Tens of thousands of advocates are gathered at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, this week, and when they talk about growing cities and implementing the UN document called the New Urban Agenda, many are talking about tackling widespread inequality.
The 24-page agenda is intended to guide sustainable urban development around the world for the next 20 years, and everyone from informal workers to foundations to mayors are considering how they can work to make the outlined goals a reality in their communities. Though Citiscope reports that so far, the meeting of 140 countries hasn’t yielded much in the way of national and local government commitments, UN members did agree to include the following in the New Urban Agenda:
We also recognize that the growing inequality and the persistence of multiple forms and dimensions of poverty, including the rising number of slum and informal settlement dwellers, is affecting both developed and developing countries, and that the spatial organization, accessibility, and design of urban space, as well as infrastructure and basic service provision, together with development policies, can promote or hinder social cohesion, equality, and inclusion
Watch Next City’s Tuesday “Quito Dispatch” below to hear more about the role of stakeholders in implementing the New Urban Agenda.