This week, the UN High Level Political Forum is reviewing the implementation process of the Sustainable Development Goals in New York City. The theme: Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world. Felix Dodds from the Global Research Institute criticizes the missing involvement of urban development actors and calls for a conference on local implementation.
Many cities are facing traffic-related problems and are trying to find solutions that take into consideration the local conditions. Sometimes, these solutions clash with problem solving approaches by central governments. In her interview with URBANET, Johana Hernández from the Northern Public Transport Company in Ecuador talks about such challenges and her visions for inclusive mobility.
Part I presented two subsequent paradigms related to the world of work, Fordism and Post-Fordism. Subsequently, it was argued that there are two contrasting trends in the world of (urban) labour: flexibility and stability. This is the second and concluding part of the article, which includes considerations about policies.
"Our Struggle for Global Sustainability will be won or lost in cities", said Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations. The present article argues that our struggle for good urbanisation will be won or lost depending on the opportunities and conditions of work.
Urban travel requirements are constantly changing, and so are the challenges that cities face in keeping their inhabitants mobile. In an interview with URBANET, Roger Behrens (University of Cape Town) talks about the importance of accessibility, the challenges for local governments and the changing travel dynamics in South Africa.
In a four-part series, URBANET takes a closer look at specific projects that contribute to making cities more liveable. This third part describes efforts to better integrate and reintegrate migrants, refugees and returning migrants into local life in Morocco.
What do cities in India need to be more livable? In the four part series "Spotlight on livable cities", ISOCARP Vice-President Shipra Narang Suri aims to answer this question by approaching it from various angles, giving examples from different areas of urban planning. In this second part, she talks about urban building master plans, the land housing market in India's cities and the urban poor.
The German government pushes for a New Urban Agenda oriented towards the vision of the “lebenswerte Stadt”, i.e. a city worth to live in, but is mostly translated with “liveable city”. But how do we define “liveable”? Our authors Alexandra Linden, Astrid Ley and Alexander Jachnow contend that it goes beyond “freedom from fear” and “freedom from want” as proposed by the UN. Liveability, construed as Quality of life shouldn’t just be determined by indicator models, but within a specific local context and in conjunction with international standards.
Three weeks after the Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador, the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is currently taking place in Marrakesh, Morocco. Sarah Schneider and Lisa Lebershausen look at the the international climate change conference through an urban lense.
In the run-up to the German Habitat Forum in June 2016, people from all over the world were asked how they imagine the city of the future, what they expected from local, national and international authorities for their city, and how their city has evolved. The series "Voice on Habitat" projects an image of the
“Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” - this is the call to action formulated in Sustainable Development Goal 11. Although this reflects an awareness of urban governance issues in regard to sustainable development, our author argues that many of these issues are still neglected and need to be further elaborated.
In the run-up to the German Habitat Forum in June 2016, people from all over the world were asked how they imagine the city of the future, what they expected from local, national and international authorities for their city, and how their city has evolved. The series "Voice on Habitat" projects an image of the issues that the New Urban Agenda has to tackle, and gives a voice to the people who will be directly affected by its implementation.
Commentary by Dr. Christoph Beier, Vice-Chair of the GIZ Management Board.
A key recommendation of the German Habitat Forum held in May 2016 in Berlin was that “cities need to be empowered as actors”. Urbanization not only implies geographical changes, but also a political change in order to manage growth. This is where local governments are most needed.
A colourful video overview how local governments in Ghana can increase their Internally Generated Funds and what benefits they provide.
