Vision, mission and principles

We exist to help make metropolises more liveable. In a world where soon one in three people will live in metropolises, this means fostering tangible improvements for millions of human lives.

Vision

The world’s big cities offer a high quality of life for their citizens—fostering economic development, sustainability, social cohesion and gender equality.

Mission

To bring together big cities to share solutions that improve the quality of metropolitan life. Big cities are great—they foster innovation, creativity, scientific progress, productivity, diversity and exchange.

But life in big metropolitan spaces is not great for everyone—it can bring pollution, traffic congestion, segregation, noise, substandard housing, unsafety, climate risks, and more.

We want to change that. If, as we believe, the future is metropolitan, then big cities must face up to their global responsibilities.

Objectives

We prepare big cities for the future through:

Connecting cities through policy exchanges

Providing foresight and anticipation of future risks and opportunities

Supporting administrations to innovate and change

Our core values

In our work together, Metropolis members and the secretariat team are united in our vision to create thriving, inclusive and sustainable metropolitan areas. Metropolis’ core values guide not only the work we do together but how we relate to one another in our journey to co-create better cities.

Sharing

While every metropolitan area is unique, their challenges and opportunities are often quite similar. Sharing solutions and knowledge bolsters local leadership locally — and fuels our collective spirit globally to make Metropolis a force for positive change.

Learning

In times of rapid change and constant disruption, metropolitan leaders must stay ahead of emerging issues. Metropolis is a hub for gathering and disseminating the knowledge members need to adapt and innovate.

Caring

Staff are responsive to members’ needs and attentive to their priorities. As a result of the association’s work and programming, members should feel supported and empowered. 

Accountability

Metropolis members co-create the association’s action plan every three years; results are tracked quarterly and financial reports are easily available on our website. Members can plainly see how their association is managed and know that we are accountable to each other as a community.
 

How we work

At the Secretariat General we are committed to generating a positive impact on the
environment, social cohesion and gender equality

environment

social cohesion

gender equality