Spain and India are leaders in innovation in urban development and sustainability, and bilateral collaboration offers great potential. At the government level, there are two MoUs on renewable energy (2009 and 2017), and one on climate change and clean development mechanism projects (2008). In other sectors such as water resources or sustainable urban development, both administrations have shown interest and will to expand this network of agreements, confirming these sectoral synergies. At a private level, large Spanish companies participate in major projects for both urban development and sustainability in India. However, there are still great opportunities for the internationalization of leading companies in both countries –as well as of SMEs– as technology and innovation partners. Cooperation between Spanish and Indian cities, relationships that have not yet been sufficiently explored and with a large multiplier component, can be one of the main engines to boost relationships in the urban sphere and promote joint initiatives of smart cities to transform the cities of both countries in sustainable cities 4.0.
In this document we analyze the twinning, exchanges and cooperation between Indian and Spanish cities; bilateral opportunities to address urban mobility challenges; innovation and bilateral participation in the development of sustainable cities; the dimension of renewable energies to address bilateral energy challenges; common challenges in the water cycle and joint collaboration on water efficiency; and technological cooperation to create Smartcities 4.0.
