The three-day ‘Happy Cities Summit: Amaravati 2018’ came to a close on Thursday with the emergence of ‘Happy Cities Amaravati Declaration’ formulated by experts, including city mayors from across the world.
The six-point declaration prepared out of various deliberations that dwelt on practices in various cities faring in happiness index was presented by Rewati Prabhu, Executive Director (Cities), Pell Frischman (UK), Jane Wiseman, Innovations in Government Fellow, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School, Anibal Gaviria, former Mayor, Medellín (Colombia), Edgar Mora Altamirano, Mayor of the City of Curridabat (Costa Rica), David Mwamfupe Mayor, Dodoma, Tanzania, Sujata S. Govada, Founding & Managing Director, UDP International (Hong Kong) and Tika Ram Kafley, Mayor of Gelephu Town (Bhutan). The declaration which was handed over to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu suggests governance, built environment, natural environment, economy & livelihoods, culture & community and physical & mental well-being as the pillars of a happy city.
AP Capital Region Development Authority Commissioner Ch. Sridhar announced the Happy Cities Innovation Lab would be open for innovative ideas from the public.
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“With just incurring an expenditure of less than ₹5 crore we have got millions worth ideas in the summit,” Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Energy, Infrastructure and Investment said. The officials later exchanged MoUs with various firms. The CM gave away prizes to the winners of hackathon and Pitch Competition.
In the morning session, farmers from the capital region expressed their views on the capital.