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UN Chronicle - Volume 53, Issue 3, 2016
Volume 53, Issue 3, 2016
A must-read for every concerned world citizen, the United Nations Chronicle is a quarterly, easy-to-read report on the work of the United Nations and its agencies. Produced by the United Nations Department of Public Information, every issue covers a wide range of United Nations related activities: from fighting the drug war to fighting racial discrimination, from relief and development to nuclear disarmament, terrorism, and the worldwide environmental crisis.
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Habitat III is the citizens' conference of the United Nations
Author: Joan ClosMore than half of the world’s population today lives in cities. By 2050, the world’s urban population is expected to nearly double, making urbanization one of the twenty-first century’s most transformative trends. While cities have gone through massive transformations that have resulted in unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, we need to rethink the way we live in and manage cities to ensure a sustainable future for all.
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The new urban agenda's road map for planning urban spatial development: Tangible, manageable and measurable
Author: Eugenie L. BirchIn 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Agenda set the pace for many aspects of the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), to be held in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 to 20 October 2016. While the complete set of SDGs is important for Habitat III, Goal 11, “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, with seven associated targets, is especially critical because it embraces several components that make cities and regions sustainable, including housing, transport, planning, cultural and environmental heritage, disaster risk reduction, environmental impact and public space.
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Placing people at the centre of our sustainable urban future
Author: Anne HidalgoThe United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development— Habitat III—to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016, will be a historic event.
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Cities for people and by people
Authors: Somsook Boonyabancha and Tom KerrThis century will see a substantial majority of the world’s population living in urban centers. The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), to be held in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 to 20 October 2016, therefore has as its mission the adoption of the New Urban Agenda, an actionoriented outcome document that will set global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development. The Agenda will enable us to rethink the way we build, manage and live in cities by strengthening cooperation among stakeholders, urban actors at all levels of government and the private sector.
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The demand for responsive architectural planning and production in rapidly urbanizing regions: The case of Ethiopia
Authors: Zegeye Cherenet Mamo and Helawi Sewnet BeshahAfrica is considered a rapidly urbanizing continent, but it lags behind when it comes to the discourse of urbanization. According to Achille Mbembé and Sarah Nuttall, “to write the world from Africa or to write Africa into the world, or as a fragment thereof, is a compelling and perplexing task” (2004). In discourses on world affairs and, in particular, urbanization, the case of Africa often falls into a box that many might label otherness. It is only recently that the concept of otherness itself has become a point of interest for those who wish to study the urban revolution in Africa. As with any radical phenomenon, however, most academic literature paints two opposing pictures: one of despair and hopelessness, and the other of an opportunity for a more creative and responsive urban future (Cherenet Mamo, 2015, p. 17). This article attempts to underscore the latter by examining the case of Ethiopia, which is one of the least urbanized nations currently undergoing a rapid transformation.
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The relevance of soft infrastructure in disaster management and risk reduction
Authors: Susann Baez Ullberg and Jeroen WarnerThe increasing frequency and severity of both natural and technological disasters in the world, especially but not exclusively in urban areas, put cities at the centre of discussion among practitioners and scholars alike, raising fundamental questions about nature and society, about development and technology. Disasters make evident the lack of sustainability of many societies and signal varying degrees of development failures. Scientific and political debates are underway about how climate variability impacts meteorological and even geophysical hazards, acting as an accelerator or even multiplier of risk and insecurity, exacerbating vulnerabilities already underway due to social, economic and political changes at a global level. Everyone is urged to take action, but many are the challenges to achieving this.
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Learning from local building cultures to improve housing project sustainability
Author: Thierry JoffroyThe history of construction shows that builders have always been creative in adapting and upgrading housing structures by making the best use of locally available resources to meet their needs, while taking into account local economic, social and climatic constraints. Societies worldwide have developed building cultures that result in ‘contextual’ architecture, corresponding to unique construction methods and specific ways of life. Local building cultures, however, are not static. They evolve as societies do, particularly when exchanges with other countries and cultures take place, introducing new knowledge, building materials and techniques.
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Working with strong service providers to address the urban water and sanitation challenge
Author: Sylvie RamanantsoaFor many people around the world, it is simply impossible to imagine life without easy access to safe drinking water or a toilet, yet the lack of such basic amenities is still a fact of life for too many in the global South. While it is true that transformational change in the provision of basic services has been achieved in some countries over the past 15 years, millions remain without access to water and sanitation.
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Transforming settlements in Africa
Author: Sarah NanduduWhen I think about sustainable urbanization in Africa, I think about partnerships. In Jinja, Uganda, where I come from, the National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda (NSDFU) has built a strong working partnership with government. In this article I will highlight some lessons about the key triggers of this partnership that may be useful for other communities and cities. My experience in Jinja also reflects what I have learned from the global Slum Dwellers International (SDI) family.
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Green spaces: An invaluable resource for delivering sustainable urban health
Author: Nathalie RöbbelNon-communicable diseases (NCDs) and climate change are two defining challenges of the twenty-first century, as each poses a significant threat to health and sustainable development. NCDs, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, and mental and neurological disorders, are currently responsible for 68 per cent of global mortality, while climate change is projected to cause several hundred thousand deaths annually by 2030. Risk factors for NCDs include exposure to air pollution and physical inactivity. Eighty-eight per cent of urban populations are exposed to levels of outdoor air pollution that exceed World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines, and 3.7 million deaths globally were attributable to ambient air pollution in 2012. Furthermore, urbanization leads to changes in occupation and ways of life associated with lower levels of physical activity and higher automobile use. WHO attributes 3.2 million deaths annually to physical inactivity and 1.3 million to road traffic injuries.
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Delhi, the forever city
Author: Narayani GuptaAll cities are irregular patchwork quilts, stitched together by history, by policy decisions, by community initiatives. Delhi is representative of many Indian towns. A fragment of it enfolds the magnificent sixteenth-century garden-tomb of Humayun flanked by an expanse of green that served as a nursery a hundred years ago for plant and tree species to be used for British New Delhi, and by a quiet upper-class neighbourhood. Across a highway is an 800-year-old settlement around the shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya, Delhi’s patron saint, visited by thousands throughout the year, and bordered by a vintage canal.
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Why organized grassroots women matter in the sustainable development of rural communities
Author: Maria Fides F. BagasaoWomen and girls are not intrinsically vulnerable but their social, economic and political conditions make them susceptible to risks and vulnerabilities. In the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), to be held in Quito, Ecuador, 17–20 October 2016, the imminent threat of climate change must be seriously considered, as it increases the risks and vulnerabilities afflicting women and girls, including rural women and their communities. In case studies of organized networks of rural grassroots women detailed below, we see how the effects of climate change-induced disasters were not only used to establish sustainable practices, but also as opportunities to reverse the social, economic and political conditions of women and communities. The cases illustrate that grassroots women’s holistic, integrated and inclusive responses are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recognition and support for climate change adaptation initiatives and bottom-up development interventions led by rural grassroots women are essential foundations for sustainable development.
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