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Tres fundaciones que participan en el diálogo urbano

No hay dos fundaciones iguales, cada una tiene una forma de actuar, unos objetivos, una cultura propia que la distingue claramente del resto. Aún así, todas tienen un denominador común: una voluntad de tener un impacto positivo en los ámbitos de su actuación, y recursos propios para hacerlo. Y son esas dos características las que les permite apoyar iniciativas innovadoras, asumir ciertos riesgos que otras fuentes de apoyo rara vez están dispuestas a asumir. En este contexto, en la sesión de networking del miércoles pudimos conocer mejor el trabajo que en temas de urbanismo realizan tres fundaciones con una gran tradición en es establecimiento de diaologos entorno a los temas urbanos. Read more.

Medellín appoints first Chief Resilience Officer in Rockefeller Foundation's "100 Resilient Cities" initiative

Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, and Mayor Aníbal Gaviria Correa of Medellín announced this morning the appointment of Santiago Uribe Rocha as Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) of the city of Medellín — making him one of the world's first CROs, and making Medellín the first city in the Rockefeller Foundation's "100 Resilient Cities" initiative to appoint someone to this role. The selection of a Chief Resilience Officer — who will work "across silos, including work with both formal and informal leadership," said Rodin — is the first of several steps for Medellín as a member of the 100 Resilient Cities initiative. It will be followed by the development of "an overall resilience strategy," supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, for which an initial session was held in Medellín at the end of January. Read more.

Citizen action as a catalyst for change in the New Urban Agenda

Violence exists in many forms in the city: in people's homes, in schools, on streets, in spaces public, private, and intimate. Everyone who lives in the city has a stake in making that city safer but to make the city more just and equitable; we must also consider how the most marginalised urban groups trigger positive social change. In every situation where violence is happening, there is also the possibility for someone to intervene to stop that violence. Just and equitable cities need everyday activists who are committed to making change happen as much as they need reformed police services, fair court systems, and accessible public spaces. As the World Urban Forum 2014 meets to discuss how to achieve 'a safe city as a just and equitable city' it's time to recognise the importance of the difference that citizens in marginalised communities can make. Read more.

A Tale of 10 Cities: Findings from the Informal Economy Monitoring Study

The global policy-research network Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) and the Inclusive Cities project presented the results of their impressive Informal Economy Monitoring Study. The analysis was conducted in ten cities in the global South to answer the question "How do urban policies and practices, economic trends and value chain dynamics impact informal employment in the global South, and how can urban policies and practices respond effectively to the growing informal workforce?" Read more.

Frente a la violencia urbana, innovación social, calidad de vida y nuevas oportunidades

Aníbal Gaviria (@anibalgaviria), actual alcalde de Medellín, no puede disimular el orgullo ante los logros obtenidos por su ciudad a lo largo de las últimas décadas. La primera parte de la rueda de prensa celebrada en su despacho esta mañana se centró en un análisis de los mismos. Sin embargo concluyó su mensaje con una afirmación tajante: la ciudad aún se enfrenta a grandes problemas, retos sumamente complejos que se articulan en torno a dos flagelos: la desigualdad y la violencia, aún en niveles inaceptables. Para Gaviria estos problemas no deben ser ocultados, sino enfrentados con todos los medios posibles. Read more.

Drenaje, a menudo olvidado pero crucial en las ciudades sostenibles

El drenaje es la prima olvidada del urbanismo, lanzó Briony Ferguson, de Monash University nada más comenzar su presentación. En efecto, ni las grandes entidades financieras, ni en muchos casos los propios gobiernos locales, asignan a este importante aspecto la importancia necesaria. Así vemos como ciudades tan importantes como Barranquilla padecen año tras año los letales arroyos sin que se ponga solución al problema. Otras muchas ciudades colombianas, incluyendo la capital Bogotá, sufren inundaciones periódicas, algunas de ellas catastróficas. ¿Por qué? Las razones tiene un anclaje histórico, como mencionaremos más adelante, un componente político, la falta de sensibilización sobre el tema, y un componente financiero, pues resulta extraordinariamente difícil obtener los recursos necesarios para acometer estas infraestructuras. Read more.

Promoting urban equity in South-South and triangular cooperation: 'How do we do that?'

Tuesday's extremely rich special session on "Promoting Urban Equity in South-South and Triangular Cooperation" was a cornucopia of insights, both strategic and practical. One especially useful moment came during the panelists' introductory remarks, when Ford Foundation Vice President Xavier de Souza Briggs replied to the deceptively simple question "How do we do that?" with a survey of various mechanisms of cooperation — in effect, a typology of networks — and what functions each of them serves. His reply deserves close consideration, and so we provide it here. Read more.

Slum and Shack Dwellers International (SDI) launches Know Your City Campaign for gathering citywide data on slums

At a World Urban Forum 7 networking event this afternoon in Medellín, Slum and Shack Dwellers International (SDI) officially launched its Know Your City Campaign — a global campaign for gathering citywide data on slums as the basis for inclusive partnerships betwen the urban poor and local governments. The Know Your City Campaign is "aimed at the development of protocols for cities to map slums across the city," the official announcement explains. "Every household, every neighborhood and every informal settlement has to be counted. There can be no inclusive or equitable development planning and investment, nor effective city governance if the increasing majority of the residents of informal settlements remain unaccounted for." Read more.

A talk with architect and urbanist Léon Krier

Renowned architect, architectural theorist and urban planner Léon Krier, known worldwide as the godfather of the New Urbanism movement, is one of four luminaries slated to give an Urban Talk at World Urban Forum 7. As a prelude to his Wednesday evening event, Krier spoke to a rapt audience this afternoon, detailing the theory and practice informing his most recent projects and dispensing abundant wit and wisdom along the way. Read more.

Q & A with Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics and Professor at Columbia University, addressed a small group of reporters at the World Urban Forum 7. The following notes summarize Dr. Stiglitz's answers to a series of questions on inequality, education, youth unemployment, China's role in development, and his advice for Colombia as well as Latin America. Read more.