Vision & Mission
IIHS enables the equitable, sustainable and efficient transformation of Indian cities, towns and villages.
OVERVIEW
Responding to India’s urban century requires new knowledge, institutions, and ways of working.
India’s urbanisation is the largest rural-to-urban transition in human history. By the middle of the century, over 800 million Indians will live in cities, and they will constitute more than half of India’s population. This transition is not only demographic; it is fundamentally transforming India’s economy, polity, society, culture, and natural and built environments.
Beyond the scale of urban growth lie complex economic, social, governance, and ecological challenges. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires new forms of knowledge, institutions, and practices capable of engaging with systemic complexity and enabling transformation at scale.
IIHS was established by a diverse set of eminent Indians from across public life, academia, industry, and civil society to respond to this opportunity.
"India’s urban future will be shaped by how we understand, anticipate, and respond to the complex transitions underway across our settlements: cities, towns and villages."
Our Mission
IIHS’ mission is to enable India’s urban transformation over the 21st century by creating, applying, and disseminating India-centric knowledge and applied research rooted in the country’s plural cultures, landscapes, languages, scholarship, and Constitutional values.
How We Do This
Interdisciplinary research and practice
We generate new knowledge to find and implement solutions to India’s complex development challenges, and to enable their adaptation, scaling, and replication across contexts.
Preparing the next generation of changemakers
We train a new generation of interdisciplinary urban practitioners, entrepreneurs, leaders, and scholars with the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to tackle the challenges of 21st-century urbanisation.
Get in touch
Reach out to learn more about our work, programmes, and opportunities for engagement.