Mayors of the world call to fund high-tech cities in 2030
In the framework of the Third Congress of Cities and Local Governments participants noted the need to speed-up the global fight against human inequality and the effects of climate change.
Mayors and delegates from 90 nations demanded in Mexico City a global finance to ensure that all countries build 2030, new cities with "sustainable that count on with adequate technologies for boosting the development and reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses."
During the second day of the third Congress of Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), participants noted the need to accelerate a global fight against human inequality and the effects of climate change on cities.
The co-chairman of UCLG, the mayor of Quito, Augusto Barrera, stated, that support and global cooperation in the future will face the challenges of climate change, financial crises and improve coexistence among different peoples and cultures.
"We have to figure out how to run our cities better," said Barrera during the plenary session, which ran under the theme "City of 2030."
Barrera explained that it requires "the use of technology as a key element for the development of cities and to reduce social inequality gaps, and technological development to solve problems such as transport, water supply, environmental change.
The mayor of Mexico City and host of this forum, Marcelo Ebrard, said that the current way in which financial resources are managed at international level "hardly contribute to this paradigm of urban development."
The capital´s governor proposed a special tax which forces countries to contribute resources to compensate for the damage they cause, adding that at least they should "assume the implications of the decisions and things they do."
On the other hand, the mayor of Istanbul, Turkey, Kadir Topbas, agreed that the challenges faced by cities "are becoming larger."
He said one way to tackle the challenges is to "do more participatory citizenship and to invite the regional governments to be more inclusive." Because "if we do not know where we go, we will get nowhere in 2030," he added.
The councilman of Culture of Barcelona, Carles Martí, said that it is in the cities, "where the major problems of today occur" and therefore proposed to create a stronger community based on the promotion of culture as a pillar of development.
In the framework of the Third World Congress of Cities and Local Governments, held from 18 to 20 November will be held in this same city the World Mayors Climate Summit (CCLIMA), it is expected to sign a Climate Covenant Global Cities in which more than 1,000 municipal governments voluntarily commit to reduce emissions to the atmosphere.
At the end of both meetings it will be presented a final document with proposals and commitments to be delivered to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, to be held from November 29 to December 10 in Cancun.
Source: EFE
Mayors bet on technological innovation for boosting the labor market
During the workshop "Working in the City" developed in the framework of the third congress of UCLG, local authorities from different regions of the world, agreed that boosting innovation is a key element to foster the creation of more and better jobs in communities around the world.
In the Interactive Museum of Economics, the mayors discussed the challenges that cities face in the lack of employment opportunities and concluded that it is necessary to produce a change in current paradigm of labor markets to ensure better living conditions.
The workshop "Working in the City" was part of the discussion series "City of 2030" so that the speakers discussed what conditions will have face workers in cities in 20 years, what kind of jobs could be offered and within what economies.
They noted that in this respect we must be "futuristic", because technological innovation is advancing at a rapid pace, "20 years ago never imagined the impact of Internet or multimedia telephones, we must train these areas," they remarked.
Michel Destot, Mayor of the French city of Grenoble, said that currently 50 percent of the world´s population live in cities and trends indicate that by 2050 will increase to 70 percent, this happens, because people migrate to cities looking for health, training and work.
However, he said, providing these opportunities is becoming increasingly difficult; a proof of this is the increase of informal employment that occurs in large cities. In this sense, William Cobbett, director of the Cities Alliance Global partnership, said that the solution to the informal labor market is not in its eradication, but on analyzing "how we can bring the power of the informal to the formal economy."
For its part, Ibone Bengoetxea, Deputy Mayor of Bilbao, said that the basis for achieving the development of cities in the field of employment is to bet on creativity and knowledge management and become a "smart city", this, added means, taking advantage of the diverse talents of its people, "not only give opportunity to people with higher education, but also to promote skills development. We must try to capture all these talents, keep them in groups or companies that help us be the cities we want to be, "he said.
Cassam Uteem, former President of Mauritius, coincided with the position of creating inclusive public policies because, he added, recent studies suggest that countries that include people in the dynamics of their economies achieve greater development than those that does not include them, " the future of our cities and our people will depend on how we treat the weakest sectors of the community, "he said.
Finally, Claudio Arriagada, Mayor of La Granja, Chile, emphasized that the market does not solve everything since national states are the ones that have public policies on employment and labor codes work to protect employees and public policies that allow the generation of public-private investments to protect the wealth of each city.
The speakers concluded that even when the characteristics of each city vary widely, it is a common obligation to design consistent policies that allow conditions in which everyone has an opportunity for improvement, "there are no magic solutions, but we have to analyze what works and what does not in each of our cities and areas, this let us turn our differences in learning, "he concluded.
Source: Comunicación Social D.F.
Starts in Mexico City the III UCLG World Congress
The World Local and Regional Leaders gathered today for the opening of the third World Congress of UCLG in Mexico, from the 17th to the 20th November 2010, at the invitation of the Mayor of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon.
The Mayor of Mexico said he was honored to welcome this World Summit and « that it was inside cities that the fight against climate change and pollution and for clean sources of energy would be won. »
The President of United Cities and Local Governments and Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, stressed the need for « the spirit of Mexico to inspire the three days of Congress, a spirit made of modernity, boldness, social justice and dignity in society and in the city. »
Patricia Espinoza Cantellano, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, insisted on the determination of participants to reach a succesful outcome at the climate negotiations to be held in Cancun 29 november-10 december 2010.
Key international personalities expressed their full support of the world´s cities and local governments during the opening ceremony. Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, Peace Nobel Price 2007 and President of the Intergovernmental Panel on the Evolution of Climate Change declared that « change would have to be led by cities » and asked for international funds to be established for these cities on the issue of climate change, and Joan Clos, Executive-Director of UN-Habitat, pointed out two major challenges for the future of cities : « the security and stability of local finances, and the need to conceive urban planification in a different manner. »
Committee meeting in Mexico
From the 17th to the 20th November will be held in Mexico City, the III World Congress of UCLG.
From the Presidency of the Committee, we believe that this event represents a good opportunity for the members to meet and discuss about the future of the Committee, taking into consideration the future renewal of the Committee for the period 2011-2013. The meeting will be held on the 17th November at 12:30. The meeting point will be the Hall of Hilton Reforma Hotel. On behalf of the City of Bilbao, the Presidency of the Committee will be represented by Ms. Ibone Bengoetxea, Deputy Mayor of the City of Bilbao.
The meeting is open to all the participants, however we would appreciate if you could please confirm your participation by sending an email to the Secretariat of the Committee: bilbaonext.promocion@ayto.bilbao.net
