Twelve civil society organisations, research institutions and urban practitioners launched the Urban Reforms Consortium (URC) on Monday in Mumbai to mark the 33rd anniversary of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, which granted constitutional status to urban local bodies.
URC will act as a platform aimed at driving policy reforms in Indian cities through coordinated advocacy and engagement.
The organizations said the initiative was driven by the belief that many urban challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, overburdened service delivery systems, and weak institutional capacities, stem from fundamental policy and governance gaps that require systemic reforms.
Founding members include: Janaagraha, Praja Foundation, Shelter Associates, eGov Foundation, WRI India, Artha Global, Civis, INHAF Habitat Forum India, Oorvani Foundation, Comparison Research in Asia (PRIA), Safetipin and SAATH Charitable Trust.
The URC will focus on developing an actionable reform agenda, strengthening the ecosystem for long-term urban transformation and amplifying the importance of urban reforms in public and political discourse. The identified reform priorities will be determined collectively by member organizations in the coming months.
“Twenty-five years of working in Indian cities, at Janagraha, has taught us that the challenges we each focus on, whether climate, inequality, or unplanned growth, are not separate problems but symptoms of the same broken city systems,” said Srikanth Viswanathan, CEO of Janagraha.
The group is anchored by the Urban Collective Action Network (U-CAN), a network founded in 2022 to promote urban problem solving in emerging Indian cities.
“URC aims to solve these barriers,” said U-CAN CEO Siddharth Pandit, pointing to challenges such as fragmented reform efforts, poor visibility of priorities, limited understanding of political constraints and lack of coordinated learning across cities.
The group said it plans to engage with stakeholders at the federal, state and local levels to promote reforms aimed at improving urban governance, institutions and service delivery to city residents.
