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Urbanization is increasing, placing pressure on resources and infrastructure like never before. There’s no stemming the tide, so city leaders need to build resilience in order to cope. Work on a new International Standard for urban resilience... Read more
Events during the UNECE Sustainable Cities Week 2019 will discuss progress and challenges related to the implementation of recent international agreements such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the New Urban Agenda and the Geneva UN Charter for Sustainable Housing. National and local Government representatives from the fifty-six UNECE member States, as well as representatives of... Read more
UN-Habitat a key player in the UN System to catalyze city and local climate action
The upcoming UN Climate Action Summit aims to boost ambitions of fighting climate change. In that context, UN-Habitat is supporting one of the nine action tracks designated by the Secretary General: ‘Infrastructure, Cities and Local Action’ under the leadership of the Governments of Kenya and Turkey.
As climate... Read more
Urban design, traditionally shaped by architects and engineers, has assumed a new and essential role in the making of the built environment and its social symbols. Historically, architects designed churches, fortresses and palaces as symbols of power, followed by town halls as symbols of democracy. Later they turned to skyscrapers as symbols of capitalism: global corporate headquarters, financial... Read more
The World Metropolitan Day is held every year on the 7th of October and is a unique opportunity for leaders across the world to grant visibility to different metropolitan realities, enabling them to share the challenges and opportunities they are faced with when attempting to provide a higher quality of life for their citizens
We live in a metropolitan world, where urban areas are constantly... Read more
Annie Haigler steps out of her home in Louisville, Ky., pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket to dab sweat off her forehead. She enjoys sitting on her porch, especially to watch the sunrise. She has always been a morning person.
But as the day progresses, the heat can be unbearable for her. On summer days like this, when highs reach into the 90s, the lack of trees in her neighborhood is hard... Read more
In recent decades, cities in decline have focused on revitalizing their downtown centers to achieve a new renaissance. But for cities to thrive in coming decades, they may just have to change their approach: starting downtown.
That was the consensus of a panel of investors, academics, consultants, and urban planners at the Fortune Global Sustainability Forum in Yunnan, China. Asked what the ideal... Read more
What's happening:
Later this month the city center of London will be car-free for the day. More than 12 miles of roads in the English capital will be closed off from vehicles in an effort to encourage citizens to choose greener modes of transportation.
Though the car-free day is largely symbolic, London has joined other cities around the world looking at permanent ways to dramatically decrease... Read more
Here’s one way to understand the story of biking in Sevilla, Spain: It went from having about as much biking as Oklahoma City to having about as much biking as Portland, Oregon.
It did this over the course of four years.
Speaking last week at the PlacesForBikes conference, one of the masterminds of that transition — which is only now becoming widely known in the United States — filled in some of... Read more
EVENT OVERVIEW
Future of Housing and Urban Development
Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates Hosts the Third Arab Forum for Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (AMFHUDIII) in cooperation with the Ministerial Council for Housing and Construction of the League of... Read more
The World Urban Forum, which is convened by UN-Habitat, is the world’s most important conference on cities. As a non-legislative forum open to all, it provides the opportunity for thousands of participants involved in all aspects of urbanization to share practices and knowledge on how cities are built, planned and managed
In 2020, WUF will be hosted for the first time by an Arab nation – Abu... Read more