13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum in New Delhi: Inclusive, Resilient Urban Futures Under India’s Chairship
Why in News?
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs opened the 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in New Delhi on 11 June 2026 — the first major sectoral ministerial of India’s BRICS Chairship for the year. Union Minister Manohar Lal inaugurated the two-day forum (11–12 June) under the theme “Cities for People: BRICS Cooperation for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Futures.”
Hosting it in the year India chairs an eleven-member BRICS, with ten members seated around the table on cities, turns a sectoral meeting into a window on how the Global South wants to govern its fastest-growing spaces.
- 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum, 11–12 June 2026, Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi; organised by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
- Inaugurated by Manohar Lal under India’s BRICS Chairship 2026
- Theme: “Cities for People: BRICS Cooperation for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Futures”
- Ten participating members: Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE
- Four priorities: inclusive urban development; climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure; institutional strengthening; digital innovation
- Publication released: “India’s Urban Transformation: Stories of Change”
The development matters in the context of:
- India’s BRICS Chairship 2026 and the 18th BRICS Summit it will host
- South-South cooperation through voluntary sectoral tracks
- Urbanisation, municipal capacity and the 74th Constitutional Amendment
- Climate-resilient infrastructure and urban finance
UPSC Relevance
Prelims Relevance
- 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum: 11–12 June 2026, Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi; Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
- Inaugurated by Manohar Lal; theme “Cities for People: BRICS Cooperation for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Futures”
- Ten members: Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE
- Four priorities: inclusive urban development; climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure; institutional strengthening; digital innovation
- Publication: “India’s Urban Transformation: Stories of Change”
- India’s fourth hosting — New Delhi (2013), Visakhapatnam (2016), virtual session (2021), and 2026
- BRICS originated 2009 (BRIC), became BRICS with South Africa in 2010; Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined from January 2024; Indonesia in 2025 — eleven members
- India assumed the BRICS Chairship on 1 January 2026 (fourth turn after 2012, 2016, 2021); will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi
- Constitutional basis for urban local bodies: 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 (third tier of government)
- Indian urban missions: Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT, Swachh Bharat Mission, PMAY-Urban, ₹1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund
- India-Russia reviewed a proposed MoU on sustainable urban development (urban planning, affordable housing, municipal infrastructure, sustainable construction technologies)
- Field visits: New Parliament Complex and the India Gate-Kartavya Path precinct
Mains Relevance
GS Paper 2 (International Relations and Governance): a live case study of India’s BRICS Chairship diplomacy and of how an expanded bloc cooperates through voluntary sectoral tracks rather than binding rules.
- South-South cooperation on urban governance through an enlarged BRICS
- Static anchors surfacing through one ministerial: 74th Amendment, urban local bodies, Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT, PMAY-Urban, urban-finance reforms
- Effectiveness of soft-cooperation platforms in delivering tangible outcomes
- Municipal institutional strengthening and India’s unfinished urban devolution
GS Paper 1 (Urbanisation): inclusive and resilient cities, climate-resilient infrastructure and the rights of the urban poor.
GS Paper 3 (Infrastructure): financing and governance challenges in building climate- and disaster-resilient cities.
Essay: “Cities are where the development of the Global South is being decided” — inclusive, resilient urbanisation and sustainable development.
Background and Context
The Evolution of BRICS
- Began 2009 as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China); added South Africa in 2010 to become BRICS
- Stayed a five-member bloc for over a decade, then expanded sharply: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined from January 2024; Indonesia became a full member in 2025
- Now eleven members, a Global South platform spanning roughly half the world’s population
- India assumed the 2026 Chairship (fourth turn after 2012, 2016, 2021), succeeding Brazil, and will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi
- See our notes on the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi and BRICS and the test of multipolarity
The Urbanisation Forum’s Place in BRICS
- One of the bloc’s oldest sectoral tracks — born in 2011 as a ministerial channel for cooperation on urban development
- Meets roughly once a year, hosted in turn by the chair country
- India has hosted four times: New Delhi (2013), Visakhapatnam (2016), virtual (2021), and the 13th edition in 2026
- Sits alongside the New Development Bank, the Contingent Reserve Arrangement and tracks on agriculture, health and finance
- No permanent secretariat or binding mandate — runs on the chair’s agenda and documented practices, so the content of each edition matters more than any communiqué
The Domestic Anchor: India’s Urban Transformation
- Cities generate the bulk of India’s GDP; the urban share (about a third today) is set to rise steeply, straining housing, water, mobility and municipal finance
- National missions: Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT (infrastructure and services), Swachh Bharat Mission (sanitation), PMAY-Urban (affordable housing)
- Newer instrument: the ₹1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund to push cities to raise their own resources
- The constitutional spine is the 74th Constitutional Amendment of 1992, which created urban local bodies as the third tier — though devolving real funds, functions and functionaries remains the central gap (see our analysis of the unfinished 73rd and 74th Amendments and our note on urbanisation in India)
Key Features of the 13th Forum
- Theme puts citizens, not just infrastructure, at the centre of the urban agenda
- Four priorities give partner countries a shared frame for comparing national programmes
- Ten participating members — the roster after the 2024–25 expansion
- Knowledge product: “India’s Urban Transformation: Stories of Change,” documenting state and UT initiatives for South-South learning
- Diplomatic showcase: field visits to the New Parliament Complex and the India Gate-Kartavya Path precinct
- Bilateral track: India-Russia talks on a proposed MoU; side meetings among Iran, Russia, China and the UAE
- Deliberately non-binding: no treaty, no budget; output is shared priorities, documented practices and bilateral understandings (Secretary Srinivas Katikithala framed it as a trust-building exercise)
The IR Lens: Cities as South-South Cooperation
- BRICS spent its first fifteen years arguing about money and votes (NDB, reserve arrangement, IMF reform, the dollar); routing a flagship forum through urbanisation signals a quieter shift
- The members are among the world’s largest and fastest-urbanising economies sharing problems — informal settlements, municipal finance, flooding, heat, mobility — amenable to practical exchange
- Cities are a low-conflict field where Brazil’s housing, China’s transit-oriented building, South Africa’s metro reforms and India’s mission stack can be compared without agreeing on the dollar or UNSC seats
- India’s chairship is a showcase, not a treaty: it gains narrative control over what BRICS development cooperation looks like this year, leading by example — as our coverage of the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting showed
Challenges and Concerns
- Non-binding outcomes: cooperation depends entirely on each government’s willingness to act
- Bloc heterogeneity: eleven members span very different political systems, income levels and urban contexts, making common standards hard
- Domestic capacity gap: India’s “institutional strengthening” pitch runs into the unfinished 74th Amendment — ULBs still lack devolved funds, functions and functionaries; elected mayors often hold less power than appointed commissioners
- Urban-finance weakness: thin property-tax collection and hollowed-out planning capacity limit what any forum priority can deliver on the ground
- Follow-through risk: MoUs and bilaterals often stall before becoming funded projects or technology transfers
Way Forward
Convert Priorities into Funded Cooperation
- Turn the four priorities into joint pilots on affordable housing, technology transfer on climate-resilient construction, and shared municipal-data systems
- Track whether the India-Russia MoU and side bilaterals become actual projects rather than understandings — the forum’s value is measured in follow-through
- Fold the urban track into the 18th BRICS Summit so cities appear in the leaders’ agenda, not a sectoral silo
Pair the External Showcase with Internal Reform
- Deepen devolution to urban local bodies under the 74th Amendment
- Strengthen municipal finance through bonds and the Urban Challenge Fund
- Make “institutional strengthening” mean empowered city governments, not another framework
- For partner states, treat the forum as a standing channel for comparable data and replicable case studies — adapting, not copying
Conclusion
The 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum lets a diverse, expanded bloc cooperate where cooperation is genuinely possible, and positions urban governance as a development credential the Global South can claim on its own terms. For India, it is a deliberate choice of terrain — an area where it has scale, schemes and stories, and where it can lead without the friction trade, currency or security questions carry.
The binding constraint on “inclusive and resilient” cities, in India and across much of BRICS, is institutional, not rhetorical. A meeting can exchange good practices; it cannot devolve power to a city. The durable takeaway is the linkage itself: a ministerial on cities sits at the meeting point of foreign policy, climate adaptation and local self-government — and the same event can be mined for an IR answer on multipolar coalitions and a governance answer on why India’s cities still struggle to govern themselves.
UPSC Practice Questions
Prelims MCQ 1
With reference to the 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum (2026), consider the following statements:
- It was held under India’s BRICS Chairship at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi.
- Its theme was “Cities for People: BRICS Cooperation for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Futures.”
- It issued a binding treaty committing member states to common urban-finance standards.
How many of the above statements are correct?
(a) Only one (b) Only two (c) All three (d) None
Answer: (b)
Explanation:
- Statements 1 and 2 are correct — venue, chairship and theme match.
- Statement 3 is incorrect — the forum is deliberately non-binding, issuing no treaty and commanding no budget.
Prelims MCQ 2
Which Constitutional Amendment created urban local bodies as the third tier of government in India?
(a) 73rd Amendment, 1992 (b) 74th Amendment, 1992 (c) 42nd Amendment, 1976 (d) 97th Amendment, 2011
Answer: (b)
The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 created municipalities as the third tier; the 73rd Amendment did the same for rural panchayats.
UPSC Mains Questions
India’s BRICS Chairship for 2026 has placed urbanisation among its early sectoral priorities. In the light of the 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum, examine how an expanded BRICS can advance South-South cooperation on urban governance. (GS Paper 2, 15 marks)
The 74th Constitutional Amendment created urban local bodies, yet Indian cities still struggle to govern themselves. Critically examine why municipal institutional strengthening remains incomplete and what it implies for resilient urbanisation. (GS Paper 2, 15 marks)
What is the BRICS Urbanisation Forum?
It is one of the bloc’s oldest sectoral ministerial tracks, started in 2011, where housing and urban-development ministers of BRICS countries exchange policies on cities — housing, sanitation, mobility, municipal finance and resilient infrastructure. It is non-binding and consensus-based, hosted by the chair country each year. Think of it as a standing classroom for South-South urban learning.
Why was the 13th forum significant for India?
India hosted it during its 2026 BRICS Chairship, at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in New Delhi, with ten member states attending under the theme “Cities for People.” It let India showcase its housing, sanitation and smart-cities record to peer governments ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit it will host this year. The chair sets the agenda, and India chose cities.
Which countries took part in the forum?
Ten BRICS members sent delegations: Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates — the roster after the bloc’s 2024-25 expansion. They form one of the largest groupings of the Global South. On urbanisation, that diversity is a feature: many cities, many lessons to trade.
What were the forum’s four priorities?
The forum framed cooperation around inclusive urban development, climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure, institutional strengthening, and digital innovation. The structure mirrors India’s own urban-mission architecture and gives partner countries a shared vocabulary to compare programmes. Four pillars, one message: build cities that work for people, not only for property markets.
How does this link to India’s urban governance?
The forum’s “institutional strengthening” priority runs straight into the 74th Constitutional Amendment of 1992, which created urban local bodies but left them short of devolved funds, functions and staff. Resilient cities need financially capable municipalities, which is why instruments like the Urban Challenge Fund matter. The real test of the theme is at home, in India’s own city governments.
How should aspirants use this in answers?
Use it as a live example: GS2 answers on India’s BRICS Chairship, sectoral diplomacy and an expanded bloc; GS2 and governance answers on the 74th Amendment and municipal capacity; GS1 and essay answers on inclusive, resilient urbanisation. One ministerial, properly mined, links foreign policy to local self-government.