July Headlines - click to see the full story

29/7/2009 - Internet Voting, Turnout and Deliberation: a Study
29/7/2009 - UCLG seeks deputy secretary general!
29/7/2009 - How to: Start Green Public Procurement
28/7/2009 - New report shows renewable energy strategies in 160 cities
28/7/2009 - Park and Ride : ISPARK applies a scalpel to the traffic problem
27/7/2009 - African Union endorses new land policy
26/7/2009 - Taking Technology to the Streets with CommunityViz® 4.0
26/7/2009 - Promoting Sustainable Urban Development Networking in African Cities Report
25/7/2009 - Denizli: City That Takes Ownership of Its Archaeological Treasures
25/7/2009 - White House Hosts First Urban and Metropolitan Policy Roundtable
24/7/2009 - 19 ideas to make life in the UK more sustainable
23/7/2009 - City Climate Catalogue to influence international climate negotiations
23/7/2009 - Living Streets
22/7/2009 - UN-HABITAT homes draw female teachers in Uganda trouble spot
22/7/2009 - Leadership for Healthy Communities Action Toolkit
20/7/2009 - Cities of Migration Webinar
20/7/2009 - Local and regional governments need to be involved to achieve the UN MDGs
19/7/2009 - Smart Growth Policies Book
18/7/2009 - ARRA Transportation Funds Bypassing Urban Projects
17/7/2009 - Covenant of Mayors Sustainable Energy Action Plan
16/7/2009 - Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s conference
16/7/2009 - Political dialogue exposes recession's impacy on local social policies
15/7/2009 - How to strengthen citizenship and “living together”? (conference in Nantes)
14/7/2009 - UN-HABITAT to aid displaced populations in the Great Lakes Region
14/7/2009 - MEPs seek to re-establish intergroup on urban issues
13/7/2009 - Global Mayors Forum - confirmation of new dates
12/7/2009 - World Health Day 2010
11/7/2009 - Seragaldin presents climate change paper at Urban Research Symposium
11/7/2009 - New York Mayors Seminar
10/7/2009 - Marrakech's first woman was elected mayor by its city council
10/7/2009 - Weathering the storm: Europe’s cities and the recession
9/7/2009 - Online registration is now open for 2009 Open Days
8/7/2009 - The Global Land Tool Network
8/7/2009 - Climate change under the spotlight at EU Development Days
8/7/2009 - Cities at the heart of the Climate Change Challenge
7/7/2009 - Local Renewables San Francisco 2009
6/7/2009 - Part of the solution – the City of Vienna’s UN-HABITAT Best Practices Hub
6/7/2009 - Eurocities Awards deadline extended
6/7/2009 - New agreement signed between Sweden and UN-HABITAT
5/7/2009 - Swedish cities show the way towards energy independence
5/7/2009 - Belgrade Metro System – Underground vs. Light Rail – Expert Workshop in Belgrade
5/7/2009 - Vancouver Neighborhoods "Completely Changed" by Homeless Shelters
4/7/2009 - NICHES+: Promoting innovation urban transport through champion cities
4/7/2009 - 2nd Singapore Water Week a success
3/7/2009 - Bioethics and Human Rights go hand in hand
2/7/2009 - Liverpool, Munich, Malmö and Darmstadt win "City for Children" Award
2/7/2009 - Urban Regions and Human Settlements in the Context of Social, Environmental and Economic Challenges
2/7/2009 - Urban dwellers highlight pollution, transport and unemployment
1/7/2009 - Innovative fund proves a big hit with global youth groups
1/7/2009 - Local authorities speak during the 2nd UN session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
1/7/2009 - Local and regional government advocate sustainable recovery programmes
1/7/2009 - Less bureaucracy for more cooperation, say Eastern cities

Internet Voting, Turnout and Deliberation: a Study
Geneva (Switzerland) has organized ten official ballots in which it was possible for voters to vote online, next to the mail ballot and the polling stations. The analysis of the profile and motives of the internet voting users shows that the traditional dimensions used in political science to explain political participation - resources, competency, motivation or mobilization - ignore a subjective – or affective – dimension that is centered on the voter’s personality and is not directly linked either to the ballot issue or to an idea of common good.
http://www.ejeg.com/volume-7/vol7-iss1/Chevallier.pdf

UCLG seeks deputy secretary general!
The world association of local governments United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) is recruiting a deputy secretary general to be be based at its headquarters in Barcelona.
According to the information on UCLG website, the chosen candidate will be the secretary general's main advisor and will support her in its relations with the political leadership of the organisation as well as in the managing of the secretariat.
The function is both political and managerial to help deliver UCLG's global policy agenda and provide information services to UCLG's local government members across the world.
The candidate must have excellent knowledge of English or French, with a high level of competence in the other.

How to: Start Green Public Procurement
The toolkit consists of 3 independent modules, each designed to overcome a specific problem identified as a barrier to the uptake of Green Public Procurement within a public organization:
a strategic module which seeks to raise the political support for green public procurement within an organisation, targeting in particular decision makers
a legal module which seeks to clarify legal issues and is designed for both - strategic and operational levels
an operational module aimed at purchasing officers, responsible for the preparation of tender documents; includes concrete examples of environmental criteria for 11 product and service groups, for use in public tendering procedures.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/toolkit_en.htm

New report shows renewable energy strategies in 160 cities
Cities around the world pay attention to renewable energy and develop policies to increase their own involvement and promotion. And their numbers are growing. Notably these lead cities are spread around the globe and such act as models in all regions.
A 'Global Status Report on Local Renewable Energy Policies' has been researched by the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP) / Japan and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability. It is in its draft version, open for comments and additions. The report will complement the REN21 Renewables Glocal Status Report, the authoritative review of the state of renewable energy worldwide.
The report on local policies provides a summary of renewable energy policies for 160 cities and local governments worldwide, with an additional more detailed description of 30 cities. The next edition will be ready for the international conference on local renewables in Tokyo October 2009, with an aim to then produce a third edition for the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors during COP-15 in December 2009.
If you have any comments or have any city information to include in these next editions, please see the report for contact details of the lead author. http://www.martinot.info/REN21_LRE2009_Jun12.pdf

Park and Ride : ISPARK applies a scalpel to the traffic problem
ISPARK, the affiliate company of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality responsible for the management of the parking places of the city, that won the support of the public in Istanbul with its unique projects in the car park sector, launched its P+R ( Park and Ride ) project, which is a first in Istanbul, at the Haldun Alagaş Car Park.
ISPARK, The P+R ( Park and Ride ) project which is implemented in Europe with the aim of contributing to lessening the traffic, congregates drivers to various transfer centers and ferries them to the city center via public transport. The project will ease traffic at one of the most crowded streets of Istanbul, Alemdağ Avenue and its approach roads. http://www.marmara.gov.tr/eng_bulten/001/h5.html

African Union endorses new land policy
Heads of State and Government of the African Union have adopted a new set of policy guidelines to ensure that landless people, women, youth, displaced people and other vulnerable groups have equitable access to land.
In a joint declaration adopted at their 13th Ordinary Session 1-3 July 2009, the African leaders said that they resolved to “ensure that land laws provide for equitable access to land and related resources among all land users including the youth and other landless and vulnerable groups such as displaced persons.” They also said they will “strengthen security of land tenure for women, which merits special attention”.
“The adoption by African leaders of the Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa is a landmark decision that reflects the critical role of land in African development,” said Mohamed el Sioufi, the Director of UN-HABITAT’s Shelter Branch.
The endorsement also marks the successful accomplishment of the road map set out by the African Union Commission, the Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank Land Policy Consortium in 2006. http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=6998&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

Taking Technology to the Streets with CommunityViz® 4.0
Latest 3-D visuals and easier analysis help communities see their future
Have you ever wondered how different zoning regulations could shape the look, feel and livability of your town? Are you searching for compelling ways to present different growth scenarios to your neighbors and elected officials? The latest generation of CommunityViz®—Version 4.0—will do all of that, and more.
Developed and supported by the Orton Family Foundation and Placeways, LLC, CommunityViz is used by thousands of planners, resource managers and communities all over the world to visualize, analyze and communicate about their decisions for the future.
Version 4.0 features an all new 3-D visualization component called Scenario 3D™ using the latest gaming technology and industry-standard formats. Viewers can “fly” or “walk” around virtual, three-dimensional representations of a place as it is today or as it could be in one or more alternative futures. To a degree not possible with earlier technology, the new 3-D scenes can help capture and convey what the Foundation calls the “heart and soul” of a community—its unique character, stories and traditions. People and objects are more realistic than ever before; they can “tell stories” via text, audio or video clips.
“We expect CommunityViz 4.0 to help citizens, planners and officials make informed decisions that weigh heart and soul considerations alongside traditional numbers and statistics,” says Foundation President and CEO William Roper. “When the Orton Family Foundation released CommunityViz® in 2001, we pioneered the use of visualization in the land use planning field; with the release of 4.0, we’ve taken the next big step in keeping the technology exciting and effective in helping communities truly define their futures.”
Anyone can download a free 30-day trial of CommunityViz 4.0. Existing users with support contracts will get the upgrade for free. Trial downloads, additional information and video demos are available now at www.placeways.com/communityviz. The base price is $850, which includes one year of upgrades, live technical support and premium features. There’s also a $350 version that only includes the software. Visit www.placeways.com to learn more or purchase the latest in community planning technology.

Promoting Sustainable Urban Development Networking in African Cities Report
This report summarizes the presentations and discussions at the SUD‐Net Workshop ‘Promoting Sustainable Urban Development Networking in African Cities’, held at the Townhouse Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, on 17‐19 February 2009.The purpose of the SUD‐Net Africa workshop held in Cape Town in February 2009 was therefore to help identify regional priorities that will set the agenda for SUD‐Net Africa and define ways of promoting information exchange and interactions within both the regional and the global SUDNet networks.
http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/6904_21579_Promoting%20Sustainable%20Urban%20Development%20Networking%20in%20African%20Cities%20Report%20Feb%202009.pdf

Denizli: City That Takes Ownership of Its Archaeological Treasures
The business world and local administrations in the western province of Denizli are cooperating to unearth and protect the ancient city of Laodicea. Project leaders say the joint effort for the two-thousand-year-old site, which has revealed the largest coliseum in Anatolia, is the first of its kind in Turkey and is setting an example for other cities
The ancient city of Laodicea in Denizli is being unearthed thanks to cooperation between the local authorities and businessmen, setting an example for the rest of Turkey's cities on how to take ownership of archaeological treasures.
"Something has taken place here that is unseen in the rest of the country. The industrialists and businessmen of Denizli contributed to the Laodicea excavations in 2003-2004. This is the finest example of taking care of an ancient city," Prof. Celal Şimşek, head of the team responsible for the excavation, told the Anatolia news agency. http://www.marmara.gov.tr/eng_bulten/001/h3.html

White House Hosts First Urban and Metropolitan Policy Roundtable
''For too long, federal policy has actually encouraged sprawl and congestion and pollution, rather than quality public transportation and smart, sustainable development,'' said President Obama as he welcomed ''some of the finest urban thinkers'' at the White House's first Urban and Metropolitan Policy Roundtable, calling the subject ''near and dear'' to his heart, since he lived almost all his life ''in urban areas'' and received his ''greatest education on Chicago's South Side, working at the local level to bring about change in those communities and opportunities to people's lives.''
That experience gave him ''an understanding of some of the challenges facing city halls all across the county,'' challenges ''particularly severe today because of this recession,'' he noted, worried that four in five cities have had to cut services and 48 states face budget deficits.
Absent ''the most sweeping economic recovery plan in our nation's history,'' the President said, ''our cities would be in an even deeper hole, and state budget deficits would be nearly twice as large as they are right now, and tens of thousand of police officers and firefighters and teachers would be out of a job as we speak.'' http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7188&state=52&res=1280

19 ideas to make life in the UK more sustainable
The Sustainable Development Commission has identified 19 "breakthrough ideas" to make UK living spaces and the economy more sustainable in the long run.
The 19 ideas were boiled down from an initial 285 suggestions submitted.by businesses, academics, sustainability professionals and the general public. The solutions are grouped into three broad categories: sustainable lives, sustainable places and sustainable economy.
Examples include re-localising food production and supporting local producers as a precondition for sustainable food, encouraging cycling for short journeys, and using fast-growing algae to capture industrial emissions. http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/SDC_Breakthroughs.pdf

City Climate Catalogue to influence international climate negotiations
All communities committed to reduce their contribution to climate change are invited to share their climate protection targets in the new Copenhagen World Climate Catalogue of City Commitments to Combat Climate Change.
This new interactive tool was launched on 1 February 2009. Information pooled in the Catalogue will be used to compile a substantial argument for national governments in the international climate negotiations during 2009. http://www.iclei.org/climate-commitments

Living Streets
ICMA has posted on its website the Living Streets report by the Colorado Municipal League. The Living Streets Initiative is a citywide initiative and regional partnership to educate professionals, community and elected leaders as well as the public at large about the benefits of living streets. LSI will also create model living streets policy language that could be adopted by the City and County of Denver or other local jurisdictions.
Living streets are vibrant places where people of all ages and physical abilities feel comfortable using any mode of travel, whether walking, biking, transit or automobile. While living streets are designed to maximize the efficiency of a corridor's person-trip capacity, compared to solely auto-trip capacity, they are also intended to integrate with the use and form of adjacent development to achieve great destinations for people -- in addition to the movement of people. http://www.icma.org/upload/library/2009-03/%7B074EEE57-6475-4FD1-9250-C7E49A5ABE7B%7D.pdf

UN-HABITAT homes draw female teachers in Uganda trouble spot
New homes built by UN-HABITAT for teachers in the district of Lira in northern Uganda will attract female teachers in a community recovering from two decades of war and in need of strong female role models, say local school inspectors.
Helen Achan was a teacher for 15 years and now works as a school inspector. In rural areas of Lira that were badly affected by fighting between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Ugandan forces, Ms. Achan has found that schools have few female teachers and some have none at all. But she says the 64 new houses UN-HABITAT has built at rural schools will be a big boost for recruitment. “It is one of the ways of attracting female teachers to reach hard-to-reach areas,” she says. Of the district’s 2,656 teachers, there are only 651 women, and they tend to be concentrated in urban areas. http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=6957&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

Leadership for Healthy Communities Action Toolkit
Developed by 11 policy-maker associations participating in the Leadership for Healthy Communities program, the Leadership for Healthy Communities Action Toolkit provides targeted strategies, stakeholders, policy and program options, directions on how to start programs, resources that can help inform the process, and examples of how other states and localities have achieved progress.
Most of the policy options were reviewed based on a scan of more than 100 research articles that linked specific policy actions to positive outcomes in healthy eating and physical activity behaviors, with a focus on research in vulnerable communities. In addition, recognizing that states and municipalities are offering new and innovative solutions to childhood obesity prevention on a continuous basis, we also have included promising practices that Leadership for Healthy Communities and its program grantees believe to be important approaches to childhood obesity prevention. http://www.leadershipforhealthycommunities.org/content/view/352/154/

Cities of Migration Webinar
Fulfilling the Promise: Integrating Immigrant Skills into the Urban Economy (July 28 or 29, 2009)
Today’s global economy is characterized by unprecedented levels of labourforce mobility and growing levels of international trade. Cities that are able to harness the competitive advantage of diversity are able to reach into new markets, internationalize their customer base and benefit from skills and talent that fuel innovation and drive high performance. So how do successful cities do it? Free Webinar - Register online http://citiesofmigration.ca/integration-learning-exchange/register-to-events/lang/en/

Local and regional governments need to be involved to achieve the UN MDGs
“Now is the time to accelerate progress towards the MDGs. The goals are within reach, and even in the very poor countries, with strong political commitment and sufficient and sustained funding,” assesses Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, in the foreword of the recent 2009 UN Report on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
More than halfway to the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs, major advances in the fight against poverty and hunger have begun to slow or even reverse as a result of the global economic and food crises, has found the report.
Local and regional governments gathered in UCLG, for their part regret the lack of focus on governance issues and on local scale. They regret also their difficulty to access to financial tools, and the weaknesses of these tools at a global scale.
They are mobilized, from the very beginning, to take all their part of the necessary actions to achieve the MDGs. On the basis of the successful UCLG Millennium Towns and Cities Campaign joined in 2005 by more then 1000 cities and of the concrete results they achieve daily for the welfare of their citizens, they reiterate their availability and their will to be involved.
Local government representatives share the conviction that it is with them and at the local level that the MDGs will be achieved.

Smart Growth Policies Book
In the 2009 book Smart Growth Policies: An Evaluation of Programs and Outcomes, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy collaborated with 18 leading land use researchers and planners to measure and compare outcomes in four states with statewide smart growth programs (Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, and Oregon) and four states without such programs (Colorado, Indiana, Texas, and Virginia). The investigation reveals great heterogeneity. No state did well on all smart growth principles or on all measures, although individual states typically succeeded in their top priority policy area. http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/PubDetail.aspx?pubid=1571

ARRA Transportation Funds Bypassing Urban Projects
The 100 largest metropolitan regions house two-thirds of the country's population, generate three-quarters of its economic activity, and suffer the worst traffic jams -- which the newest Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) annual mobility study of 439 urban areas blames for the waste of 2.8 billion gallons of fuel and 4.2 billion of productive hours, at a total cost of $87.2 billion in 2007 -- but a New York Times analysis of how states will spend the $16.4 billion allocated so far out of their 70-percent share of the $26.6 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus money shows more than half of it going to shovel-ready projects in rural areas.
http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7179&state=52

Covenant of Mayors Sustainable Energy Action Plan
On 9 July 2009, the Covenant of Mayors Office released a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) template, which was developed together with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.
The Local Energy Action Plans (LEAPs), which will be developed within the Sustainable NOW project, will use these SEAP templates as reference. Download the documents here: SEAP template: http://staging.eumayors.eu/mm/staging/library/SEAP_template.pdf
SEAP instructions: http://staging.eumayors.eu/mm/staging/library/SEAP_template_instructions.pdf
More information on the Covenant of Mayors: www.eumayors.eu.

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s conference
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s conference to be held in Chicago on 22-23 October 2009. Entitled “Evolution of the Skyscraper: new challenges in a world of global warming and recession”, the event will be a seminal gathering of major players in the field of tall buildings internationally.
We have had speaker confirmations from people such as His Excellency Mohamed Ali Alabbar of Emaar Dubai (owner-developer of the next World’s Tallest the Burj Dubai); Eric Trump of the Trump Organization; Garret Miller, President of Hill International; AIA President-elect Clark Manus of Heller Manus architects; John Portman of Portman Holdings; Arthur Gensler of Gensler; Adrian Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Richard Tomasetti of Thornton Tomasetti, etc. The attached brochure shows some of the confirmed case studies; including the Chicago Spire, London Bridge Tower, Nakheel Tower Dubai, Gazprom Tower Russia, Shanghai Tower China etc. http://www.ctbuh.org/

Political dialogue exposes recession’s impact on local social policies
Aware of the challenges met by city administrations in the wake of the economic recession, EUROCITIES brought together leading politicians and city officers on 18 June for the first in a series of political dialogues on local social policies.
At the initiative of Ulf Kristersson, Vice-mayor of Stockholm and Chair of EUROCITIES’ Social Affairs Forum, this new series of debates will increase the scope of the Forum’s political work. With Paul Tilsley MBE, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, as well as politicians from Gothenburg, The Hague, Malmo, Newcastle, Southampton and Vilnius, the event saw a series of interventions on the local impact of the economic downturn, and specifically its consequences for cities’ social policies.
By most accounts, the situation facing cities differs from one to the next. Dublin and Vilnius, for example, have been hit from the outset, while others, such as Malmo, which benefits from its proximity to Copenhagen, has yet to feel the full force of the recession. In contrast, the diversified economies of Stockholm and Birmingham have proved a robust safeguard against the onset of urban decline. http://www.eurocities.eu/include/lib/sql_news_card.php?id=1562

How to strengthen citizenship and “living together”? (conference in Nantes)
The City of Nantes (France) is organising a forum on youth participation in activities to promote citizenship on 29 and 30 October.
The forum will allow for exchange of good practices and factors for success and difficulties. It is particulaly addressed to young people from different European countries, invested in all organisations (NGOs) and original projects.
Nantes Métropole is currently looking for experience and projects that are innovative, in terms both of their very goals and methods of implementation. Young people must be parties to these projects as active stakeholders.
The candidates will be selected in early September. Interested cities and NGOs are invited to send a completed application detailing the initiative by 1 september 2009. Each project selected will be presented by a delegation of two people, at least one of them being a young person. http://admin5.geniebuilder.com/udata/ccre/docs/nantes_forum_en.pdf

UN-HABITAT to aid displaced populations in the Great Lakes Region
Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT and Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday 10 July 2009, committing to jointly work towards better protection of land and property rights for displaced populations, while addressing land and property issues during and after displacement.
“It is in our mandate for us at UN-HABITAT to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all,” said Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, “And we are therefore greatly looking forward to this co-operation with The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and hope this will not simply be a Memorandum of Understanding, but an opportunity to work together to mobilize resources and help the significant number of displaced persons in Africa.”
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=6943&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

MEPs seek to re-establish intergroup on urban issues
The Urban and Housing Intergroup has been a hugely important channel for EUROCITIES’ dialogue with Parliamentarians over the past five years. But with the new Parliament all intergroups are up for review and because only a limited number can be resourced within the Parliament, there is strong competition for recognition.
Regrettably some of EUROCITIES’ key allies within the parliament have now stepped down as MEPs, notably Jean-Marie Beaupuy and Gisela Kallenbach. Happily Polish MEP Jan Olbrycht, has been returned to Brussels and he is now working vigorously to identify new Parliamentarians to join him in championing the cause of cities.
EUROCITIES is backing this important cause by approaching MEPs who have been active as mayors or deputy-mayors in their member cities.

Global Mayors Forum - confirmation of new dates
As a result of the widespread of Influenza A (H1N1), based on the information recently released by WHO and the official directives concerning disease control implemented in China， the Council of the Global Mayors Forum makes this decision of Date Adjustment for the health of the mayoral attendees and other participants.
The date of the inaugural Global Mayors Forum is adjusted from September 15-18, 2009 to November 5-8, 2010, with Hong Kong and Shenzhen as its host cities.
Despite difficulties, we will stick firmly to the objective to promote better cultural understanding for sustainable urban development.

World Health Day 2010
World Health Day 2010 will focus on urbanization and health. With the campaign "1000 cities - 1000 lives", events will be organized worldwide calling on cities to open up streets for health activities. Stories of urban health champions will be gathered to illustrate what people are doing to improve health in their cities. http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2010/en/index.html

Seragaldin presents climate change paper at Urban Research Symposium
On Sunday, June 28th, Mona Serageldin presented findings from a paper at the World Bank’s Fifth Urban Research Symposium in Marseilles, France. Written with Erick Guerra and Christa Lee-Chuvala, Climate change in the local development agenda: Promoting resilience through enhanced understanding of early threats discusses the responses of city authorities to the current and future threats posed by climate change in Alexandria, Egypt and Cotonou, Benin, two port cities facing increasing shoreline erosion, saltwater intrusion and flooding of low-lying areas. Each city has taken some actions to address these challenges but neither has yet developed an overall strategy to build resilience to climate change. http://www.urs2009.net/papers.html

New York Mayors Seminar
Earlier this year, Urbanicity, acting in good faith, promoted an event called New York Mayors Seminar, organised by a company called American Skills Management, which we understand is run by a Mr Jean Claude Mvodo.
We understand that the event was cancelled at the last minute, and that some people who had registered have yet to receive their money by way of refund.
Whilst we are not, at this stage, sugesting this was anything more than an unhappy consequence of poor event planning, we are concerned about certain apparent irregularities.
In light of this, and the failure of Mr Mvodo to respond to a number of emails we have sent him, we are no longer in any way able to support or endorse this or other events run by Mr Mvodo, or his companies American Skills Management, or Vivhacity. We can in no way recommend that any Urbanicity subscribers register for any events with which he is associated.
If you would like to comment on this, or to inform us of a similar experience, please contact Alistair Campbell at a.campbell@urbanicity.org

Marrakech's first woman was elected mayor by its city council
For the first time in Morocco's history, a women is elected mayor of Marrakech, one of Morocco’s biggest cities and home to 1 million inhabitants.
Fatima Zohra El Mansouri outpolled outgoing mayor Omar Jazouli by 54.votes to 35 in the municipal council vote. She becomes the second woman to take a mayoral position in Morocco after Asmaa Chaâbi, mayor of Essaouira.
It is also the first time that the government stipulated a 12 percent quota for women in municipal polls.
Fatima Zohra El Mansouri was born in 1976. She studied law in France and is a daughter of a former assistant to the local authority chief in Marrakech.

Weathering the storm: Europe’s cities and the recession
For the past 18 months, Europe has watched on as what started out as a US housing market problem developed into a banking and financial crisis, before finally evolving into a fully fledged recession. Across Europe GDP levels are lowering, unemployment is rising, and best estimates show that we’ll hit the bottom of a downward spiral in late 2009/early 2010. Yet such headline figures fail to tell the whole story either in terms of the recession’s true impact, or the prospects for a workable recovery path.
Through ongoing research, evidence gathering, and sharing of knowledge EUROCITIES can highlight some fundamental issues related to the crisis. First of all, the real impact of the crisis is local. Second, these impacts are city based and from our analysis it is becoming increasingly clear that key amongst these are that: http://www.eurocities.eu/include/lib/sql_news_card.php?id=1555

Online registration is now open for 2009 Open Days
Online registration for the Open Days 2009 European Week of Regions and Cities is now open.
The Open Days under the general motto “Global Challenges, European Responses” will be held between 5 and 8 October 2009 in Brussels. and - throughout the month of October - in the form of local events in places all over Europe.
While the Brussels programme will consist of about 100 high-level conferences, seminars and meetings under the responsibility of the organisers and the event partners, the local events will aim to discuss the Open Days themes among local organisations and citizens.
The event’s programme will be structured according to four themes: growth, climate change, territorial cooperation and the EU cohesion policy.
The event is conceived and developed by the EU Committee of the Regions and the European Commission directorate-general for regional policy.
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/od2009/index.cfm?nmenu=1&sub=200

The Global Land Tool Network
The Global Land Tool Network (GLTN)’s main objective is to contribute to poverty alleviation and the Millennium Development Goals through land reform, improved land management and security of tenure. The GLTN originates from requests made by Member States and local communities world-wide to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), who initiated the network in cooperation with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Bank, in 2006.
http://www.unhabitat.org/categories.asp?catid=503

Climate change under the spotlight at EU Development Days
The European Development Days will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on 22-24 October, 2009.
This year, special highlight will be given to the adaption to climate change, the promotion of energy efficiency, the global economic.recession and democracy.
The three-day event will bring together European, national and local political leaders, parliamentarians, NGOs, Nobel prizewinners, academics, celebrity campaigners and business and institutional representatives from 125 nations. Speakers will include José-Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission; Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for Swedish International Development Cooperation; Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid; and Fredrik Reinfeldt, Prime Minister of Sweden
http://www.ccre.org/news_detail_en.htm?ID=1634

Cities at the heart of the Climate Change Challenge
Climate Change and the essential role of cities in tackling this urgent global challenge, was at the forefront of the 5th Urban Research Symposium of the World Bank, held between 28 and 30 June in Marseille, France.
The Presidency and the members of United Cities and Local Governments are delighted with the high turnout at this event, which reflects on the size of the task ahead: 600 participants from 80 countries, for 8 plenary sessions and 34 parallel sessions. On this occasion, UCLG presided over a plenary session dedicated to the importance of good local governance as a tool for effective climate strategies.
The Presidency and the members of UCLG also acknowledge with satisfaction the strength and consistence of the conviction which drives staff at the World Bank ; an institution which is heavily involved in the fight against climate change, especially given the fact that the climate battle will be fought in cities.
‘Today, the importance of cities in global geopolitics is clear for all to see,’ acknowledged a member of the World Bank; ‘They are directly implicated in climate change and affected by its consequences…’
The World Bank is placing climate at the heart of its urban policy and recognizes that in many countries, it is cities that are leading the way in global development challenges. Furthermore, UCLG is fully implicated in the process of consultation which will result in the definition of the Bank’s new urban strategy. http://www.cities-localgovernments.org/uclg/index.asp?pag=newsD.asp&L=EN&ID=301

Local Renewables San Francisco 2009
A conference on how local governments can promote the generation, supply and use of renewable energy in the urban environment. Part of a conference series started in 2007 in Freiburg, Germany.
Local governments play an important role in transforming our communities into the post-carbon age with renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy savings as major cornerstones.
The Local Renewables Conference in San Francisco will be an occasion for first hand information and encouragement

Part of the solution – the City of Vienna’s UN-HABITAT Best Practices Hub
Slums or informal settlements, war-torn cities such as Bagdad or Sarajevo, city dwellers without access to water and sanitary facilities – these are the spheres of activity covered by the mandate given to the United Nations agency for human settlements, UN-HABITAT, in the context of the Millennium Development Goals defined by the United Nations. However, more generally, the mandate also includes sustainable cities – cities which for several years have been the preferred form of living for the majority of the world’s population. http://www.bestpractices.at/

Eurocities Awards deadline extended
The deadline for the submission of entries for the EUROCITIES Awards has been extended to allow more cities to participate. The new deadline is Monday, 14 September 2009. Of course if you are ready earlier, as quite a few of you were, we welcome your entries now.
http://www.eurocities2009.eu/

New agreement signed between Sweden and UN-HABITAT
The government of Sweden, represented by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and UN-HABITAT have agreed to enter into a Program Cooperation Agreement for 2009-2011.
The agreement will be financed with MSEK 70 from the global allocation over 3 years. Sida is taking a programme-based approach to the new agreement.
“This new cooperation with UN-HABITAT ensures that UN-HABITAT’s results analysis and planning cycle becomes the point of departure for Sida´s analytical work and dialogue with the agency”, says Ulf Källstig, Head of Team for Global Programmes.
“Sida will likewise be able to promote its priority issues (within environment, democracy/ human rights, and economic development) primarily through engagement in dialogue rather than through earmarking of funds. And Sida will link its financial commitments to UN-HABITAT’s results framework and budget cycle”, Källstig added.
The purpose of this agreement is to support UN-HABITAT’s work through the implementation of its Medium Term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP) for 2008 to 2013. The MTSIP is organised into 5 operational and 1 organisation focus areas. http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=6905&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

Swedish cities show the way towards energy independence
Swedish cities of Linköping et Växjö pave the way for a new approach to energy consumption.
The two cities have set up a series of projects to drastically reduce their consumption of traditional fossil fuels and become environmentally.friendly.
In Linköping, a city of 150 000 inhabitants, discussions began in the early.90’s on how to reduce emissions of exhaust pollutants from buses in the town centre. Various alternative vehicle fuels were compared. A decision arose out of debates to recycle agricultural wastes including organisc sludge to produce energy. All buses, some taxis and private cars now run on biogas, and many public buildings are supplied with green energy. And a train (Amanda) was converted from diesel to biogas in 2006. It operates on the line between Linköping and Västervik and can run 600 km on one tank. According to deputy mayor for environment, Moharem Demerok, transport pollution decreased nearly 25%.
The city of Växjö also acts to achieve energy independence from fossil fuel. As Växjö mayor Bo Frank explains, the city built a woodchip-burning power plant that provides the city with electricity. As well as generating electricity, it also supplies 90 per cent of the city with heating and hot water.

Belgrade Metro System – Underground vs. Light Rail – Expert Workshop in Belgrade
The City of Belgrade’s 2003 transport master plan provides for the construction of a “capacity-based rail system”. A call for tenders for a feasibility study, variant study and preparation of draft plans suggested the construction of a light rail system. Changes in the political objectives at national level led to the rediscovery of a project for the construction of a heavy metro system drafted in the 1970s and 1980s, which was compared to the plans for the construction of a light rail system. http://www.tinavienna.at/index.php?p_id=1243255141&last_id=1243255141&l_id=en&s_id=444e7f5e0f0028bb1a972ef218f99af3&e_id=1243255418

Vancouver Neighborhoods "Completely Changed" by Homeless Shelters
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced last year that his city would eradicate homelessness by 2015, and he began this program by opening 5 homeless shelters, two of which were in residential neighborhoods containing a "YWCA daycare, a Montessori school and a low-income seniors home. And condominium towers." As Mason writes,
"The 'low-barrier' shelters are intended for the hardest-to-home. Those who use them are allowed to bring their shopping carts and pets in with them. Drug users aren't turned away the way they are in other shelters. While no one argues the need for these kinds of accommodations as temporary measures, the problem is the type of individuals they attract if open for long. Drug addicts attract drug suppliers. Drug suppliers attract young boys to run their drugs. Consequently, there are emerging gangs of young kids – drug mules – congregating in the area and intimidating residents...residents have had enough." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quick-fix-for-homeless-a-long-term-nuisance/article1195903/

NICHES+: Promoting innovation urban transport through champion cities
Artois-Gohelle, Burgos, Cork, Daventry, Skopje, Trondheim and Worcestershire selected as implementers and promoters of innovative and sustainable transport solutions
NICHES+ is an EU-funded project which aims to mainstream innovative urban transport solutions focusing on accessibility, infrastructure and interchanges, traffic management centers and automated and space efficient transport systems. Through the involvement of Champion Cities, NICHES+ wants to demonstrate how urban transport innovation can move from theory to practice. By hosting national take-up seminars, the cities will also play an important role in disseminating and promoting the project outcomes.
Twenty-five local and regional authorities responded to a call for candidate cities, which was launched in the second half of 2008. Taking into account quality of applications, mix of concepts, level of commitment, geographical spread and urban scale, the NICHES+ jury selected Artois-Gohelle (France) and Burgos (Spain) for innovative concepts to enhance accessibility, Worcestershire (UK) and Skopje (Macedonia) for efficient planning and use of infrastructure and interchanges, Trondheim (Norway) and Cork (Ireland) for urban traffic management centers and Daventry (UK) for automated and space efficient transport systems.
After having contributed to the selection and transferability of innovative transport concepts, the identification of user needs and stakeholder analysis, the Champion Cities will now start developing implementation scenarios through a continuous dialogue with dedicated experts and practitioners, working group meetings, interviews and site-visits. By April 2011, each of the seven champion Cities will have integrated innovative urban transport solutions into their local transport policy.
Interested stakeholders are invited to visit www.niches-transport.org, where the results and outputs of the project can be consulted. The website is also linked to www.osmose-os.org, an open source for urban transport professionals providing information on innovative urban transport solutions.

2nd Singapore Water Week a success
The second Singapore International Water Week ended on a high note for many local and international water companies who sealed deals totalling S$2.2 billion, nearly six times the amount achieved last year.
Some of the key deals signed include the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Hyflux and ABB for Hyflux’s Algeria Magtaa Project worth S$28 million. Local water player Dayen Environment signed a MOU, totalling S$10 million, with two European partners, ConSideR Group and Colsen International to provide sustainable water solutions to Asia and the Middle East region.
More than 10,000 trade attendees comprising delegates, visitors and exhibitors from over 85 countries/regions participated in this year’s Water Week. The Water Leaders Summit attracted about 300 high-level delegates from 49 countries including the Crown Prince of Orange, President of Asian Development Bank, Vice President of World Bank, the Water and Environment Ministers of Qatar, Malaysia, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Laos as well as CEOs of international global water companies and water organisations.
A total of twenty-eight new products and technologies were unveiled for the first time in Asia or the world at the Water Expo’s Innovation Corner, signalling a strong endorsement of the Water Week as an important platform for such global and regional launches.

Bioethics and Human Rights go hand in hand
Three important meetings on Human Rights and Bioethics will be held during this month. From the “Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation” meeting, 7-8 July in Paris (France), and the “Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and its Applications”, 16-17 July in Venice (Italy), to the “Meeting of the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee”, 9-10 July in Paris (France).
UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences and Natural Sciences Sectors, together with the UNESCO Centre of the Basque Country will organize an experts’ meeting, in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on “Access to Water and Sanitation”, from 7 to 8 July at the International Institute for Educational Planning in Paris (France).
The meeting will analyze the legal, scientific and technical aspects of access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human rights issue. It will also discuss the criteria for identifying good practices relating to access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
From 9 to 10 July, the “Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee” will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (France). The Committee will examine and further comment on the new draft report drawn up by the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) on social responsibility and health and the Report of the IBC on human cloning and international governance.
The 3rd experts’ meeting on the “Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and its Applications” will be held from 16 to 17 July in Venice (Italy). The meeting will be organized jointly by UNESCO and the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization (EIUC), in cooperation with the Amsterdam Centre for International Law and the Irish Centre for Human Rights.
The meeting will bring together researchers, experts and representatives of UN Specialized Agencies in an effort to elucidate the right to enjoy the benefits of science and to facilitate its implementation. Experts shall also adopt a final document which will summarize findings on the content and obligations regarding this right with a view to assist the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in the elaboration of a general comment. http://www.unesco.org/shs/agenda

Liverpool, Munich, Malmö and Darmstadt win "City for Children" Award
Four major cities - Liverpool, Munich, Darmstadt and Malmö - were rewarded for their hard work to promote the well-being of children and young persons, in Stuttgart, on 30 June 2009.
Representatives from the four cities received.the "Cities for children" award from the hands of Formula 1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen and UNICEF Ambassador, Nana Mouskouri. Malmö and Darmstadt were rewarded in the category "Design of Open Spaces and Play Areas" and Munich and Liverpool in the category "Mobility and Traffic Safety".

Urban Regions and Human Settlements in the Context of Social, Environmental and Economic Challenges
The XIII Regional and Urban Planning Convention in Havana, Cuba from September 14-18, 2009. You are invited to join urban planners and practitioners from across Cuba and around the Latin America and Caribbean region in an exchange of ideas and a sharing of good practice. This is a special invitation to international participants who wish to get plugged in to a network of their peers in Cuba and the broader Americas region. We welcome your participation and we will benefit from your knowledge. During the conference, you will have opportunities to experience one of the oldest cities in the Americas through technical tours. http://www.international.canurb.com/

Urban dwellers highlight pollution, transport and unemployment
Other issues worrying people in cities include house prices and rent, water, sanitation, electricity, poor housing as well as property rights.
The Take a Minute online survey on UN-HABITAT’s home page is proving popular with users who log in to share problems and concerns from their various corners of the globe.
Responses were received from all continents. The majority of respondents, 84 per cent, were under 45 years old and 88 per cent have university education. All were keen to give UN-HABITAT their ideas on how we can all work for ‘For a better urban future’, the agency’s vision.
From Angola through Canada, Republic of Korea to Brazil, Russian Federation and Iran, most of the respondents gave positive suggestions for addressing the issues which they feel could make life better for the residents. http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=6882&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

Innovative fund proves a big hit with global youth groups
The innovative youth fund launched by UN-HABITAT has proved immensely popular, attracting applications from youth groups scattered from nearly all corners of the globe.
By the closure of the first round of applications June 15, urban youth-led organizations from some 86 countries had applied to the first Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development, which closed its first round of applications June 15. Overall, 1,116 applications were received – 816 for the larger grant for up to $25,000 and 290 for the smaller grant of up to $5,000. The Fund was launched during the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum, held in Nanjing, China last November.
By region, 696 applications came from African and Arab states, 331 came from Asia-Pacific and 89 came from Latin America and the Caribbean. Kenya, India and Uganda generated the most applications. http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=6903&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0

Local authorities speak during the 2nd UN session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
UCLG took part in the 2nd Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction organized by the United Nations in Geneva, from 16 to 19 June. With the support of Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI), UCLG, who represented the partners of the Urban Programme for Risk Reduction (PURR), organized a plenary session on 17 June on “Urban risks – Improving the effectiveness of local action for risk reduction and adaptation”. http://www.cities-localgovernments.org/uclg/index.asp?pag=newsD.asp&L=EN&ID=299

Local and regional government advocate sustainable recovery programmes
In the light of the current economic and financial crisis, local and regional governments advocate for green recovery programmes. This is one of the conclusions of the members of CEMR's working group on environment meeting.on 25 June 2009 in Brussels.
The members of the working group (30 participants from 15 countries) expressed their concern that the national programmes do not sufficiently take into account the need to invest into sustainable and environmental measures. Sustainable development has an economic and a social dimension and thus is a part of the solution to get out of the crisis.
However, it is important to raise awareness and communicate better with the citizens in order to change their behaviour and their habits, we have to take the public with us stressed Alison Hay, chair of CEMR's working group. http://www.ccre.org/news_detail_en.htm?ID=1628

Less bureaucracy for more cooperation, say Eastern cities
Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital and largest city, welcomed over 60 participants from 35 cities for the EUROCITIES conference held on 25-26 June to discuss the role of cities in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).
Participants representing EU and eastern ENP cities, associations of local authorities from the region, and local NGOs gathered to discuss specifically current and future opportunities under the European Commission’s ENP and the new Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiatives.
Although there was a general consensus that cities should not wait for EU funding to begin or intensify working relations with EU cities and within regional networks, the feeling was that less bureaucratic EU funding would provide an important boost towards not only better, but also more exchanges and joint initiatives. http://www.eurocities.eu/include/lib/sql_news_card.php?id=1554