UNIDO’s side event at WUF12 | Bridge for Cities Side Event: Fostering urban innovation for a liveable future

Overview

The panel discussion focused on fostering sustainable, inclusive, and liveable cities towards the year 2050, when nearly two thirds of the world’s population is projected to reside in urban areas. The session was moderated by Mr. Kanishka Raj Rathore, Senior Programme Expert, UNIDO.

City of Vienna, Austria

Mr. Ernst Woller, First President of Vienna Provincial Parliament, Austria, upholds that cities and urban innovation are about the people. As the world’s greenest and most liveable metropolis, Vienna aims to be a city for the people. Realizing the challenging, unequal impacts the climate change has on its citizens, Vienna has developed the Smart Climate City Strategy, to ensure climate-resilient life for every resident through social and technological innovation in all aspects, while maximizing resource preservation.

The city has set ambitious goals such as climate neutrality by 2040 and material footprint reduction by 50% by 2050, for which a Climate Guide, Director’s Office, and Climate Budget were created to translate plans into realities. Key programmes include “Phasing-out Gas” initiative – to replace 600,000 gas boilers with renewable energy solutions by 2040, and “Vienna Heat Action Plan” – by redesigning public spaces with more green and shading, setting up free cooled areas, etc.

Partnerships are required between public institutions and other urban stakeholders, including the people themselves, Mr. Woller stressed. According to him, UNIDO’s Bridge for Cities events, of which Vienna has been a host city since 2016, are among the state-of-the-art platforms to build and enhance the partnerships needed.

New Administrative Capital, Egypt

Mr. Khaled Abbas, Chairman and Managing Director of the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD), Egypt, presented the New Administrative Capital, which is 30 miles east of Cairo and aims to be a green, connected, smart, sustainable, and service-oriented new heart of the nation aligning with the Egypt Vision 2030.

In its phase one, public green spaces and clean energy are emphasised to achieve green growth; e-mobility and public transit are prioritised to ensure connectivity; big data, cloud computing, and digitalisation are adopted to nurture a smart “brain”; recycling-oriented waste disposal and efficient water management systems are developed to improve sustainability; dedicated infrastructure is in place to offer quality services of healthcare, education, shopping, culture, and sports.

Furthermore, the new capital is also striving to attract innovative, high-tech industries for competitive economic growth, and has introduced the New Capital Industrial Park (NCIP) – a vibrant hub of business opportunities, fine facilities, and advanced technologies. Covering an area of 1,700 acres, NCIP is to host various sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, renewable energy, and biotech. The new capital welcomes entrepreneurs, investors, experts, as well as organisations with mandate in industrial development like UNIDO to join this endeavour, Mr. Abbas noted.

UN-Habitat

Ms. Naomi Hoogervorst, Programme Management Officer at Planning, Finance and Economy Section, UN-Habitat, focused on strengthening frameworks and tools for liveable cities. UN-Habitat, mandated to foster sustainable cities and communities, recommends a three-pronged approach to urbanisation.

As per this approach, sustainable urban development starts with Design, which entails the creation of a strategic vision, as well as the arrangements for land allocation, transportation, utilities, and public amenities. Urban designers should aim at cities that are accessible, sustainable, and adaptable to future challenges. The second element of the approach is Finance, which requires sustainable revenue generation to invest in urban projects, effective fund allocation to prioritise essential services and infrastructure, and economic stimulation by job creation and investment attraction. The last aspect is Legislation, which concerns the establishment of laws and regulations, performance of authority to implement plans, protection of civil rights, governance, and accountability.

Ms. Hoogervorst further elaborated on the useful resources developed by UN-Habitat, such as the Our City Plans toolbox, structured in 4 phases, 14 blocks, 54 activities, and 40 tools (templates), to provide systematic yet adaptable methodology to guide urban planning processes with a focus on participation.

C40 Cities

Ms. Hélène Chartier, Director of Urban Planning and Design, C40 Cities, showcased C40’s commitments to advancing climate responsive urban planning. A sustainable urban future cannot rest on the old urbanisation model that features urban sprawl, zoning, car-oriented public spaces, and top-down planning, she said. Instead, this model that has posed serious challenges to urban life today must be replaced with new development concepts that advocate compact city and infill development, mixed-use and complete neighbourhoods, people and nature first, plus local approaches and community engagement.

To address climate vulnerability of cities, urban planning policies must be climate-responsive – to require consideration of thermal comfort for constructions, encourage bioclimatic design, build sustainable drainage systems, incentivise integrating green roofs, etc. In this regard, C40 and its partners jointly launched a Climate Action Guide for Urban Planners to support cities in mainstreaming climate action within their urban planning frameworks.

The Organisation has also developed three complementary programmes to nurture climate-resilient cities: C40 × Jameel Urban Planning Climate Lab, ReGreeneration, and Youth Reinventing Cities. The three programmes combine different scales of actions, harness the power of policies, procurements and implementation, and build on city-to-city knowledge sharing and collaboration with professionals and youth.