Urban Health

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By |2024-01-04T16:21:50+01:00September 15th 2022|

Every day millions of people around the world breathe in polluted air. After experiencing the consequences of polluted air first-hand, Alberto Mexia Sánchez and his team developed their own technology to monitor air quality and educate the people in Mexicali.

Global Citizenship Education – A Local Topic?

By |2024-01-04T15:38:06+01:00January 20th 2022|

Teaching and learning global citizenship may be a powerful answer to some of the most pressing challenges of our time. But how can cities approach this in their policies? Michelle Diederichs and Werner Wintersteiner on the potential of ‘local’ Global Citizenship Education.

Accessible Mobility for All: Development Cooperation For Accessible Public Transportation

By |2024-01-02T11:29:16+01:00March 12th 2018|

Accessible public transportation is a critical component of future urban development. Worldwide, more than one billion people live with a disability, and the number of people over the age of 60 is expected to double by 2050. Countries should prioritise accessible mobility—and development agencies can help by encouraging community participation, sharing best practices, and raising awareness, says Jelena Auracher.

Learning from a Frontrunner: German and U.S. Towns Partner on Climate Action

By |2024-01-02T11:29:41+01:00March 12th 2018|

Saerbeck, Germany’s award-winning climate protection project serves as a model for many other towns. Ulrich Gunka shows how the municipality, working with its citizens, transformed a former army ammunition depot into a bioenergy park and how it shares their insights with other cities in the world.

Creating a low-carbon and equitable future: Cities IPCC sets blueprint for urban transformation

By |2024-01-02T11:34:33+01:00March 9th 2018|

At the end of three intensive days of Cities IPCC, scientists, policymakers and development experts set a global blueprint on how cities can be better places to live and meet the challenge of climate change. Stephen Leahy takes a look back and ahead.

Cities and scientists join forces in the fight against climate change

By |2024-01-02T11:35:11+01:00March 5th 2018|

More than 700 climate scientists and city planners have gathered in Edmonton this Monday for the CitiesIPCC—Cities and Climate Change Science Conference. The three-day gathering marks the first time cities rather than nation states are offered a seat at the table of the U.N.'s top scientific authority on global warming. At day one, data collection and analysis for effective emissions reduction and their potential for social inclusion has been the main focus, writes Stephen Leahy.

A Better Climate for Cities: CitiesIPCC Aims to Launch a New Research Agenda

By |2024-01-02T12:14:04+01:00February 28th 2018|

At next week’s CitiesIPCC conference, the urban and climate communities will brave the cold of Edmonton, Canada, to discuss some of the century’s hottest issues. From March 5-7, more than 700 delegates will seek to close a significant gap in our collective understanding of the role of cities in adapting and responding to climate change, and launch a global research agenda to inform the IPCC. Julie Greenwalt explains how the organising partner Cities Alliance is working to ensure that issues critical to the Global South will be emphasised at this landmark event.

Hyperlocal Neighbourhood Networks: Building Social Capital and Empowering Local Urban Communities

By |2024-01-02T12:14:26+01:00February 28th 2018|

It has never been easier to stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues, wherever they live. Yet most of us still lack a digital infrastructure for connecting with the people living next door. Despite their success in some developed countries, hyperlocal social networks are not a fixture of most local communities. Hence, nebenan.de, Germany’s first hyperlocal communication platform, could offer a model for communities in developing countries seeking to leverage the power of hyperlocal communication to increase social capital, says co-founder Michael Vollmann.

Urban Festival in Maputo: Tapping into the potentials of urban citizenry

By |2023-12-19T14:44:16+01:00November 19th 2016|

How can citizens become more actively involved in urban development? The Second Urban Festival that took place in Maputo, Mozambique, earlier this month offered various urban actors, stakeholders and inhabitants a multifaceted platform to come together, exchange ideas and jointly reflect upon their city’s development.

Collaborating for a geographical information system in Kairouan

By |2023-12-19T14:46:14+01:00November 8th 2016|

For sustainable urban planning, administrative bodies, service providers and citizens need to work together. In Kairouan, Tunisia, different actors are collaborating to put in place a comprehensive geographical information system for their city.

New Partnerships between civil society actors and government institutions

By |2023-12-19T12:09:24+01:00September 1st 2016|

There is a growing recognition that the ambitious goal of transforming fast-growing cities into major globally attractive hubs of the world economy cannot be reached without including the urban poor as cooperation partners in housing and urban development processes. This situation, combined with pressure from civil society groups, has opened new space for the encounter between civil society and state organisations. Peter Herrle, Josefine Fokdal, Astrid Ley and Sonja Nebel assess this situation in their Cities Alliance background paper, of which an extract is published here.

New solutions to existing problems: The role of grassroots organizations in community development

By |2023-12-19T12:24:49+01:00July 27th 2016|

To be able to achieve good governance, local governments must not only work together with communities, but also grant them a certain amount of responsibility. In an interview with URBANET, Diana Mitlin, Managing Director of the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester, talks about the importance of community-led development and the value grassroots organisations can add to local communities.

“One actor alone doesn’t have the solution” – leading urban change collectively

By |2023-12-19T12:25:26+01:00July 25th 2016|

Multi-stakeholder partnerships and the capacity to lead change collectively are decisive if we aim for the creation of a sustainable urban future. In an interview with Urbanet, Petra Kuenkel, Executive Director of the Collective Leadership Institute, presented her insights on the success factors of urban development partnerships and their implications for the New Urban Agenda.

How partnerships can help cities make the New Urban Agenda a reality

By |2023-12-19T11:44:38+01:00July 21st 2016|

The vibrant, multi-level partnerships that have been formed in Accra through the Cities Alliance Land, Services and Citizenship programme show why inclusive partnerships are our best chance of achieving sustainable development.

Shortcut: The Berlin Recommendations for the Cities of Tomorrow

By |2023-12-19T10:45:51+01:00July 21st 2016|

In the course of the German Habitat Forum taking place on 1 and 2 June 2016 in Berlin the so called “Berlin Recommendations” were developed and ultimately passed by more than 1000 participants from 74 countries. Here are the recommendations in short.

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