India's Next Cities — at the World Cities Summit.

A 90-minute executive session inside the WCS Financing for Cities track. Fifty senior decision-makers. Policy, capital, delivery — in one room.

Co-curated by Leadership for Cities with the High-Level Committee on Urban Planning (Gujarat), NIUA and ULI India, in collaboration with the Centre for Liveable Cities, Singapore. View on the WCS programme ↗

Date

16 June 2026

Time

11:00 — 12:30

Venue

MR309, Suntec

Format

50 senior participants

Reserve seat

The proposition

Policy. Capital. Delivery.

Over two-thirds of the urban India of 2050 is yet to be built. The constraint is no longer ambition — it is the missing handshake between Indian cities and the capital, planning frameworks and delivery models that could underwrite them at scale.

Sanjeev Sanyal (Economic Advisory Council to the PM) opens with the macroeconomic case. Three chaired briefings follow:

Policy — how India is changing the way it plans, governs and builds capacity for cities.
Capital — what kind of capital a next-generation Indian city actually needs.
Delivery — who builds and runs a city now, and what "delivered" means.

A closing synthesis bridges into the wider WCS programme.

Programme

16 June 2026 · MR309, Suntec Singapore

01
11:00
4 min
Convenor's Welcome
Anupam Yog
Managing Partner, XDG Labs
02
11:04
10 min
Ceremonial Moment — NIUA at 50
Marking fifty years of the National Institute of Urban Affairs and its role in shaping urban India.
Chair
Rohan Sikri
Chairman, ULI India; Managing Partner, The Xander Group
In conversation with
- Debolina Kundu
  Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)
- Isha Kalia*
  Joint Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India
03
11:14
20 min
Executive Frame — Fireside
India's Next Cities: the case for a generational reset.
Chair
Nipun Sahni
Chairman, ULI Delhi District Council; Founder, REZONE Investments
In conversation with
- Sanjeev Sanyal
  Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
04
11:34
15 min
Briefing 1 — Policy
How is India changing the way it plans, governs, and builds capacity for cities?
Chair
Chirayu J. Bhatt
Deputy Provost, CEPT University
In conversation with
- Anita Kumar
  Director — Policy & Insights, Janaagraha
05
11:49
15 min
Briefing 2 — Capital
What kind of capital does a next city need?
Chair
Digvijay Singh Kathiwada
Chairperson, Kathiwada Foundation
In conversation with
- Banchhanidhi Pani, IAS
  Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad
06
12:04
15 min
Briefing 3 — Delivery
Who builds and runs a city — and what does “delivered” mean now?
Chair
Manvendra Singh Shekhawat
Founder, Dhun Life
In conversation with
- Keshav Varma, IAS (Retd.)
  Chairman, High-Level Committee on Urban Planning, Government of Gujarat
07
12:19
7 min
Executive Takeaway
Synthesises across the three briefings; bridges into the wider WCS programme.
Co-presenters
- Manas Rath
  Founder, Better Place Foundation
- Manasvini Hariharan
  Executive Director, ULI India
08
12:26
4 min
Close
Institutional close.
Peter Hyland
Chair, Leadership for Cities

* Invited

An Executive Briefing

Fifty seats. Policy, capital, delivery. One room.

16 June 2026 · 11:00 — 12:30 · MR309, Suntec Singapore

Curated by

Leadership for Cities, with the High-Level Committee on Urban Planning (Gujarat), NIUA and ULI India. Developed in collaboration with the Centre for Liveable Cities, Singapore.