Context
One prerequisite for making a city inclusive is the provision of adequate and safe housing for all of its inhabitants. As India has become more urban, the need for housing has expanded rapidly, however the housing market has not been able to keep up with this pace, creating a stark demand-supply mismatch. Increasing land and real estate prices have pushed people to occupy marginal lands in and around cities. In most Indian cities, a significant share of the population lives in slums or
similar precarious settlements, which are characterised by substandard housing and inadequate access to clean water and sanitation. This exposes the public to health hazards and significant environmental threats.

In 2012, the housing shortage in India was estimated at 18.78 million homes, most significantly for poor and low-income households in urban areas. It is widely acknowledged that in order to address the housing requirements of the urban poor, it is crucial to make housing markets more inclusive and transparent, to set adequate standards for the delivery of housing and basic services, and to streamline processes and procedures for housing supply provision both by the private and public sector. A particular challenge is to improve the housing and living conditions in existing slums and other informal settlements as well as to integrate them into the formally recognised areas of the cities. Studies have shown that an improvement in housing conditions and basic services have significant positive impacts on the health and wellbeing of the urban poor.

Objective
The objective of the Inclusive Cities Partnership Programme (ICPP) is to support national ministries, states, and cities in implementing measures for housing the urban poor in a socially inclusive and environmentfriendly manner. The ICPP facilitates the implementation of the Housing for All Mission (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - PMAY) launched in 2015. The project strives to synergise with other ongoing Indian urban development programmes in order to promote a more integrated planning and development of Indian cities.

Approach
The ICPP comprises the following work packages:
- Support to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA) and selected state governments in formulating pro-poor housing policies and in rolling-out well-targeted support programmes and financing instruments.
- Support to selected states and cities in planning and implementing measures to improve access to safe and environment-friendly housing.
- Development of knowledge products based on the learnings from project implementation for further dissemination and capacity-building.

This multi-level approach encourages vertical cooperation between all three tiers of government, i.e. national, state, and municipal level. This way, actors from all tiers are engaged and learnings are captured and taken forward. Simultaneously, ICPP strengthens horizontal cooperation among public sector agencies, private sector housing providers, and civil society (academia and think tanks) by promoting city networks and mutual advisory services for knowledge exchange.

Achievements
The project is expected to achieve the following main results:
- National ministries and state governments have been provided with guidelines that support the inclusion of the urban poor into their respective housing and rental housing policies.
- State governments and urban local bodies use integrated approaches and instruments to plan and implement urban upgrading projects that aim at improving housing conditions for the urban poor.
- Knowledge management on environment-friendly and social housing solutions of national ministries and state governments has improved.
- Training institutes at the national and state level have included training programmes on housing solutions and integrated urban upgrading into their curricula.

Intermediate achievements are:
- A draft National Urban Rental Housing Policy and a draft Model Urban Affordable Housing Policy have been developed and are available.
- The New Urban Agenda is being drafted, which will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- A practical approach for Integrated Urban Development Concepts has been developed. It helps in identifying and planning projects that improve housing supply and conditions in convergence with other urban missions at state and municipal level. This new approach for Integrated Urban Development Concepts will now be tested in the
two cities of Puri and Behrampur in Odisha. In both cities, concrete projects for the improvement of housing conditions in existing informal settlements will be prepared and submitted for funding from the Housing for All Mission and from other ongoing urban missions of the Indian Government.