Water Security Through Improved Planning, Policies, and Governance: Opportunities of U20 for Delhi and Bengaluru Under India’s G20 Presidency

Urban 20 (U20) is a prototype of a city diplomacy initiative formed under the Group of 20 (G20). India held the Presidency for G20 between December 2022 and November 2023. Out of several engagement of groups of G20, the U20 is taken forward by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to reinforce the role of cities taking the sustainable development goal agenda forward. There are around six priority areas under U20, out of which this chapter establishes the relation between the second priority on ‘ensuring water securities’ and the fifth priority on ‘reinventing urban governance and planning frameworks.’ The main theme revolves around urban planning policies and their linkage with water strategies in Indian cities. This is done through the review of the vision statements and objectives under U20, the goals underlined through formal communique launch, and the reports shared by the U20 Technical Secretariat and knowledge partners specific to water security and urban planning frameworks. This paper discusses the strategies of U20 for the major urban challenges and relates these for the enhancement of the water security through improved urban planning, water policies, and governance for Delhi and Bengaluru.