Urban Planning

Next year, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by the United Nations after the Millennium Declaration, are set to expire. The next set of global development goals, which are supposed to be more environmentally focused — the Sustainable Development Goals — are currently under discussion at the UN and elsewhere, including The Nature of Cities. Thomas Elmqvist wrote a piece on the justifications for an explicitly urban SDG; and a group of 12 writers participated in a panel to discuss just what an urban SDG would look like. Read more.

Last month, I attended UN Habitat's World Urban Forum, the world's premier gathering on the subject of cities and our urban future. Every two years, stakeholders from across the globe come together at the Forum to examine the most pressing issues facing our rapidly urbanizing world. Over the next three decades, 2 billion people will be added to our planet and most of this growth will take place in cities in developing countries. So, for international development organizations like mine, Global Communities, being able to hear perspectives from the growing number of policy makers, foundations, private companies and city residents that travel to the Forum is an invaluable learning opportunity. Read more.

En la pasada entrada, comentábamos lo polémico que puede ser el hablar de economía. Sobre todo, cuando se parte que todo dato tiene su claro oscuro, y que al final, de manera un tanto irónica, la respuesta a dichas disyuntivas están en la economía misma. Leer más.

As the world urbanizes, cities are poised to take the lead on many global issues like climate change, economic development, and poverty reduction. And the world will increasingly look to cities to take the lead. In the face of stagnant international negotiations on climate change, for example, cities are taking the lead through groups like C40, a network of the world's megacities taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Likewise, in an increasingly globalized economy, cities are investing in infrastructure and assets that maintain and attract companies in an effort to keep their competitive edge. Read more.