Habitat III ends with the adoption of the New Urban Agenda
UN’s Member States reach a consensus on the roadmap for urban development for the next twenty years
The Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) concluded on the 20th of October in Quito, Ecuador, after four days full of lectures and debates on the definition of the New Urban Agenda (NUA). The document, which has the objective to address the challenges of cities’ development for the next twenty years, was finally adopted in the Official Closing Session by the 193 Member States of the United Nations.
Habitat III was convened by the General Assembly following the bi-decennial cycle of the two previous editions (the first one in Vancouver, in 1976; the next one, twenty years later in Istanbul, Turkey), with the mission of renewing the global commitment of sustainable urbanization. The Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, the Parque El Arbolito and Quito’s National Assembly, were the headquarters of the event, which received about 45.000 people from all over the world.
Among them, a strong regional presence which tried to make itself heard in this debate, mainly focused on urban issues. Besides the organization’s own activities carried out in the scope of Habitat III, ORU Fogar participated in the Global Assembly of Local and Regional Governments from the network Global Taskforce, which put together more than 600 representatives to call for local and regional commitment within the NUA. It was represented by several of its members: the Azuay Province, the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona’s Provincial Government.
Inclusive and sustainable cities
Along its 175 pages, the NUA brings together all the guidelines that governments have to accomplish to achieve sustainable, inclusive and fair cities. It promotes planned urban growth, green energies and sustainable use of resources, urban resilience and economic growth. It also gathers inclusion, poverty and inequalities relief and gender equality, health and pollution reduction. All these commitments are more urgent than ever before, since more than half of the total world’s population lives in urban settlements that unceasingly grow due to an accelerated globalization.
Images: © Habitat III
Related content:
Regions claim for more space in the New Urban Agenda. Article published by ORU Fogar, 25/10/2016
ORU Fogar's Agenda in Habitat III. Article published by ORU Fogar, 10/10/2016
Regional Governments in Habitat III. ORU Fogar’s position. Position on Regional Governments by ORU Fogar, September 2016
ORU Fogar and Catalonia organize a Side Event in Habitat III. Article published by ORU Fogar, 07/10/2016
ORU will present the regions' positioning in Habitat III. Article published by ORU Fogar, 27/09/2016
