The 11th World Urban Forum (WUF) held in Katowice, Poland during June 26-30 has come at a crucial time for cities given the looming threats of extreme, adverse climate events amidst the pandemic that has ravaged almost every part of the globe. Cities all over have borne the brunt of the pandemic, some more severely than others, in terms of economic disruptions and human trauma. In several cases, cities’ infrastructure has struggled and sometimes failed to respond to the crisis inspite of best efforts.
The biennial WUF was established in 2001 by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies. The first WUF was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002.
Events such as WUF will play an important role in bringing together voices from across the world in our efforts to address the pressing demands of urbanisation. Such platforms are vital in sharing knowledge and best practices in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration and in stitching together valuable, lasting partnerships. The challenges are common in most cities of the world – air quality, public healthcare, sustainable mobility, effective waste management, affordable housing, etc.; yet several issues are more acute in some parts. For example, the developing countries face specially tough challenges with respect to housing, urban poverty, public healthcare and service delivery. And therefore there is need for additional platforms for cooperation and collaboration within different regions of the world that have similar challenges.
Forums such as WUF are however most valuable in bringing together experiences and learnings from a wide variety of cities of the globe. These would cover appropriate policy formulation, rolling out effective implementation measures on the ground, monitoring, evaluation, and documenting outcomes, and importantly sharing useful experiences with larger forums. Policymakers could put in place mechanisms for such sharing among cities, regions, and at global platforms. The challenges of urbanisation are significant and need collective efforts to address them effectively and expeditiously. Upon this will depend our success towards achievement of the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. At the closing ceremony of WUF, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, captured the vital importance of the issue saying, “The climate emergency, pandemics, the housing crisis, violence and conflict, all converge in cities. If we want to transform to a better urban future, we will have to increasingly deal with urban crises. We have no excuse not to be prepared.”
Among highlights of the event was the Urban Expo with exhibitors from around 40 countries, and the launch of the World Cities Report. This issue of Urban Update covers these and the rest of WUF 11 with first hand reports and analyses. We are confident readers will find it of value.
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