In 1976, from May 31 to June 11 the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat I) took place in Vancouver, Canada. The essential themes of this pioneering meeting were housing issues, the ongoing urbanization processes and the increase of slums at a global scale. Delegates from 136 governments participated in the Summit. For the first time issues like, population growth and rapid urbanization, as well as how irrelevant many economic, social and political relationships had become, were part of a global dialogue. It was an opportunity to identify new challenges being faced by cities across the world, and to send a warning message to governments and their local governance policies. Habitat II was held 20 years later in 1996, on June 3-14 in Istanbul, Turkey, and it painted a more alarming picture of the 21st century cities, but it also gave voice to citizens and civil society organizations of cities. Issues like homelessness, increasing poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation, social exclusion, lack of basic infrastructure and services, and growing insecurity and violence. Just recently this year on October 17-20, Habitat III was held in Quito, Ecuador and participating States agreed on the New Urban Agenda (NUA); a non-binding document, which will guide policies over the next 20 years with the goal of making cities safer, resilient and sustainable and their amenities more inclusive. While cities have been part of humanity since 6,000-7,000 B.C, why in the 21st century cities have acquired a new importance? As the wider and more complex context of city development continues to evolve rapidly, challenges have become more pronounced and evident, and there is also a renewed focus on understanding the dynamics of urban democratic governance.
Read More “The Hope of Urban Governance: Can Cities Restore Democratic Governance Ideals?”
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