News

October, 2020

UN-Habitat's Urban October, 2020

Since 2014, UN-Habitat has declared October as “Urban October”. It aims to highlight the opportunities and challenges of urban centers and encourages everyone interested in sustainable urbanization from national and local governments to universities, NGOs and communities to hold or participate in activities, events, and discussions. October is a special month on our calendars as the month begins with World Habitat Day on the first Monday of the month, October 5th in 2020, and ends with World Cities Day on October 31st.

As countries and cities from around the world continue to grapple with the challenges that increasing urbanism brings, cities need to establish networks to exchange innovative and creative ideas to address the most pressing challenges for cities. It is estimated that 70% of the world population is expected to be living in urban areas by 2050, up from 55% as of now. Urban October is an opportunity to take a step back and reflect on the important roles our cities play to ensure people have the opportunities to succeed.

Urban Economy Forum 2019
Urban Economy Forum (UEF) has strong ties to Urban October as it is actively engaged in advancing the United Nations’ Agenda for sustainable development, and in particular Sustainable Development Goal 11 “to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, which according to UN-Habitat, puts sustainable urbanization at the center of the global agendas for development. In the aftermath of UEF’s inaugural conference on October, 2019, the UEF 2019 resolution was adopted, and it aimed to promote, support and monitor the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and SDGs at the local levels through the support of the “Collingwood: Urban SDG Pioneer Pilot: Urban Economy and Municipalities”. This year, on September 1 and 2, UEF gathered virtually in the Town of Collingwood on the occasion of the First Habitat in Towns” Collingwood World Summit, and on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of United Nations, to realize sustainable urban development at the scale of towns, small cities, and indigenous communities to express our commitment to NUA and the SDGs.

Habitat in Towns 2020
In 2020, UEF aimed to bring more people to the topic of SDGs and to focus on urban sustainability. Prior to Urban October, UEF held the Habitat in Towns: Collingwood Summit on September 1st and 2nd, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of United Nations, to realize sustainable urban development at the scale of towns, small cities, and indigenous communities to express our commitment to NUA and the SDGs. Although the international summit was not an official part of the Urban October celebrations, it aimed to bring more city leaders under UEF’s network to focus on sustainability.

At Habitat in Towns, UEF is establishing an international network for town, small city, and Indigenous Peoples’ communities leaders, known as the Town Leaders Global Network, to work toward achieving SDGs at the scale of towns, small cities, and Indigenous communities. In the implementation of SDGs, Habitat in Towns Summit is an important global gathering that serves to strengthen the dialogue and exchange of experiences between local town and small city leaders, Indigenous communities, civil society and the general public. In the aftermath of the summit, a resolution was adopted which emphasized the role that the Town of Collingwood will play in identifying 10 key collaborative projects with the provincial and federal governments for sustainable town development. We encourage the Provincial Government of Ontario to support Collingwood as an SDG Town Pioneer where the town can be established as a destination that can pioneer and share sustainable development initiatives based upon global best practices.

National Committee for Human Settlement of Iran's celebration of World Cities Day

On occasion of World UN-Habitat Day, the 75th anniversary of founding of the United Nations, a virtual meeting was hosted by the Secretary General of National Committee Human Settlement, with the presence of the Minister of Roads and Urban Development of I.R.I. There were high level managers from Iranian governmental organizations and UN-Habitat. Representatives from the  Urban Economy Forum, such as Secretary General Anantha Krishnan presented their insights and ideas about the UN-Habitat slogan: “Housing for All: Youth, Family, Lifestyle and Quality of Space”.  The slogan is meant to show-case and advocate on key actions to promote housing for all.

Honourable Minister, Mr. Mohammad Eslami gave a speech on Iran as being a home to one of the world's historical civilizations; with urban settlements dating back to ancient periods. He mentioned that Iran also has a valuable architecture and cultural heritage, so it has a great experience to present to the world. The Minister said, “today we are honoured to publish the Persian version of the urban agenda document. We believe it can increase the access to this valuable document of UN-Habitat and can facilitate the governmental support and direction for creating a significant move towards sustainable development. Iran has such potential to take a leadership role in the process towards achieving the SDGs, Particularly SDG11.” His Honour’s message was reinforced by the Mehdi Mazaheri, Secretary General of the National Committee for Human Settlement and the Adviser to the Minister of Roads and Urban Development on International Affairs, who highlighted the opportunities that Iran has been selected as the chair of the executive board for 2020 to 2021. He added; “following Habitat III Agenda conference that was held in Quito, Ecuador, we had a great document which was the new urban agenda and was approved by world experts in the field of sustainable urban development. So, in this session I would be honoured to launch the Persian version of the document. I would like to thank all my colleagues who have helped in this process and I believe, it’s a very good coincidence that the launching of this document takes place on the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.”

Urban Economy Forum 2020
To mark the beginning of UEF’s Urban October celebration, the annual forum, UEF 2020, was held on October 5th & 6th. This was the second international forum on sustainable urban economy and SDG 11. UEF 2020 was a great opportunity to advance SDG 11 through identifying and implementing sustainable urban economy in municipalities across the world. The Forum also aimed to  develop strategies for municipalities to achieve a sustainable urban economy which is crucial in realizing SDGs and creating a better future for our cities. At UEF,  the availability and access to resources  were emphasized as playing a critical role for cities to realize the SDG's and to achieve a substantial degree of sustainable development. In order to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it is necessary for UEF 2020 to focus on the economy of cities and review opportunities and challenges and the process of securing financial resources for our cities. UEF 2020 had over 160 participants which included individuals from national, subnational, and local governments, parliamentarians, UN-Habitat, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNEP, UN Women, United Nations for Youth, and other UN and transnational agencies, The World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, civil society, cities’ representatives, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the private sector, professionals and practitioners, the scientific and academic community and volunteers. UEF2020 had seven major themes as follows: 

1.     Urban Economy: Theories and Action

2.      Sustainable Banking and Municipal Finance

3.     Urban Assessment, Urban Data, and Technology

4.     Urban Transformation: Shifting Paradigms in Urbanism

5.     Urban Economy, Housing and Real Estate

6.      Social Inclusion and Public Participation

7.     Environment and Sustainable Resources

A resolution was adopted in the aftermath of the conference. UEF recognizes and supports the World Habitat Day, 2020 Theme: Housing For All — A Better Urban Future. During the drafting of the resolution, UEF has pledged to promote, support, and monitor the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the local level, among other things, through the support of the "Collingwood: Urban SDG Pioneer Town.". UEF also recognizes that NUA will help in ending poverty, hunger, reducing inequalities, ensuring access to affordable housing, promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, achieving gender equality, facilitating all citizens regardless of their race, age, origins, faith, traditions, gender, and sexual identity to access the resources and benefits of development. UEF recognizes that the role of civil society is crucial as part of the solution to the climate emergency and to reverse the trend of rising inequalities. UEF calls on governments at all levels to establish global cooperation on advancing the principles and concepts of sustainable urbanism and work together to achieve the SDGs and promote the NUA. We strongly believe that only through cooperation and collaboration can we truly realize the full potential of our cities.

Virtual Discussion on Urban Values
The Urban Economy Forum organized a virtual roundtable on the occasion of World Cities Day 2020 under this year’s theme, “Valuing Our Communities and Cities”, on October the 29th. This roundtable aimed to establish international dialogue on urban values; an important urban resource for urban growth. We believe that in order to achieve greater urban prosperity, it is fundamental to establish dialogue on urban values and understand exactly what a city’s values are. By distinguishing and analyzing the characteristics of a city's values, decision makers are able to incorporate these values in their urban decision making and planning. This is a fundamental component to improving the quality of life in the cities and communities.

The event had the pleasure of hosting the following speakers: Reza Pourvaziry, Co-Chair of UEF,  Anantha Krishnan, Secretary General & Steering Committee Co-Chair of UEF, Eugene Van Den Berg, Fractional CFO & Finance Executive & Member of UEF Steering Committee, Adam Vaughan, Member of Canadian Parliament & Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development (Housing), Julie Ward, Co-Chair of Urban Economy Forum & Former British Member of European Parliament, Derek Giberson, Councilor of City of Oshawa, Canada, and Deqa Nur, Social Development in City of Toronto.

The Launch of the Harvard Gulf Sustainable Urbanism Book
To honor the publication of the Harvard Gulf Sustainable Urbanism Book, Harvard University and Msheireb Properties hosted a program of Virtual Panels, beginning with an initial introductory event on Wednesday 7th October, 2020. 

This Launch was followed by two virtual online ‘super-panels’ composed of leading experts, who presented the salient lessons gleamed from the past that can be very relevant today, either directly or through careful interpretation. For that reason, this groundbreaking body of research knowledge has the potential to become an invaluable source of guidance when making holistic, sustainable decisions for the future urbanism of the Gulf region.

On October the 21st, Chair of Urban Economy Forum, Reza Pourvaziry was honored to be given a speaker role at the virtual online  super panels. Mr. Reza Pourvaziry, based on his perception, talked about 3 main topics: urban values, the use of proper and relevant scales of space in cities, and relevant urban architecture that is related to lifestyles of people. The streams were published on Gulf Sustainable Urbanism's official website, please click here to view the videos.

The Regent Park World Urban Pavilion Announcement
We are honored to announce ‘The Regent Park World Urban Pavilion' which is a joint initiative between Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) - Government of Canada and Urban Economy Forum (UEF). The Regent Park World Urban Pavilion was announced on November 12th via a live stream on CMHC's official website. The launch was moderated by the newly elected Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre Marci Len, and speakers included Ibrahim Afrah, community representative from Regent Park, Ahmed Hussen, Canadian Minister for Families, Children and Social Development, Mayor John Tory, City of Toronto, and Director of UN-Habitat office in Mexico and Cuba Region and Head of Knowledge and Innovation, Dr Eduardo Moreno.   

The Pavilion will create a springboard for collaboration and collective action to advance crucial conversations covering a wide range of topics, explore urban economy and finance public participation through different lenses, and open up dialogues globally about urbanism. It will be a knowledge exchange hub for academic discourses, achievements, research, best practices, projects, ideas and initiatives about urbanism to realize the goal of sustainable urban development. The Pavilion will help move SDG 11 and other goals related to urbanization forward, along with the New Urban Agenda (NUA), and the resolution for sustainable urban development adopted by Habitat III and endorsed by the UN General Assembly. 

We are excited to share more information about Regent Park World Urban Pavilion in the upcoming months and weeks, on our official website ueforum.org and social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.