31/8/2010 - Former mayor of Barcelona nominated to head UN-HABITAT
31/8/2010 - City Centres - a thing of the past?
30/8/2010 - Hamburg designated 2011 European Green Capital
30/8/2010 - America's First Bicycle-Only Subdivision
29/8/2010 - URBACT Case study of cities response to the crisis
28/8/2010 - Conference on local sports: combatting poverty and social exclusion
28/8/2010 - New United Nations panel to address sustainability
27/8/2010 - Cities against poverty and social exclusion: child poverty
27/8/2010 - Bangkok's 'No Bag, No Baht' project
26/8/2010 - Trust in Government Conference: how to build, maintain and improve trust
26/8/2010 - An Olympic Gamble for Community Revitalization
25/8/2010 - Best Practices Award 2010, UN-HABITAT
24/8/2010 - Kazakhstan Utopia Debuts
24/8/2010 - Budget Crisis Taking Toll on City Services
23/8/2010 - How to manage diversity in EU regions and cities?
23/8/2010 - More Cyclists Means Safer Streets
22/8/2010 - Tibaijuka calls for more investment in housing and urban infrastructure
21/8/2010 - A City on the Pacific Garbage Patch?
20/8/2010 - Register for Local Governments' Day on local water strategies in a changing climate
20/8/2010 - C40 Hong Kong Workshop 'Low Carbon Cities for High Quality Living'
19/8/2010 - Revitalizing Downtown in Small and Mid-Sized Cities
19/8/2010 - No effective outcomes at COP16 without local governments
18/8/2010 - More EU action needed to help cities support digital inclusion
18/8/2010 - The "Instant Cities" of Industrial China
18/8/2010 - Publication - Building News Urban Identities
17/8/2010 - Artificial Trees Could Be Climate Key
17/8/2010 - UN-HABITAT awards 51 global youth empowerment projects
16/8/2010 - Supporting cities for sustainable solutions
15/8/2010 - IMPACTS Annual Conference, Rome
14/8/2010 - Seoul tops global cities ranking for e-govt
13/8/2010 - Development cooperation: PLATFORMA launches new website
13/8/2010 - Innovative Bus Concept from China
12/8/2010 - URBACT projects publish recommendations for sustainable urban development
12/8/2010 - Designing Urban Areas to Hear the Sounds of the City
11/8/2010 - ICLEI Case Studies now available online
10/8/2010 - London's 'Cycle Superhighways'
10/8/2010 - "A Charter for the Democratic Use of Video Surveillance” in European Cities
9/8/2010 - Reviving Struggling Urban Areas with Parks
9/8/2010 - Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit for Local Governments
8/8/2010 - China's Cities: All Show, No Substance?
7/8/2010 - “Breakfast at Sustainability’s”
7/8/2010 - Liveability Loses Out
6/8/2010 - Results of Cities for Mobility World Congress
6/8/2010 - Innovative Ideas for Urban Agriculture
5/8/2010 - Bordeaux 2010: online registration is open!
5/8/2010 - San Juan to Ban Cars, Make "Walkable City"
5/8/2010 - Save the date! 14 September: More urban, more cohesion
4/8/2010 - Putting Schools on the Map
3/8/2010 - United States government putting clean energy program at risk
3/8/2010 - Cities Are Influenced By Theme Parks, World's Fairs, etc.
3/8/2010 - UN-HABITAT supports grassroots projects
2/8/2010 - Outsourced City
2/8/2010 - Northern prefectures answer Tokyo's demand for renewable energy
1/8/2010 - Berlin's Former Airport Opens As Park
1/8/2010 - Participate in the EUKN conference poster contest!
1/8/2010 - World Population Day: Everyone Counts
Former mayor of Barcelona nominated to head UN-HABITAT
United Nations Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon has nominated Mr. Joan Clos, a former mayor of Barcelona as the next head of UN-HABITAT. If the nomination is approved by the General Assembly, he will serve a four year term as the head of the agency.
Mr. Clos has a long career in the Spanish Government both at the local and national level. Between 2006 and 2008, he was appointed Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade in President José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's cabinet. Prior to this, between 1997 and 2006, Joan Clos served two terms as Mayor of Barcelona. He is currently Ambassador to the Republics of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
If elected, he will succeed Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka who has headed UN-HABITAT since it was formed in 2001 to replace the UN Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS). The agency is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
City Centres - a thing of the past?
Kerwin Datu suggests that transit in cities of the future should no longer be organized around a distinct center. "Rather than think of a city as a centre surrounded by suburbs, think of it as a patchwork of specialised districts woven together."
Datu asks "what is the center?" Often it is a historical, commercial or financial district but he pointedly argues that there is no need for either of these to be "at the centre of a large city, nor in the same place, and it would make for better planning if we abandoned the myth of the city centre altogether."
He argues that the importance of the city center around the world is more often than not the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Most older city centers have been subject to an upward spiral of infrastructure investment which has fortified their hollow pre-eminence within the metropolis.
Datu states that rather than reduce congestion, increased public transport merely increases a city's commuting capacity, most often with an intense centralizing effect.
"Large cities today need to be planned not in concentric circles, but as tapestries. We still need differing degrees of intensity across urban areas, but these should be planned as an orderly modulation of intensity throughout the metropolis."
http://globalurbanist.com/2010/07/29/a-city-doesnt-need-a-centre-but-it-does-need-realistic-planning.aspx
Hamburg designated 2011 European Green Capital
The European Commission developed the European Green Capital Awards to recognize European cities whose environmental performance stands out from the crowd.
The European continent is an overwhelmingly urban place with 80% of Europe's citizens now living in towns and cities.
ICLEI Member city Hamburg, Germany, has been selected as the 2011 Green Capital. Stockholm, Sweden, also an ICLEI Member, took the inaugural 2010 title.
The Awards website highlights the European Commission's belief in local authorities' role om 'improving the environment, and their high level of commitment to genuine progress' in this area.
The Awards were conceived at a meeting between European cities in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2006 – the Tallinn Memorandum explains the reasoning behind their establishment.
About 35 cities applied for the 2010 and 2011 awards; Of these, only eight cities – all of whom are ICLEI Members – were selected as finalists on the basis of how well they can model good green behaviour to other European cities
America's First Bicycle-Only Subdivision
A new themed subdivision is under development in South Carolina. But this is no golf course community. It's a cyclist oriented, car-free experiment called Bicycle City.
"The planners behind Bicycle City see the city plan as a holistic approach to solving society’s problems as it addresses several problems at once, like obesity, climate change, and alternative energy.
Co-founder Joe Mellett tells us that he envisions car-free towns as a “showcase for wind and solar energy as well as architects who specialize in green and LEED-certified problems.”
URBACT Case study of cities response to the crisis
Cities are clearly on the front line when it comes to the impact of the crisis and they will play a major role in both exploring and implementing many of the solutions which directly effect people's lives. Based on the results of the URBACT survey on the impact of the economic crisis and the responses of URBACT cities, 10 URBACT cities have been preselected for in depth case studies of cities response to the crisis. Second city in the spotlight after Newcastle: Jyväskylä located in central Finland. http://urbact.eu/en/header-main/news-and-events/view-one/urbact-news/?entryId=4971
Conference on local sports: combatting poverty and social exclusion
The European Conference on Local Sports Participation, organised in the framework of the Belgian EU Presidency and in the context of the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion,.will be held on 13 and 14 October in Leuven, Belgium.
The conference will focus on social inclusion, combating poverty and, more specifically, promoting sports participation in social groups at risk of exclusion.
What kinds of initiatives reach those who would otherwise not participate in sports? Do municipalities truly develop and implement socially inclusive sports policies? What kind of infrastructures contribute to activating social groups at risk of exclusion? These will be among the topics to be discussed at this occasion. http://www.sportsparticipation2010.eu/
New United Nations panel to address sustainability
The Presidents of Finland and South Africa will lead a new panel established by the United Nations (UN) to promote a global plan for sustainable development, as well as addressing climate change. Finnish President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma head up a panel that includes, amongst others, the Prime Minister of Barbados and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, as well as former Prime Ministers from Norway, Korea, Japan and Mozambique.
The panel has been named Global Sustainability High Level Working Group and will concentrate on sustainable global development and work to address poverty in a way that does not harm the environment. The final report of Global Sustainability High Level Working Group will be submitted by the end of 2011.
It is hoped that the findings from these reports could help set the agenda for the 2012 Rio De Janeiro UN Sustainable Growth conference.
Cities against poverty and social exclusion: child poverty
On 30 September and 1 October, EUROCITIES together with Newcastle and Gateshead City Councils will hold a seminar dedicated to child poverty in cities. It will be the final meeting in the EUROCITIES series of seminars held as part of our activities for the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
Child poverty has a clear urban dimension. In many cities, the levels of child poverty are higher than the respective national averages. The aim of this seminar is to examine the problem of child poverty from different perspectives (local, national, European, NGO, public institutions) and discuss possible solutions and approaches to tackle it, as well as challenges ahead.
Specific issues to be examined include multi-agency approaches to tackling child poverty, the voice of the child, financial well-being of families and raising aspirations of children from poor families. The participants will also have the opportunity to visit Sure Start Children’s Centres in Newcastle and Gateshead.
The EUROCITIES event will bring together representatives from cities, national governments, the European Commission, the academic community and key NGOs. Four cities (Leipzig, Newcastle, Stockholm and Gateshead) will compare their practices and share experiences.
Bangkok's 'No Bag, No Baht' project
For the second year in a row, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is running a 45-day 'No Bag, No Baht' project in an attempt to curb the city's use of plastic bags.
The project encourages consumers to use cloth shopping bags by awarding customers a one-baht (three United States cents) discount for every 100-baht (about three United States Dollars, USD). Customers who use plastic bags are charged one baht for each plastic bag.
Last year's project resulted in a cutback of 4.4 million plastic bags in Bangkok. This year, the city's authorities are aiming for a cutback of around 13 million.
Local businesses are cooperating with the plastic bag campaign – more than 5,000 stores in Bangkok's Chatuchak weekend market participated in the program when it was launched this Spring.
Trust in Government Conference: how to build, maintain and improve trust
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is organising a conference on “Trust in Government: Build – Maintain – Improve” in collaboration with its member association, the Association of. Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), to be held on 13 October 2010 in the Hague.
CEMR and VNG both hope to provide participants, including local and regional elected representatives, with a platform for discussing and exchanging on the confidence and trust citizens have for their public administrations and for democratic institutions and processes.
How can local and regional politicians build, maintain and improve the trust their citizens have in their government? Such will be the main question addressed during the conference alongside a number of topics such as, the issue of political culture, the role of citizens' perceptions and expectations and factors that influence citizens' trust in public authorities.
The influence of different social and political values on trust and the examination of new ways and methods of involving citizens in local and regional issues will also be addressed during the event. https://sites.google.com/site/trustingovernment/
An Olympic Gamble for Community Revitalization
East London is the home of the city's poorest and most overlooked neighborhoods. It's also home to the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics, which officials hope will revive the struggling area.
The games will cost a total of roughly £9.3-billion ($14.8 billion USD), which some locals say is a big investment that might not end up improving the long-term success of the city's East End.
"The poverty is made all the more jarring by geography. Just to the west lies a pocket of wealth – the shiny towers of Canary Wharf, stuffed with investment banks, BMWs and men in Brioni suits. Stratford City could be on a different planet.
But turn the corner, and there it is – Europe’s biggest urban mall. Called Westfield Stratford City, the £1.45-billion, U.S.-style monument to shopping is nearing completion and will cover 1.9 million square feet. That’s just the start, for the mall will be the gateway to the 2012 Olympic Games. The Olympic stadium, with 80,000 seats, is 90 per cent finished. The other structures, from the Calgary Saddledome-style velodrome to the aquatic centre, which looks like a great white stingray, are going up quickly. With 23 months to go before the opening ceremonies, the site’s 10,000 workers are at the peak of what is known as 'the big build.'"
Best Practices Award 2010, UN-HABITAT
400 programmes have been submitted worldwide for the Dubai Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment, which will be presented in November 2010 as part of the UN-HABITAT Best Practices Programme.
The evaluation round carried out in the past two months by the individual best-practice centres, before passing on the entries to the Technical Advisory Committee and finally to a jury, revealed some clear trends in relation to the innovative programmes implemented by individual cities in Europe.
http://tinavienna.at/index.php?p_id=1281599297&last_id=1281599297&l_id=en&s_id=6f191d5bca015bc0ef50b15b952e61dc
Kazakhstan Utopia Debuts
Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa designed a utopian vision interweaving the city and nature. Three years after his death, his vision is complete. Rowan More of the Observer pays Astana, the new capital, a visit.
Rowan asks, "...can a city, in all its teeming complexity, really be planned? Or does the attempt lead only to a synthetic simulacrum, a kind-of city that is not quite the real thing?"
Nonetheless, Rowan is surprised by the boldness of Kurokawa's vision:
"To look at, Astana is so strange that it has one grasping for images. It's a space station, marooned in an ungraspable expanse of level steppe, its name (to English speakers) having the invented sound of a science fiction writer's creation. It's a city of fable or dream, as recounted by Marco Polo to Kublai Khan." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/08/astana-kazakhstan-space-station-steppes
Budget Crisis Taking Toll on City Services
State and municipal governments across the United States are facing an unprecedented financial crisis, prompting many of them to cut back drastically on public services in order to reduce costs.
The New York Times provides three major examples of how governments are coping with budget shortfalls - with education, public transit and public safety taking significant hits:
"Faced with the steepest and longest decline in tax collections on record, state, county and city governments have resorted to major life-changing cuts in core services like education, transportation and public safety that, not too long ago, would have been unthinkable. And services in many areas could get worse before they get better. Around the country, there have already been drastic cuts in core services like education, transportation and public safety, and there are likely to be more before the downturn ends.
Around the country, public transportation has taken a beating during the downturn. Fares typically cover less than half the cost of each ride, and the state and local taxes that most systems depend on have been plummeting. In most places, that has meant longer waits for more crowded, dirtier and more expensive trains and buses."
The article describes three examples: Hawaii "furloughs" its schoolchildren by closing its schools for 17 days; Clayton County in Georiga shuts down its transit system, and Colorado Springs turns off its street lights. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/us/07cutbacksWEB.html?_r=2&hp
How to manage diversity in EU regions and cities?
The European Commission is organising a workshop on "Managing diversity in EU regions and cities" in the framework of the Open Days to take place in Brussels on 6 October 2010.
The workshop's objective will be to look at the problems regions and cities are facing when it comes to managing a diverse society and facilitating the integration of all people regardless of their background, be it ethnic, religious or other.
Examples of good practices for the management of culturally diverse societies in order to ensure the integration of all people will be presented on this occasion.
More information is available on the Open Days website (only in English). http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/od2010/index.cfm
More Cyclists Means Safer Streets
Studies show that traffic-calming measures and bike lanes increase the number of cyclists on the street and decrease the risk of collisions.
Montréal and Toronto are expanding their bike infrastructure, giving reporter Michelle Lalonde a reason to look and see if the investment will pay off. Reports are that expanding bike lanes and traffic calming works:
"The studies are showing that the more cyclists there are on the street, the safer they are,” said Dr. Patrick Morency, a public health and safety specialist with Montreal’s public health department.He said more traffic-calming and safe bike routes will attract more cyclists, and the greater visibility of cyclists in turn will slow traffic.
“We don’t know whether drivers adapt their driving or whether the cycling infrastructure itself is making cyclists safer, but we do know that concerns about safety is the key factor people give for not cycling, and that improving safety facilities (like bike paths) increases the numbers of people cycling.”
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/cycling+safety+More+cyclists/3349544/story.html
Tibaijuka calls for more investment in housing and urban infrastructure
The Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, has called for greater government and private sector investment in housing and urban infrastructure in order to improve the living conditions of the poor. The Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, has called for greater government and private sector investment in housing and urban infrastructure in order to improve the living conditions of the poor. She made the call today in her office while receiving the credentials of the new Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to UN-HABITAT, Mr. Milan Zachar.
Mrs. Tibaijuka recalled that before she came to UN-HABITAT ten years ago, few people were talking about the problems of slums; but now, many governments and individuals are taking up the challenge. Mrs. Tibaijuka observed that improving slums is not only a question of money but also a question of political will.
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=8729&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0&AllContent=1
A City on the Pacific Garbage Patch?
Dutch conservationists are proposing to create a floating community built on top of the patch of garbage swirling out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The conservationists foresee a million-person community on the floating patch of garbage.
"Recycled Island is a plan to clean up 44 million kilos of plastic waste from the North Pacific Gyre, which stretches from California to Japan, and provide 10,000 square kilometres (3,861 square miles) of sustainable living space in the process. Solar and wave energy would provide power for islanders while sustainable fishing and agriculture could provide their food.
According to the website for Whim Architecture, which designed the concept: 'The proposal has three main aims: cleaning our oceans from a gigantic amount of plastic waste, creating new land and constructing a sustainable habitat.'"
Register for Local Governments' Day on local water strategies in a changing climate
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), Climate Alliance and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability are organising a Local Governments' Day to be held on 13 September 2010 in Munich, Germany.
The event's programme, entitled “Cities adapt: local water strategies in a changing climate”, will give local and regional elected representatives as well as experts the opportunity to share their experiences on adapting water management to a changing climate.
Building knowledge on the impacts of climate change on local water systems and identifying key ingredients for a successful adaptation strategy will be among the topics discussed during the Local Governments' Day. The governance dimension will also be addressed through good examples of cooperation on a municipal and regional scale. Thus, the contribution of local governments to the EU strategy on adaptation to climate change will be outlined.
The Local Governments' Day is to be held in conjunction with IFAT ENTSORGA, the International Trade Fair for Water, Sewage, Refuse and Recycling, at which some 4000 participants interested in water issues will gather from 13 to 17 September. http://www.ccre.org/news_detail_en.htm?ID=1902
C40 Hong Kong Workshop 'Low Carbon Cities for High Quality Living'
5-6 November 2010, Hong Kong
This event will bring cities together to discuss the challenges and opportunities of creating modern, low carbon, high quality, liveable metropolitan centres.
The programme is organised around two themes:
Buildings - with a special focus on retrofitting existing buildings and new build best practice, and
Transport - with a special focus on electric vehicles (EVs)
http://www.c40cities.org/events/index.jsp
Revitalizing Downtown in Small and Mid-Sized Cities
Small and mid-sized cities in Canada are taking innovative steps to revitalize their downtowns, and lure businesses and entrepreneurs back.
"Smaller cities across Canada are investing millions to kick-start growth and bring foot traffic and entrepreneurs like Mr. Christian back to their downtown cores.
But revitalizing a tired downtown is an uphill battle that requires more than money – it takes time, strategic vision, a diversity of businesses and a realization that competing head-to-head with the likes of Wal-Mart is a non-starter."
Much of the effort starts with realizing that traditional downtown retail is dead, according to experts.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/mid-sized-cities-make-progress-in-revitalizing-downtowns/article1657893/
No effective outcomes at COP16 without local governments
UCLG and ICLEI delivered joint interventions at the UN Climate Talks, held from 2 - 6 August in Bonn, highlighting that without appropriate recognition of the role of cities and local governments, national governments will not be able to reach tangible, effective outcomes at the UN Conference to be held in Cancun, Mexico on 29 November - 10 December 2010.
The interventions submitted at the opening and the closing by the two organizations also highlighted that on 21 November 2010 in Mexico City, cities and local governments are preparing to launch their global response for measurable, reportable, verifiable local climate action.
The submissions were delivered by Mr. Ronan Dantec, Vice Mayor of the City of Nantes, a ICLEI Member and the spokesperson of UCLG, and by Yunus Arikan, Manager of the ICLEI's Cities Climate Center.
More EU action needed to help cities support digital inclusion
Recommendations from expert workshop on digital exclusion in Europe
A EUROCITIES workshop held on 9 June in Linkoping gathered experts from academia, NGOs and the EU institutions to share insights into city work and EU policy in the area of digital inclusion.
Digital skills and access have long been acknowledged as benefits towards employability, social inclusion and integration, minority rights, and overall economic growth. ICT use is now acknowledged as the third basic life skill after literacy and numeracy. Digital inclusion is therefore social inclusion with an ICT stream.
At the Linkoping meeting, there was broad acknowledgment that local governments and their partners are delivering the bulk of actions aimed at supporting digital inclusion and that they are in the best position to identify typically excluded profiles such as migrants, the elderly and disabled, the unemployed, and those with low level qualifications.
One of the main recommendations from the workshop was the need for further EU action to support local level action. It was suggested that councils could act as ‘inclusion platforms’ by streamlining and coordinating digital inclusion activities that are being designed and delivered by various actors, e.g. local companies, universities etc. operating in the city.
A number of conditions were recommended regarding the strengthening of third sector organisations and social enterprises and getting the buy-in from the private sector to play a lead role in enhancing the accessibility of online services, as well as for applications such as mobile phones or cash points (ATMs).
The "Instant Cities" of Industrial China
This year China will add 17 million people to its urban population. To house them, places like Guangzhou and Shanghai are constructing 'instant cities.' Christoph Gielen traveled through these developments, documenting the expansion.
"Walt Whitman imagined a future in which the global community was “welded” together, and Mao Zedong promised to build a “forest of chimneys” in Beijing. Industry has long been yoked to visions of utopia, but for decades now, we’ve also been quantifying the toxic emissions, rising temperatures and habitat fragmentation associated with unchecked growth."
In these photos, we can see both the "grandeur and the fear" associated with this kind of over development.
Gielen consulted maps, rode subways to their ends and wandered by foot for hours, searching for sites that he could transform into images that would both marvel at and interrogate urban infrastructure. He also hoped, in vain, to find the edge of the metropolis.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/chinas-instant-cities/?scp=3&sq=cities&st=cse
Publication - Building News Urban Identities
How to build urban identity in the context of city regions and globalisation? NeT-TOPIC, the URBACT project looking for new tools and approaches for managing urban transformation processes in intermediate cities, dealt with this key issue during its second thematic seminar which took place in Salford on 21st-22nd October 2009. Following this event, NeT-TOPIC has produced its second Thematic Publication entitled "Building News Urban Identities – From mono-functional to multi-functional cities". This document gathers good practice examples as well as the interventions and conclusions from the Seminar.
http://urbact.eu/en/header-main/news-and-events/view-one/urbact-news/?entryId=4969
Artificial Trees Could Be Climate Key
Carbon dioxide is one of the most widespread greenhouse gases produced by humans. Trees can absorb it, but release it when they die. Scientists are looking to build artificial trees to do the job permanently.
"Trees can take CO2 back out again—but even covering the planet with forests wouldn’t solve our problem, and there would be an awful lot of wood to preserve. (If allowed to rot or burn, trees release their carbon again.) Physicist Klaus Lackner thinks he has a better idea: Suck CO2 out of the air with 'artificial trees' that operate a thousand times faster than real ones.
They don’t exist yet, and when they do, they probably won’t look like real trees. But in Lackner’s lab at Columbia University he and colleague Allen Wright are experimenting with bits of whitish-beige plastic that you might call artificial leaves. The plastic is a resin of the kind used to pull calcium out of water in a water softener. When Lackner and Wright impregnate that resin with sodium carbonate, it pulls carbon dioxide out of the air. The extra carbon converts the sodium carbonate to bicarbonate, or baking soda."
The artificial trees could absorbs the carbon dioxide, but only hold it until it is removed for proper disposal, another as-yet-unanswered question.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/13/carbon-capture
UN-HABITAT awards 51 global youth empowerment projects
UN-HABITAT has awarded grants from its Urban Youth Fund to 51 projects proposed by young people from around the world.
The beneficiaries were drawn from a pool of 1,563 applicants from 85 countries. India, Kenya and Zimbabwe generated the greatest number of successful applicants under the programme which awards grants worth in total close to USD one million annually.
The 51 winning projects from 31 countries will be announced globally on International Youth Day on 12 August. The projects showcase innovative ideas aimed at alleviating poverty, improving employment prospects for young people and increasing the participation of young people in democratic processes.
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=8710&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0
Supporting cities for sustainable solutions
Please join for the 15 September conference at the European Parliament, Brussels, where experts will gather to discuss the role of cities in sustainable development and green growth.
Across Europe, cities are taking measures to address areas of energy efficiency, waste management, air quality and biodiversity in order to help create more eco-friendly environments. Cities have huge potential to offer in the area of sustainable development, yet more support is needed to help bolster their work. In particular, the lack of funding and legal bottlenecks are the main obstacles that must be overcome.
In this context, two European Parliament intergroups - one dealing with urban development, the other with climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development - are teaming up, with support from EUROCITIES, to review solutions that can help cities achieve bigger and better results from their efforts in this area.
The conference is open to participation from expert representatives of the European institutions, the EU presidencies, think-tanks, NGOs, local and regional government authorities, the business sector and members of the press. http://www.eurocities.eu/include/lib/sql_news_card.php?id=1779
IMPACTS Annual Conference, Rome
On 1 and 2 July 2010, Rome was the venue of the IMPACTS (Information Management Policies Assessment for City Transport Systems) Annual Conference. The motto of this year’s conference was “Urban Sustainable Mobility – New Projects and Technologies towards Sustainability / Rome meets Europe”.
In the course of the conference, representatives of the member cities presented solutions and strategies in the fields of urban transport strategies and master plans, air quality and monitoring, intelligent transport systems (ITS), financing of urban mobility projects and management of large-scale events.
http://www.impacts.org/euroconference/rome10.htm
Seoul tops global cities ranking for e-govt
The South Korean capital of Seoul is the world’s most advanced municipal e-government, according to a global survey of city web sites. The “Soul of Asia” topped the UN-sponsored table ahead of Prague, Hong Kong, New York and Singapore on the usability, content, services, privacy and inclusiveness of its online operations.
Seoul, which was the world’s first city to introduce wireless high-speed mobile internet services, was singled out for giving its citizens the opportunity to play an active role in governmental processes, such as the submission of ideas and suggestions on e-policies via well-organised policy forums.
Commenting on why Seoul emerged on top, Dr Jung-hee Song, Assistant Mayor for IT and Chief Information Officer, Seoul Metropolitan Government, told FutureGov: “At the core of Seoul’s success is the systematic information infrastructure, which includes e-Seoul Net and ISO 27001 ISMS (Information Security Management System). On top of this we have provided convenient and customized services that give citizens plenty of opportunity to get involved in policymaking.” http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2010/jul/21/seoul-tops-global-cities-ranking-e-govt/
Development cooperation: PLATFORMA launches new website
European local and regional authorities actively involved in development cooperation have a new tool: the PLATFORMA website.
The website features exhaustive information about PLATFORMA, the European.representative of local and regional authorities for development: What is its main objectives? How does the platform enables effective coordination of the voice of local and regional authorities to the European institutions? Who participates in the platform?
The website also includes an agenda of upcoming events and a section dedicated to its positions.
It is available in English and French.
http://www.platforma-dev.eu/en/positions-en.htm
Innovative Bus Concept from China
With mounting traffic and road space at a premium, a Chinese company is proposing a unusual new idea for public transportation -- a bus/light rail system that cars can drive underneath.
Curbed LA calls it a "car-eating bus", but that's not exactly right, since this unique design allows cars to drive under and come out the other side. The designers say it could work on rails in the road or on wheels with a autoguidance system.
http://www.geek.com/articles/news/chinese-company-proposes-a-bus-cars-can-drive-under-2010082/
URBACT projects publish recommendations for sustainable urban development
Over 70% of European citizens live in cities, making sustainable urban development a key priority for European regional policy. The European Union's URBACT programme has now published the results of six projects aimed specifically at providing solutions to major urban challenges, including cross-border cooperation between cities, land use management and housing development. Over the past two years, these projects have fostered exchange and learning among project partners to develop effective and sustainable conclusions and recommendations.
URBACT is a European Union programme targeted at urban and metropolitan regions. It aims to foster sustainable urban development by offering opportunities for increased cooperation and the exchange of good practices. The programme reaches 255 cities in 29 countries and consists of about 5,000 active participants.
More information on URBACT as well as factsheets on the individual projects and their conclusions are available at the URBACT website
http://urbact.eu/en/header-main/news-and-events/view-one/urbact-news/?entryId=4954
Designing Urban Areas to Hear the Sounds of the City
Cities make more sounds than just cars driving by or factories humming. Trevor Cox says we should embrace the subtle sounds of cities, and update our urban design to make sure we can.
"Urban design is only really concerned with abating noise made by public transport or industry: the subtle and interesting sounds that can enhance cities are overlooked. With the internal combustion engine on its way out, though, the acoustic fog created by cars, buses and trucks will finally lift and other sounds of the city will emerge. Will we like what we hear? All those annoying sounds currently masked by traffic noise, such as humming ventilation systems and music escaping from pubs, restaurants and cars, will become more audible. It's time to work out how we want our cities of the future to sound."
Cox, an acoustic engineer, argues that the sounds considered when plans are being made should include a wider variety of the sounds that can be heard in urban areas. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727711.000-beyond-decibels-planning-the-new-sounds-of-the-city.html?full=true
ICLEI Case Studies now available online
The ICLEI Case Studies series is now available online. The Series dates back to the late 1990s and chronicle locally-based projects that support sustainability. Each study documents:
•the local context of the project
•the anatomy of the project
•results
•lessons learned
•the project's replication potential
•budgeting and financial issues
The latest in the series, Case Study 118, profiles a community-based greenhouse gas reduction effort in Toronto:
Live Green Toronto is a unique environmental program designed to help community members and volunteers initiate emissions reduction activities.
http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=11546
London's 'Cycle Superhighways'
The City of London has opened up two "bicycle superhighways".
In the lead-up to the 2012 Summer Olympics, the City of London is trying to improve life for the city's cyclists and help their ranks grow. Two new cross-city bicycle routes, spearheaded by Mayor Boris Johnson, push that effort.
"The two routes, sponsored by Barclays, run from Merton to the City via the A24 and A3, and Barking to Tower Gateway via the A13 and Cable Street.
Speaking at the launch on Clapham Common in south-west London, Mr Johnson said: 'It's part of a programme of things that are going to change the urban landscape, what it's like to live in and to move around in London.'"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hef3dmqTmt97qPdmb5WCW4PkSNRA
"A Charter for the Democratic Use of Video Surveillance” in European Cities
Providing citizens with guaranties regarding the use of CCTV in European cities, that is the purpose of the “Charter for the Democratic Use of Video Surveillance” declared Friday 28th 2010 in Rotterdam at the final conference of the project “Citizens, cities and video-surveillance”.
The Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb followed by the president of the French Forum for Urban Security and Senator-Mayor of Saint-Herblain, Charles Gautier, were the first to sign and to commit their cities to the seven principals of the charter. Mr Aboutaleb underlined that “the more cameras there are, the more necessary it becomes to make sure how that camera surveillance is used in an ethical and democratic way”. Mr Gautier stressed the importance of the charter to give ethical guidance for a democratic use of CCTV respecting individual rights and privacy. Both underlined the importance of an initiative that is at the same time European – as it is a European wide phenomenon-and local -where video surveillance takes place and called European cities to follow their example and sign the charter.
The project "Citizens, Cities and Video-Surveillance", supported by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Commission, was about reflecting on and exchanging practices of the use of video-surveillance in the respect of fundamental rights and privacy. Based on the experiences and knowledge accumulated in the project, the 11 partners have developed a charter for the democratic use of CCTV in European cities.
Security versus Privacy? How can cities strike a balance between the two, knowing that they are equally important for their inhabitants? The Rotterdam conference was the occasion to share views on these ideas with local, regional, national and European policy makers and experts and to launch the initiative of the charter for the democratic use of CCTV.
Reviving Struggling Urban Areas with Parks
Three cities -- St. Louis, Houston and Detroit -- have gained new urban parks that are playing big roles in reviving parts of town.
"In cities such as St. Louis, Houston and Detroit - all victims of disinvestment in the 1960s and '70s - new parks are charged with spurring development and creating downtowns that are places to live, not just work. It's a role previously assigned to the '80s-era performing arts center and the '90s-era downtown sports venue. Thanks to parks' across-the-board appeal, wide diversity of uses and heavy programming, though, they may be the piece that ultimately completes the puzzle.
For visitors, these new downtown parks offer more than tantalizing glimmers of hope and welcome rays of sunshine. In St. Louis, world-class sculpture is the standout; in Detroit, a varied slate of live entertainment keeps things hopping; and in Houston, boccie courts and model boat racing offer a perfect afternoon of family fun."
This piece from The Washington Post profiles the three parks and their impacts on the cities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/30/AR2010073003588.html
Vision for a 21st Century Market Town
Interview with the Mayor of Barnsley
Leadership and powerful new visions are key starting points to face new paths in local development for small and middle-sized towns across Europe. Barnsley, city-partner of the URBACT Project Creative Clusters in low density urban areas is rich of these qualities. Stephen Houghton is the CBE Mayor of Barnsley. Here he shares his analysis, point of views and projects.
Barnsley (South Yorkshire, UK) has a population of 218,000 (82.000 in town) and it has a great history as a centre of coal mining. In the beginning of the 21st century a huge regeneration effort followed in order to rebuild an economic base that would offer a future for the people and to eradicate the dereliction left by industrial decline. Barnsley is contributing to the URBACT Creative Clusters network through its experience on: re-using old industrial sites for creative activities; institutionalization of a creative-oriented local development; branding the creative place; PPP schemes in creative strategies; networking creative people; art incubators; new digital media cluster; and supporting tools for creative entrepreneurs.
http://urbact.eu/en/header-main/news-and-events/view-one/urbact-news/?entryId=4967
Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit for Local Governments
by: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit for Local Governments to assist local governments with identifying and removing barriers to sustainable design and green building within their permitting process.
This Toolkit addresses the codes/ordinances that would affect the design, construction, renovation, and operation and maintenance of a building and its immediate site. There are two sections to the Toolkit: the first section is an Assessment Tool and Resource Guide. The second section is a guide to developing an Action Plan for implementing changes within a community’s permitting process.
http://www.epa.gov/region4/recycle/green-building-toolkit.pdf“Breakfast at Sustainability’s”
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Tallinn (European Capital of Culture 2011) are pleased to invite you to the 6th meeting in the “Breakfast at Sustainability’s” series, on Wednesday, 15 September 2010, in Brussels.
The topic of this event is “Culture and Sustainable Energy: Today and Tomorrow”.
Climate change, sustainable energy and changing behavior will be explored at the informal event. Our European cities and towns - with their beautiful historic town centres, existing and new building stock, multiple roads and waste dumps - face multiple energy challenges. However, they are also able to put forward concrete solutions. We will explore how culture can contribute in this. We have some great speakers lined up - join us and enjoy! (as an additional drawing card - Dave Benton, the Eurovision song contest winner of 2001 may open the breakfast with a music surprise..).
We look forward to welcoming you to the 6th meeting in the “Breakfast at Sustainability’s” series! To register please send an email to the brussels-office@iclei.org by 9th September 2010.
Liveability Loses Out
The House of Representatives voted on the 2011 appropriations bill for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development yesterday, stripping $200 million from liveability initiatives that the Obama administration wanted.
Highways and transit both received increased funding, but liveability initiatives - "money that would have been used to help states coordinate transportation, land use, and conservation policy," writes Streetsblog, took a big hit.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Congressman Earl Blumenauer fought to preserve the funding, but they were up against resistance in the form of Congressmen Peter DeFazio and James Oberstar:
"DeFazio and Oberstar don't want federal transportation policy to be written through the appropriations process, so they were willing to kill the livability funding, even if they may have supported it on the merits, in order to prevent a precedent from being set."Results of Cities for Mobility World Congress
We are pleased to inform you that the results of the 2010 Cities for Mobility World Congress are now available on our website www.cities-for-mobility.org. You will find there a short summary of the event along with pictures and the presentations of the plenary session and the workshops (only a few presentations are missing and will be uploaded beginning of next week).
Innovative Ideas for Urban Agriculture
Non-profit TerraformOne held a design contest for ideas for creating productive green spaces in cities. Winners include plans to put seniors to work as farmers and a global system of levees.
Here's the seniors idea, courtesy of ASLA:
NORC Farms (Thread Collective and the Greenest.Net): "The Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Farms engages the aging New Yorkers population and inaccessible lawns in order to 'create and cultivate farm plots and social spaces within public housing complexes.' NORC FARMS will use urban agriculture to transform grass into a socially, ecologically, economically productive space; activate older New Yorkers, and transforming public housing into local agriculture; where the tower in the park becomes the tower in the farm."
http://dirt.asla.org/2010/07/29/urban-agriculture-climate-change-ideas-competitions-announce-winners/
Bordeaux 2010: online registration is open!
Registration is now available online on the website of "Bordeaux 2010: A time to reflect". Deadline for registration is 30 September 2010.
Bordeaux 2010 will aim to open up a debate on CEMR's role and that of its member associations in an ever-changing European context. It also aims to provide a forum for reflection between the different levels of governance in Europe.
Among the topics to be discussed is the place of local and regional authorities in the new European governance and the solutions put forward by local and regional authorities when facing the new global challenges.
Some 200 mayors, presidents of regions, European local and regional elected representatives and presidents of national associations representing European local and regional authorities are to participate in this event, hosted by the City of Bordeaux and the Aquitaine Region.
http://sites.google.com/site/atimetoreflect/
San Juan to Ban Cars, Make "Walkable City"
Author: David Soto
The oldest city in the Americas bans cars from its colonial streets and outlines a plan to make San Juan more livable. David Soto gives us a look at this ambition plan.
The city of San Juan has unveiled a plan to make its oldest district, Isleta, livable and walkable. Isleta is a small island connected to mainland Puerto Rico by a series of bridges and a ferry. These are not enough to suit the needs of its citizens. Banning automobiles from Old San Juan and adding a light rail system are the first and most important steps, followed by the revitalization of old neighborhoods, an emphasis on public spaces and walkability and new mixed-use developments. The plan affects Isleta, which is composed of Puerta de Tierra and the more well-known and touristy Old San Juan, and the Convention Center District. http://www.planetizen.com/node/45271
Save the date! 14 September: More urban, more cohesion
Conference organised by EUROCITIES, the EU Belgian Presidency, Brussels Capital Region and European Parliament Urban Intergroup
Representatives of the EU institutions, Brussels-based stakeholders and press, as well as regional and local city governments are invited to attend our high-level conference on Tuesday 14 September in the European Parliament, Brussels.
Organised by EUROCITIES in cooperation with EU Belgian Presidency, Brussels Capital Region, and the European Parliament Urban Intergroup, this conference will demonstrate the strengths of the urban dimension and how the ‘integrated approach’ adopted by cities brings added value to cohesion policy.
The conference will showcase examples of actions and projects already supported by EU structural funds in three different sessions focusing on integrating people and place-based policies, on partnership working and on variable geography. It will involve key players of cohesion policy: representatives from Member States, from the European Parliament, from the European Commission, and from regional and local governments.
The day will end with a reception hosted by the Belgian Presidency of the EU.
Registration details will be issued in early August.
Putting Schools on the Map: Linking Transit-Oriented Development, Families, and Schools in the San Francisco Bay Area
by: Center for Cities & Schools
This new report examines the connections between Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), families, and schools, with a focus on expanding educational opportunities for all children. Taking an exploratory approach to understanding and framing these interconnections, its authors provide a rationale for the linkages at this nexus, presenting ''Ten Core Connections'' between TOD and public education, and highlight five case studies in the San Francisco Bay Area. From these, recommendations are provided for enhancing city-school collaboration in TOD for improved transit use and high-quality educational opportunities.
The report can be downloaded in PDF format from the link below, either with or without appendices.
http://citiesandschools.berkeley.edu/pubs.html
United States government putting clean energy program at risk
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) is a local government program, operating in the United States since 2008, which issues low-interest bonds -- established through tax asessments -- to property owners who choose to retrofit their homes with renewable and efficient energy technology.
For more details about how the PACE program works, visit www.pacenow.org.
The United States' Federal Housing Finance Agency (also known as Fannie May and Freddie Mac) is attempting to block local governments' ability to implement PACE, saying it is a 'credit risk' and a 'loan' program. The FHFA's full statement is available here.
"Mortgage holders should not be forced to absorb new credit risks after they have already purchased or guaranteed a mortgage," Acting FHFA Director, Edward J. DeMarco, said in a statement.
PACE programs do not operate using traditional loan mechanisms. Local governments instead finance the upfront costs through tax assessments, which are paid incrementally in small amounts through a homeowner’s annual property tax bills.
Similar assessment mechanisms, known as a 'land-secured financing disctricts,' are used by local governments and municipalities to fund sewers, sidewalks, schools, hospitals and other public projects. The United States has an over 100-year history of using this financing model.
Cities Are Influenced By Theme Parks, World's Fairs, etc.
A exhibit currently at the Centre Pompidou in Paris called "Dreamlands" looks at the lasting and deep influence of themed environments and amusement parks on how we think about cities.
Aesthetica Magazine interviews curator Quentin Bajac about the exhibit:
"AM: Dreamlands explores ideas of escapism in theme parks, and in the 21st century we are now seeing unprecedented levels of escapism in the digital realm through programmes such as second life. How do you see the effects of these new developments evolving our notions of reality?
BAJAC: It is true that these new developments have had a big influence on our perception of reality and have tended to confuse the viewer. The exhibition, and I am especially thinking about one of the last room of the exhibition –the one devoted to Dubai- is also about that phenomenon; Dubai in recent years has based a lot of its communication campaigns on that impossibility of exactly knowing if the images they are proposing are real or fictitious."
http://aestheticamagazine.blogspot.com/2010/05/dreamlands-at-pompidou.html
UN-HABITAT supports grassroots projects
As part of what is called Grassroots Mechanism, the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) partnering with Huairou Commission, International Land Coalition and Slum/Shack Dwellers International is providing support to four grassroots-led projects in India, Peru, Tanzania and the Philippines.
Project selection followed an open call for proposals and was led by a Selection Committee of four grassroots representatives. Each project entails a trial scaling-up of a community-based approach to land policy implementation. The aim in each case is to help achieve the mainstreaming of the approach and establish a grassroots-government partnership for implementation at scale.
With funds transferred from Norway and Sweden to grassroots organisations, and work already begun on the ground, GLTN is now launching the process of providing technical assistance and political support to the projects.
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=8623&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0
Outsourced City
The City of Maywood, California has completely outsourced all of its civic services and turned local officials into contract workers. Though some worried the city would crumble, it's actually taken a turn for the better.
"Senior citizens were afraid they would be assaulted as they walked down the street. Parents worried the parks would be shut and their children would have nowhere to safely play. Landlords said their tenants had begun suggesting that without city-run services they would no longer feel obliged to pay rent.
The apocalypse never arrived. In fact, it seems this city was so bad at being a city that outsourcing — so far, at least — is being viewed as an act of municipal genius.
'We don’t want to be the model for other cities to lay off their employees,' said Magdalena Prado, a spokeswoman for the city who works on contract. 'But our residents have been somewhat pleased.'"
Nearly all city officials have been rehired as consultants and through various outside firms, so much of the city's face remains the same. But locals report that outsourced services, like turning over policing to the Los Angeles County Sheriff, has resulted in improvements.
Northern prefectures answer Tokyo's demand for renewable energy
Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) will channel renewable energy from five prefectures in northern Japan through new 'demand-pull' measures.
Tokyo's density limits the installation of local renewable energy sources, but the five energy-supplying prefectures – Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Akita and Yamagata – all have abundant sources of natural energy.
The scheme is mutually beneficial business; the northern prefectures get an economic boost while Tokyo moves closer to its goal of lowering the city's greenhouse gas (GHG) emmisions 20% below 2000 levels by 2020.
Berlin's Former Airport Opens As Park
Decommissioned Tempelhof Airport in Berlin had been the subject of grand plans for reusing the massive space for the last two years. But with little money in city coffers, officials decided to simply open it to the public as-is.
"Architects drew up plans. Politicians convened hearings. Editorialists wrote impassioned commentaries.
But in the end, the city's plans for Tempelhof Airport, built under Adolf Hitler as a grandiose monument to Nazi ambitions and Berlin's lifeline during a Cold War blockade that emotionally bound this nation to America, turned out to be in tune with the current laid-back, not to mention penny-pinching, zeitgeist of Germany.
It did nothing."
The park is now open to the public, who can walk and bike and play on the airport's large runways and surrounding spaces, providing a huge new park for the city. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-germany-tempelhof-20100719,0,5232689.story
Participate in the EUKN conference poster contest!
A call to submit posters for the annual conference of the European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN) held in Budapest on 13 and 14 September. Cities and civil or professional organisations are invited to submit posters which will be presented during the EUKN conference: “Effects of demographic change on urban structures”.
Description
Submitted posters should represent the demographic situation of a city or a demographic challenge within a city. Projects aimed at tackling the consequences of demographic change (ageing, urban sprawl or shrinking cities) can also submit a poster. Municipalities, projects and/or urban institutions are free to use images, photos and maps which give an illustration of the topic. The posters will be presented during the EUKN event and will also be published in the handbook after the conference.
Posters can be submitted (as a pdf file) until 16th of August 2010 to eukn@vati.hu. Only posters of registered participants can be exhibited during the conference. After receipt of the poster and finalisation of conference registration, participants will receive an email about further proceedings of the poster contest.
World Population Day: Everyone Counts
Ahead of China's sixth census beginning in November this year an initiative has been launched to ensure that everyone in the country has access to basic public services during the process of urbanisation in China.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), China National Bureau of Statistics, China's National Development and Reform Commission and China's National Population and Family Planning Commission launched the initiative at the United Nations Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo on World Population Day.
Representative of UNFPA China, Dr. Bernard Coquelin, said that the theme of this year's World Population Day "Everybody Counts", is consistent with the theme of 2010 Shanghai World Expo "Better City, Better Life" and that the main body of the urbanszation process is people. High-quality population data plays a vital role in making policies and improving people's quality of life.
Technical Advisor for the UNFPA Regional Office in Bangkok, Rabbi Royan shared the experience of the Asia-Pacific countries' use of population data for policy development. The examples show that population data, especially census data, can play a very important role in a country's development plans, including poverty reduction strategies, reducing gender-bias and maternal mortality and limiting the effect of natural disasters.
In the near future, more than 50% of China's population will be urban. How to handle the relationship between the population and the city will be the key to the success of promoting healthy urbanization. To this end, UNFPA supports Chinese population studies and recently conducted a survey on sex-disaggregated data in cooperation with the National Bureau of Statistics.
 |