Objectives of SHAKTI

The overall objectives of SHAKTI will address the current and future needs of Hyderabad by simultaneously providing applicable solutions with associated strategies, action plans for implementation or business models integrated in a long-term sustainable development perspective. The main areas pointed out from the city authorities and the Indian research partners lead to three overall goals:
 

•	Concepts, strategies and instruments to cope with growth elaborating implementing strategies and concepts for urban growth on regional and municipal scale, both for new development areas as well as for the existing city in terms of a higher population density and a lack of infrastructure and affordable housing; identifying precautionary actions to reduce urban sprawl and avoid over-exploitation of natural resources
•	Sustainable solutions for technical urban infrastructure the selected sectors are water, sewerage and sanitation systems, energy and transportation; developing integrated concepts for the future infrastructure systems by optimising the existing infrastructure; focussing on integration (e.g. energy use for water supply), and assessing environmental, economic, social and cultural impacts
•	Integration of a collaborative learning and planning processes reflecting and adapting international state of the art planning and technical standards to the Indian cultural context, fostering public participation in the development process, integrating of monitoring and evaluation procedures in the decision making process for the long-term development and early warning systems of fundamental changes, ensuring communication and dissemination

The proposed solutions will implicate a long term regional, national and global perspective based on an integrated, holistic approach. Each technical urban infrastructure system of the city has to be explored in its interrelation to others, impacts on the urban development and the three dimensions of sustainability. One challenge of the project will be to merge all partners in a process of learning, with different starting conditions and contexts to a collaborative process of developing solutions and communication and dissemination processes.

In the first phase the integration of all stakeholders concerned will be supported by three workshops to ensure a real collaboration. The prioritisation of the problems to solve will be primarily based on on-site knowledge of the Indian partners. Methods and actions of problem solving will be worked out jointly.