Overview

Date: September 26th, 2023

On September 26, 2023, Pablo Lazo, Global Director of Urban Development at World Resources Institute, engaged with the WRI India team to share valuable insights on developing EcoCityRegions approaches for Indian cities and city regions.

With over two decades of experience overseeing large-scale urban regeneration projects in Latin America and China, Mr. Lazo shared his expertise on sponge city projects, highlighting key implementation challenges and scalability opportunities.

Drawing from his extensive experience, Mr. Lazo emphasized:

• The importance of partnering with local communities in developmental projects to ensure relevance and sustainability.
•  The need to center the narrative around the consequences and impacts of urban initiatives to increase uptake and support.
• The value of conducting cost-benefit analysis to assess the financial implications for city-regions if they continue with a business-as-usual (BAU) approach.
• The urgent need to mainstream climate-positive actions into urban decision-making to enhance long-term resilience and sustainability.

This session was an important step in strengthening WRI India’s efforts to guide cities toward more sustainable, climate-resilient futures.