Localization of decision-making and urban planning has become an important objective to create an inclusive and participatory city. There is a need to focus much on strengthening local community initiatives
and relegate political power to the hands of the people at the community level. Although various small community-level initiatives are already in place in various cities in India which are led by the people,
there is a need to nourish more such initiatives through community-organized movements.
This booklet is based on the discussion during a webinar organized by the People’s Resource Centre, titled ‘Another City is Possible: Localizing Urban Democracy’ in July 2020. In this, activists and local practitioners from various Indian cities involved in various local-level initiatives, namely Sujata Sawant, Avinash Chanchal and Krishnakant, shared their knowledge about local initiatives and reforms that need to be undertaken to make the cities participatory and inclusive.
The webinar was part of ‘Another City is Possible’, an idea that tries to understand the process of urban alternatives, the rationale and the need for radically changing the existing exclusive democratic structure in our cities. The webinar was possible due to the support provided by Nishant and the People’s Resource Centre’s team, who helped to bring together an excellent panel of speakers. Without their coordination and
support, this booklet would not have been possible. We also thank Avikal for his support. Finally, we thank all the participants for their active contributions during the webinar.
This publication is part of our ongoing initiative to disseminate knowledge and initiate discussion of the idea that another city is possible by focusing on various direct democratic models. We hope the knowledge collected in this booklet will help bring more attention to the alternatives and the need for a radical transformation in participation and planning in our cities.
