Urban Adda

Co-creating Sustainable and Equitable Cities Together

Oct 5-7, 2026 |  India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

A little girl is to be born somewhere in our cities. Can we promise her a childhood free of care, clean air, safe footpaths to run to school on, trees to walk under, nature and water bodies that give life and joy, great public transport - a city she can truly thrive in? 

Urban Adda is a three-day conference hosted by Raahgiri Foundation, and co-hosted by GuruJal and International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) India. This year, the second edition will be held on October 5-7, 2026 at the India Habitat Centre.

To answer the question posed above, researchers, policymakers, artists, businesses, young people, and citizens come together with a vision for our urban infrastructure, and a path forward. And to co-create the partnerships and inspiration needed to make this a reality. 

Our Approach: To cross-pollinate ideas and inspire a whole new way of envisioning our urban habitats, we weave technical expertise and policy dialogue with stakeholder conversations and art.

What It Looks Like:

• Thematic Sessions: Three days of plenaries and partner-hosted workshops spanning sustainable mobility, road safety, gender-inclusive design, clean air, water security, waste management, electric vehicles, heritage and urban ecology. There will also be abstract presentations and expert-led neighbourhood walks.

• Youth Leadership: A continued spotlight on community voices and young people, building directly on the success of the 2025 Youth Adda. 

• Creative Integration: Live interactive art exhibition, poetry, and the second Urban Adda Film Festival to transform technical dialogue into a shared human experience.

• Outcomes: Campaign launches, reports, and commitments from new and returning government, academic, and corporate partners.

Themes for 3 Days

Srishti & Space - Our Cities, Our Habitats

Day 1 grounds our vision in the tangible reality of the spaces we inhabit, centering on our instinct to nest, to build our habitat in harmony with nature. Through dialogues on re-imagining our corridors, cleaning the air, restoring forgotten water networks, and co-creating communities that allow citizens to breathe, we explore the physical framework of a thriving city. Workshops, panels and the exhibition run throughout the day, anchoring these bold visions in genuine dialogue and commitments. As evening falls, the discourse shifts from science to spirit, using the transcendent mediums of Poetry and Film to turn the lens inward, asking us what it truly means to belong to a place.

Sahyog & Synergy – Shared Will to Shared Accountability

Day 2 shifts our gaze from the structures we build to the human systems that govern them. History shows that a habitat endures not merely through the good intentions of its people, but through their capacity to stand together in responsibility. By bringing citizens into direct conversation with lawmakers, we bridge the space between civic desire and legislative action. Together, we confront the reality of our cities, transforming our collective willpower to protect life into concrete governance. As these vital discussions unfold, we actively dissolve the traditional barriers between policy and practice, dedicating our focus to forging the lasting, equitable partnerships that ultimately turn our shared will into a unified, shared accountability.

Kadam & Canopy - The Freedom to Explore

The final day turns our attention to the freedom to move through the places we create. In partnership with Walk21, the Walking Cities Lab and VREF, Day 3 will host the Walk21 Asia-Pacific Regional Dialogue, part of a global series taking place throughout 2026.

The Dialogue will contribute to the UN Decade of Action for Sustainable Transport, exploring how walking can support more inclusive, healthy, accessible and sustainable cities across Asia-Pacific, and what is needed to turn ambition into practical action.

Through the lens of Kadam & Canopy, the programme will bring these ambitions back to the human experience: what does it take for people to walk safely, comfortably and independently through their cities, and to enjoy the freedom to explore them?

The day will also introduce Walking Cities Lab activities in Asia-Pacific, building momentum towards the launch of the WCL Living Lab in Ahmedabad in December 2026 and a wider regional community of knowledge and practice around walking.