Mayors hand holdingeach other No city can develop itself entirely on its own – learning, evolving, and implementing ideas from other cities is an important ingredient in its progress. Learnings from China during the COVID-19 pandemic equipped nations around the world with preventative measures against the novel coronavirus. Similarly, Mayors’ Forum has been organised at the international, continental, national, and state levels to bring together city leaders on a single platform, where they can exchange knowledge and experiences that would help them develop their cities. International Mayors’ Forums are currently organised by a number of organisations including the Green Municipal Fund Council, United Nations Office for Regional Development, UCLG ASPAC and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. Despite having varied agendas, the basic aim of these forums remains the same - to bring together city leaders from across the world on a single platform, where they can interact with one another, learn from each other’s experiences, and even form business
