13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum concludes with adoption of Declaration on inclusive and resilient urban futures

The 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum concluded at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, New Delhi, under India's 2026 BRICS Chairship, with the adoption of the 'Delhi Declarati...

What Happened

The 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum concluded at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, New Delhi, under India's 2026 BRICS Chairship, with the adoption of the 'Delhi Declaration' on inclusive, resilient and people-centred urban development.
The two-day forum was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and brought together ministers, senior officials, and urban experts from BRICS full members and partner countries.
Participants included representatives from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Delhi Declaration highlights shared priorities including equitable access to urban services, climate-resilient city planning, and support for marginalised urban communities.
Member nations welcomed India's proposal for the establishment of the 'BRICS Urban Research and Knowledge Network' — a permanent platform for applied urban research, knowledge sharing, and peer-to-peer learning across the grouping.
The forum deliberated under the theme: 'Cities for People: BRICS Cooperation for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Futures.'

Static Topic Bridges

BRICS — Structure, Membership, and the 2026 Chairship

BRICS is an intergovernmental grouping of major emerging economies that serves as a platform for political, economic, and development cooperation outside the Western-dominated multilateral framework. The grouping expanded significantly in 2024–2025.

Original members (BRICS): Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.
Expansion (January 2024): Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE joined as full members.
Expansion (January 2025): Indonesia joined as a full member, bringing total full membership to 11 nations.
Partner countries (10 as of 2026): Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
BRICS collectively represents approximately 49.5% of global population, ~40% of global GDP, and ~26% of international trade.
India holds the BRICS Chairship in 2026; Brazil held it in 2025.
The BRICS Urbanisation Forum is a ministerial-level working group forum under the BRICS framework, held annually.

Connection to this news: India's chairship in 2026 gave it agenda-setting authority for all BRICS ministerial forums this year, including the Urbanisation Forum — enabling New Delhi to centre inclusive urban development and launch the Knowledge Network proposal.

SDG 11 — Sustainable Cities and Communities

Sustainable Development Goal 11 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda calls for making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. It is one of the 17 SDGs adopted by member states in 2015.

Key targets under SDG 11 include: safe, affordable housing and slum upgrading (Target 11.1); inclusive, sustainable urbanisation (Target 11.3); protection of cultural and natural heritage (Target 11.4); disaster risk reduction (Target 11.5); and sustainable transport systems (Target 11.2).
As of 2022, approximately 1.1 billion people globally live in slums or slum-like conditions, with 2 billion more projected in coming decades — underscoring the urgency of SDG 11.
BRICS nations collectively account for a large share of the world's urban population; China, India, and Brazil alone have hundreds of millions of urban residents.
The Delhi Declaration's emphasis on "equitable access to urban services" and "people-centred urban development" directly echoes SDG 11's language.

Connection to this news: The Delhi Declaration aligns BRICS urban cooperation explicitly with the SDG 11 framework, positioning BRICS as a collective actor in advancing the 2030 Agenda's urban targets — particularly for the Global South.

India's Smart Cities and Urban Development Framework

India's domestic urban policy provides the institutional backdrop for its BRICS leadership on urban issues. Key schemes include the Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation), PMAY-U (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban), and the National Urban Policy Framework 2018.

Smart Cities Mission (2015–2026): Selected 100 cities for technology-led urban transformation; focused on integrated command and control centres, area-based development, and pan-city projects.
AMRUT 2.0 (2021–2026): Targets water supply and sewerage coverage for all statutory towns; budget of approximately ₹2.99 lakh crore.
PMAY-U: Aims for housing for all urban poor; has sanctioned over 1.18 crore dwelling units.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs oversees all these schemes — making it the natural convener of the BRICS Urbanisation Forum.

Connection to this news: India's offer to host the BRICS Urban Research and Knowledge Network draws credibility from its own scale of urban policy experimentation — Smart Cities, AMRUT, and PMAY provide real-world datasets and models that BRICS partner nations can draw upon.

Multilateral Diplomacy through Sector-Specific Forums

BRICS operates not just through annual Summits but through a dense web of working groups, ministerial meetings, and expert forums — covering finance, trade, energy, health, agriculture, science, and urban development. This "network multilateralism" deepens institutional ties beyond political communiqués.

The Urbanisation Forum is part of the BRICS Urban Development Working Group, which has operated since the grouping's early years.
A Ministerial Declaration adopted at such forums carries political weight even if it lacks legal enforceability — it signals collective intent and shapes domestic policy priorities.
India has used its 2026 Chairship to table institutional proposals (like the Knowledge Network) that would outlast its chairship year, embedding Indian influence in the BRICS architecture.
Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, where the forum was held, is the headquarters of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) — a symbolic choice reflecting India's cultural diplomacy posture.

Connection to this news: The proposal for a permanent BRICS Urban Research and Knowledge Network reflects India's strategy of converting sectoral hosting into lasting institutional footprints within BRICS — a form of soft-power architecture building.

Key Facts & Data

Forum: 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum, New Delhi, June 2026.
Venue: Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, New Delhi (ICCR headquarters).
Theme: 'Cities for People: BRICS Cooperation for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Futures.'
Output: Delhi Declaration on inclusive, resilient and people-centred urban development.
India's BRICS Chairship: 2026 (Brazil held it in 2025; South Africa in 2023).
BRICS full members (2026): 11 — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Indonesia.
BRICS partner countries: 10 — Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.
BRICS share of global population: ~49.5%; GDP: ~40%; trade: ~26%.
India proposal: BRICS Urban Research and Knowledge Network — endorsed by member nations.
SDG 11 connection: inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities (UN 2030 Agenda).
Global urban slum population (2022): ~1.1 billion.