REPORT OF THE 4TH UCLG WORLD CONGRESS
Governance is also at the heart of urban policies. In view of
this, the role of local governments, as the level of governance closest to citizens, should be at the centre of the future Habitat III Agenda.
circular and central routes. Leaders must promote the diversification of means of transport by encouraging non-pollutant methods and intensifying public transport (in Quito, 75% of the population use public transport, 55% in the city of Guangzhou is served by public transport with an overall objective of 75%). All these policies should be included in the global strategy on urban planning. Alain Juppé insisted on the fact that, “urbanisation should not be endured but organized, planned and mastered”. The Mayor of Guangzhou, Chen Jianhua, insisted on the need to reinforce the social link in towns through culture as a contributing factor to the construction of city identity, bringing together people and making public policies successful: urban zones should be welcoming environments, centred on people and non on infrastructure. Work must be conducted to foster wellbeing for citizens, in particular, the most vulnerable, women, retired persons, disadvantages persons and children. Jeffrey
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rabat 2013 - the world summit in numbers | www.uclg.org
O’Malley, Director of the political and action division of UNICEF highlighted that the wellbeing of children in cities could be an indicator of the performance of cities. He called for an evaluation of the wellbeing and the living standards of citizens, not only at national level but an evaluation that measures inequalities city by city by obtaining data from each and possibly even neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Governance is also at the heart of urban policies. In view of this, the role of local governments, as the level of governance closest to citizens, should be at the centre of the future Habitat III Agenda. Augusto Barrera, Mayor of Quito, Ecuador, highlighted the need to include populations in city policies, taking into account their aspirations and mobilise them for the future. For example, the treatment of waste is a process that begins in households: people are actors in this process. In terms of global governance, Alioune Badiane, representative of UN Habitat, called for the need for the United Nations to work jointly with local authorities and civil society as they are the point of innovation and closest to the needs of populations in defining the Habitat III agenda. He also called for the creation of strong links between the various actors and at all levels while reiterating that his organization is open to the comments of local and regional elected representatives through shared and strong messages relative to the urban agenda. By way of conclusion, Augusto Barrera made a general call for Habitat III to achieve the same social mobilization that took place around Rio+20 and to create a world movement that involves mayors, local governments and citizens. He recalled that all municipalities can get involved in the sustainable urban development debate through the Habitat III Conference in 2016.