NEWS

         

The round table Urban Equity in Development - Cities for Life, organized by the Cátedra Medellin-Barcelona, was held on 3 March, a Metropolis Initiative promoted by the Kreanta Foundation. The meeting was a preparatory session for the Seventh World Urban Forum (WUF7) in Medellin and featured the participation of Metropolis Secretary General Alain Le Saux.

The purpose of the meeting was to promote the initiatives that both CIDEU (the Iberian-American Center for Strategic Urban Development) and the UN-Habitat’s World Urban Forum (WUF7) will present at their congresses to be held in the city of Medellin from 3 to 5 April and 5 to 11 April 2014, respectively. The 21st CIDEU Congress will be able to link its conclusions and reflections with those of WUF7, carrying its viewpoint beyond the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American regions. CIDEU will share its vision with the international community in a session scheduled for 1.30 pm on 7 April in the City Changer room. 

CIDEU Secretary General Maravillas Rojo presented the objectives and content of the 21st CIDEU Congress. Under the slogan “Cities for Life”, the aim is to create a ‘main square’ over three days where cities can share and boost mutual learning on different intangible factors related to the “urban soul”: the values a city promotes, its ability to create opportunities and the extent to which it is inclusive and balanced. For more information, click here.

“There is a change of paradigm; today the city is considered an asset,” says Carmen Sánchez-Miranda, Head of the UN-Habitat office in Spain, underlining the focus of WUF7, which more than 14,000 people have already signed up to attend. Equity in Urban Development – Cities for Life is the theme of WUF 2014, which is why Ms Sánchez-Miranda highlighted ‘equity’ as the key to generating wellbeing in our societies. An online discussion will be opened on this matter during the Forum and which you are invited to participate in or follow at the following link: http://wuf7.unhabitat.org/wuf7-e-debate. The same address includes work being done for the Habitat III Conference in 2016.

For his part, Metropolis Secretary General Alain Le Saux reflected on the importance of tackling urban development on local city agendas from the gender equity perspective. In turn, Metropolis, as the organizer of the parallel session City Balances: Correcting Spatial, Social and Economic Inequalities through Integrated Governance, Planning and Development to take place at WUF7 on 9 April, will contribute its conclusions regarding urban equity together with the collaboration of INTA (International Urban Development Association) and UN-Habitat.

Barcelona City Council was represented by Albert Civit, deputy manager for Planning, who presented the Council’s urban habitat program and said that “telecommunications are an important tool in the improvement of cities”. He also used the occasion to mention the significant participation of the city of Barcelona at WUF7.

The event was presented and moderated by Félix Manito, president and CEO of the Kreanta Foundation, and Sandra Bestraten, a member of the College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC), Barcelona office. It was closed by Lluis Comerón, the dean of the College of Architects of Catalonia.

Left to right: Félix Manito, president and CEO of the Kreanta Foundation; Maravillas Rojo, Secretary General of the Iberian- American Center for Strategic Urban Development, and Alain Le Saux, Secretary General of the World Association of Major Metropolises (Metropolis).

More information on the CIDEU Conference

More information on the 7th World Urban Forum