The Cities Alliance has a tradition of successful, dynamic participation in the World Urban Forum, and this year’s event in Naples, Italy 1-7 September was no exception.
The Cities Alliance has a tradition of successful, dynamic participation in the World Urban Forum, and this year’s event in Naples, Italy 1-7 September was no exception.
The partnership hosted a large, well appointed booth in the Exhibition Hall, which attracted a wide range of visitors, from Ministers and mayors to urban planning students and representatives of civil society.
The booth, which was again shared with the Global City Indicators Facility (GCIF) as in Rio, featured interactive presentations by representatives from two of our Country Programmes, Ghana and Vietnam, who discussed the innovative programmes with visitors and answered questions. It was also a focal point for Cities Alliance members, who networked and held small bilateral meetings there.
In addition to the booth, the Cities Alliance presented a Networking Event based on its 2012 Catalytic Fund, themed “Youth and the City.” The event, which was filled to capacity, showcased various perspectives on economic development for the urban youth. Five women presenters from different countries shared their personal experiences, stressing that youth is an integral part of the city that should be viewed as a resource rather than a security issue.
A major event was also the launch of an exciting new slum upgrading publication, Slum Upgrading: Lessons from Brazil, on 5 September. (For more about the publication, please see the next news item, “Exploring Lessons Learned from a Decade of Slum Upgrading in Brazil.”
Cities Alliance also supported its members and partners at their many sessions. Manager William Cobbett participated in three sessions, one on city metrics hosted by the GCIF; a GIZ side event on the role of national urban fora in shaping development policies; and a French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs event on strategic urban planning.
Urban Specialist Dr. Rene Peter Hohmann also shared some of Cities Alliance’s experiences with strategic urban planning at a training event hosted by India’s CEPT University on linking city sanitation plans with city development planning.
In his presentation, Dr. Hohmann discussed City Development Strategies (CDS) undertaken in the Philippines, Alexandria (Egypt), Douala and Agra, and explored some of the elements that led to success as well as challenges. (Download Dr. Hohmann’s presentation “Mobilising partnerships for urban strategic planning: Experiences from City Development Strategies.”)
With the World Urban Forum behind us, the Cities Alliance is preparing for a number of other events this year. We will host an event on incremental housing moderated by Sr. Urban Specialist Julian Baskin at the 6th Urban and Knowledge Research Symposium (URKS6) in Barcelona, Spain 8-10 October 2012. Cities Alliance Manager William Cobbett will also moderate two events, one on sustainable approaches to slum upgrading and another on the development of a European Union policy to support local authorities in development.
We will also have a strong presence at Africities, the premier event for African local government organised by United Cities and Local Governments in Africa (UCLGA) every three years. The 2012 summit will be held 4-8 December in Dakar, Senegal.
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