WORLD URBAN FORUM: UN-BACKED MEETING HAILS CITIES AS VITAL TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF METEOROLOGY

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 11 Apr 2014 19:00:01 -0400
Subject: WORLD URBAN FORUM: UN-BACKED MEETING HAILS CITIES AS VITAL TO
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

WORLD URBAN FORUM: UN-BACKED MEETING HAILS CITIES AS VITAL TO
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTNew York, Apr 11 2014 7:00PM"A city is not
just an accident, but the result of coherent vision and aims," stated
Leon Crier, pioneer architect, urban planner and visionary, as he
spoke to participants at a discussion on Urban Equity in development -
Cities for Life organized by the United Nations Human Settlements
Programme (Habitat). </P>

Mr. Crier, considered the Godfather of the "New Urbanism" movement,
was joined by luminaries like Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and
former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who was recently
appointed as UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, in
Medellin, Colombia, as the seventh session of the World Urban Forum
(WUF7) (http://worldurbanforum7.org/) got under way on Friday, 5
April.</P>

The Colombian city of Medellin, which has recently undergone
remarkable transformation, provided what, participants agreed, was the
fitting backdrop for these important discussions. </P>

Held every two years, the Forum is a key event for the international
community that brings together a wide range of participants from
around the world to discuss key urban challenges facing the world
today.</P>

It is estimated that two-thirds of the world's urban population live
in cities where income inequality has increased since the 1980s. In
many cases, this increase has been staggering. Among the topics tabled
for discussion were youth and human rights, indigenous peoples and
cities, gender equality and safety in urban contexts.</P>

The WUF7 aimed to feed into the preparations for the Third United
Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development
(Habitat III). Key principles of equitable growth and shared
prosperity are central to what Habitat is trying to pursue in urban
growth and life. This will represent an opportunity to integrate
equity in the development discourse, ensuring that urbanization
becomes a positive force for all present and future generations of the
world's cities.</P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-02.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-02.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

Joseph Stiglitz, named by TIME magazine in 2011 as one of the 100 most
influential people in the world spoke to the Forum on Tuesday arguing
that urban planning has to address inequality. He stressed that "a
poor environment contributes to poor health and poor health
contributes to poor economic performance". </P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-03.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-03.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

"Cities that have pursued GDP [gross domestic product] have often not
delivered in terms of improved standards of living. They end up highly
congested and one interesting thing is that when you do studies of
what people enjoy or they don't enjoy at the very bottom of the list
of things they find most unpleasant is time spent commuting, specially
time spent commuting in a congested environment," according to the
economist who has been named one of the 100 most influential people in
the world by TIME magazine in 2011.</P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-04.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-04.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

Public transportation is key, Mr. Stiglitz said. Other elements of the
agenda include affordable housing, good education for all, access to
medication and access to fresh food. </P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-05.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-05.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

Also speaking at the event was Anne-Marie Leroy, Senior Vice-President
and General Counsel for the World Bank Group. Stating that cities
generate more than 80 per cent of the world's GDP, she also said that
we have to build organized cities with balanced public spaces and
public utilities for all.</P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-06.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-06.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

"You must get your policy right first. Law is a tool that will help
you achieve equitable cities, for instance, setting rights through
public services and enforce those rights and help people to have them
enforced, Ms. Leroy continued. </P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-07.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-07.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

Inequality tends also to be associated with higher feelings of
alienation, higher crime rates, Ms. Leroy added. She said that law
shapes our cities, the land use, the institutions and the finance. Law
governing public meetings, open records, budgeting, accounting and
reporting helps ensure that the business of the public is done in
public.</P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-08.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-08.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

In multiple sessions that addressed a wide spectrum of issues related
to urbanization and development, speakers emphasised the relevance of
planning for spaces in cities and properly distributing such planning,
in order to achieve social integration. This, they concluded, could be
realised through planned city extensions and urban revitalization.
</P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-09.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-09.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

As participants worked their way to the closing session and a
"Medellin Declaration", the rallying call for the forum has been, 'the
cities we want.' In an interview with UN Radio, Dr. Joan Clos,
Executive Director of UN-Habitat, said urban planning should be
democratic and involve all parts of the community. </P>

<div id="EmbedPhotoFullWidth"
><"/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-10.jpg"
class="lightbox" title="Photo: UN habitat" rel="gallery-default"><img
class="Embed" src="http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2014/April/04-11-14-UNhab-10.jpg"
style="width:580px;">
<p class="photocaptionFullWidth">Photo: UN habitat</p>
</div>

The seventh session of tApr 11 2014 7:00PM
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