Global perspective Human stories

World’s mayors meet at UN to discuss sustainable urban planning

World’s mayors meet at UN to discuss sustainable urban planning

Secretary General receives a gift from  Chicago's Mayor, Richard Daley [File Photo]
Mayors and representatives from some of the world’s major cities are meeting today at the United Nations to discuss how better infrastructure planning can help achieve sustainable urban development.

Mayors and representatives from some of the world’s major cities are meeting today at the United Nations to discuss how better infrastructure planning can help achieve sustainable urban development.

Participants at the gathering – the Conference on Sustainable Urbanization in the Information Age, Role of Infrastructure – will share experiences and focus on solutions to improve the capacities of local governments for planning and management of physical infrastructure networks, as well as ‘soft’ infrastructure such as health care and education.

They will also share innovative information and communication technology (ICT) models for sustainable urban planning, in addition to know-how on how to bridge the digital divide in that area.

Officials and policymakers from cities, including Cape Town, Jakarta, New York and Melbourne, will also discuss how to address challenges such as global warming and climate change.

The meeting is the second in a series sponsored by the UN, the American Institute of Architects and the Regional Plan Associations on sustainability in the information age, and follows a conference held last year in New York focusing on the environmental impact of cities.

It takes place amid the 17th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, which is currently meeting in New York and aiming to take policy decisions in areas such as agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa.