Asia Resilient Cities Project Announces Rajkot, India as Partner City

The Asia Resilient Cities (ARC) project is proud to partner with the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, the mayor’s office, and residents to mitigate cross-cutting urban development challenges. The USAID-funded project, led by JSI, will promote sustainable urban growth; support resilient, low-carbon urban infrastructure; and integrate climate change and environmental considerations into urban approaches. ARC will also connect city residents, governments, and other interested parties to create enduring relationships.

Rajkot is the fourth-largest city of Gujarat State in India, and is one of the state’s prime commercial and industrial centers. The city, which sits along the western coast of India, is home to almost 2 million people. Rajkot is part of India’s Smart City Mission and was named India’s seventh-cleanest city under the Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan). In recent years, the frequency and intensity of heat waves in Rajkot have increased, with temperatures as high as 45°C in the summer.

ARC will partner with the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, other government departments, academia, civil society organizations, and residents. This diverse group will co-design activities that sustain livable environments in the face of climate change. Throughout its partnership with the city, ARC will employ a variety of tools to support a systems approach to sustainable urban development, and include people who are often left out of urban planning.

City residents are ARC’s biggest resource for making change. ARC will go beyond simply including residents in conversations by involving them in setting the city agenda, changing the economy, and advocating for what their communities need. The project will also build human resources capacity in city government and actively engage the business community, other development projects, and civil society.

For more information, visit JSI.com/asiaresilientcities or contact Amanda Pomeroy-Stevens, ARC project director at JSI, at amanda_pomeroy@jsi.com.

Asia Resilient Cities (ARC) is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under Agreement No. 7200AA22CA00011, beginning September 23, 2022. ARC is implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) with partners BRAC, DevTech Systems, Inc., and ICF. This project is made possible by the generous support of the American people through USAID. USAID administers the U.S. foreign assistance program, providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.