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Another notable global process is the Habitat III, the
United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable
Urban Development that took place in Quito, Ecuador
in October 2016. It aims to reinvigorate the global
commitment to sustainable urbanisation by focusing on
the implementation of a ‘New Urban Agenda’
12
. It was
built upon the Habitat Agenda agreed at the Habitat II
conference in 1996. The roadmap and coordination for
collective effort between 2030 Agenda and Habitat III
can be seen in Figure 7.
UN Under-Secretary-General and UN-Habitat
Executive Director, Dr Joan Clos, stated that “A New
Urban Agenda is required to effectively address the
challenges and take advantage of the opportunities
offered by urbanisation.”
Habitat III will be the first UN global summit
after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. Dr Clos also mentioned that Habitat III
and the New Urban Agenda should establish critical
connections to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and other international agreements. There
is a need to ensure a strong convergence among these
agendas as a way of complementing and improving the
implementation of the SDGs, particularly those with an
urban component.
The New Urban Agenda will offer a framework
of how cities, towns and villages are imagined,
planned and managed, to fulfil their role as drivers
of sustainable development. The framework would
also include the integration of ICTs in cities to act as
a transformative force that can develop and manage
urban centres.
The third global process to promote sustainable
urban development is the United for Smart Sustainable
Cities (U4SSC) Initiative. The ITU and the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
along with other 16 United Nations agencies have
created U4SSC to advocate for public policies that can
facilitate the integration of ICTs for smart sustainable
city transitions
13
. The global initiative was launched at
the ITU-UNECE Forum on ‘Shaping smarter and more
sustainable cities: striving for sustainable development
goals’ in Rome, Italy, in May 2016.
In opening the Forum, ITU Deputy Secretary-
General Malcolm Johnson pointed out “Smart
sustainable cities benefit from improved energy
efficiency, reduced environmental pollution, increased
social inclusion, and offer businesses a better return
on investment, and people a happier and healthier
environment in which to live.”
Figure 7: Local and Regional Governments: The Road to Habitat III
Source: United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
12 Habitat III Conference: The New Urban Agenda 2016, UN
13 United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) Flipbook 2016, ITU and UNECE
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