World Cities Summit 2026·An official session
14–16 June · Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre
World Cities Summit 2026 — Liveable and Sustainable Cities: ACT Now! · 14–16 June 2026, Suntec Singapore
World Cities Summit 2026 · Financing for Cities track
16 June · Suntec Singapore

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 Next Cities Academy 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
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 handshake between Indian cities and the capital, frameworks and delivery models that could underwrite them at scale.

Sanjeev Sanyal opens with the case for a generational urban transformation. A chaired panel then carries it across three lenses:

  • Policy — how India plans, governs and builds capacity for cities.
  • Capital — what a next-generation Indian city actually needs.
  • Delivery — who builds and runs a city now, and what "delivered" means.

An executive takeaway bridges into the wider WCS programme.

Programme

16 June 2026 · MR309, Suntec Singapore
  1. 01
    11:00
    10 min

    Welcome & Opening Remarks

    Convenors open the session and frame the through-line into the wider WCS programme.

    Speakers
    • Rohan Sikri
      Chairman, ULI India; Managing Partner, The Xander Group
    • Anupam Yog
      Convenor, Next Cities Academy
  2. 02
    11:10
    35 min

    Executive Frame — Fireside

    India's Next Cities: the case for a generational urban transformation.

    Chair
    Nipun Sahni
    Chairman, ULI Delhi District Council; Founder, REZONE Investments
    In conversation with
    • Sanjeev Sanyal
      Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
  3. 03
    11:45
    35 min

    Panel — Policy, Capital & Delivery

    How India is changing the way it plans, governs and builds; the kind of capital next-generation Indian cities need; and what “delivered” means now.

    Chair
    Manasvini Hariharan
    Executive Director, ULI India (Moderator)
    In conversation with
    • Chirayu J. Bhatt
      Deputy Provost, CEPT University
    • Anita Kumar
      Director — Policy & Insights, Janaagraha
    • Manvendra Singh Shekhawat
      Founder, Dhun Life
  4. 04
    12:20
    5 min

    Executive Takeaway

    Synthesises across the fireside and the panel; bridges into the wider WCS programme.

    Manas Rath
    Founder, Better Place Foundation
  5. 05
    12:25
    5 min

    Closing Remarks

    Institutional close.

    Peter Hyland
    Board Chair, Next Cities Academy