United Cities - Issue 2

Issue 2 • March 2011

A PFD Publication www.pfdmedia.com

Sustainable transport How will your city get there?

XX Mayor of Istanbul demands UN seat for cities XX Why education is key to poverty reduction XX Songdo city: a model for urban development?

Issue 2 • March 2011 VIEWPOINT 3

Message from the UCLG president Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul

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Mayors and ministers must work together on transport Jack Short, Secretary General, International Transport Forum of OECD

Managing editor Richard Forster rforster@pfdmedia.com Editor, Americas Jonathan Andrews jandrews@pfdmedia.com Editor, Europe and Middle East Nick Michell nmichell@pfdmedia.com Editor, Asia-Pacific and Africa Kirsty Tuxford ktuxford@pfdmedia.com Staff writers Sarah Marks William Thorpe Reporter Jake Rollnick Production editor Jonathan Kutnowski Senior sales executive Paul Jarvis pjarvis@pfdmedia.com Publisher Peter Warren pwarren@pfdmedia.com Sales Director Willem Fast willem@pfdmedia.com Publishing For Development Ltd. 5 St. John’s Lane London EC1M 4BH United Kingdom Tel +44 203 286 5209 Fax +44 207 526 2173 www.pfdmedia.com United Cities is published four times a year by PFD Publications Ltd. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not reflect the views and policies of PFD Publications Ltd. Requests for reprints or feedback should be sent to editorial@pfdmedia.com © PFD Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cover image: iStockphoto/danleap

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COVER STORY TRANSPORT AND MOBILITY 7

Why road safety should be a priority for city leaders Road accidents are the number one cause of death in young people Jonathan Andrews

12 Electric dreams?

New technologies for public transport Sarah Marks

18 47

18 Reclaim the streets Cities are taking action to stop people using their cars Kirsty Tuxford

INTERVIEW 25 Kadir Topbas, president of UCLG 28 The new presidency

FEATURES 36 Smart operators move into urban development How Songdo is using technology to build a model city Nick Michell 44 A very civil partnership UCLG’s mentoring scheme for city-tocity cooperation William Thorpe 47 Learning to escape from poverty A new educational programme for Indian women Jake Rollnick

CUTTING EDGE 50 The benefits of fuel cells for sustainable public transport Perrine Tisserand

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Contents

ROUND-UP 54 News from UCLG Regional Sections

REGULARS Publications 72 Local government finance: a building block to stronger societies 75 Book review

The Triumph of the City Neal Pierce 77 Calendar 80 Conference report • UCLG World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders • World Mayors Summit on Climate • COP 16 84 My Life, My City Gérald Tremblay, Mayor of Montreal

March 2011 • United Cities 1

59th UITP World Congress

and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition 10-14 April 2011 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Boosting public transport :

ACTION!

www.uitp.org/dubai2011

THE ONLY WORLDWIDE EVENT BY THE SECTOR FOR THE SECTOR Keynote speaker: Prof. Kishore Mahbubani, “From Tokyo to Dubai, the rise of Asia - Good or bad for public transport?�

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34 Congress sessions: high-level knowledge and hot issues International networking: over 2500 high-level delegates from more than 95 countries expected Multi-modal Exhibition, 30 000m2 Platform for innovations, networking, business opportunities 16 Expo Forums to share product development information 7000 professional visitors expected: worldwide reach and top decision-makers Local host

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on the world stage as critical actors. It is now time to move forward as equal partners in world governance. To be able to realize this, the following key strategic priorities are on UCLG’s agenda: facing up to the challenges of climate change; ensuring the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals; promoting gender equality, mobility and urban strategic planning; examining the challenge of water in cities; supporting the use of culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development; and making cities resilient.

Mobility is the main focus of this issue of United Cities, a topic closely linked with international policy issues such as climate change and development. Later this the year, the magazine will focus on water, renewable energy and healthcare among other challenges that local governments face around the world.

Looking at mobility and urban transport, we have tried to showcase recent advances in technology, science and research, as well as community participation, in order to show how our cities can improve the efficiency of their transport systems while at the

same time promoting a sustainable environment.

I was invited by the United Nations to give a speech at the General Assembly on Disaster Risk Reduction on 9th February, at which UCLG made the case for integral urban strategic planning, adding that natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, as well as climate change, give rise to major problems in cities when planning does not account for them. We reiterated that such problems will be inescapable if living spaces and construction in cities are not planned in line with the risks inherent in a region.

We are very confident of the important contribution that UCLG can make to bring the experiences, needs and visions of local leaders to the international stage. We are also confident that UCLG can nurture learning among peers. We are committed to innovation and to strong partnerships that will enable us to provide better services and a better quality of life for our citizens. We encourage you to read about us and to contribute. Join us and become locally involved on the global stage. n

Photo: United Nations

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t is a great pleasure for me to present to you the second issue of United Cities, the magazine of UCLG. The world we are living in today is undergoing unprecedented changes. Technology, urbanization, globalization and democratization are all changing the character of governance. In recent years, the importance of “local” and “local governance” have become greater.

One consequence of the ever increasing role of local governments has been the creation and growth of United Cities and Local Governments.

Ambitious goals were set in 2004 when the organization was established including: defending the interests and values of local and regional governments before the international community; promoting efficient decentralisation and self-government across the world; and becoming the main support for local government while ensuring an effective and democratic global organisation.

After six promising years that have seen our organisation grow and become more influential, it is now time to take UCLG into a new phase.

We need to rethink ourselves and we invite all members and partners to shape with us a new vision for UCLG. In this respect, the Presidency is fully committed to build on the diverse membership and to support local and regional governments around the world in development of peace. We encourage all members to visit our website www.cities-localgovernments. org, and to enter the UCLG Forum and participate in the UCLG Survey to share ideas.

The challenges ahead are of great importance and we are determined to mobilize all our resources to pave the way ahead for a more peaceful, equitable and democratic governance of communities. I believe that during the last six years UCLG has already placed cities, metropolises and regions

Photo: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

Message from the president of UCLG

Kadir Topbas, president of UCLG, with UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon March 2011 • United Cities 3

viewpoint

Smarter business for a Smarter Planet:

Making the fastest people in the city of Madrid 25% faster.

To put emergency responders on the scene as quickly as possible, you need more than fast cars and good radios.

You need to orchestrate absolutely everything about the organization, synching not just the people from the different agencies—fire, ambulance, police and traffic agents—but all the processes and technology that serve them as well.

The city of Madrid did just that—with help from an IBM business process management solution that integrates the disparate applications, data and processes of its different agencies. Since implementing this solution, the city has reduced Madrid’s emergency response time by 25%.

A smarter city is built on smarter software, systems and services.

Let’s build a smarter planet. ibm.com/response

A data visualization of emergency incidents in Madrid between 2009 and 2010 IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Smarter Planet and the planet icon are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. © International Business Machines Corporation 2011.

4 United Cities • March 2011

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Mayors and ministers must work together on transport

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or the first time in history, more humans live in cities than outside them and more than two thirds of global GDP is generated in about 40 metropolitan areas around the world. If New York City were a country, it would rank as number 12 in terms of economic output and India expects 70 percent of all tax receipts to come from urban areas by 2025. The emerging understanding of how cities foster economies of scale and scope is leading to a growing emphasis on the role of metropolitan areas in driving economic growth.

Urban leaders around the world, who are working to create cities that are liveable, sustainable and which thrive economically, are increasingly realizing how important transport is.

At the same time, many of societies’ main problems in cities have a transport dimension: excessive urban car use contributes to pollution and climate change, exacerbated by traffic congestion. Road crashes cause injuries and cost many lives. And social exclusion is often related to a lack of access to mobility.

Making urban mobility efficient, clean, safe and accessible for all citizens goes a long way to achieving the economic and social aims of the city.

The economic crisis has not changed these fundamentals. What it has changed is that public money for cities is now tighter. Cities have increasingly attained decentralized powers, but this devolution has not often been reflected in financial independence. Incomplete decentralization of this kind has too often been the norm.

The way forward – under the new financial paradigm even more than before – will be in an integrated, holistic approach to transport planning

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and services for all urban modes. It’s no longer about getting a high-profile tram or underground train line built.

Now it’s about putting a full array of instruments into place and deploying them in concert: from transport demand management via better landuse planning to tailor-made fiscal instruments. The challenge will be to create packages of measures that

Cities have increasingly attained decentralized powers but this devolution has not often been reflected in financial independence demonstrably reinforce each other, rather than being unconnected or even crowding each other out.

All this is not new to those who face the challenge of running modern cities; they know that it is the issue of implementation that looms largest.

An integrated approach is key but also vital are political leadership and public support. Citizens need to be involved, their questions answered, their worries taken seriously because implementation will inevitably turn out to be a political liability if citizens are not on board and do not support such projects. But with good planning and communication, the public will accept measures in the public interest.

Even schemes that were denounced as political non-starters can become success stories, as demonstrated by the introduction of congestion charging in cities such as London or Stockholm.

Photo: Marco Urban/International Transport Forum

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Jack Short, Secretary General, International Transport Forum at the OECD We are entering an age in which big cities, by virtue of the numbers of people that live in them and their economic clout, are becoming important political players in their own right, nationally and even internationally. What is still often missing is a national approach and framework, whereby societal aims as reflected in agreed national policies are also shared and supported by the cities. This requires better coordination between national and local policies – and hence an improved strategic dialogue between cities and national governments.

The International Transport Forum wants to stimulate this dialogue, for the sake of better urban transport and more liveable cities. When ministers and senior policy-makers from more than 50 countries meet for the International Transport Forum’s 2011 summit in Leipzig, Germany, from 25-27 May to debate “Transport for Society”, mayors from major cities will also be at centre stage and the interaction of national and city leaders very much in focus. We hope you will join us in Leipzig and move forward this important dialogue. n March 2011 • United Cities 5

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transport

Source: World Health Organization (2008), Global Burden of Disease

Why road safety must be a priority for city leaders Nearly one and half million people die around the world in road accidents each year. Jonathan Andrews asks what can be done to prevent such accidents, which kill more children than malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis

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he people of San Francisco are used to seeing technology companies testing their latest wares in their city, with Silicon Valley being close by. At the end of last year, therefore, most locals were not fazed by what looked like yet another Google Street View car innocuously driving around the infamous hilly roads of San Francisco. However, on closer inspection, it was clear that this was no ordinary Google car. In fact, it wasn’t actually being driven by anyone at all.

The self-driving Google car is an ambitious project to one day offer automated cars to the public in an attempt to cut the number of road deaths around the world.

“Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin] founded Google because they wanted to help solve the really big problems using technology and one of the big problems we’re working on today is www.pfdmedia.com

car safety and efficiency,” says Google software engineer Sebastian Thrum.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the FIA Foundation, motorsport’s governing body to promote road safety, more than 1.4 million lives are lost every year in road traffic accidents.

“Turning a blind eye to road deaths is not just irrational, it is ethically indefensible” — Dr Kevin Watkins, Oxford University A new FIA Foundation report, The Missing Link: Road traffic injuries and the Millennium Development

Goals, reveals that more young people are killed every day from road accidents than diseases such as Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

Dr Kevin Watkins, the author of the report, and an academic at Oxford University’s global economic governance programme, says: “It doesn't take rocket science to work out that primary school kids should not be crossing six-lane highways to get to school. Likewise, setting targets for cutting mortality rates among children aged up to five and then turning a blind eye to road deaths, one of the biggest killers of five to 14-year-olds, is not just irrational, it is ethically indefensible."

Dr Watkins believes that at first glance road safety seems a peripheral concern, as it doesn’t capture the  headlines.

March 2011 • United Cities 7

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10 reasons + 10 years = Decade of Action 1.

1.4 million people are killed on the world’s roads each year

2.

Road crashes kill more people than malaria

3.

50 million people are injured, many disabled as a result

4.

90 percent of these casualties occur in developing countries

5.

Annual deaths are forecast to rise to 1.9 million by 2020

6.

It is the number one cause of death for young people worldwide

7.

By 2015 it will be the leading health burden for children over the age of five in developing countries

8.

The economic cost to developing countries is at least US$100 billion a year

9.

Injuries place immense burdens on hospitals and health systems

10. Road crashes are preventable

Sebastian Thrum believes that the technology has the potential to cut the number of road deaths perhaps by as much as half. He is also confident that self-driving cars will transform car sharing, significantly reducing car usage, as well as help create the new ‘highway trains of tomorrow’.

“These highway trains should cut energy consumption while also increasing the number of people that can be transported on our major roads,” says Thrum. “While this project is very much in the experiment stage it provides a glimpse of what

transportation might look like in the future thanks to advanced computer science.”

Beyond technology, the FIA report highlights various successful measures which are beginning to stem the tide of death, that without action, foresees the road death toll rising to 5,700 a day within 10 years.

Rwanda has been successful in tackling the road traffic crisis through stricter enforcement of vehicle standards and speed limits.

In Vietnam, the death toll among users of motorcycles, one of the

Photo: Make Roads Safe

“Delivering life-saving vaccinations and antiretroviral drugs for HIV/ Aids, financing maternal and child health programmes, putting kids in school, and providing clean water and sanitation all have an intuitive appeal as priorities,” he says. “The reason is obvious: they hold out the promise of saving lives and expanding opportunity. By contrast, issues such as road design, traffic rules, and regulatory frameworks for public transport providers appear technical, mundane, and largely irrelevant.”

Technological innovations are assisting in putting road safety back on the agenda. In California, the Google cars have so far clocked up over 225,000 kilometres, through the streets of San Francisco, the Pacific Highway and Los Angeles.

The automated cars use video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to ‘see’ traffic together with maps so as to navigate the road ahead. A trained safety driver and a software operator sit in each car and can easily take over the controls if required.

Road accidents are the number one cause of death for young people worldwide 8 United Cities • March 2011

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transport

highest risk groups, has been falling because of a national law requiring the wearing of crash helmets. And road designers in Malaysia are working to new regulatory guidelines requiring pedestrian risk assessments.

Not all measures necessarily need be expensive. A survey in Kenya carried out by the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) found that some 70 percent of roads in certain areas had poor road markings, delineation of junctions and barrier conditions. All measures which are relatively low-cost to rectify and can have a huge impact in saving lives, believes Dr Watkins.

“To take just one countermeasure, according to iRAP, if you simply improved Nairobi’s pedestrian crossings you could prevent over 10,000 deaths and serious injuries over a 20 year period,” says Watkins.

UN declares Decade of Action

In February 2011, Hollywood film star Michelle Yeoh, in her role as Make Roads Safe global ambassador, met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha presented the UN SecretaryGeneral with a road safety tag, the new symbol for global road safety, and a motorcycle helmet of the kind used by millions of riders in Vietnam. During their meeting, at UN headquarters in New York, they discussed the forthcoming launch of the Decade of Action and the new global plan for the decade, which sets out an advisory framework for injury prevention.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed what is at stake in the forthcoming decade. “It is totally unacceptable that more than one million people die on the roads and more than fifty million are injured,” said Ban. “The human costs are profound and even the economic cost is staggering, more than US$100 billion in developing countries. The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, is for everybody, every expressway, every road and every vehicle, therefore we need to have a concerted effort. If we lead by example we can save millions of lives.”

Michelle Yeoh said that the UN Secretary-General had shown great leadership in promoting the neglected issue of road deaths. “We have all worked so hard to get to this point, where the Decade of Action is about to begin,” said Yeoh. “We are all united with a global plan of action, and the will and determination to deliver action that will make a real difference to people’s lives on roads and streets across the world.”

about addressing three main areas: road infrastructure, the quality of the vehicles, and the behaviour of people.”

In terms of vehicle quality, there has been a great deal of research into how to make vehicles safer with Google pushing the boundaries already extended by car manufacturers with the use of intelligent braking systems, air bags, run flat tyres and driving

sensors. But according to Krug, there are still models of vehicles sold in lower and middle-income countries that do not adhere to basic standards.

“Usually the vehicles will look the same as those sold in higher income countries, but are stripped of some of the safety features to make them cheaper, and that’s something we need to address,” says Krug. 

Photo: Make Roads Safe

Dr Etienne Krug, Director of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability at the WHO, says that the first step towards better road safety is political will. “From then on it’s

Michelle Yeoh steps up for the Decade of Action

Michelle Yeoh (right) met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to raise awareness for the Decade of Action (see box) www.pfdmedia.com

March 2011 • United Cities 9

Photo: Make Roads Safe

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Dr Kevin Watkins assessing road conditions in Nairobi

The campaigning, not just by the FIA Foundation, but also by the World Bank, various national governments and WHO, has led to the UN declaring a Decade of Action. Due to be launched on 11 May 2011, the FIA Foundation’s Director General, David Ward, believes that getting the programme up and running with grassroots support was vital.

“The campaign’s first public petition calling for UN action was signed by a million people around the world,” says Ward. “There was huge support from local children’s organizations including ‘Safe Kids’ with its local coalitions in the US, Brazil and South Africa and similarly with events around the world including our campaigning with school children in Vietnam. Indeed, it is only in working in partnership with local communities that real progress on road safety can be made.”

So far 100 governments are committed to reducing road deaths by 2020, an objective that organizers believe could prevent 5 million deaths.

Dr Krug, one of the key players behind the initiative, believes that via the Decade of Action, not only will 10 United Cities • March 2011

“If you simply improved Nairobi’s pedestrian crossings, you could prevent over 10,000 deaths” Dr Kevin Watkins, Oxford University countries have increased access to platforms to increase road safety, but cities too.

“I think cities could play a greater role in road safety, just as much as national governments,” says Krug.

“Some measures are national, obviously, but there are also local measures, such as recognizing local black spots and infrastructure problems. Also educating and informing people can happen at the city and urban level and our new Global Status Report, to be produced this year, will for the first time include a small focus on cities.”

To help generate awareness of the Decade of Action, a new road safety tag was launched by the Clinton Global Initiative during the New York Millenium Development Goals summit in September 2010. It aims to become the global equivalent of the red ribbon for HIV/Aids or the white wristband worn in the fight against poverty.

Lining up to offer their support were former US president Bill Clinton, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Hollywood actress Michelle Yeoh, in her role as a UN Make Roads Safe ambassador.

With only weeks to go until the official launch in May 2011, Dr Watkins believes momentum will carry the campaign through the decade.

“Of course, the aim has been to make a sustained case, with a concerted advocacy effort to push the issue up the agenda for governments and the international community,” he explains. “Certainly with the UN Decade of Action the drive to ensure that governments make road safety a priority will continue. The whole message is that road deaths are not inevitable but preventable.” n www.pfdmedia.com

E-cars come with almost all the advantages of common cars, but as they run on electricity, they emit no CO2, dust or noise. But most cities cannot afford to promote electric vehicles without a return on the money spent. So how can such vehicles be introduced sustainably?

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he answer is by investing in a recharging infrastructure that pays for itself, according to Uwe Hahner, General Manager Parking and E-Mobility at Swarco Traffic Systems. “Many people are still wary of buying an e-car; mainly because of the car’s limited range,” says Hahner. “Research suggests that most will not do so until an adequate recharging infrastructure is in place.”

Therefore cities need to upgrade existing parking bays with recharging stations. “As long as recharging an e-car’s battery takes 20 minutes and longer, we won’t see a ‘drive there, recharge, drive away’-system like we have now with petrol stations,” explains Hahner. Recharging will take place during parking – so there is no need to wait and no need for extra recharging bays in already crowded city areas.

Winning business models

Hahner’s business unit

EnergieParken, a joint venture of Swarco Traffic Systems, Schroff, ABB, Dambach-Werke, Telmasol Consult and Stadtraum, provides a recharging station that is a combination of a parking ticket machine and a recharging station. It allows for the simultaneous, separate sale of parking time and electricity at a single device.

“Whether you just park your car or you park and recharge it – you only pay for what you get,” explains Hahner.

Since everyone pays for parking tickets

Photo: Swarco Traffic Systems

But are cities going to pay for such hardware? A recharging station costs between €2,000 and €20,000. At current electricity prices, the revenue from

selling the kilowatt hours needed to fully recharge a 55 kWh is no more than €10. Since experts say that raising prices will not be easy, it seems that recharging stations will remain uneconomic even if the number of e-cars increases significantly – the margins are too low.

Wrong, says Uwe Hahner. He considers the installation of charging stations to be an investment that does pay off – as long as the stations are supported by a decent business model.

every time, the station owner earns a steady cash flow high enough to cover all costs, and does not have to rely on electricity sales.

A second advantage is that the system supports traffic-friendly parking, since it prevents the longterm-blocking of parking bays as well as parking-bay-‘hopping’. Flat rates tempt station users to leave their vehicle at the station even after the batteries have been recharged – much to the irritation of anyone searching for a free charging bay. All-inclusive parking fees on the other hand work as an incentive to re-park one’s fully recharged vehicle at a parking-only parking bay, since doing so may save money.

With the EnergieParken business model, the investment in recharging infrastructure pays off. Cities can afford to promote eco-friendly electric vehicles, and in doing so it becomes a triple-bottom-line move: good for the planet, good for the people, and good for the cities’ budget. n

Uwe Hahner Swarco Traffic Systems GmbH Bodenseestraße 113 81243 München Tel.: +49 (0) 89/89699-170 Fax:+49 (0) 89/89699-331 E-Mail: uwe.hahner@swarco.de www.swarco.com/sts www.energieparken.com

The future of parking? An Audi A1 “e-tron” in front of an EnergieParken master station www.pfdmedia.com

March 2011 • United Cities 11

Sponsored Statement

How to promote electric vehicles the economical way

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Better Place has achieved battery swap times of 59 seconds for its Tokyo taxis

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Electric dreams?

Buildings and motorized vehicles are responsible for the majority of CO2 emissions in cities. In the battle against climate change, cities are trying to coax die-hard motorists to adapt to electric vehicle technology by introducing electric vehicles for public transport.

Sarah Marks examines the options for city leaders and asks whether battery-powered vehicles are viable in congested cities

Photo: Better Place

S

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tanding on the edge of the road as a diesel bus thunders past engulfing you in a miasma of choking smoke, it is hard to argue against wanting electric vehicles to become the vehicle of 2011. Indeed, many cities have started the ball rolling by investing heavily in electric vehicles for public transport.

Stuttgart and its surrounding region is one of eight pilot cities in Germany where public awareness about electric vehicles is being raised. The German Federal Government has provided €500 million from its Economic Stimulus Package II especially to promote the development and commercialization of electric vehicles. Stuttgart’s Modellregion Elektromobilität is an e-mobility initiative that aims to put more than 1,000 electric vehicles on the Stuttgart region’s roads by this summer, including electric bikes, scooters, cars, vans and buses. This is significant in a city that gave birth to the traditional motor car and is still one of the largest centres of car manufacturing – the motor industry accounts for around 180,000 of the region’s one million jobs.

Projects are focused on letting the public try out electric vehicles.

In a city with a height variant of 300 metres, the pure pedal power of invogue bike-sharing schemes is not going to catch on with everyone. The public need some help to climb the city’s hills. EnBW, Germany’s fourthlargest energy provider, has put 500 electric scooters on Stuttgart’s streets – the largest fleet in Germany – for the public to try for free. More than 3,000 people applied to participate in the trial. Since July 2010, 500 selected users have been trundling around on the scooters and reporting their

experiences. The project will continue until July 2011.

Stuttgart also has five of the latest Mercedes-Benz built Citaro G BlueTec diesel-hybrid buses carrying people up and down the hilly streets. Stuttgart’s mayor, Wolfgang Schuster, vicepresident of UCLG, says the public are enjoying how silent the buses are but the key challenge is the length of time the battery can last. No one wants to grind to a halt in the middle of city traffic. “If you are sitting in a bus, you’re expecting that the bus will run,” says Schuster. ‘Charge anxiety’ as it’s been called, is one hurdle to overcome. Another challenge is that the buses are costly with the price about double that of a normal diesel bus. “One bus costs about €700,000,” says Stuttgart’s Wolfgang Forderer, Head of Policy and Planning at the Cities for Mobility global network and Secretary of the UCLG Urban Mobility Committee. These 18-metre buses boast the world’s largest lithium-ion battery. The German government is providing subsidies for cities to acquire such buses.

“The buses have an electric engine on each wheel and are supported by a diesel engine (if the electricity is not enough),” explains Mayor Schuster. “The diesel engine produces electricity, it doesn’t drive the bus; it produces electricity if needed.” To determine if the vehicles are financially viable and efficient, the engineering company TÜV Nord is assessing the energy consumption and emissions of the buses and sustainability expertise company PE International is conducting an environmental life-cycle assessment.  March 2011 • United Cities 13

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Stuttgart plans on getting more of these buses, and although Mayor Schuster admits that at the moment “the weak point of all e-mobility is the battery”, in this case, developers Daimler have agreed to replace the bus batteries should they expire.

Initiatives in the San Francisco mayor’s office. Most of these green taxis are hybrids and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, but the city hopes that incorporating electric vehicles – both battery swap and plug-in electric vehicles – into the taxi fleet will help achieve even greater greenhouse gas reductions.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has provided a grant of almost US$7 million for the construction of four new battery stations: two or three in San Francisco, including one at San Francisco Airport, and one or two in the San José area.

The project is in its early stages, so the exact vehicle or battery type has not yet been confirmed, but John Proctor, Better Place’s Communications Head for North America Operations, gives an idea of the expected range before a switch is necessary. “While not a taxi vehicle per se, as a point of reference the C-class Sedan, the Fluence ZE, that our partner Renault is supplying for our networks in Israel and Denmark has a 100-mile (160-kilometre) range.”

Shenzhen backs technology for transport Without investment in electric vehicle technology, electric cars and buses would literally be standing still.

US billionaire businessman and investor, Warren Buffet, has shown his belief in the future of electric vehicles with a US$230 million investment in Build Your Dreams (BYD), a little-known manufacturer in Shenzhen, China.

Buffet’s company MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. now owns a 10 percent stake in BYD, which began manufacturing rechargeable batteries for mobile phones in 1995. Today BYD is Photo: EnBW

Battery-powered taxis In November 2010 at the C40 Meeting in Hong Kong, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg made a plea to all cities to use electric taxis in the fight to lower carbon emissions. While New York already has hybrid-electric taxis, San Francisco is leading the way in the US with its new 100 percent electric battery-switch taxi pilot project which is due to begin early in 2012 and run for six years.

Taxis travel more kilometres than private cars and give off more emissions so they make for a viable pilot project to test new battery-switch technology, a method by which the driver only has to pull up for a few minutes to switch to a new fullycharged battery instead of having to plug in to recharge. Electric vehicle technology company Better Place will supply 61 vehicles specifically designed to operate with battery-switch technology, which should go some way

towards alleviating ‘charge anxiety’ and ensure that taxis are kept moving.

Better Place has been running a similar pilot project in Tokyo since April 2010 and the average battery-switch time for taxis there is 59.1 seconds – faster than filling up with petrol.

“We are working to make the San Francisco Bay Area the electric vehicle (EV) capital of the nation,” says San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “Installing widespread EV charging infrastructure, providing free, carbonneutral charging in city-owned garages, streamlining the permitting process and incorporating EVs into the city fleet and taxi fleet – both batteryswap and plug-in EVs – will help us reach this goal.”

Almost 75 percent of San Francisco’s taxi fleet is already running on alternative fuels, representing 33,500 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions savings per year, or the equivalent of taking 5,250 regular passenger cars off the road annually. “Taxis drive an average of 90,000 miles (144,840 kilometers) a year, so ensuring they are running as cleanly and efficiently as possible is critical to helping the city meet its greenhouse gas goals,” explains Johanna Gregory Partin, Director of Climate Protection

Stuttgart mayor Wolfgang Schuster tests out the EnBW scooter 14 United Cities • March 2011

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Photo: Better Place

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An electric taxi leaving a battery switch station in Tokyo

a leader in electric vehicle technology and manufacture.

BYD’s main focus is on developing vehicles for public transport. The company has launched its e6 model for taxis and a special pure electric bus, the K9, which has a range of 250 kilometres on one charge, with solar cells on its roof to help charge its batteries. The K9, which was launched in Shenzhen and Hunan in China, is set for testing in Europe, with Copenhagen taking its first buses in 2011 with a view to adding the K9 to its city fleet in 2012.

“We discovered that the main market should be taxis and buses,” says Paul Lin, BYD’s Marketing Manager.

“The gas burned by a taxi is 10 times more than a private family car. If the government has the subsidies and the companies have the technology then it’s best to focus on public transportation – this helps a lot in a short time.” The aim for BYD is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a green economy. Lin explains: “If the government subsidizes a taxi, that means it has subsidized 10 private www.pfdmedia.com

“If the government has the subsidies and the companies have the technology then it’s best to focus on public transportation” Paul Lin, BYD, Shenzhen cars. And a taxi helps very much in educating the public.”

In May 2010, BYD put 100 taxis on the streets of Shenzhen as part of a trial project, and this year there will be 500, following positive feedback from the private taxi company which is using the vehicles. To make electric taxis in China a reality, the central government is providing a 60,000 Yuan (US$9,129.91) subsidy towards each vehicle. In addition, five cities– Shanghai, Shenzhen, Changchun, Hangzhou and Hefei– are offering their own 60,000 Yuan subsidy making

a combined subsidy of 120,000 Yuan.

The vehicle of choice is the BYD e6 five-seater model, which has a range of 300 kilometres on one charge.

“One complaint has been the charging time,” says Lin. “It was two hours, but we’ve changed the charging mode as time means money for taxi drivers. We use a super-quick charge with higher voltage and a bigger battery pack. It now takes 40-50 minutes to charge.”

Electric vehicles are indisputably the vehicles of the future: they have no exhaust emissions like motor vehicles and produce little noise. How quickly and how widespread their adoption will be, is going to depend on price, and when limitations with charging times and battery life can be overcome.

Standing at the bus stop of the future reading emails on your mobile phone, the only danger is that you will miss the electric bus as you will not hear it approaching. Thankfully the mobile phone app provided free by your mayor will tell you when the next one is due. n March 2011 • United Cities 15

As cities throughout the world battle to reduce traffic congestion and to improve air quality, it seems that ADL has, in the past 18 months, quietly stolen a march on its global competitors with the unveiling of a new line of hybrid buses

A

combination of private sector know-how, world-leading technology, and government policies designed to encourage a radical move towards low-carbon buses, has resulted in the first step towards a transport revolution in the UK. The origins of the move lie with Britain’s biggest bus and coach manufacturer, Alexander Dennis Limited, better known as ADL. ADL, long-renowned as a pioneer of low floor, lightweight, fuel-efficient buses – and as the world’s leading supplier of double deck buses – appears to have cracked the secret of hybridelectric technology. It has developed a system that not only reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 35-40 percent but which is also proving to be more reliable than conventional diesel power.

The ADL hybrid solution, developed in conjunction with BAE Systems, was trialled extensively in London during 2009, along with other systems, and quickly emerged as the front-runner.

Reporting on the London trials, the authoritative Buses magazine said in September of that year: “The best fuel savings so far have been chalked up by ADL buses on Route 371. These are credited with 10.9 miles per gallon (25.9 litres/100 kilometers) on average, compared to 8 miles per gallon for the diesel bus benchmark, a 37 percent improvement.”

In 2010 the highly regarded Route ONE magazine test drove ADL’s 18-tonne double deck hybrid-electric in service conditions and reported: “It’s quiet, at times whisper quiet, smooth running, and consumes significantly less fuel better than a 55 percent

16 United Cities • March 2011

Photo: ADL

Sponsored Statement

ADL leads the market in the manufacture of green buses

ADL’s hybrid-electrics are now an integral part of the transport landscape in London

improvement. This bus was in its element in the dense London traffic.”

Influential engineering directors were also singing the praises of the revolutionary ADL products. Londonbased Andy Morris, of Transdev, says: “Our ADL hybrids have proved to be excellent, with reliability and availability running at around 98 percent. That’s good by anyone’s standards. They’ve been reliable and they deliver what they promise. Equally

important, they have slipped seamlessly into our fleet and their maintenance regime is no more demanding than that of a conventional diesel bus.”

So, by early 2010 the word was on the street – ADL had proven technology, capable of significantly reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions – and, in the process, contributing to the drive for better, cleaner air in high density, congested cities. www.pfdmedia.com

Photo: ADL

“People are always reluctant to embrace radical change” Bill Simpson, Alexander Dennis

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March 2011 • United Cities 17

Sponsored Statement

The only fly in the ointment was that the new generation buses carried a 40 percent plus price premium.

“We knew we had a winner but we also knew the price premium on early products would be a prohibitive factor,” says Bill Simpson, ADL’s Group Corporate Affairs Director.

“What we needed was an incentive to buy.

The whole system was crying out for greener, cleaner vehicles but we desperately needed ADL’s Chief Executive Colin Robertson (left) pictured with Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond at the introduction of hybrid-electrics a pump-primer. We in Edinburgh needed an initiative designed to kick-start the purchasing option. The scheme took off overnight coalition government “will continue to process and to entice operators into and was so successful that a followbe a friend” and help out operators and significant purchases. Long-term, up £10 million fund was introduced. manufacturers in the vitally important the benefits and added value prove This, in turn, was followed by a similar, transport sector. themselves but, as in life, people are although smaller initiative in Scotland.

“Our objective is to stimulate the always reluctant to embrace radical “These combined efforts provided a market for the production of low-carbon change.” stimulus for all bus manufacturers in the buses, so they become the norm rather UK, albeit that we won the lion’s share than the exception,” said Baker. “Buses and now, two years later, we are well are important. They represent twoestablished as Europe’s biggest supplier thirds of public transport journeys and of hybrid buses,” says Simpson. they generate economic growth.”

Such was the success of the ADLThe UK has clearly taken a giant inspired UK initiative that they now step towards a greener public transport have almost 150 low-carbon hybrids system and it will be interesting to see operating in cities such as London, which countries follow in its footsteps, Oxford, and Manchester, with others particularly as ADL starts to globalize its about to go into service in Birmingham, unique, hybrid technology solution. n Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow and In ADL’s case the impetus came from Edinburgh. a partnership with government. “We This year ADL will deliver a further took our case to the UK Parliament 200 hybrid buses to operators in and spelled out the long-term benefits Europe and also introduce their new, and potential for our new transport green technology to New Zealand and solution and, to be fair, they grasped Australia. the situation almost immediately,” says And in March 2011, the UK Alexander Dennis Limited Simpson. government made it clear that it will Dennis Way The result was a £30 million Green continue to throw its weight behind Guildford Bus Fund which provided gap funding the British bus manufacturing sector Surrey for bus operators. In short, if they and to drive forward its green transport GU1 1AF bought a hybrid-electric bus the UK agenda.

Tel: +44 (0) 1483 571271 government would fund the gap Norman Baker, the UK Fax: + 44 (0) 1483 301697 between the price of a conventional Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State www.alexander-dennis.com vehicle and that of a new, low-carbon for Transport, announced that the

Photo: Jon Ng

transport

Reclaim the streets While cities are at pains to assert their green credentials with electric vehicles and bike-sharing schemes, there are still far too many cars on the streets. Kirsty Tuxford looks at public and private sector innovations to tackle gridlock and make car ownership less attractive

“I

n Stuttgart we have four times as many cars as children,” says Stuttgart’s mayor Wolfgang Schuster. “When I was a child it was the other way round. What that means is that streets cannot be social spaces.

When I was young we were playing soccer in the street and when a car came, we took away the bricks that were our goals, said ‘go through’ and then we put the bricks back. Even if you reduce the traffic in these streets these days, what happens is that you have a lot of very expensive cars standing 18 United Cities • March 2011

around parked, so how can you play soccer in the street?”

Mayor Schuster is President of the UCLG Committee on Urban Mobility and of Cities for Mobility, a global city network concerned with the importance of cities as liveable spaces without congestion. He believes that what cities need to encourage “is transformation in the behaviour in the idea of mobility.” Stuttgart is involved in a big push to encourage public use of electric vehicles (see feature on page 12). “It’s a learning process,” says

Schuster. “My strategy is that I use e-mobility as an instrument for new public awareness, offering new ways of mobility in the city.”

Congestion is choking the world’s cities and building more roads and creating additional parking spaces is no longer the solution. The problems stemming from congestion are not just related to air quality– the economy suffers too. In Sydney, Australia, businesses and the community are losing AU$3.5 billion (€2.52 billion) a year because of traffic www.pfdmedia.com

transport

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From 2002 to 2008, Denmark’s capital city removed 219 parking spaces and replaced them with bike paths. Copenhagen’s Strøget street has now removed all its parking spaces, making it one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in the world. Taking away parking spaces from the city centre in Copenhagen and providing people with public transport instead has led to cycling becoming more popular than driving, with an increase from 30 percent of journeys by bike in 1998, to 37 percent in 2008, according to the Institute for Transport and Development Policy.

Making carpooling more dynamic

If you cannot get residents to use other forms of transport, then reducing the number of car journeys is essential.

Carpooling aims to do just that. City halls have been active in making their employees share car journeys to work. But despite the millions of solitary drivers wasting their time sitting one-per-car in gridlock, the carpooling concept, whereby drivers share journeys, has not generally been very effective in reducing congestion – possibly due to the common belief that ownership of a vehicle is necessary for mobility (although Germany does boast a popular carpooling initiative called Mitfahrgelegenheiten and the UK’s liftshare has attracted over 400,000 members).

According to a 2010 report in the New York Times, carpooling

numbers are falling in the USA. Dutch company ICarYou were hoping to bring carpooling back into fashion in Europe with their offer of dynamic carpooling, whereby drivers and passengers use apps or their computers to register with the ICarYou service and then search for another user who is planning the same journey.

The problem faced by ICarYou and other carpooling schemes is that without the critical mass it won’t function. This obstacle took ICarYou developer Rienk Venema back to the drawing board.

ICarYou has now come up with new software – yet to be officially branded – that will link the carpooling concept with public transport to help keep city residents mobile. “We have the technology to combine information about carpooling and public transport,” explains Venema. “If a city has a database [of public transport information] we can connect the system with our software so the public can get advice on the best way to get from A to B by downloading the app to a smartphone. The public can then see which bus or train to take and also if there’s a car free.”

The key is that the system offers several integrated intermodal transport options. It is due for launch this summer and ICarYou is currently in talks with Hamburg, Germany, about rolling out the software there.

Daimler, the German car manufacturer, has already launched an innovative car rental scheme, 

Photo: Fiora Sacco / WWF-Australia

congestion, according to Sydney’s local government. That figure is forecast to rise to AU$7.8 billion per year within 15 years.

Sydney’s mayor, Clover Moore, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the New South Wales government in September 2010 to transform Sydney, saying it is “vitally important to reverse the effects of traffic congestion”.

Part of the aim is that every Sydney resident will be within a 10-minute (800-metre) walk from a main street and within a three-minute (260-metre) walk of a continuous green link. Speed limits for cars are being lowered to 40km/hr in several zones to make the streets safer for those on foot and walking and cycling routes will be linked through parks and open spaces.

Light rail will be improved to provide an alternative to car use.

Removing roads and building walking and cycling routes is a proven way to reduce congestion. The Institute for Transport and Development Policy (ITDP), which has its headquarters in New York, reports that since the city of Seoul tore down the Cheonggyecheon highway and brought the underlying river back to life in place of the road, traffic flow actually increased by 17 percent and the temperature in the zone dropped by 2 degrees Celsius. The ITDP also warns of ‘induced demand’ created by building roads, where more people choose to journey by car because of the promise of a faster trip on a new road.

Parking is a headache for cities trying to green their streets and eliminate congestion. Typically, the more spaces provided, the more cars will come, but several cities have come up with innovative ways to prevent cars from jostling for spaces in the city centre. In Switzerland, Zurich parking meters charge more per hour for each hour that passes and the city has had a parking cap since the mid1990s meaning for each space built by developers off-street, an on-street parking place is removed to allow development of walking routes or bike paths.

Clover Moore, Mayor of Sydney: congestion is costing her city €2.52 billion a year March 2011 • United Cities 19

transport

their trip spontaneously or reserve a vehicle up to 24 hours in advance without committing to a specific time or location to return it. Charges are from €0.24 per minute, and include fuel, insurance, maintenance and parking fees if applicable.

“The less space a city has, the more it is a target market for car2go” Robert Heinrich, CEO, car2go Heinrich says that cities are actively asking for the car2go concept. “The less space a city has, the more it is a target market for car2go,” explains Heinrich. “This is a concept that saves space because it offers a much higher utilization of existing space and of the car.” car2go cars are being used by up to 10 customers a day – people who would otherwise have driven private cars. “Our car is not only small but very environmentally friendly – think of all the young folks like students who use our cars who probably otherwise would have driven 10-year-old rusty vehicles with much worse eco footprints,” adds Henrich.

Photo: car2go

car2go, which also integrates with existing public transport. Central to the scheme’s success is the fact that users can park in either a car2go reserved space or in a normal parking space. The system is designed to work in harmony with public transport with car2go parking spaces located next to bus and train stations. “car2go in combination with public transport helps customers to give up their privately owned car because it helps them to bridge that last mile between the bus stop and their home, or helps them to find a solution if they’ve just missed the last bus or train,” explains car2go CEO Robert Henrich.

The programme was first launched in the German city of Ulm as a pilot project in 2008, and then extended to Austin, Texas, in November 2009. To date, car2go has reached more than 20,000 customers in Ulm and has 15,000 registered members in the US. The company plans to start operations in Hamburg this spring and is set to undergo significant expansion in North America in 2011. car2go members have access to a network of Smart Fortwo vehicles available for round-the-clock use.

Members can locate an available car2go on the street via the Internet, smartphone app or by contacting the car2go customer call centre. Unlike traditional car rental, they can begin

car2go has attracted 15,000 members in Austin, USA 20 United Cities • March 2011

According to Andreas Leo, car2go’s Communications Manager, it costs cities nothing as car2go pays normal market prices for the parking spots. “In Ulm we pay monthly and in Hamburg the cars are allowed to use on-street parking so we get the information from parking meters about how long cars have been parked.” In Austin, car2go pays for the parking spaces by giving free minutes to city employees, who were the first to use the cars as part of the pilot project. The payment scheme for parking spaces is flexible depending on what each city wants. And as for the cars, they will be resold once they come to the end of their life as a car2go vehicle. car2go is proving popular, so is it changing the public’s mindset about vehicle ownership and how they use their cars? “The way society uses transport is changing already,” says Henrich. “We have observed that there’s a long-term trend in dense cities where more and more people just don’t buy cars any more – it’s perceived as a hassle. The younger generation are more interested in mobile internet.”

Bike-hire schemes pave way for city car rental

France is also hoping to change the car-owning habits of the public by introducing short-term city car rental through its Autolib’ scheme. Almost 50 cities are signed up for the initiative, including Paris. The scheme will be operational in the capital from October 2011 with the aim of developing the scheme to its full scale –3,000 cars in Paris– by March 2012.

Autolib’ [formed from the words auto (car) and liberté (freedom)] is the logical progression from the bike-hire scheme, Velib’, which Mayor Bertrand Delanoe introduced in 2007 (see United Cities, Issue 1). If the public can be persuaded to drive an electric vehicle and leave their petrol-guzzling cars at home, congestion and CO2 emissions should be greatly reduced. “We are hoping that 3,000 cars will replace 15,000 individual petrol cars,” says Damien Stéffan, a spokesperson from Paris town hall. “We are also hoping www.pfdmedia.com

transport

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CONGESTION CHARGING One sure-fire way to reduce city traffic is to introduce congestion charging. In London, the congestion charge was introduced in 2002, covering a 22 square kilometre area, and it resulted in a 27 percent reduction in traffic entering the zone – equating to 86,000 fewer vehicles every day.

Congestion charging raised £148 million (€171 million) in the financial year 2009/10 and net revenue is spent on improvements to transport in the city including bus services and the underground.

So how effective has congestion charging been in reducing traffic build-up in London? “When it was introduced in 2002, congestion fell by around 30 percent,” says a Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson. “Unfortunately, while traffic levels have remained at the same low levels in the zone, congestion has risen due to unprecedented levels of road works to upgrade London’s water and gas supply networks. This coupled with increasing use of bus lane restrictions and the introduction of more pedestrian only areas has meant it is harder for cars to get around the city than before. But this only underlines how important the congestion charge zone is to help keep London moving.”

According to Codatu (Cooperation for Urban Mobility in the Developing World), who produced the report Who pays what for urban transport?, the cost of operating the congestion charge scheme “turned out to be very high, at 50 percent of gross revenues” and the “scheme was a victim of its own success – the modal shift resulted in less congestion charges being collected”. But the scheme has succeeded in reducing car use, improving air quality and generating funds for public transport.

Singapore introduced congestion charging in 1975 (called the Area License System). According to a study by city network Sustainable Cities, the system led to an almost immediate 45 percent reduction in traffic and a 25 percent decline in vehicle crashes. Average travel speeds increased from 11mph (17.7km/hr) to 21mph (33.8km/hr).

But man-powered toll collections were defeating the object, as traffic queued up to pay, so in 1998 Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) was introduced. The electronic system has the ability to vary the prices based on traffic conditions and by vehicle type, time and location.

Since replacing the man-powered system with the electronic system, traffic levels have decreased a further 15 percent, according to Sustainable Cities. In addition, 65 percent of commuters now use public transport. According to city network Sustainable Cities report: “The system has curbed traffic demand and managed road space for the highest productive capacity, cutting congestion, pollution, emissions, and fuel use.”

The ERP system cost approximately US$125 million to set up and annual revenue has amounted to US$50 million with net profits of around US$40 million per year – so the ERP system has already paid for itself. The income generated goes towards construction and maintenance of roads and public transport.

Reducing congestion in cities can be achieved if society adopts the behavioural changes necessary to use new technologies such as Autolib’.

Mayors have to use a combination of strict regulation, combined with

appealing, affordable alternatives to coax the public into new habits. Cities need liveable streets without lines of parked cars where residents can interact and children can once again play football. n

Photo: TfL

that more generally, Autolib’ will transform the habits of Parisians. In Paris, about 40 percent of households own a car. Owning a car and using a car are two different things, and we’re hoping Autolib’ will allow households to choose not to own a car.”

According to Paris’s town hall, cars in Paris spend 95 percent of their time parked and 16 percent of residents use their car less than once a month.

In terms of costs, each city pays a one-off €50,000 subsidy towards the installation of every Autolib’ station (four to six cars can be parked at a station; there are 10 spaces at underground stations). Paris will have 700 stations, 200 of which will be underground, meaning that Paris is investing €35 million to set up Autolib’.

The electric cars are being provided by the Bolloré company, which manufactures the lithium polymer batteries used in the bubble cars rented by the public, and which will operate the scheme for the 50 cities.

The local government in Paris will recoup its investment over the 12-year period of the contract signed with Bolloré through the €750 annual tax per parking space which is payable by Bolloré to the city. In addition, Bolloré must support all other costs, including losses at the beginning of the contract.

As soon as the Autolib’ service becomes profitable, the syndicate of 50 cities will take a percentage of the profit.

Tarifs are deliberately low to encourage the public to use the cars.

“There are three different types of subscriptions: annual, weekly and daily,” says Stéffan. “The annual subscription is €12 per month.” Drivers then pay €5 for the first half-hour of usage. The cost for the public is a plus point but what about the system’s user-friendliness? Autolib’ drivers only need take their driving license to a station where staff will sign them up and give them a personal magnetic card. Subscribers can then unlock their desired car using the card and reserve a parking space at their destination station. “We see Autolib’ as a link in the chain of transport modes,” explains Stéffan.

London saw traffic drop by 27 percent with the introduction of the congestion charge March 2011 • United Cities 21

Sponsored Statement

“Guangzhou: Smart City, Better Life” Having won the Mexico Water Prize and an International Sustainable Transport Award, Guangzhou is receiving global recognition in its quest to achieve its vision of becoming a low-carbon, intelligent and happy city

G

Guangzhou, China

uangzhou has a strategic vision of becoming a lowcarbon, intelligent and happy city, but what does that mean and and how will it be achieved? “A low-carbon Guangzhou entails the establishment of low-carbon concepts, devotion to the growth of a low-carbon economy, promotion of low-carbon lifestyles and the creation of a low-carbon environment,” explains Mayor Wan. The new generation of information technologies will help the city become ‘intelligent’, as city administration and the provision of services for residents will be completed digitally, using networking and intelligent means.

In terms of a ‘happy Guangzhou’ the city is aiming to embody the vision of a well-off society where material, spiritual, ecological and

22 United Cities • March 2011

political civilizations enjoy balanced development, a city where residents have a strong sense of identity, belonging, contentment, well-being and pride, and a metropolis holding a strong appeal for all segments of society.

Building a low-carbon Guangzhou will bring concrete benefits to citizens and Guangzhou is aiming to achieve five goals. The first is for a good standard of living. The city is striving to provide high-quality food, housing, transport and recreation for residents and to ensure that students are well educated, workers are handsomely rewarded, patients receive high-quality treatment, and the elderly are well cared for. The second goal is a first-class environment with blue skies, clean streams, smooth traffic, comfortable

housing and enchanting cityscapes.

The third goal is to enhance the sense of accomplishment amongst the people and to ensure that they can pursue their interests, tap their potential, voice their feelings, advance their careers, have access to convenient and efficient public services, and enjoy ample opportunities. The fourth goal is to build a society characterized by compassion, impartiality, equality, hospitality, harmony among family members, friends, neighbours and colleagues, and courteousness for visitors. And finally Guangzhou is aiming to build upon its heritage by offering an extensive range of cultural products, promoting healthy activities, raising cultural standards and strengthening the intangible power of culture to enhance lives. www.pfdmedia.com

“Whether Guangzhou is a person’s native or adopted hometown, many residents are devoted to the city as a cradle of entrepreneurship” Mayor Wan

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will be strengthened. “We’ll continue to adhere to the system of socialist core values, vigorously promote the spirits of Asian Games volunteers, encourage public involvement in voluntary community services, enhance the cultivation of personal morality, family virtues, professional ethics and social morals and create harmonious interpersonal relations,” affirms Mayor Wan. “With such efforts, we will turn Guangzhou into a close-knit community characterized by harmony, diversity and solidarity.”

Water is central to the city

Guangzhou lies on a river and near the sea. The city enjoys a dense network of waterways. In the city centre alone, there are 231 streams with a total length of 913 kilometres; water is omnipresent in the city. The opening and closing ceremonies of the Guangzhou Asian Games were themed on water, reflecting the special position of water in the hearts of local people. However, with accelerating urbanization and industrialization and an explosive growth in urban population, Guangzhou, like many other mega-cities around the world, faces considerable challenges in terms of providing clean, safe water for all.

March 2011 • United Cities 23

Sponsored Statement

To achieve these goals, there are are devoted to the city as a cradle of several major steps planned. Economic entrepreneurship,” says Mayor Wan. “In competitiveness will be enhanced. order to further optimize Guangzhou’s “To achieve the goal of building a entrepreneurial environment and to modern system of industries, we’ll attract top-notch entrepreneurs, we speed up structural adjustment and plan to enact a series of policies and the transformation of the mode build a number of platforms to promote of growth, press ahead with major investment and entrepreneurship, and projects, and lend greater support incentives will be offered to encourage to the development of a number of officials to pursue greater career dominant strategic industries, such as accomplishments, people with business banking and insurance, commercial and trade conventions and exhibitions, modern logistics, creative culture, high-end information, automobiles, petrochemicals, heavy-duty machinery, biotechnology, and new materials,” says Mayor Wan. The city is endeavouring to build a number of core industrial clusters with distinctive characteristics, system completeness, environmental friendliness, leading brands and strong international competitiveness. “We’re determined to increase the breadth and depth of our economy, enhance the quality and efficiency of growth, and forge our city’s material foundation,” savvy to engage in entrepreneurial adds the mayor. activities, and local residents to launch Environmental appeal is also set to family businesses, thereby building an increase. “Greater efforts will be made entrepreneurial city where all elements to further improve living environments, of entrepreneurship are flourishing.” water and air quality,” explains Mayor In a bid to establish Guangzhou as a Wan. “We will also enhance the national city of civility, social cohesion transport grid, and build more wheelchair-accessible facilities.

Flowers and greenery will be planted around all buildings to make the entire city more scenic.” The plan is to showcase the city as a work of harmony between man and nature and an embodiment of high living standards.

Also, greater financial resources will be devoted to the enhancement of public livelihoods. Resources for education, healthcare, housing, care of the elderly and social security benefits will be distributed to residents equally.

Guangzhou wants to stimulate entrepreneurship.

“Whether Guangzhou is a person’s native or adopted The new television tower in Guangzhou hometown, many residents

Sponsored Statement

The government’s initiatives led to Guangzhou being awarded the Mexico Water Prize at the fifth World Water Forum in 2009 in recognition of the city’s water clean-up initiatives. “The prize has greatly inspired us to continue our water clean-up, water supply, water replenishment, and water nourishment initiatives,” says Mayor Wan. Since 2008, Guangzhou has been focused on the goal of cleaner water, and has allocated unprecedented amounts of funds for the city’s largest ever water clean-up campaign.

Sewage treatment is the primary task, while water diversion and water replenishment are the next-most important tasks. “Our water clean-up programmes emphasize integrated treatment, unified urban and rural planning, and citywide pollution prevention,” says Mayor Wan. “In the central districts, pollutants are completely intercepted; in villages and townships, comprehensive sewage treatment is provided; and sewage treatment and stream cleanup works have steadily progressed.”

Thanks to the concerted efforts of governments at all levels, organizations and residents, 580 integrated water environment enhancement projects have been completed, 121 streams in the city cleaned up, 2,907 kilometres of sewage interception pipelines laid down, another two artificial lakes built and 38 more sewage treatment plants constructed. Today, 85 percent of household sewage citywide, and nearly 90 percent in the central districts, is treated, reducing the daily amount of sewage directly discharged into the Pearl River by 800,000 tonnes.

Guangzhou’s sewage treatment capacity has substantially increased.

The city’s daily household sewage treatment capacity grew from 2.286 million tonnes in 2008 to 4.6518 million tonnes today, and the rate of urban household sewage receiving centralized treatment has risen from 75.09 percent in 2008 to 85 percent.

Water quality in city streams has substantially improved: the 121 cleaned-up streams are no longer murky or stagnant, and their water 24 United Cities • March 2011

quality has seen a marked improvement along with the landscapes on the banks of the streams.

In addition, the city’s flood control and drainage capacity has substantially expanded. A total of 227 locations prone to flooding have been fortified and their drainage standard raised, effectively reducing flooding in the central districts. And rural water quality is also improved. A significant range of rural sewage treatment facilities have been built, benefiting 659,300 rural residents and leading to a marked improvement of the rural water environment. Today the Pearl River is brimming with life, and the numerous scenic spots and eye-catching tour boats serve as a magnet for tourists and residents. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the city’s civil servants in the water clean-up campaign, the city now boasts a significant number of high-calibre water clean-up specialists.

Leader in sustainable transport

improved once and for all; rather, it requires consistent hard efforts.”

In an effort to improve public transport, Guangzhou is not only considering individual locations, but also making plans for the entire city – seeking not only to resolve transport issues, but also issues related to urban planning, city services, industrial development and population size. The city is focusing efforts in several areas, including better distribution of services – city services are overly concentrated, with educational, cultural and medical facilities clustered in a single area.

Also, infrastructure will be expanded through a three-dimensional transport network with the aim of achieving a seamless connection between air, sea and subway transport, and an extensive road network linking up the entire city and the whole province will be created. The first priority will be given to public transport in policymaking, budgeting, manpower, information access and network building. An intelligent transport network platform is being built with the latest technology.

And the existing management system is being optimized and fine-tuned as Guangzhou transforms itself into an intelligent city. “To establish Guangzhou as an intelligent city, we’re stepping up the promotion of e-governance, e-commerce, e-life and e-administration, and gradually reducing the number of vehicles on the roads,” comments Mayor Wan. n

At the annual meeting of the U.S.based Transportation Research Board, Guangzhou was presented with the International Sustainable Transport Award 2011 in recognition of the city’s outstanding achievements, most notably the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, the public bicycle system, and the greenway system. It was the first time a Chinese city had won this international award.

Winning the Sustainable Transport Award 2011 marks Guangzhou’s first step on its long journey to improving public transport.

“The award is not only an encouragement, but also compels us to excel,” says Mayor Wan. “City transport is a complex, comprehensive and long-term systematic project. Transport cannot be Mayor Wan of Guangzhou and Mayor Gregor Robertson of Vancouver

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interview

Kadir Topbas, president of UCLG

Mapping a new role for cities Following his election as president of UCLG in November 2010, Kadir Topbas made it a priority to meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss an active role for UCLG within the United Nations. United Cities talked to the mayor about his trip to UN headquarters and his vision for the development of UCLG

Photo: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

Bio: Kadir Topbas

As Mayor of Istanbul, what experience can you bring from this to the presidency of UCLG? As the ex co-president of UCLG and the president of UCLG-MEWA, I am very honoured and happy in my new duty as president of UCLG. I would like to reiterate my gratitude to all my esteemed colleagues once again, on behalf of my city and my country, for their courtesy in making me president. www.pfdmedia.com

Since its establishment in 2004, UCLG has worked hard to become the respectable organization of cities, metropolises, regions and local governments worldwide. We have now become the world’s biggest and the most effective union of local governments.

I believe that we should explore ways to establish more peaceful, fair and democratic governance all over

Born: Artvin, 1945.

Studies: Graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Theology in 1972, and Mimar Sinan University, Department of Architecture, in 1974. PhD from Istanbul University, Department of Art History and Archaeology.

1994 - 1998: Adviser to Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdrogan, when Erdrogan was Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Served as the deputy director of Istanbul 1st Cultural Heritage Protection and Monuments Committee of the Ministry of Culture.

1999: Elected Mayor of Beyoglu (a district of Istanbul).

2004: Elected Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

2009: Re-elected as mayor.

2010: Appointed president of UCLG. Also served as president of MEWA and vice-president of UCLG between 2004 and 2007, and was co-president of UCLG from 2007 to 2010.

the world. I think my experience from Istanbul can develop a crucial synergy here. Istanbul has had a deep historical and sentimental union with Europe, the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia. Istanbul has both a European and an Asian identity, which means we can help harmonize different ideas from around the world and act as a mediator.

During your presidency what do you think will be the pressing issues?

Today, local governments are making every effort to fight against global warming and poverty. During my presidency, we will resolutely and  March 2011 • United Cities 25

interview

Turning now to the UCLG congress in Mexico City last year you said that the 21st century will be “one of the city and not of countries”. How can UCLG bring this to fruition?

Seventy-five percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050 and thus cities will mark this century – not countries. Many international agreements and inter-cultural dialogues are already taking place between cities.

UCLG has become the only legitimate representative of local governments to hold audience with international organizations such as the UN, EU, OECD, the World Bank and others. These international organizations act in line with the ideas of UCLG when they are making decisions or implementing projects regarding local governments.

“We have now become the world’s biggest and the most effective union of local governments” The UCLG City of 2030 Manifesto mentions democratic, self-governing cities and inclusiveness by all. How will you as president aim to encourage this among members?

Of course there are different countries and different regimes around the world but we must focus on partnerships that seek solutions, regardless of the regime differences, because we have common problems.

That is why we must share our experiences in the fields of urban life, culture, social integration and social development. The important 26 United Cities • March 2011

Photo: Jonathan Andrews

more effectively continue the fight against these problems. I certainly believe that through the efforts of UCLG – which is essentially a democratic global organization – cities will start to generate solutions to global problems rather than just being part of the problem.

As the 2010 European Capital of Culture, Istanbul was the most visited city after London and Paris

thing here is that we act with this determination in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The economic crisis has led to many local and regional governments being caught between the increased needs of citizens, growing demographic pressures and much reduced financial resources. What can cities do to overcome these problems?

One of the most important topics of our cooperation is, no doubt, the economy. The world has been experiencing a huge economic crisis. It is essential that we act together.

In particular, we need to accelerate the establishment of The Global Fund for Cities Development. This fund is such an important initiative for local governments, cities and municipalities.

It will present important alternatives to finance projects we are planning, regarding water, climate change, and disaster management.

Many local governments have to maintain services in rural areas too.

So we have to have a balance between urban and rural services. That is why we believe that it will be beneficial and productive if the UN and governments transfer social funds to us.

In February you gave a speech at the UN General Assembly on disaster and risk management. Should more responsibility be given to local governments on this issue?

Local governments are the closest institution to the people, and they can take an active role in mobilizing people against a disaster risk. It is almost impossible to plan against a natural disaster without the participation and support of the people.

The 2010 report from the United Nations Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction says that the last 20 years have been the most destructive of all in terms of natural disasters. The statistics show that approximately 78,000 people died every year in the last 10 years due to natural disasters, and in 2010 these numbers increased to 296,800.

Lack of political action, poor development strategies, low standards of living and lack of awareness about disaster risks, directly increase the negative impacts of disasters.

It is vital therefore that an understanding of disaster management, which emphasizes disaster risk mitigation, be developed. www.pfdmedia.com

interview

Thus, UCLG has established a coalition called Partnership for Urban Risk Reduction, which is an investment for a safe future.

While at the UN you held a meeting with the Secretary-General, Ban Kimoon, where you presented a letter demanding at least observer status for UCLG in the UN General Assembly. Do you think this will be achieved? What are the next steps?

The UCLG has the same effect on cities and municipalities as the UN has on states.

In our meeting with the SecretaryGeneral, Ban Ki-moon, we negotiated active and top-level representation of local governments in the UN in a detailed way. The cooperation between the UN and UCLG will give a strong development message to humanity.

Our agenda includes: the Millennium Development Goals; the Alliance of Civilisations; peace making and city diplomacy; gender equality; climate change; the global fund for cities development; Agenda 21 for culture; urban development strategy; and disaster risk reduction.

Istanbul was the European Capital of Culture in 2010. From your experience, what did this bring to the city, and is culture moving up the agenda for cities?

Culture will be the most significant dimension of the city of 2030. In the UCLG Manifesto, launched in Mexico City, we emphasized the title of “a creative city, a city of culture”.

Istanbul is not the European Capital of Culture anymore, however, the culture and arts agenda of our city still continues with the same intensity.

Throughout 2010, we had a very fruitful calendar of arts and culture including 580 projects and more than 9,500 activities which were seen by more than 10 million people. It was an important project, and different cultures found a chance to get to know each other and it made a significant contribution to the project, Alliance of Civilisations. www.pfdmedia.com

While it was the Capital of Culture, Istanbul became the most visited city in Europe, after London and Paris. Istanbul 2010 and its projects were promoted in 27 countries, 45 international tourism fairs, 17 international conventions and conferences. Istanbul is now perceived not just as a historical city but also as a centre of arts and culture.

Some citizens might argue that money spent on tourism could be better spent directly on improving citizens’ lives.

How do you feel about this?

Tourism integrates nations and cultures, it helps people to understand each other better, and foster relations between countries.

According to the Tourism 2020 Vision of World Tourism Organisation, tourist numbers will increase to 1.6 billion people in 2020, and tourism revenue will be US$2 trillion. Thus, it can impact the quality of life very quickly in both cities and countries like no other sector.

When I first became the Mayor of Istanbul, tourist numbers were 2.5 million. In the last seven years, that has increased by 350 percent to 8.5 million. In the meantime, we have made investments from urban transformation to transport, which cost more than US$27.5 billion.

If we had not made these investments, we could not have hosted all those international conventions and conferences. We could not have become the 2010 European Capital of Culture or the 2012 European Capital of Sports.

A key issue for cities that is being explored in this issue of United Cities is mobility. What is Istanbul doing to improve the circulation of its 15 million people, and also goods, via sustainable modes of transport?

Istanbul with, 15 million people, and a geographical size bigger than 23 European countries, has seen a dramatic increase in mobility and daily travel in the city.

When I first took office in 2004, mobility within the city was 11-12

million. Now, it is 22-23 million and it will soon rise to 40-45 million. Thus, we have had to adjust our transport planning and urban infrastructure according to this projection.

Transport’s share of the investment budget is now 55 percent which translates to US$12.5 billion.

To make public transport more attractive, we have planned the completion of the rail system as a priority. In 2013 with the completion of the Marmaray tube tunnel project and suburban routes, we will reach 204 kilometres of track. Our objective for 2023 is 635 kilometres of rail network.

The Metrobus system, which carries 650,000 people a day is one of the best examples of sustainable highway development as 80,000 private cars were taken off the roads because of this system.

“The UCLG has the same effect on cities and municipalities as the UN has on states” At the end of your term as president of UCLG, what do you hope to have achieved?

We are working for a more democratic, egalitarian, fairer and a more liveable world, therefore we need the experiences, specialities and energies of our allies and partners. We would like to increase this synergy.

This is a must for UCLG to operate more effectively.

If we can manage to promote this sharing with more cities, then we can reach our objectives faster. We are asking to be represented in the UN, and our meetings so far with Ban Kimoon have been very fruitful.

We have also lobbied for the United Nations Advisory Committee on Local Associations (UNACLA) to be more active. In the end it all comes down to making these efforts for people living in cities so as to give them a higher standard of living. n March 2011 • United Cities 27

The new presidency

Five new co-presidents from different regional areas have been elected to the presidency of the organization. United Cities asked the mayors who have been elected to set out their vision for UCLG and its member cities

What does it mean to be co-president of UCLG? Mayor of Harare (Zimbabwe), Muchadeyi Masunda

For a start, I have to say I am humbled to have been asked to be co-president of UCLG. Secondly, I have to say that there is a mammoth task that needs to be undertaken, especially in Africa. And in that regard, we need to get the five regional groups Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, Central Africa, Western Africa and Northern Africa firing on all cylinders, and for them to channel all their concerns and recommendations through the UCLG Secretariat in Rabat. In that way, we can begin to see a more coordinated and structured way of dealing with the various problems that bedevil cities around Africa.

Mayor of Lisbon (Portugal), António Costa

My election as co-president of UCLG is the result of my availability and the city of Lisbon’s greater involvement in international work and our belief in the values of local governments and the strengthening of UCLG’s influence with international bodies like the UN, World Bank and the European Union. Of course it’s an honour that I share with the city of Lisbon and other Portuguese and European cities, to contribute in this way for the common goals of our organization.

Mayor of San José (Costa Rica), Johnny Araya Monge

For me it’s very important to be elected as co-president of UCLG. The UCLG is becoming more and more important for communication between local governments of the world. Becoming co-president is a contribution that I wanted to make because I think it’s important not only to share successful experiences and information but also to open channels of cooperation, decentralize power and aid development. One of the most important areas to look at is the issue of climate change.

Mayor of Guangzhou (China), Wan Qingliang

It’s an honour for Guangzhou and myself to become a member of UCLG and for me to be elected a copresident of UCLG. UCLG is currently the world’s largest international organization of cities and local governments; it is one of the top international organizations in terms of the number of member cities and the extent of its influence. With its unique vision and advantages, UCLG offers the broadest platform and richest resources for cities to engage in outreach activities and build partnerships; it also offers the most effective models and the most convenient services for cities to define their position, familiarize themselves with international rules, resolve thorny issues in development, and secure common prosperity. In this sense, UCLG is playing a unique and irreplaceable role.

28 United Cities • March 2011

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Photo: Government of Mexico City

interview

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SPOTLIGHT: NEW CO-PRESIDENTS

Muchadeyi Masunda, Mayor of Harare Photo: UN-HABITAT

BIO: Muchadeyi Masunda BORN: Bulawayo, 1952 STUDIES: Graduated from Rhodes University with a Law Degree.

1977-1989: Partner, Gill, Godlonton & Gerrans 1984-1985: President of Harare Legal Practitioners’ Association 1997 - 1999: Chairman of Diagnostic Imaging Centre 1999-2002: Chairman and CEO of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe 1999-present: Chairman of Duly Holdings Ltd 2002-present: Director of National Asset Management Corp Ltd 2008-present: Mayor of Harare 2010: Appointed co-president of UCLG

“When we look at some cities, they haven’t had any local authority elections for ten years. You can’t have a city that is trying to thrive in chaos” Mayor Masunda What are your hopes and expectations as co-president?

In the short space of time that I have, as my term is three years unless it is extended, my main thrust given my background as an attorney, arbitrator, and director general for a number of key corporations in Zimbabwe, is to get cities and local authorities to work closer together with multinational groups, so that we can see the muchwanted ‘three p’s in action’: publicprivate sector partnerships. We need to relate everything that we try to do to the eight key Millennium Development Goals as a benchmark of what it is we are trying to do. We have to make these projects relevant and focused instead of just talking about things. And then of course, all these things are predicated upon a literate community so we have to www.pfdmedia.com

make sure that everybody has at least a basic, primary education.

So we need to promote engaged information exchange?

We have to rely more on moral persuasion, as opposed to anything else. There is no other way to get the message across. We need to persuade our counterparts in various cities that there is another way of doing things. And we were very lucky in Zimbabwe and South Africa, in that we inherited a fairly developed and robust infrastructure. When you see the sprawling development in a city like Kinshasa, or Lagos in Nigeria, or Cairo in Egypt, it is a concern.

These are the three fastest developing urban hubs in Africa, and I, wearing my UCLG hat, would like to make a

contribution towards the sustainable development of these mega-cities.

How hard is it to follow-up after information exchanges?

It all depends on the level of appreciation and keenness of the targeted beneficiaries. For instance, since the UCLG Congress in Mexico, we’ve had visits here in Harare from various cities within striking distance of our country’s borders. We had a delegation from Lilongwe visit and have a look at how we are getting on with community-based projects. We’re working in tandem with communitybased organizations, which deal, for example, with the provision of shelter for the homeless. But when we look at some cities, they haven’t had any local authority elections for ten years, and there are serious governance issues that are also at play. You can’t have a city that is trying to thrive in chaos.

Especially in financially insecure times, is it difficult to persuade citizens that it is necessary for the city to pay for a mayor to travel around the world?

I’ve been luckier than many mayors, because I’ve had full support from my council, because they’ve seen, in an incredibly short space of time, the huge benefits that have been accrued to the city. Recently, I decided to travel to Nottingham, to resuscitate a twinning arrangement that the city of Harare has had in Nottingham, going as far back as 1980, and we’ve also begun, in the two and a half years that I have been mayor, another twinning arrangement with the city of Munich, and I am in the throes of resuscitating our relationship with the city of Cincinnati in the United States of America. And these are enormously beneficial, as we then have exchange programmes that go a long way in dealing with a whole host of issues that we need to address.  March 2011 • United Cities 29

interview

SPOTLIGHT: NEW CO-PRESIDENTS

António Costa, Mayor of Lisbon

Photo: Municipal de Lisboa

BIO: António Costa

“UCLG has a huge potential to bring together local leaders” What, specifically, will your role as co-president entail and what do you expect to achieve by 2013 when your term ends?

As co-president I am part of a team that determines the direction of the UCLG until 2013. The presidency is the statutory board, which will carry out the external representation and the implementation of the objectives set for the next three years at the Congress in Mexico. These objectives include short-medium term redefining of the organization’s strategy, ensuring a better balance between the financial contributions of different sections, increasing the involvement of committees and working groups as well to strengthen the institutional and policy component of the organization and its international recognition as a

www.pfdmedia.com

Born: 17 July, 1961 Studies: Degree in Legal and Political Sciences, Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon. Postgraduate Diploma in European Studies from the Catholic University of Lisbon.

1993-1995: Councillor in the Municipality of Loures Since 1994: Member of the National Secretariat of the Socialist Party 1995-1997: Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs of the XIII Constitutional Government 1997: Minister of Parliamentary Affairs (VII Legislature) 1999-2002: Minister of Justice 2002-2004: President of the Parliamentary Group of the PS 2005-2007: Minister of Internal Affairs of the XVII Constitutional Government 2007: Elected Mayor of Lisbon 2010: Elected co-president of UCLG

partner, which I hope will be achieved by the end of the mandate in 2013.

Knowledge sharing between cities and local governments is vital in dealing with the effects of rapid urbanization.

Which cities does Lisbon collaborate closely with and what role can the UCLG take in bringing government leaders around the world closer together?

The city of Lisbon is involved in several networks that encourage the exchange of knowledge and expertise, which are essential for the development of its urban policies. In particular, I would highlight the UCCLA, the union of Portuguese-speaking capital cities, the UCCI, which groups together the Ibero-American capitals, Eurocities and, at the global level, Metropolis and UCLG. Naturally bilateral cooperation, which Lisbon develops with other friendly cities such as Madrid, Barcelona or Paris, is also important for information sharing. UCLG, as the world body of cities and local governments, has a huge potential to

bring together local leaders from all regions of the world. That is unique and it represents much of its importance.

A central question raised at the 3rd UCLG Conference is what are the biggest challenges facing cities in 2030.

What do you think those challenges will be and how can they be addressed?

The main challenges are essentially to do with urban growth, which is expected to reach very high levels in continents such as Asia and Africa.

The challenges of sustainability, development and living conditions that urban growth poses will be the main issues for the next 20 years, mainly in small and medium-sized cities, where the demographic flows will be more apparent. It is true that large cities will face other challenges, but as the interdependence between rural and urban areas becomes increasingly important, I think the major challenges will be at the level of smaller towns that tend to grow without adequate infrastructure.

What initiatives is Lisbon undertaking in relation to sustainable urban transport?

One of the ways of promoting a more sustainable city is through the implementation of electric transport.

Lisbon is one of the European capitals at the vanguard of electric mobility, with one of the biggest networks of public charging stations in Europe. Electric vehicles not only reduce pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions but also bring energy efficiency. Each day more than 400,000 vehicles are coming into the city, and they are the main source of air and noise pollutants, and represent 40 percent of the energy consumption in the city. Putting in a network of universal recharging bays will give people the guarantee that they can charge their cars. The network will have 687 charging points by the summer, of which half will be in parking lots.

March 2011 • United Cities 31

interview

SPOTLIGHT: NEW CO-PRESIDENTS

Johnny Araya Monge, Mayor of San José

BIO Johnny Araya Monge Born: San José on 29 April 1957 Political party: Liberación Nacional 1982: University of Costa Rica, degree in Agricultural Engineering 1992: Graduated from Harvard University programme for Latin American mayors 1998-2001, 2003-2007, 2007-present: Mayor of San José 2010: Elected co-president of UCLG

Photo: Johnny Araya

On pedestrianization:

You mentioned the importance of climate change for your co-presidency of UCLG. San José has the largest recycling centre in Central America, is this part of a new ‘greener’ plan for the city?

Yes, during my term as mayor I have turned the issue of climate change and its consequences for the city into a big priority. We began last year with the installation of a recycling centre in the most-populated district in San José.

We are going to construct two more centres, which demonstrates a change in the culture of the inhabitants. The first we’ll probably build in 2012, and the next, the year after.

With regard to transport and congestion, you have created many new pedestrian zones in the city. What has been the effect?

The pedestrianization of San José is one of the most emblematic programmes that we’ve undertaken.

When I started my studies in 1990, 32 United Cities • March 2011

there weren’t any pedestrianized spaces. Not one single pedestrian street. San José was a city made for cars. We had to change this – now it’s a city more for the people and less for cars. Now we have 4.5 kilometres of pedestrian routes, which has been a real success. These shared spaces have had a dynamic economic effect – and have brought success for the commercial economy and for tourism.

And there’s also been a reduction in air pollution at very strategic points throughout the city. We’ve got a plan to put in another pedestrian zone of 700 metres and we’ll start in three months.

The city is gaining identity and character thanks to the construction of these zones.

The district improvement programme – has it made a big difference to the city for the inhabitants? What specifically did the programme involve?

This is a socially focused programme.

The city has more than 400

“San José was a city made for cars. We had to change this – now it’s a city more for the people and less for cars” Mayor Araya districts and we started to improve some of those districts in terms of communal, cultural and environmental aspects. We’ve built a lot of new infrastructure in each district. Last year we worked in 80 of the 400 districts and for example we have improved schools’ infrastructure and football pitches, and health centres – things like that. It’s a successful programme to improve the infrastructure and the sense of community in the poorest districts of San José. We have also organized drugs and sex education workshops in schools – especially in schools that have pupils from marginalized urban communities. The programme has been running for eight years and more than 12,000 children have passed through this and now the figures show a notable decrease in the number of adolescents who are affected by drugs. www.pfdmedia.com

interview

SPOTLIGHT: NEW CO-PRESIDENTS

Wan Qingliang, Mayor of Guangzhou Photo: Government of Mexico City

Bio: Wan Qingliang Born: 1964 2000-2003: President of Guangdong Youth Federation 2003-2005: Mayor of Jieyang, Guangdong Province 2008: Elected Vice Governor of Guangdong Province 2010: Elected Mayor of Guangzhou and co-president of UCLG

“Guangzhou is committed to facilitating goodwill exchanges between more Chinese and Asia-Pacific cities and other cities around the world” Mayor Wan How do you expect to promote Guangzhou’s city development through UCLG? The boundary between the smaller family of Guangzhou and the larger family of UCLG, and between ‘the Chinese village’ and ‘the global village’, is becoming increasingly blurred, while ties are binding us closer and minds are increasingly connected. At the same time, many of the difficulties and problems facing us are common and global in nature, such as problems in the economy, energy, resources, environment, pollution, food safety and natural disasters.

First, UCLG will help us learn from others. UCLG’s member cities are different sizes, and have different histories and cultures, but they all have their own features, advantages and achievements; it’s very important for Guangzhou to draw upon their experiences and practices. Moreover, we’ll build a bridge for international exchanges. To date, 38 nations around the world have set up general consulates in Guangzhou, and Guangzhou has established sister-city relations with 22 cities and friendship-city ties with 14 cities in 22 countries, creating a threedimensional international exchange www.pfdmedia.com

network. Furthermore, we’ll work for high-level cooperation. We are actively strengthening our ties with the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Human Settlement Programme, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and other major international organizations.

Second, we’ll capitalize on our UCLG membership as a stage for us to facilitate greater international interaction.

Many cities in the Asia-Pacific region, including Guangzhou, are key members. Despite their short history in UCLG, these cities are playing an increasingly important role in global efforts to cope with the financial crisis and climate change. There are now 17 cities in mainland China which have joined UCLG, compared with 13 initially. Guangzhou is committed to facilitating goodwill exchanges between more Chinese and Asia-Pacific cities and other cities around the world, and contributing to the formation of interactive and cooperative mechanisms among global cities for the common prosperity of all cities.

Third, we hope to use our membership of UCLG as a conduit for us to facilitate foreign trade. Guangzhou is currently home to more than 10,000

foreign-invested enterprises, including 174 set up by the world’s top 500 companies. In 2010, Guangzhou’s total imports and exports reached US$103.8 billion, breaking through the US$100 billion mark for the first time. Despite this, Guangzhou still lags behind leading domestic and overseas cities in terms of total imports and exports, the amount of utilized foreign funds, and the number of investment projects launched by the world’s top 500 companies. As such, we will intensify our efforts to attract investments from UCLG member cities, actively tap into their markets, optimize our export trade structure, enhance the growth of our open-style economy, and expand the influence of the ‘made in Guangzhou’ label in domestic and international marketplaces.

What goals are you looking to achieve during your term as a co-president of UCLG? Personally, in my three-year office as UCLG co-president, I will fulfil the commitments made in my election statement, work closely with other members of the presidency to accomplish the missions and tasks that UCLG has bestowed upon Guangzhou, and faithfully fulfil my duties as a co-president. We’ll follow the spirits of solidarity and cooperation set forth in the constitution of UCLG, promote mutual trust, openness, accommodation and close working relationships, make the best use of mutually complementary economic advantages, and facilitate the opening of markets and common development.

Considering the extensive membership of UCLG and the vast geographic coverage, we’ll work to strengthen our exchanges and cooperation with other member cities, UCLG itself, and other international organizations such as the United Nations. And together, we’ll build a joint network to guard against global crises and to collaborate on effective solutions in such crises. n March 2011 • United Cities 33

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SMART CITIES

Songdo city, South Korea 36 United Cities • March 2011

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SMART CITIES

Smart operators take up the urban development challenge

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March 2011 • United Cities 37

Photo: Gale International

Imagine a city with no traffic jams, where residential environmental controls can be monitored and managed from a smartphone or computer, where HD video-conferencing is enabled in every apartment, and special meters allow residents to track their daily energy consumption. This revolutionary vision is being made a reality through the emergence of smart cities. By Nick Michell 

SMART CITIES

38 United Cities • March 2011

300,000 will commute in daily. The site was designed to promote green growth and become a model for future, sustainable city-scale developments, not only in Asia, but across the globe.

The initiative is using, as a framework, the evolving LEED certification.

Songdo is the first urban area to aspire to LEED-ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design For Neighborhood Development) certification for an entire city.

“Effectively what we’ve done is to turn buildings into iPhones” Steve Lewis, CEO, Living PlanIT “Forty percent of Songdo is green space, including a 100-acre (40 hectare) park at the heart of the city,” says Stanley C. Gale, Chairman of Gale International. “Water taxis navigate the city’s seawater canal and a bicyclefor-hire scheme is to start next year on the city’s 25 kilometres of bicycle lanes. All buildings – 40 million square feet (12.2 million square meters) of office space, 30 million square feet of residential units and 10 million square feet of retail development – are built to rigorous environmental standards.”

A co-generation plant that captures waste heat off electrical generation equipment to provide hot water to residents and businesses, services Songdo International Business District. The capture and utilization of this waste heat from the electrical generation process allows the plant to achieve efficiency levels of over 80 percent, nearly twice the efficiency of stand-alone electrical generation plants. Water-cooled central air conditioning units were developed in collaboration with LG and Carrier specifically for the project. These custom-engineered units will provide a 20 percent energy saving over industry standard air-cooling units, while the

Photo: Living PlanIT

A

s of 2010, for the first time in history, over 50 percent of the global population now live in urban areas and the trend to urbanization is expected to continue, with the United Nations estimating that, by 2050, almost 70 percent of humanity will live in cities.

Such rapid urbanization is putting an ever-increasing strain on cities’ ability to provide their citizens with essential municipal services, such as healthcare, transport, education, public safety, housing and utilities. In order to overcome these new challenges, cities are having to become ‘smarter’, which has been recognized by UCLG’s Manifesto for the City of 2030.

“Innovative cities are addressing the issues and opportunities of this new world by thinking about technology as an enabler for economic development, environmental sustainability and an improved quality of life for citizens,” says Wim Elfrink, chief globalization officer and executive vice president, Cisco Services.

A smart city uses technology to make it possible to achieve resource and energy efficiency through improved management and monitoring of municipal services, without compromising citizens’ quality of life. Existing cities across the globe are revamping their essential infrastructure and public services, and launching innovative projects to meet the challenge of modernizing their infrastructure, but the smart city vision is being more easily realized in brand new cities, built from the ground up.

One such initiative is Songdo International Business District (IBD), in South Korea. The US$35 billion project is being built on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land along the Yellow Sea in Incheon by POSCO E&C of Korea and Gale International, an international real estate investment and development company, headquartered in New York.

Songdo is the largest private real estate venture in history and already home to more than 16,000 people, while 25,000 work there every day. It is expected that by 2015, 65,000 people will make the city their home and

Steve Lewis, CEO, Living PlanIT

pneumatic waste management system consolidates trash removal activities citywide, and will eliminate the need for garbage trucks. The system will help reduce overall vehicle emissions by removing trucks from city streets and reducing traffic congestion.

Songdo is also expected to be the most wired city in the world and has partnered with Cisco to provide TelePresence in every home, office, school and hospital.

A family from their home TelePresence unit will be able to consult via video with a doctor about their child’s medical condition while at the same time the doctor can share medical records digitally with the family and the child’s school. Or on the energy management side, residents will be able to remotely monitor their homes from their office computer or mobile devices and control domestic utilities like heating, cooling and lights.

“Every apartment will have a Cisco TelePresence screen and data will be shared between hospitals, schools, residence, and the workplace,” says Gale. “From the trunk lines running beneath the streets to the filaments branching through every wall and fixture, Songdo will run on information.”

Showcasing urban technology

With Songdo IBD, Gale International and POSCO E&C have focused on the requirement for new residential space to be more environmentally efficient. www.pfdmedia.com

SMART CITIES

systems through networking technology. The company acquired sensing technologies from McLaren’s Formula One team, which allow its network to talk to a myriad of different things, whether it be people with medical devices, sensors in the floors of buildings to track where people are, or in the context of just being able to turn on a security service at home without having to install any hardware or complicated wiring.

“We’ve been developing technologies for about five years that effectively allow us to separate city hardware, whether it be energy, water, waste systems, logistics, transport and the world of sensing and actuation, from the applications that could run in a city, to enhance productivity,” explains Lewis.

Every building will possess renewable energy technology, such as solar panels, and will not only produce their own energy but also store it.

Every part of the city will have its own independence. If a building produces more energy than it can store, then the excess can be transmitted into the city’s lagooning systems, which can pump

water uphill and take it out overnight or push water into heating systems anywhere in the site.

“Effectively what we’ve done is to turn buildings into iPhones,” says Lewis. “You can imagine an iPhone; you have some 20 devices in it and it acts as a fairly good phone. But the software community are able to reach in and utilize the different gadgets in it to create a different interaction.

Well we’ve done exactly the same with building infrastructure services so that we can deliver those apps developed by any company in the world, who can just run in their infrastructure and leverage what will be about 100 million sensors.”

Living PlanIT is creating urban infrastructure that is, not only selfsufficient and sustainable, but also replicable, which is essential for the company’s economic purpose of exporting their technology to different developers and countries. Each building is meticulously designed, using manufacturing techniques from the aerospace, automotive, shipbuilding and submarine industries.

The company has simulated what 

Photo: Living PlanIT

But, while Songdo is residentially orientated and primarily a real estate venture, other smart city initiatives, such as PlanIT Valley in Portugal, are more focused on the research, development and export of new urban technology.

PlanIT Valley is being developed by technology company Living PlanIT, at a 4,000 acre (1,618 hectares) greenfield site in the municipality of Paredes near Porto in Portugal. The site will be the research and development platform for Living PlanIT and its partners, providing a unique realtime showroom for sustainable urban technology solutions.

“Our city’s economic purpose is the export of urban technologies around the world,” says Steve Lewis, CEO, Living PlanIT. “It is implementing all of the technologies that we, as partners, have now developed, to be able to demonstrate in one place and on an urban scale, how these things come together to address issues of economic, social and environmental efficiency and inclusion.”

Living PlanIT is attempting to replace existing building control

Living PlanIT will be an incubator city to showcase technologies for global export www.pfdmedia.com

March 2011 • United Cities 39

SMART CITIES

their buildings will look like in 50 to 100 years time, how they will perform when they are operating, what materials are used, what the building physics are doing to use environmental factors and the movement of people differently, and how that is all orchestrated by their technology.

As the infrastructure comes together and the fabric of the building begins sensing an environment and starts to function, Living PlanIT calibrate the results against their original simulations, and continuously gather data during construction to adjust their simulations accordingly, which ensures that the buildings are constantly evolving. These ‘living buildings’, as the company has called them, have the ability to evolve and move with the different demands and environments over time, making them ideal for exporting to different countries. The building aesthetic will change to fit different projects around the world, depending on where it is being delivered, but the principles

of its materials, its physics and the orchestrating technologies will remain the same.

“If somebody comes from Asia for example and says ‘I am building a medical centre, show me one of those’, it’s got to function in its own right and at the same time when it is connected to other things it should increase the sum of the parts and that’s what they do,” says Lewis. “The buildings effectively carry their own piece of urban computing and as we deliver more buildings and infrastructure, the power of the city’s computing environment grows and grows, which allows us to do more and more.”

Songdo, as a smart city, is illustrating how the real estate industry can have a positive effect on future generations through sustainable design and environmentally responsible development. At the same time, Living PlanIT, through the development of PlanIT Valley is highlighting the importance of creating an economic hub or urban scale incubator, based

around the research and development of new urban technology that can be exported and utilized in any environment across the planet.

The effects of rapid urbanization are enforcing a change in the way existing and future cities need to function.

Smart technology can assist older cities to cope with the demands of climate change mitigation but such cities face individual challenges in trying to adapt ageing infrastructure after years of unchecked urbanization.

It is in the new cities that technological advances can be utilized to their maximum. Local governments will be a bridge between technology and their citizens. In the coming decades we will see the emergence of hundreds of new cities, and national and local governments must realize that these cities have to be delivered incredibly fast, be efficient in terms of energy, water and waste, and be places that can transfer knowledge and create opportunities. Smart cities are the only model for such future developments. n

Cycling is Clean, Healthy and Green - Thursday 22 September 2011 Mobility Week Event on the Esplanade of the European Parliament in Brussels • • • •

Learn about state of the art city bikes, e-bikes, innovative light electric vehicles, electric scooters, ... and try them out Find out about projects and organisations that work to improve mobility in the European Union Join us on guided (electric) bike rides in Brussels Learn about European decision-makers’ plans for European policies to make transport more sustainable.

•

In 2009, some 34,500 people were killed in road accidents. The World Health Organisation estimates that 100 000 deaths a year in cities across the EU could be linked to ambient air pollution, shortening life expectancy by an average of a year.

Between 1990 and 2008, transport emissions increased by 34% while emissions from other sectors decreased by 14%.

About half of all car trips in the EU are 6 km or less.

• •

Cycling can be an important part of the solution to these problems More cycling = safer roads = better public health = less external transport costs = more green jobs = better social inclusion = less medical costs = cleaner air = less noise = less congestion = saving energy = energy efficiency = decarbonisation of transport = more attractive cities = better quality of life

Join us in Brussels on 22 September 2011 For further details on participating as a visitor or as an exhibitor, contact Annick Roetynck, E-mail etra@pandora.be, www.etra-eu.com

40 United Cities • March 2011

www.pfdmedia.com

URBAN PLANNING

A very civil partnership Putting cities together is nothing new: cities all over the world have signs welcoming visitors and informing them that they are twinned with another city. But UCLG’s mentor programme, launched less than two years ago, has added new depth to city partnerships by making genuine progress on capacity building and exchange of knowledge. William Thorpe reveals how mentoring programmes work and what benefits they can bring to your city

C

ivil servants around the world are generally not held in high regard by the public. Thrown into the same basket as lawyers, politicians and journalists, one could not blame them for low morale in doing often thankless tasks.

But unlike lawyers, journalists and politicians, it is difficult for civil servants to be masters of their own fate. Governments change and budgets are cut whether or not an individual has excelled or performed well. So where can cities turn to improve conditions for employees and retain the most talented people?

The answer is to look to other cities.

United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) has launched a new city mentoring programme together with Cities Alliance to help raise team performance and the self-esteem of civil servants. The programme began in 2008 when the Lilongwe City Assembly approached Johannesburg for assistance in developing its City Development Strategy (CDS).

Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, was typical of city administrations according to Jan Erasmus, deputy director of policy and strategy for the City of Johannesburg.

“The Lilongwe Assembly was plagued by corruption and low staff morale and there was no strategic approach or programme to address the challenges facing the city,” says Erasmus.

Civil servants in Lilongwe can now boast improved working conditions through new spruced up offices, access 44 United Cities • March 2011

to a newer and safer vehicle fleet, and the removal of corrupt colleagues.

These coincide with implementing improvements for Lilongwe’s residents at large with better street lighting, repaired traffic signals, and the removal of corrupt practices in the daily markets.

“At the beginning, the concept of mentoring wasn’t defined so during the first contact session in Lilongwe we defined it as a trusted advisor and a critical friend,” says Erasmus, speaking from Lilongwe on his 14th visit to the city. “It was very important to define that relationship, otherwise it could have been seen like Johannesburg imposing and telling another city what they needed and required.”

The governance of Lilongwe had been plagued by indecision and a lack of political will – stemming from the fact that almost all senior positions were filled by people in an acting capacity, due to continuously postponed elections.

“For us it’s always problematic if there isn’t a political context, because we prefer to ensure that there is a proper democracy in local government to act with,” says Erasmus. “But there was a lot of goodwill when we arrived.”

The City Development Strategy was formally launched in 2010 and so far Lilongwe is on the way to achieving five of the key targets from the development strategy. These include performance management, by-law reviews, a debt-recovery strategy and initiating a long-term capital investment programme. Smaller, but

just as important, targets include, morale boosting efforts for staff and visible changes to the city.

“The additional expenditure which moved the [Lilongwe] Assembly from a cash negative to a cash positive position allowed for a visible difference in the city, creating a perception that the Assembly is committed to delivering services and managing the city efficiently and effectively,” says Erasmus.

A project manager at UCLG says that the mentor programme’s key objective is to share experience from one city to another in a manner that promotes development and builds sustainable institutional capacity.

Backed by UCLG, Cities Alliance www.pfdmedia.com

URBAN PLANNING

Members of the teams from Lilongwe, Johannesburg and UCLG in Malawi

and the Norwegian government, the mentoring programme is very different from pre-existing partnership arrangements between cities.

When cities are twinned, this normally happens before any detail has been properly analyzed. With mentoring the idea is to begin with just a small project and then develop the relationship from there. UCLG is the only organization to offer a multi-level partnership without mayors having to first go to a city to shake hands to say that they are twinning.

Erasmus believes that a mentor programme can restructure international partnerships.

“Let’s first recreate a solid basis of interaction and then the traditional www.pfdmedia.com

ceremonial type arrangements can follow,” he says. “Up until now it was the other way around. You would enter into an agreement and decide on areas of activity, people cut the ribbon, and nothing would happen afterwards.”

South-south partnerships

Another difference with the UCLG programme is that while other city partner programmes are more on a north-north or north-south level, the UCLG mentor programme is mainly aimed at south-south partnerships.

“Southern cities have similar environments and experiences, and can share more with other cities in a comparable position,” says a project manager at UCLG. “We appreciate that

southern cities are very much capable and willing to provide assistance. The experiences up until now have mainly come from southern African cities, but in Latin America the potential for cities to join the mentor programme is very promising.”

In Latin America, the other pioneer in the mentoring arrangement, the city of Rosario, Argentina, has developed extensive relationships with Ciudad Sur Association – a group of satellite cities outside of Santiago, Chile.

“The strategy [mentoring and planning] has been crucial in helping us to see the way forward and to act with consensus,” says Miguel Lifschitz, Mayor of Rosario. “When comparing our experiences and vision with my colleagues from other regions, we found similar approaches and concerns of the leaders, although the contexts are very different.”

Top level and political agreements are still required before mentoring can begin but the majority of contact and communication is between the experts in the field and the civil servants from each respective city. UCLG believes that this reveals another distinct aspect of the programme.

“The more intensive level of cooperation is on the civil servant side because they exchange ideas and information more fluidly,” explains a spokesperson for UCLG. “One civil servant can phone and have access to his or her counterpart, and partake more readily in technical visits and exchanges. The technical exchange would be three times higher than the political exchange.”

Although initially tied in with urban planning, the programme is looking to reach out to all issues related to urban development. In less than two years from its inception, the programme has spread to four other city/association partnerships. Mentor partnerships now exist between Durban and Mzuzu in South Africa; the Namibian Association and Durban; Blantyre in Malawi and Ekurhuleni in South Africa; and Mombasa, Kenya, which is partnering with a northern city, Bergen in Norway.  March 2011 • United Cities 45

URBAN PLANNING

“We are still very much interested in northern cities taking part in this process, as can be seen with Bergen’s involvement,” says the UCLG spokesperson. Mombasa has a lot of land use problems and as they wanted to narrow the field of advice to this area to ensure tangible results, Bergen, with experience in this field, was matched with Mombasa.

Benefits for mentors

Many would presume that mayors and city officials already have a hectic work schedule running their own city, let alone assisting another. But Erasmus believes there are benefits for the mentor city too, that make it worthwhile investing time.

“Once the programme or strategy is implemented, it’s important to give control of the local government functions back to the city you are working with” Jan Erasmus, deputy director of policy and strategy, City of Johannesburg “It’s about the African agenda of Johannesburg,” says Erasmus. “We feel that we should play an important role in Africa to support countries that need it, and also to carefully select countries. Normally you wouldn’t regard Malawi as a key strategic country, but it was the first pilot, and test, with whom we have entered into this positive relationship. A pro-poor and sound governance agenda, that is what Johannesburg stands for and what we want to share with other cities.”

46 United Cities • March 2011

Main Steps of Mentoring

This type of Cities partnership can also create inroads and Send greater access for Information future agreements and confirm and investments. interest Some Chinese cities, for example, Establish local task see it as important force + to be aware of all roadmap Chinese investments in Africa and to Contact have a stake in such Sessions investments. For City to City them mentoring is assistance a way of creating a stake and having CDS or prime access to other politicians on a nonproduct commercial basis.

Launch So cities can enlarge their own power and Source: UCLG influence through a mentor programme.

As in Lilongwe the initiative can reap benefits in providing new challenges to staff, both for the mentor and the mentee city.

“It is a way to refresh your own personnel,” says the UCLG spokesperson. “It’s also an opportunity to have your staff and professionals broaden their horizons with new challenges and to be involved in something more exciting than normal day-to-day business.”

UCLG believes that mentoring is now more accessible and available to cities due to an agreement with the Norwegian government whereby those cities in most need can be assisted with some financing.

“We would like more cities to become mentors,” says UCLG’s project manager. “We have observed, for example, that in Brazil, cities want partnerships such as this but they don’t get off the ground, because they cannot finance them. It’s already a given, that the Brazilian government has set aside several million US dollars for African assistance, but not for cities in particular. If they go through us, they can always go their own way and

UCLG Assessment with National LGA Terms of Reference

Evaluation methodology support

International Promotion

they are not locked into anything with UCLG.” Back in Lilongwe, Erasmus believes the most important part of the mentor programme is one of capacity building, passing on knowledge and ownership.

“People didn’t know where to start in Lilongwe as no-one here, including the consultants, knew how to undertake a process like this, but once the programme or strategy is implemented it’s important to give control of the local government functions back to the city you are working with,” comments Erasmus.

“I think there are so many initiatives where people lose control and it ends up being dictated from the outside.”

The pride of ownership and renewed energy given to civil servants in Lilongwe from the mentorship is infectious, says Erasmus. “It really provides the opportunity for them to get back control of local government, and that is the governance goal that we are trying to achieve.” n For further information on how cities can become mentors or mentees, contact UCLG +34 93 342 8773, or email: s.hoeflich@cities-localgovernments.org

www.pfdmedia.com

Photo: Michael Foley

EDUCATION

Learning to escape the poverty trap Jake Rollnick highlights an educational programme in India that is enabling young women and girls to change their lives through new jobs and new roles in the family home

I

n Madurai, India, Meena used to live in a one-room home with her husband and two daughters.

There was no clean running water, one daughter suffered serious health problems, and Meena battled with depression. She could not rely on her husband, as when he earned money, he would not bring it home. She depended on family members’ charity www.pfdmedia.com

and her daughters looked set for the same fate.

Then, her younger sister attended a programme run by the Women for Education Project in their Sudar centre in Madurai, and recommended it to her. The results for Meena have been remarkable.

First, Meena joined the Primary Teacher Training course, followed

by an English course. “I have now completed a B.Ed., and with the scholarship I got from Sudar, I was able to buy books in the second year of my MA studies and I have completed it through correspondence,” says Meena.

“Now I work as a teacher and I teach Tamil to 7th Standard students. It is because of the help and encouragement  March 2011 • United Cities 47

EDUCATION Secondary school attendance rates for girls in rural poor and urban rich households

I got from my parents and Sudar. I will never forget their help.”

Today, Meena lives independently with her two daughters and brings home a steady income. Her family’s living standards have improved dramatically, and she is a role model for her two girls – both of whom are intelligent and now love school. Her husband spends more time at home and Meena has more authority within the house.

Meena’s story – unfortunately far too rare – shows why putting girls and women through educational programmes is of paramount importance to development and alleviating poverty. Educating young girls directly and indirectly impacts on almost all of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Educated women means healthier people, smaller families, lower infant mortality, fewer deaths in childbirth, cleaner streets, longer life expectancies, and higher wages. Ninety-seven percent of educated women in India have heard about HIV compared with just 30 percent without education.

Meena’s own progress comes from the work of the Women for Education Project. “The poverty was really trapping her,” says Zoe Timms, Founding Director of the Women for Education Project (WEP), whose first centres have been set up in Madurai and Hyderabad, South India, where the curriculum teaches students about civics, health, finance, and the environment.

“By educating a woman, you are also educating her family, and her community. It’s amazing the impact an educated woman will have on her surroundings,” says Timms.

WEP students come from the poorest backgrounds. Limited access to potable water, congested homes, illnesses, malnutrition, domestic responsibilities, and debt and social pressures, are among the daily obstacles which trap girls in poverty and stop them getting to school-dreams of being a teacher, healthcare worker, or entrepreneur are lost forever. Their parents, the daily wage earners on 48 United Cities • March 2011

Source: Seck and Azcona (2010). Based on calculations commissioned by UNIFEM from Harttgen and Klasen (2010) Notes: Data refers to most recent year available (2003-2008).

US$1-2 a day, are uneducated and cannot guide their daughters, let alone fund tuition, books or transport.

UNIFEM, the UN Development Fund for Women which is part of the new United Nations agency UN Women, has sought to promote clear solutions to these inequalities in its 2011 report Gender Justice: Key to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The report makes four recommendations: First, we must expand womenfriendly public services. Data on progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for many countries show that there are significant gaps in access between poor rural and rich urban populations, particularly for women and girls.

Zoe Timms, Founding Director, Women for Education Project www.pfdmedia.com

Photo: Johan Bichel Lindergaard

EDUCATION

Stipends that cover fees have been effective in increasing girls’ access to secondary school

Action is needed to abolish user fees and use cash incentives to enable the poorest women to access public services. Stipends that cover fees and other costs have been effective in increasing girls’ access to secondary school, while fee removal has greatly increased access to reproductive health services, including HIV prevention and treatment.

Opportunities for decent work and the acquisition of assets are essential for gender justice and the MDGs. Currently, with women controlling only a fraction of the world’s land and comprizing more than half of those in vulnerable employment, decent work and economic assets remain out of reach for most women. Yet an educated woman means an employed woman.

If she is employed (with reliable income and safe working conditions), she contributes meaningfully to her community with an informed and knowledgeable voice.

“Another reason why women’s education is so important is that a larger part of a man’s income is spent outside of the home, so it is only www.pfdmedia.com

logical that more of their income will end up there,” says Timms. “Men have a tendency to spend more on alcohol, drinking in coffee shops and cigarettes.

A woman’s income is spent inside the home, to improve the living situation of the family.”

Third there must be measures to increase women’s voice in decisionmaking in local governance. The importance of women’s political representation is recognised in MDG 3. But gender justice demands action beyond formal political representation to advocate for women’s participation and influence in decision-making in all spheres and at all levels and especially at local level, from the household to the boardroom. An educated woman has greater independence, has more say at home, will have fewer and healthier children. Her will inherit a proper education from their mother.

And last, urgent action is needed to end violence against women and girls. Women’s and girls’ rights, opportunities and responsibilities cannot be fulfilled unless the violence

and fear they face in daily life is eliminated. Educated women means stronger and more independent women, lower instances of domestic violence, and more reporting of domestic violence.

The Women for Education Project is seeking to act on these recommendations with plans to open four further centres in 2011, helping around 100 students each, and partnering with non-governmental organizations in order to reach the poorest in society. Eventually, WEP plan to roll out centres across the developing world.

Educating women is one of the most important development investments a country can make, yet girls are still prevented from completing even primary education in many countries.

In these economically uncertain times, it is now even more imperative that nations unlock their greatest, unexploited economic resource: women.

Is girls’ education the answer to alleviating poverty? “Absolutely,” says Timms. Meena’s experience says it all. n March 2011 • United Cities 49

CUTTING EDGE

The benefits of fuel cells for sustainable public transport The path towards a sustainable transport future requires an important paradigm shift for cities planning their transport systems for 2020 and beyond. Hydrogen-powered fuel cells represent a low-carbon technology that can be part of the answer for a clean, efficient and sustainable transport system.

By Perrine Tisserand, FuelCellEurope

T

he decarbonization of transport is one of biggest challenges cities will have to face in the coming years. The European Union has committed itself to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 across all sectors. And outside Europe, cities such as Seoul, Sydney and San Francisco have declared their own ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases. This requires the development of an oil-free and largely CO2-free transport sector, because transport is responsible for most of our cities’ greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants, alongside CO2 emitted by the buildings sector.

To answer this challenge, cities will need to employ a mix of low-carbon transport solutions. One of the more promising options is hydrogenpowered fuel cell vehicles.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that combine fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electricity. Fuel cells are a highly efficient conversion device, as the transformation of fuel into electricity takes places without a combustion phase, allowing for a quiet and clean process, compared to other power sources.

The key advantage of fuel cells, when combined with hydrogen, is that they generate no harmful emissions and only oxygen, heat and water. This can greatly contribute to the reduction 50 United Cities • March 2011

of urban pollution and improve the quality of life in cities as there are neither air pollutants nor noise.

“The hydrogen to power the cells can be produced from all primary energy sources including renewable energy sources,” says Anthony Brenninkmeijer, Director of FuellCellEurope. “This represents great potential for cities looking for sustainable transport solutions.”

The key advantage of fuel cells, when combined with hydrogen, is that they generate no harmful emissions Pilot schemes for fuel cell vehicles

Major car manufacturers, such as Daimler, Toyota and General Motors and world leading energy companies such as Air Liquide, Air Product, Shell, Total or Vattenfall have committed to the rollout of fuel cells and hydrogen vehicles in the coming years.

Most of the urban projects integrating fuel cell and hydrogen technologies have focused on public transport solutions with bus fleets running on hydrogen (internal

The new hydrogen buses run through the most polluted parts of Londo

combustion) or hydrogen-powered fuel cells. From 2006 to 2009, HyFLEET:Cute launched the world’s largest hydrogen powered bus fleet with 47 hydrogen-powered buses operating in nine different cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Hamburg, London, Luxemburg, Perth and Reykjavik. Over 8.5 million passengers have been transported on these hydrogen-powered buses and more than a million litres of diesel www.pfdmedia.com

Photo: Transport for London

CUTTING EDGE

on

have been replaced by hydrogen, making important energy savings as well as reducing CO2 emissions.

The follow-up European project Clean Hydrogen in European Cities (CHIC) is the next step for HyFLEET: CUTE with the aim of achieving full market commercialization of fuel cell hydrogen-powered (FCH) buses.

Unveiling the new hydrogen bus fleet for London in the framework of the CHIC project, Boris Johnson, Mayor www.pfdmedia.com

of London, said: “These buses are a marvel of hydrogen technology, emitting only water rather than belching out harmful pollutants. They will run through the most polluted part of the city, through two air pollution hotspots, helping to improve London's air quality. This is just another way that our city is harnessing pioneering low emission public transport to improve quality of life, whether it be a new bus for London,

electric vehicles or my public bike-hire scheme."

But fuel cell technologies not only benefit public transport but they can also be used for specific transport applications in cities. Other less conventional transport projects include cleaning trucks in Basel running on hydrogen produced from the waste. Cities are also committing to sustainable mobility in the marine field, with fuel cell vessels navigating  March 2011 • United Cities 51

CUTTING EDGE

For further information, please contact: FuelCellEurope Tel: +32 22 11 34 11 Email: secretariat@fuelcelleurope.org URL: www.fuelcelleurope.org

Energy

Inside a hydrogen bus, fuel cells are concealed in the roof and rear of the vehicle

ndic New

engaged in the development of a hydrogen bus fleet have created the Hydrogen Bus Alliance to instigate a dialogue with fuel cell and hydrogen stakeholders, bus developers and public transport operators.

As countries collaborate more, wider deployment of this low-carbon technology in cities will contribute to the realization of economies of scale and to the optimization of the technology, which can only bring more benefits for cities worldwide. n

Photo: Isla

through the Amsterdam canals, the Hamburg Alster River or the Marseille protected Calanques to name a few examples.

Cities should also be aware of other opportunities offered by fuel cells and hydrogen which go beyond transport.

Transport for London (TfL), the public transport authority of the UK capital, has decided to power its head office with a fuel cell power plant. This is the UK’s largest hydrogen fuel cell power plant, which will cut CO2 emissions by 40 percent and save a significant amount of energy.

The coordination of the activities among cities and local authorities will be crucial to support the wider deployment of fuel cells and hydrogen for a sustainable transport future. European cities and regions have gathered themselves in a partnership, HyRaMP (the European Regions and Municipalities Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells) to give a voice to local authorities engaged in this field and to coordinate their actions towards the deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell projects. In addition, at the international level, cities and regions

Wider deployment of this low-carbon technology in cities will contribute to the realization of economies of scale and to the optimization of the technology

Crown Prince Willem-Alexander rides an Amsterdam hydrogen bus 52 United Cities • March 2011

www.pfdmedia.com

The new IT-800: Double

protection for your mobile data ideo on v t s e t e h t e Se /it800 om/mis/euro

2b.c www.casio-b

■ Windows Mobile 6.5 ■ 3.5G Wireless WAN with telephone function and GPS ■ Smart Card reader/writer

■ Wireless LAN and Bluetooth© ■ Digital camera with autofocus and LED flash ■ Integrated laser scanner or CMOS imager or SDIO slot

The new industrial terminal IT-800 does not only offer the communication standards UMTS, EDGE and HSDPA for fast data transmission but also telephone functionality like a mobile phone. Its extremely bright CASIO Blanview® display is ten times more shock resistant than a standard display and can withstand even the drop of a 1/2-kilo metal ball from a height of 25 cm. Data can conveniently be scanned

as 1D or 2D barcodes. An integrated Smart Card reader allows to gather information with chip cards or to secure the IT-800 from unauthorized access. Determining the position of the device is possible with GPS. The IT-800 is 1,5 meter drop protected, IP54 classified and can be used in temperatures from -20°C to +50°C. Therefore it is the perfect instrument for all outdoor or sales and field force applications.

CASIO Europe GmbH · CASIO-Platz 1 · D-22848 Norderstedt Tel.: +49 (0)40-52 86 5-407 · Fax: +49 (0)40-52 86 5-424 E-Mail: solutions@casio.de · www.casio-b2b.com

NEWS: AFRICA

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION Harare to be twinned with Guangzhou Harare City Council is set to enter into a twinning arrangement with Chinese city, Guangzhou. Harare mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda, said the mayor of Guangzhou, Wan Qingliang, wrote to him proposing a twinning arrangement to enable the two cities to exchange cultural and business activities. Both mayors are co-presidents of United Cities and Local Governments.

Harare currently has sister-city agreements with 22 cities in the world including Los Angeles, Lyon and Frankfurt.

LAND MANAGEMENT Liberia signs agreement with UN-HABITAT The Liberia Land Commission, UN-HABITAT and the Swedish International Development Agency have launched a three-year, US$2.3 million project on land conflict resolution. The signing of the collaboration agreement seeks to highlight the commitment of the Government of Liberia, Sweden and UNHABITAT to promote more effective land management and governance in Liberia.

The funding will help ensure national leadership in an area of critical importance to peace, economic growth and poverty reduction in Liberia.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT New design launched for low-carbon village South African architect firm, studioMAS, has designed a low-carbon sustainable retirement village, so that people can retire without compromising lifestyle. The landscaping will comprise indigenous plant species that require little water, while harvested rainwater is channeled through permeable roads into retention ponds.

Building materials will be sourced locally, and solar-heated geysers will keep energy costs low. North and northeast-facing buildings will also contribute to a passive cooling effect. Residents will also enjoy high-speed internet.

54 United Cities • March 2011

United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) General Secretary: Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi Address: 22, rue Essaadyine, Quartier Hassan, Rabat, Maroc Tel: + 212 537 260 062 / + 212 537 260 063 Fax: + 212 537 260 060 Email: info@uclga.org Website: www.uclga.org

SECURITY

Red Cross makes fresh appeal amidst Ivory Coast violence

Photo: ICRC

HOUSING Nairobi residents to get 1500 new homes The Government of Kenya has affirmed its commitment to the second phase of the improvement of Nairobi’s Kibera slums, through a project undertaken jointly with UN-HABITAT. The redevelopment is intended to benefit the slum residents who are currently being housed in a decanting site. They will thereafter move into the 1,500 new houses, surrounded by schools, markets and artisans’ sheds. The tender advertisement carried in local newspapers called for bids for the main contract and electrical installation works, as well as plumbing, drainage and other mechanical works.

“Ivorian Red Cross volunteers must be able to provide care without hindrance,” Dominique Liengme, ICRC

As clashes intensify across the Ivory Coast, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Ivorian Red Cross are stepping up their aid for victims. A new appeal has been issued to all parties involved in the violence, urging them to respect the population.

“It is essential that all parties respect and protect the population, in particular wounded people, medical personnel and facilities, and vehicles used as ambulances,” said Dominique Liengme, head of the ICRC delegation in Abidjan.

“Ivorian Red Cross volunteers must be able to provide care without hindrance.”

People living in several Abidjan neighbourhoods – Abobo, Yopougon and Adjamé – and in the west of the country are being directly affected by armed clashes. Fearing for their lives, thousands of families have fled their homes without knowing if or when they will be able to return.

In response to a situation which has worsened in humanitarian terms over the past four weeks, the Red Cross has stepped up the activities it is carrying out for vulnerable people in the Ivory Coast and for refugees in Liberia.

Among these activities is the provision of access to water and raising awareness of hygiene. In Lakota, a city in the southern region of the country, around 1,370 wells have been disinfected and chlorinated, and over 1,000 people have received training in basic hygiene.

A generator has been installed at the Catholic mission in the eastern city of Duékoué, to run a water supply system serving displaced people. Ivorian Red Cross volunteers continue to raise awareness of public hygiene and carry out maintenance work on equipment used to supply drinking water.

Furthermore, ICRC delegates have paid visits to six permanent and temporary places of detention throughout the country, to monitor the conditions in which detainees are being held and the treatment they receive. They talked privately with 41 detainees. The ICRC has also provided food aid for 1,020 detainees in 10 prisons. www.pfdmedia.com

NEWS: AFRICA

WATER

UN Water/World Water Day

UN calls for more investment in water and sanitation

Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands

Keynote speakers at the United Nations 2011 World Water Day on 22 March warned that greater efforts had to be made to provide better water and sanitation for cities especially for the urban poor.

“Let’s make World Water Day here in Cape Town a wake-up call to the world,” said His Royal Highness, Willem-Alexander, the Prince of Orange, Netherlands.

The meeting in Cape Town, drew 1,000 delegates from around the world, to discuss this year’s theme, Water and Urbanization.

Delegates were told that the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation are among those that needed the most attention in terms of progress on achievement.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged governments to recognize that the water crisis facing many urban areas is the result of weak policies and poor management rather than scarcity, noting that there must be increased investment in water and sanitation services.

The Secretary-General pointed out that over the past decade, the number of urban dwellers who lack access to a water tap in their home, or in the immediate vicinity, has risen by an estimated 114 million, while the number of those who lack access to the most basic sanitation facilities has risen by 134 million. The 20 percent increase has had a hugely detrimental impact on human health and on economic productivity, he said.

“Moreover, the poorest and most vulnerable members of society often have little choice but to buy water from informal vendors at prices estimated to be 20 to 100 percent higher than that of their richer neighbours, who receive piped city water in their homes,” said Ban. “This is not just unsustainable; it is unacceptable.”

The UCLG recognizes the important role that local governments can play in improving water services. Through its active partnership with the World Water Council, the 6th World Water Forum will be held in Lyon, France, from 30 to 31 March, where the political process of Local and Regional Authorities for the 6th Forum will be launched. www.pfdmedia.com

MEDIA Congolese journalists briefed on International Criminal Court The Registrar of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Ms Silvana Arbia and the Congolese Ministers of Communication and Justice, Mr Bienvenu Okiemy and Mr Aimé Emmanuel Yoka, opened a two-day training seminar on 3 March in Brazzaville for 85 Congolese journalists. The seminar was aimed at enhancing journalists’ understanding of the ICC, and to highlight the media’s roles and responsibilities in international justice.

AID US$1 million grant for Libyan refugees The African Development Bank, Tunisia and the Red Cross have signed a US$1 million humanitarian emergency assistance grant for people at the Tunisia-Libya border.

It was approved on 11 March in Tunis. The grant is aimed at meeting the urgent needs of displaced people at the border, following the civil unrest and armed conflict in Libya.

It also aims to support the efforts of the Tunisian government to cope with the humanitarian crisis.

INFRASTRUCTURE East African infrastructure needs US$20 billion investment US$20 billion is needed to regenerate the transport infrastructure of the East African Community (EAC), according to the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa.

Comprising Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, the EAC is looking to improve the Central and Northern Corridors. Roads and rail infrastructure all need to be enhanced, according to a diagnostic study carried out by the body.

The EAC says that intra-regional trade could be boosted by nearly 30 percent with improved efficiency.

CULTURE Accra wins culture grant from UCLG The Greater Accra Region has been selected among 11 winning projects in West Africa to receive a grant of €55,000 for cultural programmes. UCLG made the award in order to increase arts and cultural activities which boost understanding and respect between different cultural heritages within Accra.

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March 2011 • United Cities 55

NEWS: Asia-Pacific

ENERGY China on target for reduction in use of fossil fuels China looks set to achieve its goal of meeting 15 percent of its primary energy consumption through non-fossil fuels by 2020, according to a new report from the World Bank. Analysis shows that China is accelerating hydropower development, improving wind power performance, promoting interprovincial trade in renewable energy and promoting green electricity schemes with success. The Bank has recommended that China works faster to develop hydropower and improve wind power, while promoting trade in the energy sector and developing green electricity schemes.

UCLG Asia-Pacific Section UCLG-ASPAC Secretary General: Dr. Rudolf Hauter Address: PO Box 1286/JKU Jakarta 14350, Indonesia Tel: +62 21 640 8450 Fax: +62 21 640 8446 Email: secretariat@uclg-aspac.org Website: www.uclg-aspac.org

TRANSPORT

China and India plan major rail expansion

TRANSPORT IBM helps Manila calm traffic Metro Manila is collaborating with IBM on a study of overseas intelligent traffic management systems in an attempt to put together a plan for a smart transport system in the Philippine capital. Hopes are that the system will make drivers aware of accidents, road works and alternative routes and help to reduce traffic congestion. IBM has also been working with local governments in Singapore, Stockholm, Brisbane and Dublin on similar traffic prediction tools and also smart cards and congestion charging technology.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT India plans 24 green cities India has announced plans to develop 24 green cities along its Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a major infrastructure project currently underway in collaboration with Japan. The project is costing around US$90 billion and will include the upgrade of nine mega industrial zones as well as the highspeed freight line, three ports and six airports.

The 1,483-kilometre corridor travels through six states: Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya. A major part of the plan involves improvements to transport and electricity infrastructure.

56 United Cities • March 2011

Photo: World Bank

HOUSING Indian migrants swell demand for new cities To keep up with the number of migrants arriving in Indian cities, the country will need to build a city the size of Chicago every year, according to a recent McKinsey report.

Statistics show that rural Indians are rapidly relocating to the nation’s cities in the search for jobs. The housing sector is not able to provide sufficient shelter and even unofficial housing is literally collapsing under the strain.

The report states that the Indian government had previously tried to discourage migration by making housing unaffordable and unbearable for new arrivals.

Indian Railways are looking to develop high-speed trains on the Chinese model

China and India are planning a big expansion of their rail networks after meetings financed by the World Bank. China’s medium- to long-term plan for railways is to expand its railway network from 65,000 kilometres to 120,000 kilometres between 2005 and 2020. India is also planning for a significant expansion of its rail network.

Eight government officials from India travelled to China in November to meet with counterparts from the China Ministry of Railways. Both governments believe that railways play a key role in economic growth in developing countries and the meeting allowed for an exchange of ideas regarding planning, technology and pricing on passenger and freight railways.

Vinay Kumar Singh from the Indian delegation expressed hope that meetings such as this one be conducted more often. “We are also looking to develop some high-speed tracks in India and we could gain a lot from technical discussions with our counterparts in China,” he said.

The World Bank’s South-to-South Experience Exchange Trust Fund sponsored the trip, which included visits to the new and futuristic railway stations recently opened at Beijing South and Tianjin. The group took a highspeed train, which travels between these cities at 330km/hr.

Jagmohan Gupta from the Indian delegation was impressed by the efficient process of project planning, formulation and implementation on Chinese railways. Regarding funding, he said that “despite these projects being capital intensive, the Chinese railways were able to mobilize the funding from various sources other than the central government.” Mr Gupta went on to say that India could also learn from China’s flexible pricing strategies. www.pfdmedia.com

NEWS: Asia-Pacific

ENVIRONMENT Cambodia cleans up Mekong River Pollution hot spots in Cambodia are to be targeted by an environmental programme funded by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The Agency is providing US$900,000 to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the two organizations will work together to facilitate the transfer of environmentally sound technologies (TEST) to Cambodia – specifically to the Mekong River, where the impact from industrial pollutants will be reduced.

TRANSPORT

Photo: ITDP

Guangzhou wins 2011 Sustainable Transport Award

The Guangzhou BRT system is a model for other cities

The world-class bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Guangzhou, China, has clinched the 2011 Sustainable Transport Award from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. Guangzhou’s system was recognized for its integration with bike lanes, bike share and metro stations.

The award also acknowledges the city’s progress over the year in terms of increasing mobility, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants from transport, and improving access and safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

“China has come a long way in delivering low-cost, highly effective bus transit systems,” said Dario Hidalgo, Director of Research and Practice at EMBARQ, the WRI Centre for Sustainable Transport. “The Guangzhou BRT is the most important addition to this remarkable growth. The city has integrated the new system with its metro and bike-sharing programmes, providing a complete package of sustainable transport worth studying and adapting in other rapidly growing cities.”

The BRT system has also lessened the need for passengers to change routes so often. “It also re-introduces the concept of direct services: buses come in and out of the busway, reducing the need for transfers and providing passengers with the convenience of a ‘one-seat’ service,” explained Hidalgo.

“Guangzhou’s transformations are nothing short of amazing,” said Walter Hook, Executive Director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. “The reclaimed waterways for public space inspired by another Sustainable Transport winner – Seoul – are a drastic improvement and bold innovation. The new BRT system is changing perceptions about bus-based and high-quality mass transit. We hope all cities, not least those in the US, will be inspired by these examples.”

Sophie Punte, Executive Director, Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAIAsia) Center, commented: “Guangzhou has demonstrated that future emissions can be avoided through BRT systems integrated with cycling and other public transport systems at relatively low costs.”

“China has come a long way in delivering lowcost, highly effective bus transit systems”

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ENERGY First privately-owned wind farm in Pakistan Pakistan is cutting its reliance on fossil fuels thanks to the construction of new wind turbines on an existing farm owned by the Zorlu Enerji Electrik Uretim company. The farm is in the southern Sindh province, 100 kilometres from Karachi. The Asian Development Bank is providing a US$38 million loan, which the Bank hopes will stimulate further investment in wind projects.

Once up and running, the new turbines will boost the current wind-farm output from six megawatts to 56.4 megawatts.

MIGRATION Asia not prepared for climate change migrants A new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report says cities in the Asia-Pacific area will be hit by a large increase in migration due to the effects of climate change. The report says that governments need to work quickly to prepare for the influx of people, because currently no international cooperation mechanism is set up to manage these flows, and that protection and assistance for migrants is inadequate, poorly coordinated and scattered. The ADB say that properly managed, migration could be a positive step for rural communities, which creates opportunities for vulnerable populations in safer environments.

HEALTH Heart disease is the biggest killer in South Asia Heart disease in South Asia is now the leading cause of death in adults aged 15-69, and South Asians suffer their first heart attacks six years earlier than other groups worldwide, according to a new report by the World Bank: Capitalizing on the Demographic Transition: Tackling Noncommunicable Diseases in South Asia. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other noncommunicable diseases disproportionately affect poor families, warns the report, which subsequently worsens poverty as people struggle to find funds to pay for medical treatment.

March 2011 • United Cities 57

NEWS: EURASIA

HEALTHCARE Russia and the US aim to eradicate polio The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation (MOHSD), have signed a Protocol of Intent on Cooperation for the Global Eradication of Polio. The disease is highly infectious and mainly affects children under the age of five. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis and among those paralyzed, 5-10 percent die.

ENERGY Almaty to upgrade electricity supply The World Bank Board is to supply the Kazakhstan Alma Electricity Transmission Project with a US$78 million loan to improve the reliability and quality of electricity supply to consumers in the Almaty region.

The scheme will expand the capacity of the Almaty Oblast transmission network in an environmentally responsible and financially sustainable manner. Strong economic growth, with an average real GDP growth of 10 percent between 2000 and 2007, and rising incomes has fuelled an increased demand for electricity in Kazakhstan.

TRANSPORT New roads and schools for Uzbekistan The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has signed financing agreements worth US$180 million with the Government of Uzbekistan to fund two priority projects.

The IDB will provide US$167.2 million for the reconstruction and upgrading of the M39 Road in the Surkhandarya region. To improve the existing education infrastructure in rural areas, the IDB will also give US$11.7 million for the construction and equipping of 13 secondary schools, and training of 300 teachers in rural areas, where about 3,000 secondary school students will be enrolled.

58 United Cities • March 2011

UCLG Euro-Asian Regional Section Secretary General: Rassikh Sagitov Address: c/o Kazan City Administration 5 Kremljevskaya str 420014 Kazan, Russian Tel/Fax: +7 843 292 0934 Email: uclg_euroasia@yahoo.com Website: www.euroasia-uclg.ru

WATER

Kazakhstan to invest US$10.2 million in wastewater facilities

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the further modernization of wastewater treatment facilities in Kazakhstan, with a US$10.2 million loan to Vodnye Resursy Marketing, a private water utility company in Shymkent, in southern Kazakhstan.

“With this key Shymkent, Kazakhstan infrastructure investment, the bank’s support is aimed at helping local customers to have an efficient, reliable and quality access to both water and wastewater services,” said Ekaterina Miroshnik, EBRD Senior Banker for Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure. “Our modernization project will improve the environmental situation in Shymkent and will set good foundations for the city’s further development.”

The EBRD’s funding will be used to assist the extension and rehabilitation of wastewater collection systems in southern Kazakhstan. The loan will finance the Vodnye Resursy Marketing’s current development needs, which include upgrading the existing wastewater treatment plant and the introduction of energy efficient technologies with higher environmental standards.

The water utility company plans to initiate environmentally sound management and disposal of sludge. It will introduce a new sludge treatment facility to catch methane, which would allow this biogas to be used as a low-cost fuel on-site, reduce the quantity and enhance quality of the treated sludge. The new biogas plant will generate 4.7 million kilowatts of electricity annually, covering 63 percent of the wastewater treatment plant’s electricity needs. The project is expected to result in a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions amounting to 29,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

“We hope that with EBRD loan resources we will be able to resolve difficulties and problems of the wastewater plant,” said Rakhimjan Shamsutdinov, General Director of Vodnye Resursy Marketing. “Introduction of the biogas plant in Shymkent will be one of the first of its kind in Kazakhstan, and will allow us to overcome a number of problems.”

Since the beginning of its operations in Kazakhstan, the EBRD has invested over €2.8 (US$3.94) billion in over 130 projects in various sectors of the Kazakh economy, mobilizing additional investments in excess of about €7 billion, with 65 percent of the projects being investments into the development of the country’s private sector.

Photo: Yorian

EDUCATION Mongolia targets financial education for the poor A US$2.5 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help Mongolia overhaul its savings and credit cooperative market and provide basic financial education nationwide, particularly for poor households. The grant is from Japan’s Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan and administered by the ADB. The Financial Regulatory Commission is the executing agency for the project, which will be carried out over three years and will improve financial literacy in poor households through an innovative television drama series.

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NEWS: EURASIA

HEALTHCARE

Photo: World Bank

Armenia receives World Bank support to modernize healthcare

Vanadzor’s regional hospital will benefit from World Bank funding

The World Bank is to supply a US$19 million loan for the Additional Financing of the Second Phase of the Health System Modernization Project for Armenia. The project will support Armenia’s efforts to expand primary health care (PHC) services on the basis of family medicine, and upgrade hospital networks across the country.

The aim of the programme is to provide the population, in particular the most vulnerable groups, with improved access to quality health care services, and to also manage public health threats more efficiently.

“The process of modernization of hospitals in the regions has already resulted in a consolidation of services, improvement in efficiency and reduction of costs and better access to quality health care in five regions of Armenia,” said Asad Alam, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus countries. “Based on the lessons learned and encouraged by the success of the project, this second phase will scale up the process of optimization in the country’s remaining 10 regions in order to deliver better quality care to the population.”

The project will continue to assist the Government’s Health Reform Program aimed at streamlining, consolidating and upgrading health care facilities, fully restructuring the primary health care network, and also improving the allocation of limited financial and human resources to expand free access to essential health care services for most of the population.

The loan will be used to upgrade the physical conditions of an additional 14 rural ambulatories, provide modern equipment, and re-train medical personnel (family physicians and family nurses) on family medicine. The project will enable the purchase of equipment, supplies, and furniture for four regional hospitals in Ararat, Armavir, Aparan, and Goris; fully equip the Gavar and Gyumri medical centres; finance the construction of a new hospital building in Gyumri; and supply five regional hospital networks in Meghri and Kapan (Syunik region), Abovian (Kotayk), Alaverdi and Vanadzor (Lori), and Berd (Tavush) with modern technology.

“The project will also help improve the governance and management structures of health care facilities,” said Susanna Hayrapetyan, Head of the World Bank Team behind the project. “Strengthening the Health Ministry’s effective stewardship in policy making, regulation and accountability will ensure better and targeted use of public resources.” www.pfdmedia.com

FINANCE Kyrgyz Republic to invest in microfinance The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the expansion of non-banking services in the Kyrgyz Republic by providing a US$3 million loan to microfinance company Kompanion Financial Group for on-lending to micro and small enterprises (MSEs). The EBRD’s three-year loan will be used to address the limited access to finance for entrepreneurs in Kyrgyzstan, especially in the country’s remote areas. It will help Kompanion in expanding its lending portfolio and will increase the availability of local currency finance to MSEs. POVERTY Armenia awarded US$25 million in World Bank funding The World Bank has approved a package designed to help Armenia protect the poor and support greater human capital development, and also strengthen competitiveness and private sector development. The Second Development Policy Operation (DPO), a loan of US$25 million, will support the protection of pro-poor spending in the state budget, the targeting of social safety net programmes, increased access to pre-school programmes in poor communities, and improved efficiency of health services delivery through the introduction of performance-based contracting for treatment of non-communicable diseases.

ENVIRONMENT Russia women lead fight to protect biodiversity Communities of mostly women and indigenous people, in Russia’s far-east Kamchatka peninsula, are using funds from the Kamchatka Biodiversity Conservation project to set up long-term conservation projects. With endangered animals including 15,000 brown bears and 1,800 northern sea lions, and sensitive arctic and alpine forest and water ecosystems, the initiative, established in 2002 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility, has awarded 73 small grants, 70 percent to women and 26 percent to indigenous people, in the past year.

TRANSPORT Upgrade announced for Tajikistan road link The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a US$120 million grant to help Tajikistan upgrade a vital road linking the capital Dushanbe with the Uzbekistan border.

The road is part of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Corridor 3 that spans almost 7,000 kilometres from the Russian Federation in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. The 62-kilometre highway passes through the Gissar Valley and the town of Tursunzade, two major economic areas in Tajikistan.

March 2011 • United Cities 59

NEWS: EUROPe

URBAN DEVELOPMENT Poland agrees Urban Development Fund to rehabilitate cities The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Bank Ochrony Środowiska (BOŚ) have signed an agreement for an Urban Development Fund (UDF) for Poland. The UDF will invest in urban development and regeneration projects in cities of the Westpomerania Region, excluding the Szczecin Metropolitan Area.

The main objective is to accelerate the region’s economic potential through the revitalization of degraded urban areas, thus leading to a more balanced development of the region.

GENDER CEMR pushes to eliminate violence against women The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) have called upon local and regional authorities in Europe to strengthen efforts and commitments in the fight for the elimination of violence against women. CEMR wants to increase the types of initiatives led by local and regional authorities to ensure the respect of women’s rights and social cohesion, including education and raising awareness among the youth so as to prevent these types of violence, and informing the population. Other initiatives revolve around caring for victims as well as implementing training and support networks.

ENVIRONMENT Montenegro targets better environmental management The World Bank Board has approved a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Montenegro, providing the framework for the World Bank’s assistance to Montenegro during the period 2011–14. The CPS proposes a lending programme of €154.9 million that aims at supporting Montenegro to address two of its main policy priorities: to improve environmental management, including reducing the costs of environmental problems, and strengthen institutions and competitiveness in line with EU accession requirements.

60 United Cities • March 2011

Secretary General: Frédéric Vallier Address: 1 Square de Meeûs B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 511 7477 Fax: +32 2 511 0949 Email: cemr@ccre.org Website: www.ccre.org Paris Office: 15 rue de Richelieu 75001 Paris, France Tel: +33 1 44 50 59 59 Fax: +33 1 44 50 59 60

HOUSING

Bucharest to increase energy efficiency of residential buildings The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to provide a €70 million loan to Bucharest, Romania’s capital, to fund energy efficiency refurbishments of multi-storey residential buildings. The EIB loan will co273 multi-storey residential buildings in Bucharest will benefit from this project finance the thermal rehabilitation of 273 multi-storey residential buildings over the period 2011–2013.

“EIB funds, provided directly to the Municipality of Sector 6 in Bucharest, will help to reduce, by roughly 50 percent, the energy consumption of the buildings covered by this thermal rehabilitation project,” said EIB Vice-President, Matthias Kollatz Ahnen, who is responsible for lending in Romania.

Together with the energy savings, the project will also increase the quality of life of the residents of Bucharest by improving the image of the buildings involved in this programme. The energy savings cover 30 percent of the investment cost in net present value terms at current tariffs, which are subsidized. However, if the tariffs were to fully reflect the costs of heat generation, the energy savings could increase to about 60-70 percent of the investment cost, reflecting the overall savings, including subsidy costs achieved by the project.

“The total energy saved will amount to about 160 GWh a year once the programme is fully implemented,” said Matthias Kollatz Ahnen. “This will help Romania, in line with its international commitments, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and increase the quality of life of Bucharest’s citizens.”

The additional funding required to complete this three year programme will be obtained from state subsidies allocated by the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism, as well as other municipality funds. The undertaking of this project will support the implementation of Romania’s National Energy Efficiency Action Plan, which, through the national legislation, transposes the provisions of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

Photo: Mastermindsro

HYDROPOWER Georgia to upgrade two hydropower plants The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €20 million to the Republic of Georgia to finance the completion of the rehabilitation of the generator units of the Enguri hydropower plant and investments at the Vardnili hydropower cascade, which are essential to ensure safe water evacuation towards the Black Sea. Last year the EIB also signed a financing contract for the construction of high voltage transmission lines. Both projects are cornerstones of Georgia’s energy sector strategy, which aims to turn the country into a net exporter of hydropower in the region.

UCLG European Section Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)

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NEWS: EUROPe

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

CEMR launch web-based prototype for sustainable urban development Around sixty cities will have the opportunity to test the Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities (RFSC) prototype, an internet-based instrument that helps local authorities pursue sustainable urban development policies and implement the Leipzig Charter for Sustainable European Cities.

This Reference Framework will guide users through a series of questions on the economic, social, environmental and governmental aspects of sustainable development. The questionnaire will then allow for an assessment of whether the municipality’s strategy or project is coherent with principles outlined in the Leipzig Charter and sustainable in general.

The Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities was developed by a working group composed of representatives from the EU member states, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), EUROCITIES and the European Commission. A team of experts from CERTU (Centre d’études sur les réseaux, les transports, l’urbanisme et les constructions publiques), in France, lent their support to the working group, which has been chaired by CEMR since September 2010.

In May 2007, ministers responsible for urban development adopted and launched the Leipzig Charter for Sustainable European Cities, which aims to support an integrated urban development approach with a special focus on deprived neighbourhoods.

The feedback obtained from the prototype’s test phase will serve to finalize the Reference Framework and to determine how to successfully implement this webbased tool. The final version is scheduled to come out by the end of 2011.

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Photo: UCLG

Wolfgang Schuster succeeds Michael Häupl as CEMR President

Wolfgang Schuster, the new CEMR President

CITIZENSHIP CEMR to help modernize European citizenship The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is organizing a European congress on twinning and citizenship, dubbed “Citizens of Europe!” to be held from 29 September to 1 October 2011 in Rybnik, Poland. This congress will allow CEMR to present the results of its reflection process on the modernization of European citizenship and the town twinning movement, and give participants the opportunity to exchange knowledge on the subject.

ENERGY EBRD helps Slovakia improve energy efficiency The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to provide a €15 million loan to UniCredit Bank Slovakia to finance sustainable energy projects.

The loan highlights the EBRD’s continued support to private companies and housing associations in Slovakia in their drive to improve energy efficiency. This new loan will in particular assist housing associations and industrial companies to reduce their energy consumption and improve efficiency.

GOVERNANCE

The mayor of Stuttgart, Wolfgang Schuster, has been elected President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) at the occasion of the CEMR Policy Committee held in Mondorf-lesBains, Luxemburg,and hosted

by CEMR’s member association from Luxemburg, SYVICOL. Mr Schuster, who is also President of CEMR’s German section, identified a number of priorities including the strengthening of local democracy in Europe and of the political voice of European local and regional authorities and their national representative associations.

GOVERNANCE UCLG’s European section celebrates sixty years Throughout 2011, and in the context of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions’ (CEMR) 60th anniversary, local and regional Europe is celebrating the founding of the European municipal movement. CEMR kicked off its anniversary year with an event in its founding city, Geneva, which reflected on the accomplishments of the European local and regional movement, with a forwardlooking perspective. CEMR will conclude its anniversary with an evening event in Brussels in December 2011, where it will unveil its strategy for the coming decade.

TECHNOLOGY ‘Smart Cards’ launched by UCLG European members In the context of a newly developed policy for reducing its use of paper, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) has developed and launched ‘Smart Cards’, a new pocket-sized means of distributing CEMR’s publications. The cards, which constitute a sustainable way of communicating CEMR’s activities, provide a brief summary of the topic, date of publication and relevant contact information as well as quick and easy online access to the publication.

March 2011 • United Cities 61

NEWS: LATIN AMERICA

HOUSING Rio targets slums for Olympic clean-up Inner city slums in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas are being redesigned by 40 architecture firms in a bid to make the area more presentable in time for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Around 1.2 million povertystricken Brazilian’s will benefit from the work, which is being carried out on 582 homes. The housing project is part of an initiative called Morar Carioca (Rio Living).

The scheme also involves increasing police presence in areas of the slums where there is usually little regulation.

CLIMATE CHANGE World Bank backs Mexican projects Three green projects for Mexico worth US$650 million have been approved by the World Bank. The first is a US$450 million Development Policy Loan (DPL) to support Mexico’s low-carbon growth strategy MEDEC. Secondly, efficient lighting and appliances in households will be supported with a US$250 million loan, and a US$4.5 millon GEF grant will help with adaptation to climate change in Mexico’s coastal wetlands. Finally, a US$50 million concessionary loan from the Clean Technology Fund and a US$7.12 million GEF grant will back energy efficiency efforts.

TRANSPORT Car-free day in Bogotá Hundreds of people took to the streets by bike in Bogotá on 3 February to celebrate the city’s 12th official Car-Free Day. The local office for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy worked together with the cycling advocacy group Mesa de la Bicicleta de Bogotá in order to create several bike routes through the city’s streets. Three routes covering a total of 338 kilometres were promoted under the slogan ‘Fewer cars, more space, more security – enjoy a day on your bike and rediscover your city!’

62 United Cities • March 2011

UCLG Latin America Section Federación Latinoamericana de Ciudades, Municipios y Asociaciones (FLACMA) Secretary General: Guillermo Tapia Nicola Agustín Address: Guerrero 219 y José María Ayora, Quito, Ecuador Tel: +593 2 246 9365 Fax: +593 2 243 5205 Email: flacma@flacma.org Website: www.flacma.org

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

World Bank grants aid to El Salvador for natural disasters The threat of natural disasters in El Salvador has been mitigated by the approval of a US$50 million loan from the World Bank in February.

The government will be able to access the funds immediately in the event of a disaster in El Salvador: over 95 percent of the population are high at risk of natural disaster order to avoid spending time on fundraising. The additional money will help boost the Disaster Risk Management Programme, a public investment plan that aims to improve risk prevention, disaster management and mitigation.

“These funds are of great importance to El Salvador because every time we have an emergency, public funds are stretched and in our current environment of restricted budgets this could be critical for our country,” said Alexander Segovia, Technical Secretary of the Presidency.

Since 1972, natural disasters have killed almost 6,500 people and caused in excess of US$16 billion in damages in El Salvador putting the country’s long-term economic development at risk.

El Salvador’s vulnerability to natural disasters, combined with environmental degradation and an extremely changeable climate put it high up on the list of ‘natural disaster hotspots’ presented in a study by the World Bank. More than 95 percent of the population and GDP are in high-risk areas.

“This financial instrument will provide the country with the resources to focus on the emergency response in the aftermath of a disaster,” said Felipe Jaramillo, World Bank Country Director for Central America. “This new operation is very much in line with our emphasis on disaster prevention as opposed to focusing only on disaster response.”

The government will also be focusing on risk reduction and investments in public infrastructure, and housing will be strategically selected depending on environmental risk reduction criteria. Municipal authorities will also be encouraged to use preventative planning, and to address the challenge of developing land use for safer urban growth.

Photo: World Bank

CULTURE UCLG awards city grants UCLG has made grants to 11 projects in Africa and Latin America from its Fund for Local Cultural Governance. The Fund, based on the Agenda 21 for Culture, was created in 2010 and promoted by the Committee on Culture, the World Secretariat of UCLG and the City of Barcelona. Among the Latin American cities which will benefit are: Ate (Peru), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Flores (Uruguay), Loja (Ecuador), Mexico City (Mexico), Montevideo (Uruguay), Porto Alegre (Brazil), Quilmes (Argentina) and Rosario (Argentina).

www.pfdmedia.com

NEWS: LATIN AMERICA

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

EDUCATION Cisco provides IT training in Brazil A new 360 Learning Programme and IT Talent Development training programme offered by Cisco could help individuals in Brazil find better jobs and also help support economic development. Cisco is training people to become highly qualified networking and systems engineers in centres across the country. The Cisco 360 Learning Programme for CCIE Routing and Switching teaches high-potential networking professionals the expertise they will need to manage sophisticated networks as well as solve configuration and troubleshooting scenarios.

Photo: Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment

Haitian government announces plans to rebuild its capital

Port-au-Prince was devestated by the earthquake in January 2010

The devastated city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti has turned to the UK’s Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment and the Miami-based firm Duany PlaterZyberk (DPZ) to produce a master plan and recovery strategies for the rebuilding of its historic city centre.

The Prince’s Foundation team is responsible for the cruise ship port, palace, government buildings, business space and residential property at the centre of the Haitian capital. The regeneration plan includes 25 blocks in one of the most ancient parts of the city. Revolutionary improvements will be made to sewerage systems and many buildings will be earthquake resistant. Work on the first stage of the project has already begun.

The plan will not only focus on rebuilding but also on addressing some of the issues – such as the Cholera outbreak – that have affected the community in the aftermath of the earthquake. Local workers and key stakeholders will collaborate closely with the Prince’s Foundation and DPZ throughout the project.

“The Haitian community has been beset with difficulties since the earthquake last January and it is important that no time is wasted in getting Port-au-Prince fully functioning again,” said the Prince’s Foundation CEO, Hank Dittmar. “The re-development of Haiti will prove a serious challenge but one that I feel confident with which we are well placed to assist.”

The new city will be more pedestrian-friendly with mangrove trees planted along the waterfront to protect against storms. New buildings will be constructed on top of existing rubble in order to raise them 80 centimetres and out of the way of floodwater.

“The Prince’s Foundation is a long time advocate of sustainable urbanism and community engagement and it is through these methods that we hope to help the Haitian people salvage their communities,” said Dittmar.

www.pfdmedia.com

URBAN DEVELOPMENT Buenos Aires selected as finalist in city competition A proposed street park project in Buenos Aires has been selected as one of eight finalists for the Philips Liveable Cities Award. The award is a global initiative designed to generate practical and achievable ideas to improve the health and well-being of city dwellers. A rainwater aggregation scheme in Yemen and a health education initiative for deaf children in Kenya are amongst the other finalists. The winning project will be awarded €75,000, with two runners up receiving €25,000 each.

Judging takes place at the end of April.

TRANSPORT Launch of third Metrobus line in Mexico City A new 17-kilometre Metrobus line opened in Mexico City in February. This is the third line in the city’s five-year-old bus rapid transit (BRT) system and predictions are that it will carry 120,000 passengers per day. There are 32 stations along the route, which all have pre-payment, level boarding and two bus depots. Line 3 cost 800 million pesos (US$66 million). Mexico City now boasts 67 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes, 113 stations and 280 buses, which carry 620,000 passengers daily.

CONSTRUCTION Chile’s greenest office The new headquarters for the private equity company Empresas Transoceanica in Santiago, Chile, uses 20 percent less energy than other offices of comparable size. The design means that natural light is optimized, while solar radiation is deflected, with the aim of keeping the building cool.

The building also incorporates an Internet program which will run over three years and measure energy use. The sleek-looking office is expected to be the first building in Chile to garner a gold rating from the LEED green building certification system.

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NEWS: METROPOLIS

ICT CISCO to create urban innovation centre in Barcelona Metropolis, Barcelona City Council and CISCO, have reached an agreement to build an innovation centre, with the intention of generating long-term economic growth and new jobs through technological innovation and business investment. The centre is part of the larger Urban Platform of Reference and would be supported with state-of-theart network collaboration tools with the capacity to connect Barcelona with other technological innovation centres around the world.

UCLG METROPOLIS Section Secretary General: Josep Roig Address: Carrer Avinyó 15, 08002 Barcelona, Spain Tel: +34 93 342 94 60 Fax: +34 93 342 94 66 Email: metropolis@metropolis.org WeBSITE: www.metropolis.org

METROPOLIS CONGRESS

Tenth World Congress moved to Brazil

HEALTH Atlanta to burn the fat Atlanta, USA, a member city of Metropolis, has joined the ‘billion pound blitz’ campaign designed to challenge and empower individuals to exercise and get healthy. Atlanta residents who were screened and signed-up to participate in the Billion Pound Blitz challenge at the City Hall launch in February, had the chance to win a trip to Dallas for Super Bowl XLV activities. As an incentive to participants, the Put Up Your Dukes Foundation sponsored prizes and oncein-a-lifetime celebrity and entertainment trips and packages.

LIVEABILITY Top ten cities revealed Three Metropolis cities were included in the annual top 10 liveable cities index announced by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Melbourne moved up to second place, with Toronto at number four and Sydney at seven. Stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure were the five categories on which the cities were assessed.

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Photo: Porto Alegre Municipality

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Cities share ideas on combating climate change A training session organized by the Institute for Urban Planning (IAU) of Ile-de-France and Metropolis brought together some thirty delegates in Paris for a Cities and Climate Change meeting in December. Cities that attended included Addis Ababa, Barcelona, Brazzaville, Brussels, Caracas, Cotonou, Moscow, Nanterre, Newcastle, Paris, Porto Alegre, Pune and São Paulo. Three days of debate and discussion allowed members to exchange their ideas and problems that each of their city faces in regards to climate change.

The city of Porto Alegre, Brazil

Due to the tumultuous changes that occurred in Egypt in February, Metropolis, in agreement with the city of Cairo, has changed the dates and host city of its 10th World Congress, which was to have been held in the Egyptian capital in April 2011.

The mayor of Porto Alegre, José Fortunati, announced that his city will make the required infrastructure and equipment available to Metropolis to organize the congress from 23 to 26 November 2011.

In a letter announcing the change, Metropolis President, Jean-Paul Huchon, thanked the mayor of Porto Alegre: “At the last Metropolis Board of Directors meeting in Barcelona in October 2010, the city of Porto Alegre was chosen as the site of the 2012 Board of Directors meeting. Porto Alegre therefore assumes the challenge of moving its schedule forward as the host city of a Metropolis event of this scope.”

The theme of the congress will be Cities in Transition. The current global context emphasizes the need to review urban policies and to apply creative and sustainable solutions that improve the quality of life of all members of the public.

The event will offer a framework for reflection around the following central themes: urban growth and planning; governance and quality of life; climate change and sustainability; innovation; and mobility. It will also be a chance to learn first-hand about the groundbreaking public policies implemented by Porto Alegre.

Further information is available on the official website, (portoalegrecongress2011.metropolis.org) which will be progressively updated. www.pfdmedia.com

NEWS: METROPOLIS

ICT

Photo: Frédéric Dupont

Eight cities launch technology awards

Stockholm, a member of Metropolis, will be working with Living Labs Global

Eight cities from Europe, Asia, Africa and North America are to join forces with Living Labs Global to find innovative solutions to major societal problems by launching a competition for technology and service providers.

Living Labs Global, a not-for-profit association set up to promote service innovation in cities, will be working with Cape Town, Eindhoven, Lagos, San Francisco, Sant Cugat, and Metropolis members, Barcelona, Stockholm and Taipei, to choose the companies and organizations that have developed solutions that add high value to cities around the world.

The eight winners of the awards will be invited to pilot their solutions in these cities, to test the effectiveness of the innovations, and to showcase their solutions in new markets.

The first competition in 2010 attracted 317 entries from 32 countries and introduced pilot schemes such as an intelligent waste management system to Barcelona. The participating cities for 2011, representing 40 million citizens from Europe, Africa, North America and Asia are looking for solutions to some of their most pressing challenges, including social inclusion, intelligent transport, urban service automation, urban lighting, open data systems, smart living, and healthcare. The eight award categories were defined by consulting with decisionmakers in cities around the world.

Behind each category lies the commitment of a city to pilot the winning showcase, with full institutional support to evaluate the impact the solution can have on reaching the community’s objectives.

For 2011, Oracle Corporation and Asia’s Farglory have been named as corporate partners. The final Award winners will be announced at the award ceremony on May 12 in Stockholm during the Stockholm Summit on Service Innovation in Cities.

www.pfdmedia.com

EXECUTIVE BOARD Metropolis hosts 84 cities Metropolis and the city of Barcelona held the 2010 Metropolis Board Meeting in October 2010 bringing together 84 cities, diverse institutions and over 250 participants from around the world. Issues addressed during the event included urban innovation, governance and the development of metropolitan areas.

URBAN GOVERNANCE India and Metropolis sign new agreement A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by Metropolis and the National Institute of Urban Affairs in India. The principle of the agreement provides synergies in partnering with Indian Metropolitan Cities to enhance urban governance, reform and sustainability. The nature of the partnership is predicated on the collaboration between Metropolis and NIUA via exchanges of information and joint actions related to the improvement of cities and their governance.

GENDER ISSUES Antennae meeting of Metropolis Women International Network As a part of Metropolis Board of Directors meeting at the end of 2010, the representatives of the regional antennae of Metropolis Women International Network met in order to discuss and share the actions that have been carried out as well as to discussthe Action Plan for the next two years. The session was opened by Carme Figueres, councillor of the Consell Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC) and representative of Barcelona’s antennae.

Imma Moraleda, town councillor of Benestar i Cohesió Territorial of the Barcelona City Hall explained the social and time management policies undertaken by the Barcelona City Hall.

TRAINING Metropolis tests new training method in Berlin Metropolis’s ‘Commission 3’ on Integrated Urban Governance has conducted a peer review training session in Berlin. The event was a pilot training session to see if the method would prove useful in the Metropolis context. The new form of training uses projects and practices that are then evaluated by comparable colleagues from other municipalities (peers), who adopt the stance of ‘critical friends’. Peers come from cities of similar size, that are being confronted by similar problems, and that work in a similar environment with the same means.

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NEWS: MIDDLE EAST & WEST ASIA

CONFERENCE UCLG-MEWA Extraordinary Congress Hosted by the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, the UCLG-MEWA Extraordinary Congress took place in Diyarbakır, Turkey. The meeting was held with the participation of over 70 mayors and high-level representatives of member local authorities. The opening session was concluded by the speech of Mr. Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul and president of UCLG, who was invited to the Congress as the guest of honour.

EDUCATION Abu Dhabi women take active role in environmental protection More than 720 women throughout the Emirate of Abu Dhabi will have the opportunity to learn more about the issues affecting the environment and ways they can protect it as part of the second phase of a ‘Sustainable Lifestyles’ campaign. This initiative was launched in partnership with the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD), Family Development Foundation (FDF), and the Emirates Wildlife Society-World Wide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF). The first phase of the campaign reached out to 215 women in three workshops held at FDF’s centres in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region.

WATER World Bank aid to upgrade Beirut’s water supply The World Bank has approved the US$200 million Greater Beirut Water Supply Project, which aims to improve water supply to an area of the Beirut that is home to 1.2 million people, including the low-income neighbourhoods of Southern Beirut.

Residents pay on average 3.4 percent of their household income to private water suppliers and this new project will build the infrastructure required for the intake, treatment, conveyance and storage of water to meet the pressing daily demand for 250,000 cubic metres of potable water.

GENDER New job opportunities for women in Jordan More than 900 young Jordanian women and hundreds of businesses are participating in a new World Bank programme, known as Jordan New Work Opportunities for Women (Jordan NOW), aimed at creating job opportunities for women, breaking down stereotypes about women in the workplace, and maximizing potential for economic growth. At the official launch of the initiative in Amman, participants in the programme said they had more job opportunities, increased confidence, and better workplace skills as a result of the effort.

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United Cities and Local Governments of Middle East-West Asia Secretary General: Mehmet Duman Sultanahmet Address: Yerebatan Cad 2 34400 Istanbul, Turkey Tel: +90 212 511 10 10 Fax: +90 212 513 44 87 Email: info@uclg-mewa.org Website: www.uclg-mewa.org Representative for Lebanon, Syria and Jordan: Béchir Odeimi, c/o Municipality of Jdeidé BP 70675 Antélias, Lebanon.

Tel: + 961 1 901 650 Fax: + 961 1 895 768

EDUCATION

Environmental training programme launched for Abu Dhabi teachers The Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) has successfully completed the training of 293 teachers from 131 schools who joined EAD’s 2010-2011 Sustainable School Initiative, with the support of its strategic partner, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC). Environmental education specialists from EAD’s Environmental Education Department finished the final module of a ‘Training of Trainers’ (TOT) programme, which has been designed to aid the process of educating for sustainability.

“All EAD initiatives are designed to raise awareness, as we believe knowledge leads to action,” said H.E Razan Al Mubarak, EAD’s Assistant Secretary General.

“With the support of ADEC, we can ensure that there is an environmental awareness agenda across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.”

Under Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi’s Sustainable Schools Initiative (SSI), this ‘Training of Trainers’ programme instructs teachers on how to deliver environmental education effectively. The SSI programme allows teachers and students to assess their school’s environmental impact and set targets to address it. It intends to empower students through eco-clubs, develop teachers’ capacity through training, and expose students to experiential learning with practical field trips.

EAD trained the teachers by enhancing their environmental knowledge and equipping them with the skills required for assessing their school’s environmental impact (also known as a ‘green’ audit), setting targets, setting up eco-clubs in their schools, as well as conducting successful field research with their students. As part of their training, teachers were taken on site visits by EAD’s bird, insect and plant experts to equip them with more techniques to use when teaching their students about local flora and fauna.

“By reaching out to today’s educators, we ensure that information on how to protect our environment and rich biodiversity is passed down to tomorrow’s leaders,” said H.E Razan Al Mubarak.

Over a two-month period, three ‘Training of Trainers’ modules were carried out, attracting more than 290 teachers. The programme is already experiencing significant success as teachers across Abu Dhabi have already been taken on various site visits and are now capable of delivering the intended messages to their students.

As a part of EAD’s commitment to disseminating Environmental Education strategies among Abu Dhabi schools, it will continue advancing teachers’ knowledge and skills with another eight training workshops. www.pfdmedia.com

NEWS: MIDDLE EAST & WEST ASIA

PEACE-BUILDING

POVERTY Better social protection for Yemen The World Bank has approved a US$70 million Development Policy Grant for the Republic of Yemen in support of reforms critical to improving the protection of the poor and vulnerable, setting the conditions for non-hydrocarbon growth in Yemen and for strengthening public financial management.

Yemen is an oil-dependent economy that faces a rapidly declining oil production, and while this is expected to continue, the production and export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via the Yemen LNG project (YLNG) will offer some cushioning.

Photo: Joe Burger

UN-HABITAT launches peace-building programme in Afghanistan

Provinces, such as Kabul, will benefit from the peace-building programme

UN-HABITAT has launched the second phase of a peace-building programme in Afghanistan, thanks to funding of US$28.5 million from the Government of Japan.

The project, which will be financed by the Government of Japan in cooperation with the Ministry of Urban Development Affairs, Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and Municipalities, is being implemented in nine provinces across Afghanistan to improve infrastructure and increase access to basic services since.

The programme is expected to help around 380,000 people in urban and rural areas. In addition, approximately 440,000 people will benefit from the economic activities and access to community banking by integrating demobilized combatants, internally displaced persons and returnees into towns, generating job opportunities and promoting peace and stability.

The escalation of security incidents and the consequent military operations in 2010 resulted in the large-scale migration of people from these affected regions to safer areas, both urban and rural. This influx has placed unbearable strain on the existing communities and basic services, which were already in a very poor state.

Building on the foundation laid by the National Solidarity Programme at the community level and coverage of the activities implemented in the first phase, the second phase aims to secure and stabilize urban and rural areas in nine provinces by responding to the needs of recently displaced people, demobilized combatants and returnees through community empowerment, enhancing their access to basic services, and improving their livelihoods. www.pfdmedia.com

GOVERNANCE UN-HABITAT’s support for Lebanese governance UN-HABITAT organized a consultative workshop entitled Towards Promoting the role of Tripoli Environment and Development Observatory (TEDO) in Tripoli, as part of the agency’s work in Lebanon, which is focusing on supporting cities to carry out necessary planning and improving of local governance.

UN-HABITAT has been providing technical support to the observatory with the aim of strengthening the role of the observatory in policy formulation at city level as well as monitoring the Clinical Decision Support (CDS) implementation after its adoption by local stakeholders.

WASTE Abu Dhabi launches campaign on food waste Following the launch of the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi‘s (EAD) ‘Think Before You Waste’ campaign during Ramadan, 49,405 hot meals, 18 tonnes of rice and 100 cold meal parcels were distributed to needy people across Abu Dhabi. The meals were donated to poor families, orphans, people with low income, humanitarian causes and factory workers. The one-month campaign aimed to raise awareness about food waste and its environmental impacts. Approximately 500 tonnes of food gets thrown away during the month of Ramadan in Abu Dhabi.

ENVIRONMENT Dubai creates green business council The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) for collaboration in the field of supporting environmental initiatives and strengthening the efforts exerted to conserve power and water, as well as waste recycling. These initiatives are promoted by DEWA by creating a platform comprising of business councils representing countries that produce high-quality products in the field of energy.

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NEWS: NORTH AMERICA

TRANSPORT Denver burns fat and reduces energy consumption Denver, in an attempt to increase its share of bicycling commuters from 1.6 percent to 10 percent by 2018, has opened its B-Cycle bike sharing system. Consisting of 500 bikes at 50 stations and open from March through to November, members can set up their own personal log-in page and monitor their usage, calories burned, and carbon emissions avoided. In B-Cycle’s first season, users took 102,981 trips and lost 820 kilograms. A survey demonstrated that 43 percent of B-Cycle rides replaced car trips, resulting in a 60,000 litre decrease in petrol consumption and foregoing 141,575 kilograms of carbon emissions.

ENERGY Toronto: turning waste into energy Toronto Hydro is due to start construction on a project at Ashbridges Bay wastewater treatment plant, where sewerage and grey water will be converted into methane gas and burned to generate electricity for the city and heat for the plant. Other plans set forth by the city include turning Toronto’s green bin waste into biogas. One option being considered is to use that renewable gas to fuel city rubbish trucks that have been converted to operate on natural gas.

BUILDING EFFICIENCY UGL Services wins sustainability innovation award Diversey, a leading global provider of commercial cleaning, sanitation and hygiene solutions, has given its Sustainability Innovation Award to UGL Services North America at the eighth World Congress of the World Federation of Building Service Contractors (WFBSC).

UGL Services was recognized for its commitment to green cleaning and for instilling a strong sustainability culture among its employees and customers through its UGL Services GreenClean® programme.

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UCLG North America Section Secretary General: Don Borut Address: c/o National League of Cities 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004, USA Tel: +1 202 626 3000 Fax: +1 202 626 3043 Website: www.nlc.org

ENTERPRISE

New York co-working facility aids entrepreneurs

Photo: Alliance for Downtown New York

WATER Milwaukee and Chicago areas may face water shortages The Great Lakes region, the world’s largest freshwater system, could face local water shortages in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas due to increased demand and environmental changes, the US Geological Survey has said. Water levels in Chicago and Milwaukee could drop by an additional 30 metres over the next 30 years due to increased demand from pumping of groundwater that has already reduced groundwater levels by as much as 300 metres, the report found.

Hive at 55 offers freelancers discounted office space to work and interact

A year after opening, Hive at 55, New York’s lower Manhattan co-working facility, is operating at more than 80 percent capacity.

The fully outfitted space provides shared workspace and support to small businesses, freelancers and entrepreneurs who work alone but miss the buzz of an office, and at a steeply discounted rate.

Along with a desk to set up your laptop, the Hive offers three private conference rooms, a lounge, a kitchen with coffee and tea, hi-speed wireless and wired internet, and a printer, scanner, photocopy and fax machine. Members can use the Hive as their primary mailing address and store items in lockers.

The Hive hosts informative workshops, seminars, and ‘Meetups’ every week, and monthly lunches and happy hours just for members. All of this in an environment of like-minded professionals with whom to collaborate and share resources.

“When you are a small business, every penny counts and here they can devote their resources to other things,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the launch.

The facility was established by the Alliance for Downtown New York, the business improvement district for Lower Manhattan, with a US$100,000 grant from the New York City Economic Development Corporation. ‘Hive at 55’ is part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s MediaNYC 2020 plan, a programme of eight initiatives to strengthen the city’s media and technology industries. www.pfdmedia.com

NEWS: NORTH AMERICA

HEALTHCARE

Photo: City of Arlington

KaBOOM! offers US$2.1 million in grants to cities to promote playgrounds

The new grants will help cities maintain and build more playground space for children © Kaboom!

In an effort to combat the play deficit among children, US non-profit organization KaBOOM! and the Dr Pepper Snapple group will award 103 grants totalling US$2.1 million during the next three years as part of the Playful City USA programme. The Playful City USA grants are part of Let’s Play – a community partnership led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group to get children active nationwide.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 1-in-5 American children live within walking distance of a park or playground, resulting in a play deficit among children. KaBOOM!, a national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play, created the Playful City USA programme in 2007 to help local governments address the play deficit by ensuring their children have the time and space they need to play and to be active and healthy.

“Cities receiving Playful City USA recognition have always enjoyed the benefits of identifying and sharing best practices, inclusion in the national discussion about the importance of play and local praise for their dedication to children,” said KaBOOM! CEO and Co-Founder Darell Hammond. “In these difficult economic times, KaBOOM! is thrilled to offer grants to Playful City USA communities to help them create even more play opportunities for their children and help KaBOOM! save play.”

Despite budget deficits, Playful City USA communities continue to dramatically increase play opportunities for children, using innovative best practices. Cities such as Orlando and St. Petersburg in Florida, and Tucson in Arizona, have significantly increased the quantity of playspaces by developing joint-use agreements with local school districts to open school recreation facilities to the public during non-school hours.

Upon becoming a Playful City USA community, Dothan, Alabama, committed to using a community-build process for the construction of all future parks and playgrounds in the city. The community-build process engages citizens and organizations, while relying on volunteers for construction, which significantly lowers the cost of building playgrounds. St. Petersburg and Tucson were among the 12 communities featured in Play Matters, a KaBOOM! report designed to help cities build awareness and political capital while developing a policy on play.

A total of 103 grants worth US$2.1 million are available to Playful City USA recognized cities and towns between 2011-13. Grants range in values of US$30,000, US$20,000 and US$15,000 and will be awarded to existing Playful City USA communities as well as communities receiving Playful City USA recognition for the first time. www.pfdmedia.com

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Vancouver joins in province-wide earthquake drill Vancouver, Canada, joined other organizations in the ShakeOut BC drill in January. It required participants to drop to the ground, take cover under a desk or table, and hold on for up to two minutes in response to a simulated earthquake event.

The drill was being held to raise public awareness of the earthquake hazard and encourage personal preparedness. Although an earthquake has not hit the area since 1700, city officials are taking no chances, as the British Columbia coastline is the region most at risk of a major earthquake in the country.

ENERGY Montreal opens second biogas collection system Montreal has begun to remove biogas from the second cell of the dry material landfill in Rue Oakwood. The construction of the network of underground pipes that collect the gases was due to be completed by the end of March. The city hopes the success of this second phase will follow on from the first system installed in 2007, where almost all odours have been eliminated.

TRANSPORT Salt Lake City receives funds to explore streetcar system option As part of a nationally competitive bid process, the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) of Salt Lake City, USA, has been awarded a US$470,000 Alternative Analysis Project grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to fund a feasibility study to further explore a downtown streetcar system. Salt Lake City was one of 24 winners among 67 proposals in the nationwide competition for US$25.7 million in funds. The FTA noted the city’s success in integrating the transport project with redevelopment and sustainability goals.

WATER Ottawa announces app winner Ottawa announced the winners in its Apps4Ottawa contest. The best overall app was awarded to the Ottawa Guide app which is an android app that displays realtime digital information about your current location or objects such as landmarks or attractions using a phone’s camera. Ottawa is one of the cities leading the open data movement in Canada. Currently, 36 data sets are available on ottawa.ca.

March 2011 • United Cities 69

publications

Local government finance: a building block to stronger societies UCLG has published its second report on decentralization and local democracy, GOLD II, with a special focus on local government finance

L

ocal governments around the world have evolved to play an increasingly important part in the delivery of basic services, thereby improving living standards and stimulating the economic and social development of nations.

More and more they are considered important partners in dealing with a range of public policy issues contributing extensively to the delivery of efficient and equitable social services, and the construction and maintenance of key infrastructure that fosters both economic development and innovation.

However, reaching this point has been far from easy and there are still a variety of challenges to be overcome in each of the world’s regions.

Decentralization remains uneven and intergovernmental systems are often problematic, resulting in local governments being inadequately equipped to meet their mandated responsibilities. Without robust long-term planning and sequential reforms, the ability of local governments to fully realize their potential as a partner of central and

regional government, in meeting pressing common goals, is compromized.

A key component in the framework of decentralization is the fiscal architecture put in place to feed resources to local government and ensure they can deliver public services and successfully meet their responsibilities. While increasing fiscal decentralization has been a global trend in recent decades, there are significant variations across and within regions and countries.

Local budgets account on average for 25 percent of public expenditure in the European Union, for example, but less than 5 percent in many developing countries. Decentralization in terms of revenue and expenditure autonomy has increased, however, it has been uneven across countries and in general has seen greater advances in expenditure than in revenue, where sources remain limited and uncertain, especially for smaller administrations.

While regional averages demonstrate important trends, it must be remembered that there is also significant variation

The comparative fiscal role of local government: expenditure and revenue as a percentage of general government expenditure and revenue

Source: United Cities and Local Governments (2010) Local Government Finance: The Challenges of the 21st Century - Second Global Report on Decentralization and Local Democracy; Mexico City: UCLG; Table 10.1, pag 337.

72  United Cities • March 2011

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www.groupecaissedesdepots.fr

The above text is drawn from Local Government Finance: The Challenges of the 21st Century - Second Global Report on Decentralization and Local Democracy UCLG (2010) produced with the support of the Diputacion de Barcelona and Generalitat de Catalonia.

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Caisse des Dépôts group “serving the public interest and France’s economic development” A public financial institution > A long-term institutional investor > Regional developer alongside local authorities > Investor of funds held in regulated savings accounts on a secure basis in social housing, urban development and public interest projects > Public banker of the Justice and Social Security system > Pension scheme manager Subsidiaries > Business and infrastructure financing: Strategic Investment Fund, CDC Entreprises, Qualium Investissement, CDC Infrastructure > Personal insurance: CNP Assurances > Real estate: SNI group, Icade > Services: Transdev, Egis, Compagnie des Alpes and Belambra > Environment: CDC Climat, Société Forestière and CDC Biodiversité In all its businesses, Caisse des Dépôts group uses its capacity to innovate and take long term action to promote sustainable development.

In its Elan 2020 strategic plan, the Caisse des Dépôts group has set itself four priorities, to meet France’s urgent needs: housing, SMEs, universities and sustainable development.

The group is also strengthening its international presence by playing a role in the European debate, promoting cooperation between long term investors, and continuing its strategy in the Mediterranean region.

March 2011

between countries. Across Africa, for example, local expenditure as a percentage of total public spending reaches highs of 18 percent and 23 percent in South Africa and Uganda, while in Mauritania and Burkina Faso local governments are only responsible for 1 and 2 percent respectively.

It is also important to remember that the percentage of total spending and revenue controlled by local government is only one facet of decentralization. While reported percentages are high in Eurasia, East Asia and South Asia, the level of control exerted by the central government in these regions is extensive and there remains little scope for local decision making.

Local government finance systems around the world are currently at a crossroads. Global experiences have shown that intergovernmental fiscal relations are not fixed — they tend to evolve with social, political, economic, demographic and technological forces that affect the overall role of the public sector. While there have been significant efforts to increase decentralization and empower local governments as agents of local decision making, universal challenges, as well as those more regionally and country specific, will continue to emerge. Some of the most common fiscal challenges facing local government are inadequate sources of revenue, unpredictability of transfers and grants both in terms of quantities and timeframes, excessive higher-level budget controls, unfunded mandates and a lack of capacity both in the management of financial tools and the implementation of new methods of revenue generation.

In addition to the evolving political framework, in recent years a number of prominent and consequential crises– environmental, economic, and financial–have had significant and compounding impacts on the local environment.

These have been felt both in terms of their immediate consequences, as well as through higher level coping mechanisms made at the expense of local authorities.

Local governments and their representative organizations must be prepared to meet these challenges head on, and participate actively in determining both policy and technical solutions. To fully realize their potential as the partners of central and regional authorities they must be empowered with the necessary tools, both in terms of the elements of the fiscal system that need to be in place, and through building the capacity of local governments to function effectively. These issues, if not proactively confronted, present great dangers of social and economic decline in the more advanced economies and a failure to meet increasingly urgent needs in developing countries, including poverty reduction targets and the Millennium Development Goals. n

Caisse des dépôts et consignations 56, rue de Lille 75356 Paris 07 SP - France +33 (0)1 58 50 00 00 Direction of European and International Affairs +33 (0)1 58 50 11 78

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book review

The Triumph of the City How our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier, and happier

By Edward Glaeser, Professor of Economics, Harvard University, March 2011, US$29.95 (Penguin Press)

By Neal Peirce

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ahatma Gandhi once wrote that “the true India is to be found not in its few cities, but in its 700,000 villages”.

Thomas Jefferson celebrated rural life, inveighing against cities as “sores” on the body politic.

Both men were wrong. That’s the message of Harvard economist Edward Glaeser, who in his new book The Triumph of the City argues that from the dawn of history, the intensely social human species has advanced by doing things together. And it is cities, which make it so easy to watch and listen and learn from so many other players, that enable the collaboration, the constant flow of new information, and the ideas, to make humanity shine most brightly.

Check every front from houses of commerce to universities to the arts, bright shopping streets to glistening architecture to great public places – and cities excel. Imagine, for example, this year’s revolution in Egypt without Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

And with their wealth of connections, cities naturally generate the most wealth.

On average, Glaeser notes, as the share of a country’s population that is urban goes up 10 percent, the entire country’s per capita output rises 30 percent. The potential income gains are especially dramatic in less developed countries with substantial levels of rural poverty.

Indeed, a better livelihood – some hope of escaping the grinding poverty of rural life – is the reason hundreds of millions are now pouring into the world’s developing country cities.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t great scourges of city life – disease, crime, congestion, social tensions. “For every www.pfdmedia.com

Fifth Avenue,” Glaeser notes, “there’s a Mumbai slum; for every Sorbonne, there’s a Washington, D.C. high school guarded by metal detectors.” He’s candid about the need for farsighted city leadership to mobilize support for major infrastructure. A prime example: the safe water and sewage systems cities that developed world cities began in the late 1800s, all but erasing waterborne disease and extending life expectancies – essential services still missing in many slums of the developing world.

A new compactness imperative means, he insists, removing cities’ many restraints on high buildings, saving some historic buildings and places but allowing a rapid turnover of yesterday’s urban land for tall structures that can house thousands, not hundreds of people per square block. If the United States does that, he suggests, it will be on firmer ground in urging India and China, with their immense populations and growing wealth, to build high, dense cities – not sprawl as we have. If China and India’s per capita carbon emissions rose to US levels, Glaeser notes, the world’s total carbon consumption would soar 139 percent.

But the need for compact cities doesn’t just apply to the developed world. Glaeser takes special aim at Mumbai’s restrictions on maximum building heights – to an average of just one and a third stories, the equivalent, as he notes, of “suburban densities in the urban core”. He quickly notes: “Mumbai is a city of astonishing human energy and entrepreneurship, from the high reaches of finance and film to the jampacked spaces of the Dhavari slum”. But the spread-out geography forced by low building heights makes driving times tortuously slow – a problem that more streets and highways can’t solve because of the unremitting, rising demand. The only solution, he suggests: build up, like Singapore, where the downtown is “tall and connected” and thus highly efficient, a place where businesspeople “can easily trot to a meeting”.

The compelling quality of Glaeser’s book is its connectedness: recognizing the parallels, common challenges, and the immense opportunities of cities

across the globe. It points to the need for much more global urban dialogue on an amazing array of fronts, pushed forward by movement of people among metropolises and liberal immigration laws.

Yet strangely, one great urban asset goes unnoted: what strong and growing cities mean for world population. It’s true, the flood of new residents pouring into cities from rural areas carries staggering numbers. Goldman Sachs projects, for example, that 31 villagers will continue to pour into an Indian city every minute over the next 40 years.

But cities are poised to defuse the planet’s population explosion. As women move to cities, and especially as they gain employment and some education, they choose to have fewer children. It will take more decades for the world population to stop its momentous rise. But as it peaks – at about 9.2 billion somewhere around mid-century – cities will be the key. n Neal Peirce writes a weekly column on cities for the Washington Post Writers Group, and is the lead player in a new global news service – www.citiscope. org – which commissions journalists in cities worldwide to write articles on innovations of potential interest to urban leaders across both the developed and developing worlds.

March 2011 • United Cities 75

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Carbon free economic growth and eco-cities: the challenge for any city administration It is increasingly becoming a challenge for cities to provide access to energy to billions who do not yet have access to clean and affordable energy and at the same time to decarbonize and reduce the risk of local and global catastrophes exacerbated by climate change. How can city administrations acquire the tools and skilled urban managers to continue addressing these pressing needs?

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ities are being recognized as major players in ‘carbonfree economic growth’, while helping populations to deal with sustainable energy issues, climate uncertainty and natural disasters. By paying greater attention to building codes, urban transport, and urban form, cities are expected to contribute increasingly to climate change mitigation, especially in developed countries where cities are the main source of greenhouse gas emissions.

In developing countries, the challenge is expected to be mainly on the adaptation front as uncertain climate conditions and expected rise in sea levels threaten the major assets of capital and coastal cities.

Global energy: city initiatives

The global energy challenge is difficult to address, as energy underpins almost all cities’ activities. Maintaining economic growth and providing access to basic shelter, transport, education, health and sanitation, all assume uninterrupted, stable, secure and affordable energy. To make a tangible shift to decarbonized energy systems to make cities more eco-sustainable seems possible and promising based on the various initiatives across the world. The Urban Energy Sourcebook (UN-HABITAT, 2009) discusses initiatives which have impacted environmental, social, and economic and health spheres positively. An example is given by Rotterdam in 76 United Cities • March 2011

The Netherlands where the city administration has created the so called ‘Rotterdam Climate Initiative’ which aims to stir a movement to achieve a 50 percent reduction of CO2 emissions, adapt to climate change, and promote the eco-friendly development of its economy.

IHS: focus on climate change

In a rapidly changing world where cities are increasingly facing more challenges, with global climate change being one of the main drivers of local action, IHS is also adapting to the new environment by providing a series of climate change related activities for cities and urban areas.

IHS, the International Institute of Urban Management of Erasmus University Rotterdam, in The Netherlands, is actively promoting and implementing training, research, advisory works and international events to help local governments, policymakers, city and community leaders to take stock of their own situation, analyse the system wastages, and look for innovative solutions to reduce energy demand contributing to reducing climate change threats and promoting the development of more eco-sustainable cities.

IHS offers advisory and decision analysis support services on urban climate change issues, develops and delivers tailor made executive courses on climate change and conducts applied research in the

climate adaptation and mitigation field. As part of these activities, IHS developed the Capacity Building and Decision Support tool: Climate Actions Prioritization (www.ihs. nl/climactprio) and will jointly implement with the International Urban Training Centre (IUTC) and UN-HABITAT training courses on planning, policies and urban management tools in Rotterdam and in Gangwon province, South Korea. n

IHS, Erasmus University Rotterdam PO Box 1935 3000 BX Rotterdam, The Netherlands Phone: +31 10 408 9825 Email: ihs@ihs.nl www.ihs.nl/climate_change

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calendar

Upcoming Events Urban Development • 23rd Session of the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), 11-15 April 2011, UN-HABITAT headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya • Learning Event of the UCLG Committee on Urban Strategic Planning, 13-14 June, Durban, South Africa • The Executive Bureau of United Cities and Local Governments, 2224 June 2011, Rabat, Morocco • Asia Pacific Cities Summit, 6-8 July 2011, Brisbane, Australia Climate Change • C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, 31 May-2 June, São Paulo, Brazil • CARBON EXPO: Global Carbon Market Fair & Conference, 1-3 June 2011, Barcelona, Spain

• Resilient Cities 2011: 2nd World Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change, 3-5 June 2011, Bonn, Germany Water • International Conference of the Local and Regional Authorities on Water, 30-31 May, Lyon, France.

• Sustainable Water Solutions for a Changing Urban Environment, Singapore International Water Week, 4-8 July 2011, Singapore • Responding to Global ChallengesWater in an Urbanizing World, World Water Week, 21-27 August 2011, Stockholm, Sweden Transport • 59th UITP World Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition, 10-14 April 2011, Dubai, UAE

United Cities and Local Governments Executive Bureau Meeting Date : 22-24 June 2011 Destination : Rabat, Morocco Website: www.cities-localgovernments.org Description: The next UCLG Executive Bureau will take place in Rabat (Morocco) on 22-24 June 2011. All members of the Bureau are invited to participate. A full day will be dedicated to the UCLG Strategic Exercise on the 24th. Preparatory meetings of the Financial Management Committee and others will take place on the 22nd.

• Shaping Climate friendly Transport in Europe: Key Finding & Future Directions, 16-17 May 2011, Belgrade, Serbia • International Transport Forum, 2527 May 2011, Leipzig, Germany

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March 2011 • United Cities 77

Equal opportunities, justice and social inclusion in one of the world’s biggest metropolises.

By Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Mayor of Mexico City

E

quality is at the centre of Mexico City’s recognition and respect of fundamental liberties and rights. In Mexico City, we are committed to a more inclusive society – one where no individual is left behind due to lack of opportunity, where local government guarantees equal rights for men and women, and where citizens and their elected leaders strive together for a more open, tolerant and supportive society. In Mexico City, we are striving to breach dramatic inequalities – social, political and economic discrimination – that still divide Mexico as a whole.

Education for all

adolescents between 6 and 18 years old, in the event of the death of one of their parents. This support enables them to conclude their pre-university education studies in our public school system.

In addition, our “Prepa Sí” programme (Yes to High School!) addresses the high drop-out rate in high school. It encourages students to finish high school by providing a monthly grant to stay in school. In 2010, the programme benefitted nearly 100,000 students. No other programme has achieved such a positive result.

Pregnancy and the right to decide

Education is a priority commitment on Promoting gender equality, within the city government’s agenda. Ninety a framework of social justice and percent of children in Mexico City human rights, is another critical receive basic education services, providing nine years of primary schooling. However, at the pre-university and university level, thousands of students drop out from their courses due to insufficient financial resources, or overcrowding in educational institutions.

For this reason, the Government of Mexico City is implementing various programmes targeted at high school and university levels. First, we have implemented the Guaranteed Education Programme, which provides monthly financial support Mexico City is committed to a more inclusive society to children and United Cities • March 2011

objective. One of the key areas has been decriminalization of abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Out of the 43 million abortions which take place globally each year, 90 percent are performed in unsafe conditions, primarily in developing countries.

Before decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City, nearly 120 women died every year from complications resulting from clandestine abortion procedures that did not comply with the minimum medical requirements.

Since this reform was implemented in 2007, more than 42,000 abortions have been performed in 13 public hospitals in Mexico City. Of these, less than one percent of patients experienced complications.

This initiative, while controversial in a Catholic nation such as Mexico, has Photo: NYC-WSW

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Mexico City: at the forefront of socially inclusive policies

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Equal opportunities: same-sex marriage

In April 2009, local lawmakers proposed a draft bill to legalize marriage between same-sex couples.

The bill sought to amend the definition of marriage in the Civil Code, so as to include gender-neutral language.

Later that year, Mexico City’s Local Legislative Assembly approved the legalization of same-sex marriage by a 39 to 20 vote.

Mexico City’s initiative goes further than any other in Latin America by

rewriting the law to redefine marriage as a “free union between two people,” not only between a man and a woman.

It provides homosexual couples with the same legal rights as heterosexual partners, including the right to adopt children, inherit wealth, obtain joint housing loans and share insurance policies.

Other initiatives

Other programmes define Mexico City as an avant-garde metropolis in advocating social inclusiveness. Since 2009, through our “Angel Program” umbrella strategy, we have adopted initiatives in education, housing, and services for the elderly, handicapped and impaired. Our health programme, recipient of the National Prize for Health Innovation, provides home delivery of free medication to those in need.

Mexico City is the only local government jurisdiction in Mexico to B:200 mm implement unemployment insurance.

Think foreign investment magnet, billions in new transport and climate infrastructure, trade agreements with 44 nations, and only a few hours away.

Think Mexico City.

This programme has benefited more than 192,000 people who have lost their jobs. In 2009, the International Observatory of Participative Democracy awarded its first prize to our Neighborhood Improvement Community Program for promoting participative democracy.

In addition, there is a long tradition of respecting political liberties and social activism. Freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of association are fully respected.

Valued at 30 billion pesos a year (US$2.5 billion), our social inclusiveness policies set an example for other cities and local governments around the world. These policies have been constructed with the support of our citizens, and therefore enjoy wide popular support. This is why our government is at the forefront of implementing social inclusive policies that make Mexico City a better and safer place to live. n

In Mexico City, the sun is shining brightly for international business investment. That’s because Mexico City offers a legal and regulatory framework friendly to international corporations, an educated professional class, tax incentives for real estate and payrolls, free trade agreements with 44 countries, and the amenities of a sophisticated, world-class academic and cultural center.

Mexico City is investing billions in new transportation and security infrastructure to make it easier to do business and enjoy life. It’s a vibrant hub of research, development and innovation.

And it’s implementing a 15-year Climate Action Plan to make its environment one of the most sustainable in the world.

If you’re seeking growth opportunities in knowledge-based industries and access to the hub of one of the world’s most important emerging markets – one just a few hours away – it makes sense to think Mexico City.

Think Mexico City mexicocityexper ience.com

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been endorsed by Mexico’s Supreme Court. The newly-enacted law grants women the right to a voluntary pregnancy, avoiding thousands of deaths each year from improperly performed operations. Today, terminating unwanted pregnancies is a free, legal and safe medical procedure.

This marks a historic change in favour of women’s rights in Mexico and Latin America.

March 2011 • United Cities

CONFERENCE REPORT

• Third UCLG World Congress, Mexico City, November 17-20 2010 • World Mayors Summit on Climate, Mexico City, November 21 2010 • Sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16), Cancun, November 29-December 10, 2010

Mayors unveil manifesto for the City of 2030

Photo: Government of Mexico

By Richard Forster

The mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard, addresses the UCLG Congress

The eyes of the world were on Mexico at the end of 2010 as the country hosted three of the year’s most important events for cities.

In November 2010, the UCLG World Congress took place in Mexico City with a record 2,975 delegates from 94 countries.

The Congress had three principle themes–the impact of the global crisis, the City of 2030 and local governments as partners in global governance. A list of recommendations for each theme were adopted by the World Congress on 20 November (see box opposite).

In reference to the City of 2030, Marcelo Ebrard, Mayor of Mexico City, emphasized that we need to take account of the risks we face in developing our cities in particular climate change, which had caused a three degree rise in the temperature of Mexico City, changing rain patterns and provoking longer periods of drought.

80 United Cities • March 2011

“We must tell the international community that it is in the cities where the battle will be won to stop global warming,” said Mayor Ebrard in his opening address to the Congress. “The solution is to be found in cities.”

At the plenary session on the City of 2030, Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul, said that migration to urban centres was putting overwhelming pressure on the delivery of public services and the solution was to invite citizens to become more participative in regional government “because if we do not know where we are heading, we will get nowhere by 2030”.

The Mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall, and Carles Martí, Councillor in Barcelona’s local government, emphasized the need to advance social development and develop a sense of community. Martí suggested creating a sense of community based on the promotion of culture as a pillar of development. “One cannot hope

to belong to a group if there are no common codes and therefore, culture is a fundamental element,” said Martí.

The plenary debate on the City of 2030 resulted in a manifesto signed and agreed by UCLG members, which emphasized that the City of 2030 must be democratic, inclusive, liveable, secure, green and creative. Above all, the cities of the future should be without slums–the City of 2030 will be one where land tenure rights are enforced, the right to decent housing is recognized, and where slum prevention and upgrading are given priority.

The manifesto ends with an important call to reinforce the role of UCLG: “UCLG must be involved as a full partner by the UN and wider international community in all issues concerning the future of our cities and human settlements”.

With new President Topbas having already visited UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon since the Congress (see www.pfdmedia.com

CONFERENCE REPORT

Interview, page 25), UCLG is hoping to get observer status before the General Assembly of the UN by the time of the next Congress, which will take place in Rabat in 2013.

World Mayors’ Summit on Climate A day after the close of the UCLG Congress, a special one-day event was held for mayors with a view to the upcoming talks in Cancun for the COP 16.

With the support of UCLG and ICLEI, and in his capacity as Chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change, Marcelo Ebrard called on his fellow mayors to sign a voluntary pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

135 cities at the summit signed up to a list of ten commitments to introduce measures to combat climate change.

As of March 2011, there were 177 signatory cities.

A key component of the Mexico City Pact (or Global Cities Covenant on Climate to give it its formal name) is the carbonn Cities Climate Registry (cCCCR), where cities will report data relating to their climate policies and commitments. The registry based in Bonn, Germany, will allow cities to compare performance and will serve as a transparent source of reference for cities which have signed the pact.

“Cities are ahead of the game of nations and are leading the global process combating climate change,” said Bertrand Delanoë, outgoing president of UCLG. “The cCCCR will be the official reporting mechanism of that leadership.”

COP 16: cities gain formal recognition The Mexico City Pact was presented

by Mayor Ebrard on 7 December at the Sixteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The purpose of the pre-COP 16 summit and Mexico City Pact was to raise the profile of cities so that cities could play an active role in the UN talks in contrast to the previous meeting where cities were excluded. www.pfdmedia.com

Selected Recommendations of the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders Global Crises-Local Solutions •

We urge national governments to ensure that local and regional governments are not disproportionately impacted by budget and fiscal reductions arising from the economic and fiscal crises.

The City of 2030: our local vision for a sustainable future •

We call on the UN and its agencies, national governments and donors, to promote and build partnerships with our cities, local governments and regions, to achieve positive urban development, through well-planned investment and capacity-building programmes.

•

We reaffirm our common vision that culture is the fourth pillar of sustainable development.

Local and regional governments-partners in the new global governance •

We affirm that any organization of world regional cooperation and integration must take properly into account the implications of its competences and decisions on the region’s local and regional governments and should involve then in all relevant matters.

To download the full list of recommendations, log on to www.cities-localgovernments.org

“Cities are ahead of the game of nations and are leading the global process combating climate change” Bertrand Delanoë, outgoing president of UCLG “Copenhagen [COP 15] was a serious failure for humanity because as mayors, we know that the majority of people live in our cities and it is in the cities that we have the biggest emissions,” said Bertrand Delanoë at the Mayors Summit on Climate.

Cities fared much better at COP 16. For the first time, the role of cities in combating climate change was recognized with reference to the role of local governments as “governmental stakeholders” in the UNFCCC official documents. Lobbying by the local government delegation had produced a long-awaited recognition of the crucial role cities play in climate change mitigation.

A second positive outcome for cities was the recognition that they should play a role in the global carbon finance system. Previously there had

been no reference to cities as part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The Kyoto protocol to the UNFCCC had introduced the CDM as a market-driven mechanism to combine mitigation of emissions with sustainable development. But of 2400 projects registered with the CDM between 2005 and 2010, only 203 were in cities. “This makes no sense,” said Dan Hoornweg, Lead Urban Adviser, Sustainable Cities at the World Bank.

“Activities in urban areas cause more than 75% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and yet less than 10% of the projects were in cities.”

Following lobbying from UCLG, with the support of other organizations, the draft decision on the CDM at COP 16 refers to the possibility of “city-wide programs”. According to Hoornweg, while city-wide carbon finance programs will probably never generate more than 1 or 2 percent of the city’s total budget, it marks the fact that cities are now more fully in the game when it comes to climate change mitigation.

“Cities are happy to have planted the seeds for a more innovative approach to dealing with climate change but they won’t have the luxury of standing around watching the results,” said Hoornweg. “They will be busy making it happen." n March 2011 • United Cities 81

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Nissan paves the way for electric vehicles in cities

With the launch of the Nissan LEAF, Nissan has unveiled the world’s first mass-produced electric car, which can be used for taxis and personal transport to reduce carbon emissions in cities.

Already a sell out in the US, Japan and Europe, the Nissan LEAF marks a new stage in the development of electric vehicles, which according to Nissan, will account for 10 percent of the global auto market by 2020

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any a government minister, head of state, or mayor, is used to stepping off a plane to be corralled into a seemingly endless line of dignitaries. Following the customary hand shaking and obligatory photo opportunity, they are then moved swiftly into a fuel-guzzling motorcade, often finding it hard to remember whom they’ve just met.

In Mexico, VIPs attending the COP16 summit in Cancun in December 2010, and those attending the World Mayors Summit on Climate (WMSC) in Mexico City the week before, were whisked around the venues and business meetings by something more memorable and unique.

Thanks to the new Nissan LEAF vehicle (which stands for leading, environmentally-friendly affordable, family car), mayors and ministers in Cancun, were able to claim they had contributed in reducing their emissions. Nissan provided 20 of the vehicles that ferried around 1,200 people over the course of the meetings, through 400 separate trips.

In Cancun, the VIPs could actually say ‘we are doing what we are preaching’ as they announced CO2 cutting statements guilt free, without then ironically stepping into a petrolthirsty limousine to speed off to the next summit.

The cars, which emit none of the exhaust pollutants that have plagued city skies over the last century, are the next evolutionary step, from petrol, to hybrid, to wholly electric vehicles.

Billed as the world’s first massproduced electric car, the Nissan LEAF has already caused a stir by being named as the first electric car to win the European Car of the Year Award for 2011.

“The Nissan LEAF represents a technical and commercial bet that might otherwise satisfy many potential consumers, especially where public incentives will come to reduce the paying price,” the award jury said.

The Nissan LEAF is an all-electric compact car that does not use gasoline and therefore there is no exhaust pipe or emissions. Utilizing the latest Liion laminated-battery technology, the car can cruise with a range of up to

160 kilometres (100 miles, on US LA4 mode) on a full-charge, enough to satisfy the driving needs of more than 70 percent of drivers in large cities, according to Nissan. For those city drivers in more of a hurry, a rapid half hour charge with a quick charger can top-up the battery to 80 percent.

Mexico City was so impressed with the cars that during November’s Mayors’ Summit, Marcelo Ebrard, mayor of Mexico City, signed a definitive agreement to receive 100 cars in the second half of 2011, for a pilot programme of zero emission taxis, with the potential to rise to a further 500.

Indeed the mayor may hope that the Nissan LEAF taxis may soon be just as synonymous with Mexico City as the green polluting VW Beetle taxis once were.

The agreement supports the city’s Plan Verde (Green Plan) – an ambitious

Indoor testing of the Nissan LEAF, which has been named 2011 European Car of the Year

United Cities • March 2011

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March 2011 • United Cities

Sponsored Statement

initiative to drive Mexico City towards greater sustainability, and to turn itself into the greenest city in Latin America.

The bustling capital and Nissan believe that by using the new electric vehicles as taxis they can create inroads into reducing pollution and to garner market research from the public, as passengers become exposed to the cars for the first time.

At the signing, José Muñoz, president and CEO of Nissan Mexicana, said: “We are pleased that Mexico is the first city in Latin America to use zero-emission cars.

José Muñoz (left), President of Nissan Mexicana and Carlos Tavares (right), Executive Vice-President, Nissan Americas The government of Mexico City is sending a clear signal that it wants to work for a cleaner Mr Ebrard said at the signing Mass production of the Nissan environment and Nissan has the that for the first time Mexico, and in LEAF began in Japan late last year, with technology to support it.” particular Mexico City, will be at the the first shipment to the US selling The agreement lays the necessary forefront of this technology and one out, having received 20,000 orders. ground work for the city to achieve it’s of the first capital cities to use zeroProduction will be expanded in North Plan Verde and to make zero-emission emission vehicles.

America in 2012 and in Europe by mobility a reality, including the To-date, Nissan has partnered 2013. introduction of buyer incentives, the with more than 90 partners globally By 2020, Nissan predicts that electric establishment of a recharging network, including countries, states, cities, cars will account for 10 percent of the and developing an education and utilities, companies, NGOs and global auto market. The company is awareness campaign of the vehicles in universities to promote the mass already well on the way to achieving the city. adoption of electric vehicles. this thanks to positive reviews on its “Without doubt, this definitive Marking its 12th anniversary, the roomy and comfortable interior, and in agreement, provides a clear message Nissan-Renault Alliance is working combining a whisper-like silence with to the international community of the with various stakeholders to ensure powerful performance. strategic importance of the fight against market readiness particularly in the “We understand that sustainability climate change for the administration areas of incentives, regulatory policies, depended on our ability to provide of Mexico City,” added Mr Muñoz. infrastructure development and public clean mobility as a company,” says “It also confirms our commitment education.

Carlos Taveres, executive vice to promote the use of zero-emission In Japan, the government’s new president. “We see the Nissan LEAF vehicles.” growth strategy aims to install two as just the beginning of our future million normal chargers and 5,000 mobility strategy.” n quick chargers by 2020. In the US, Nissan is part of the EV project to Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. deploy 14,650 normal chargers and 310 1-1, Takashima 1-chome, Nishi-ku, quick chargers across 16 major cities Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 220-8686, in six states. In The Netherlands, the Japan eLaad Foundation, founded by Dutch Tel. +81-45-523-5523 Grid operators, has a mission to deploy 10,000 charging points. Ireland has also committed, via ESB, to deploy 1,500 charging points across the country and in Portugal Mobi-E plans to install 1,300 stations by the end of this year.

The Nissan LEAF has a 160 km range on a full charge

my life, my city

Gérald Tremblay, Mayor of Montreal Vice-president of UCLG

Why did you become mayor?

Being mayor is my way of actively ensuring that the economic, social and cultural development of Québec’s leading city takes place as quickly as possible. In my various roles as a manager, professor, minister and mayor, I have always worked to improve people’s quality of life and to ensure they have access to the best services possible.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced since becoming mayor?

Diversifying the city’s sources of revenue so that we can achieve our ambitions such as funding our public transit plan which is a priority for my Administration. Also, revitalizing our water and road infrastructure, which suffered from years of underfunding by previous administrations, has been another main area of concern.

What do you consider is your biggest achievement in office?

First, we supported democratic participation in city governance by adopting the Montreal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities and by creating an Office de consultation publique. We also established a rigorous and transparent system for managing public money.

Furthermore, we have built 15,000 social and community housing units, expanded the city’s bike path network and introduced the BIXI self-service bike network.

Which other cities do you collaborate with? Is contact formal or informal?

Over the decades, Montreal has forged close ties and partnerships with many 84 United Cities • March 2011

Are you and early bird or a night owl?

I am an early bird. I get up at 5:00 a.m. every day.

Photo: City of Montreal

What is your favourite part of the job?

The opportunity to speak with others who share similar values. I also get immediate feedback from residents and also see how we contribute to their daily quality of life.

What are you reading right now?

Champlain’s Dream by historian and Pulitzer Prize winner, David H. Fisher.

Gérald Tremblay Place and country of birth: Ottawa, Canada Education: Lawyer and member of the Barreau du Québec since 1970, Gérald Tremblay holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School (1972).

Date elected as mayor: First elected Mayor of Montreal in November 2001, Reelected for a third term in autumn of 2009.

Previous employment: Québec Minister of Industry, Commerce, Science and Technology.

cities, such as Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, Nantes, Bamako, Erevan, Shanghai and Hiroshima. Our exchanges have helped promote certain important concepts, such as the protection of biodiversity and efforts to achieve peace.

What will you do after you leave politics?

I will always continue to assume my economic, social and international responsibilities, while writing my memoirs.

Favourite place in your city?

Mount Royal, Jean-Drapeau Park and the Nature Museums, which include the Planetarium, the Biodôme, the Botanical Garden, one of the world’s largest and most beautiful such facilities, and the Insectarium.

Hobbies and interests outside of work?

Nature, music and film.

Do you have a favourite sports team?

The Canadiens (hockey), the Alouettes (football) and Impact (soccer).

Who is your hero or inspiration?

General Charles de Gaulle and Gandhi.

People who have made an impact on the world through the strength of their convictions, their leadership and their sense of public service.

What advice would you give to the first time visitor to your city/region?

Montreal is a year-round festival city, culinary centre and delightful place to be. Each of Montreal’s neighbourhoods has its own particular charm. Our downtown area is full of life and visiting Old Montreal is like taking a trip back in time. So I suggest that you plan your trip well and take the time to enjoy it!

What is your life philosophy?

I have two. The first is from the Bard who said: “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me”. The second is from George Bernard Shaw: “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.” n

Contact details:

Ariane Lareau ariane.lareau@ville.montreal.qc.ca Office: 514 872-4894 Cell: 514 206-5434 Montréal City Hall 275, rue Notre-Dame Est, bureau 3.100 Montréal (Québec) H2Y 1C6 www.pfdmedia.com

25 – 27 May, Leipzig, Germany

Transport for Society

As the unique global platform that brings together Ministers and business leaders, mayors of major cities, top researchers and representatives of civil society, the International Transport Forum has established itself as the leading annual global mobility event.

This year the focus will be on Transport for Society:

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How can transport provide even more benefits for our citizens and societies?

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How can all transport modes – for passengers as well as freight – contribute to sustainable growth?

The 3-day summit will include:

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High-level and interactive panel discussions

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Keynote speeches by leading experts

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Awards for transport achievement and young researchers

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Technical Tours

Demonstrations of new ideas and technology

Networking Opportunites

If you or your organisation would like to be represented at this event, details on registration, the programme, as well as exhibition and sponsorship opportunities can be found on our website or email us at itf.contact@oecd.org

www.internationaltransportforum.org

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