New Stories, comments and articles from Citiscope - August 2015
Towards Habitat III - next year, in October 2016, Habitat III will take place in Quito, Ecuador. It is 20 years since Habitat II in Istanbul and urban development issues have changed in many ways. Photo: Cayambe/Wikimedia Commons.
Final Negotiations for Urban Sustainable Development Goals Concluded
UN Member States reached a consensus on the final framework for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) that will replace the Millennium Goals in 2016. Unlike the previous goals, the SDG's covers targets and indicators for all countries - not only the poorest - and for the first time they also include cities and urban-specific development goals, not only entire countries. The Habitat III conference is mentioned as an important step in the process. Greg Scruggs is the correspondent of Citiscope for Habitat III - read his report here
Urban Dialogues Inform the Habitat III preparations
A digital message board set up by UN-Habitat under the name of Urban Dialogues attracted 10,000 users from 179 countries took part in the discussions and hundreds of posts were published on the six broad themes for discussion. The discussions are being documented and will form part of the bases for the final recommendations being drafted bu the thematic groups. Read more.
Background Story: What is Habitat III?
The global summit called Habitat III , or more formally, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Stustainable Urban Development, takes place in Quito, Ecuador, 17-20 October 2016. This is the first time in 20 years that the international community and national governments will have a chance to harmonize their understanding of problems as well as challenges and opportunities in urban development on a global scale. See Citiscope's "Explainer" for more background information.
Innovative Financing Needed for Urban Futures
Cities allover the world are struggling to provide the everyday services to their citizens and at the same time fund large infrastructure projects for the future. Large external challenges, out of cities' control, add to the problems. The subject of financing has to be a more prominent feature in planning, writes George W McCarthy, president and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a Citiscope Commentary. Read the whole story.
Towards Habitat III
Citiscope's editors and independent journalists publish articles and other news stories to help cities around the world to work with the challenges of climate change, poverty, congestions and urban qualities.By telling stories in a credible way, Citiscope builds trust and draws attention to the world's cities innovative and imaginative steps to build sustainable futures for all citizens. Stories originally published on Citiscope will be available through Mistra Urban Futures website, as well as links to additional material. Mistra Urban Futures will primarily mirror stories, comments, articles concerning the preparations for Habitat III in October 2016, called "Toward Habitat III", but also other links and material will be published and/or promoted.
