Tag Archives: UN-Habitat

The State of China’s Cities – something that concerns us all

By , Tuesday, 5 March 2013, 1 Comment

Cliff Hague in Pingyao, a historic city now part of a much larger and growing agglomeration

I have referred to Chinese urbanisation several times in these blogs, but make no apologies for returning to the topic. What is happening in China should be of interest to planners, urbanists, environmentalists and economic development professionals everywhere. In part this is because of the sheer scale of the changes – a rural to urban shift on steroids! Since the economic reforms began in 1978, China’s urban residents have increased by over 500 million. We now have an English version of China’s own State of the Chinese Cities 2012-13 report. It claims that “China has entered a new path of sustainable urbanization with its characteristics such as integration and coordination of urban and rural areas, interactive development between industries and cities, saving and intensive use of natural resources, ecological and liveable environment, and harmonious development.” Read more on The State of China’s Cities – something that concerns us all…

How to tackle Shrinking Cities?

By , Monday, 18 February 2013, 6 Comments

Murmansk – a shrinking post-socialist city

Shrinking cities are a focus of growing concern. Globalisation has increased the vulnerability of cities to sudden adverse changes in their economic base. Austerity policies augment the problems. Loss of a key economic activity, can be followed by net out-migration of economically active age groups, falling tax revenues, an aging population but declining public services, “excessive” infrastructure that is expensive to maintain, empty property and gap sites. What strategies are being pursued in different parts of the world to address these challenges? Read more on How to tackle Shrinking Cities?…

Ring out the old, ring in the new – a global review of 2012

By , Monday, 24 December 2012, 3 Comments

I would like to award the prize for the best contribution to environmental sustainability for 2012 to Hurricane Sandy. Sandy single-handedly managed to convert more American citizens to the threats posed by climate change than any number of scientists, scientific publications or politicians. By dumping extreme weather on the US eastern seaboard, massively disrupting transport and business, and above all by providing great TV pictures, it made a strong case in many different ways. Read more on Ring out the old, ring in the new – a global review of 2012…

International accreditation of planning degrees

By , Monday, 22 October 2012, 5 Comments

Post-graduate planning students at University of Cape Town discussing their views on the course. Photo by Dr.Brian O'Callaghan.

What are the implications of moves to offer international accreditation of planning education, particularly on North-South basis globally? The RTPI has fully accredited a planning programme in Africa for the first time. I chaired the Accreditation Board that visited University of Cape Town last week. On 30 October the Commonwealth Association of Planners will hold a meeting in London that will consider how to build capacity and institutions for planning across the Commonwealth. The following day I will be part of a video-link panel to the annual conference of the American Collegiate Schools of Planning in Cincinnati, where the theme of the panel will be international accreditation. Read more on International accreditation of planning degrees…

Towards a global set of indicators for sustainable urbanisation

By , Saturday, 8 September 2012, Be the first to comment

Dr.Gora Mboup, Chief of UN-Habitat's Global Urban Observatory Section, addressing the CAP Networking event in Naples.

I was involved as a speaker in an event about indicators for sustainable urbanisation the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum in Naples. The Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP) has been working with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to explore ways towards harmonising approaches so that policy makers can be used to track progress towards (or away from) sustainable urbanisation. As Professor Eugenie Birch commented in the workshop, “There is lots of uncoordinated activity in this field”. In co-operating in this way CAP and HUD are contributing to global advocacy of the importance of urbanisation to sustainable development. Representatives of the Ford Foundation and of UN-Habitat also spoke on the same platform, demonstrating their support for the initiative. Read more on Towards a global set of indicators for sustainable urbanisation…

Cities and Climate Change

By , Wednesday, 7 December 2011, Be the first to comment

We are facing a “deadly collision between urbanization and climate change”. This is the warning given in the 2011 Global Report on Human Settlements published by UN-Habitat. It comes at a time when expectation is rock bottom that governments will achieve a positive outcome at the climate summit in Durban. The UN-Habitat report recognises that many local authorities are implementing adaptation and mitigation measures. However, it says that climate change is still seen as a “marginal issue” by most policy makers. Furthermore, the connections between urbanisation and climate change are often overlooked, though they are crucially important. Read more on Cities and Climate Change…

What’s missing in the UK’s international aid review

By , Monday, 7 March 2011, 30 Comments

Cities are invisible in the UK Department for International Development (DFID) review of UK aid. Yet only a year ago DFID were calling cities “The New Frontier” in a high profile document that proclaimed “Cities are the future of the twenty first century”. Read more on What’s missing in the UK’s international aid review…

Read more on What’s missing in the UK’s international aid review…

Latest jobs Jobs web feed