Nagpurians, on November 1, you will have a chance to reclaim your city streets! Centre for Research and Innovation in Urban Planning and Architecture (CRIUPA), with an intention to spread awareness about sustainable mobility, will be conducting two unique events ? Green Street Carnival and Green Surprises Pop Up Parks – on November 1 in Nagpur. The events will be organised in association with The Times of India, along with Nation Next and Radio Mirchi as the media partners.

The events will be conducted as part of an outreach campaign for the 11^th edition of Urban Mobility India Conference, organised by Deutsche Gesellschaft Fuer International Zusammenarbeit and supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The conference will be held in Nagpur from November 2 to November 4.

While the first event ? Green Street Carnival ? will be held at Walkers Street in Civil Lines from 6 am to 9 am, the second event ? Green Surprises Pop Up Parks ? will be held on the stretch of road from VNIT Gate in Bajaj Nagar to Shraddhanand Square from 11 am to 6:15 pm.

Speaking about the conference and the public outreach day events, Architect, Urban Planner and partner at CRIUPA Stiti Vij Pincha said, This is the 11^th edition of the Urban Mobility India conference. The conference is held mostly in bigger cities and it is great that this time it is being held in Nagpur. The theme for this year’s conference is green urban mobility. The intention is to promote public transport over use of private vehicles. While there will be several speakers at the conference during the three days, it is also important to spread awareness among public at large and hence these events are being organised.

Green Street Carnival

Green Street Carnival will be held on November 1 from 6am to 9am at Walkers Street at Civil Lines. At the carnival, students from a design institute will carry placards and chant slogans about traffic rules and safety. Ncyclopedia will be providing people with cycles, which people would be able to use to move freely through the stretch, where the carnival will take place. Global Shapers Nagpur community will also be promoting sustainable mobility. Apart from these activities, a lot of fun, health and fitness activities have also been planned, which include: Yoga, Zumba, Aerobics, a baby wearing flash mob, etc. There will also be stalls promoting healthy food options.

Green Surprises Pop Up Parks

Green Surprises Pop Up Parks will take place from 11 am to 6:15 pm at a stretch of road from VNIT Gate at Bajaj Nagar to Shraddhanand Square. As part of the event, three artificial grass turfs will be set up (on the sides where cars are usually parked) to create pop up parks. A green carpet will be placed on these turfs and a lot of activities will be carried out at the park. The idea is to reclaim the streets and the sidewalks from the dominance of vehicles. The intention is also to promote social interaction and outdoor activity.

Stiti, while speaking about the public transportation system in Nagpur, said, The events are all about promoting public transport over private vehicles. Now, everybody knows that Nagpur Metro is coming up but very few know that the authorities have made the local area plan for every area and station. They have taken care of the first and last mile connectivity, which means that how commuters will commute from their respective homes to stations. This is will be explained during our event as well.