Tag: world urban forum

Interview with Lara Kinneir, Deputy Director of London School of Architecture @ WUF9

One week ago was the last day of World Urban Forum, the 9th edition. From Feb. 7 to 13th, leaders from across the globe gathered in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted last year at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador.

There were fewer people from Europe than I expected and unfortunately no one else from Romania attended the WUF9. It will be therefore more challenging to have better cities in my home country following the New Urban Agenda. Luckily there are still some extraordinary people here trying to make Bucharest and other cities in Romania more inclusive, safe and sustainable.

During the last week, more than 300 sessions took place, one of them being Research and Academia Roundtable which happened Saturday morning.

One of the speakers that joined the discussion was Lara Kinneir, Deputy Director of the London School of Architecture (LSA). She gave one of the most interesting speeches I have ever heard at WUF this year.

Maybe because she said everything I ever hoped I would hear from a professor of architecture or perhaps it was the sincere and passionate way she talked about architecture and design, I don’t know why her speech was so impressive for me.

I always wished to work with professors and together to help the local authorities and private companies, to contribute to a better world. Now I found that somewhere someone is doing that, bringing students and professors together as a team to create a better future.

She told the audience about how important it is for LSA students to first understand the world before starting designing, about the need to get out into the world to know and meet, to use the city as a testing lab and keep researching and finding innovative ways to do things.

Fortunately, Lara was kind enough to accept my invitation for an interview later on so now you can watch it below.

Read the Kuala Lumpur Declaration of the World Urban Forum

As the closing ceremony of the 9th World Urban Forum ended, I can say it was one of the most interesting experiences in my life so far. This edition of WUF was the biggest and most diverse ever, over 22.000 participants from 165 countries, out of which 49% were women and 42% under 32. Among them, more than 100 Ministers and Deputy Ministers, we have all debated concrete implementation steps and how to work together building the Cities 2030, the Cities for All. Below you can read the Kuala Lumpur Declaration of the World Urban Forum.

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We, the participants of the Ninth session of the World Urban Forum — representing  national, subnational and local governments, parliamentarians, civil society, older persons, women, youth, children, persons with disabilities, grassroots groups, indigenous peoples and local communities, private sector, foundations and philanthropies, international and regional organizations, academia, professionals and other relevant stakeholders — gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to localize and scale up the implementation of the New Urban Agenda as an accelerator to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Led by a strong spirit of collaboration, creativity and innovation, we share our aspirations for the future of Cities 2030 as the Cities for all where no-one and no place is left behind.

To this end, we call for the deployment of all efforts, means and resources available towards the operationalization of the concept of cities for all, ensuring that all inhabitants, of present and future generations, without discrimination of any kind, are able to inhabit and produce just, safe, healthy, accessible, affordable, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements to foster prosperity and quality of life for all.

We believe that global, regional, national and local implementation frameworks of the New Urban Agenda being formulated since its adoption should be supported by key enablers capable of unlocking positive transformation, such as:

  • Strengthening the role of subnational and local governments, urban governance systems that ensure continuous dialogue among different levels of government and participation of all actors, and increasing multilevel and cross-sectoral coordination, transparency and accountability.
  • Encouraging sharing of creative solutions and innovative practices which enable a shift in mindset necessary to drive change.
  • Building inclusive partnerships and strengthening age and gender responsive environments to ensure meaningful participation and engagement at all levels.
  • Adopting integrated territorial development, including through appropriate urban planning and design instruments, to ensure sustainable management and use of natural resources and land, appropriate compactness and density, diversity of uses, and revitalization of cultural heritage.
  • Deploying monitoring and reporting mechanisms, including assessment of impacts, that encourage best practices for effective policy making.

We draw attention to the persistent challenges faced by our cities and human settlements, such as:

  • Limited opportunities and mechanisms for youth, women and grassroots organizations, as well as other civil society organizations, local, subnational and national governments, international and regional bodies to work together in planning, implementation and monitoring;
  • Inequitable access to the city, including to decent jobs, public space, affordable and adequate housing and security of land tenure, safe, efficient and accessible public transport and mobility systems, infrastructure and other basic services and goods that cities offer;
  • Insufficient protection from human rights violations, including forced evictions, and inadequate inclusion of people living in poverty, persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups in urban planning, design, and legislation processes;
  • Gender inequalities in urban economic and leaderships spheres.

We recognize that today we face emerging challenges that require urgent actions, including:

  • Recognizing that crises are increasingly urban, which calls for inclusive urbanization tools adapted to local contexts and to the nature of natural and human made disasters and conflicts, as well as to guide humanitarian assistance, fast track recovery, and contribute to building and sustaining peace.
  • Managing the complexities of increased migration into cities, at all levels, leveraging positive contributions of all and using more inclusive planning approaches that facilitate social cohesion and create economic opportunities;
  • Understanding the impact of new technologies and potential of open and accessible data, which require governance and design models that help to ensure no one is left behind;
  • Addressing growing social and cultural inequalities, lack of access to economic opportunities, that are increasingly manifested in cities.
  • Responding to environmental degradation and climate change concerns.

Actionable recommendations

We, the participants of the WUF9, leveraging the advantage of the Forum, which convenes thousands of decision makers, key actors, stakeholders and communities, generated a wealth of ideas.

We encourage the acceleration of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda through:

Frameworks

  1. Encourage the formulation of implementation frameworks for the New Urban Agenda at all levels, including monitoring mechanisms, providing a coordinated space for an effective contribution from all stakeholders, aligning to the efforts and actions of the 2030 Agenda and other international, regional, national, subnational and local development frameworks.
  1. Support the creation and consolidation of inclusive platforms and agendas for dialogue among all levels of government, decision makers and stakeholders such as regional, national and local Urban Forums and committees that can strengthen policy review and assessment of impacts. These can also foster exchange of experiences and cooperation, as well as scaling up voluntary commitments and actions from all partners.
  1. Further develop and advocate for integrated territorial development, which includes integration of sectoral policies, institutions and investment; integration among the different spheres of government; spatial integration across the urban-rural continuum; improved coordination across actors; and enhanced alignment of national, subnational and local policies with international agendas.
  1. Adapt innovative and robust mechanisms for the diversification and expansion of the means of implementation, to cater for complex and integrated approaches promoted by the New Urban Agenda. Technological innovations and improvements, research, capacity building, technical assistance and partnership development, among others, may require enhanced resourcing.

Governance and partnerships

  1. Adopt multiple collaborative governance mechanisms that actively engage national, subnational and local governments, all groups of society, including youth, women and grassroots organizations and particularly the excluded, vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. This work in solidarity is critical to promote more buy-in and co-responsibility in the activities towards sustainable urban development, and to ensure the sustainability of the results.
  1. Promote multi-stakeholder constituency-based coalitions to use the implementation of the New Urban Agenda to better prevent, prepare, and respond to urban crises.

Innovative solutions

  1. Foster a culture of creativity and innovation to be embedded in the way cities and human settlements operate.
  1. Develop monitoring and data collection mechanisms, including community generated data, to enhance availability of information and disaggregated and comparable data at city, functional urban areas and community levels. This would promote informed and evidence-based decision making and policy formulation, assessing progress and impact at all levels.
  1. Create an enabling environment and develop capacities for scaling up of good practices including municipal finance, sustainable private and public investments in urban development and job creation, and generating value while advancing the public good.
  1. Adopt accessibility and universal design as core principles into national, subnational and local action plans for implementing the New Urban Agenda through inclusive, accessible and participatory processes and consultations.

We, the participants of the Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum, recognize the value of the Forum convened by UN-Habitat as an inclusive platform to collect inputs from a broad range of stakeholders and to feed these into annual and quadrennial reporting on progress in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

We call to further develop the role of UN-Habitat as a focal point in the United Nations system to support all countries and mobilization of stakeholders in the implementation, follow up and review of the New Urban Agenda, including through scaled up normative support.

We thank the Government of Malaysia, the City of Kuala Lumpur, and UN-Habitat for organizing the Forum, and commit to provide continuous cooperation to the next hosts, the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the city of Abu Dhabi.

Kuala Lumpur, 13 February 2018

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Source: World Urban Forum. Thank you ENGIE for making this attendance possible for Romania to be represented at the World Urban Forum, Kuala Lumpur.

Romania @ World Urban Forum 9 in Kuala Lumpur

update: Read the Kuala Lumpur Declaration of World Urban Forum.

Between 7 and 13th February, I will be attending world’s most important forum for urban development which is taking place in Kuala Lumpur. I will try as much as possible to write daily about the challenges countries and cities are facing in regard to:

1. SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION AND ENDING POVERTY

2. SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE URBAN PROSPERITY AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

3. ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT URBAN DEVELOPMENT

In 2016 was adopted The New Urban Agenda, a historic event, the COP21, but for cities

The New Urban Agenda was adopted in October 2016 at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador. It is a result of a unique consensus among all participating states. The document sets out a common vision and global standards for urban development in the coming decades.

The New Urban Agenda comes in at a critical moment when the first time in history over half of the world’s population is residing in urban settlements. Cities, if planned and managed well, will become the main tool for sustainable development and has a potential to be a solution to many of the challenges our planet is facing today. The New Urban Agenda lays out the vision for future cities based on the science of urban development providing tools in crucial areas.

The Theme of WUF9 is “Cities 2030, Cities for All:

Implementing the New Urban Agenda” – places the Forum’s focus on the New Urban Agenda as a tool and accelerator for achieving Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

WUF9, therefore, provides an excellent opportunity to garner the efforts of all relevant actors to deliberate on, identify and commit to implementation of concrete solutions for the transformative commitments made in the New Urban Agenda (which are also fully aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals):

More information here.