BRICS conference to promote cooperation in urban sector

The 3rd BRICS conference on Urban Transition, to be held in Visakhapatnam which is one of the developing smart cities, seeks to promote cooperation among member countries in the urban sector.
Urban planners, experts and other delegates from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will attend the three- day event which begins from tomorrow.
Development of smart cities, financing urban infrastructure, inclusive housing, climate change, regional planning, water and sanitation management and new reforms for urban renaissance will be the key themes deliberated upon by the BRICS nations.
The conference will discuss and evolve a common agenda for BRICS to be presented later at the Habitat-III Conference at Quito, Ecuador.

It will adopt the "Vizag Declaration" that will be presented at BRICS ministerial conference in Goa next month.
Andhra Pradesh, which is in the process of building its new capital city Amaravati besides developing smart cities like Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, will seek to learn and share experiences of BRICS member countries in urbanisation.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in his keynote address to the conference, will showcase the transformation of the port city of Visakhapatnam into a smart city after typhoon Hudhud left it devastated in October 2014.