UN-Habitat in 2022: WUF11 and Other Updates for Sustainable Urban Development

When people think of urban life, they often think of traffic jams, pollution, crowded public transportation, and even flooding and high crime rates. Despite these negative associations, urban areas keep growing.

To address these problems, UN-Habitat starts 2022 with several plans. UN-Habitat is the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, established in 1978. It is a UN body for sustainable urban development.

In January, the UN General Assembly announced the extension of Maimunah Mohd Sharif of Malaysia’s service as Executive Director of UN-Habitat for another two years. This decision came following the recommendation of the UN Secretary-General, after consultation with the Member States.

Ms. Sharif is a former Mayor of Penang in Malaysia. Currently, she also serves as the Co-Chair of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on the Future of Cities and Co-Chair of the Local 2030 Coalition. 

Among UN-Habitat’s ongoing projects and future events, there are some we can participate in shortly. There is an open call for experts and city governments in Europe to pilot the Digital Rights Governance Framework.

On e-governance and people-centered smart cities, UN-Habitat invites everyone to present their digital platforms that can be solutions for public participation in governance. These pitch sessions from public and private entities will be joined and evaluated by cities and local governments.

UN-Habitat’s main planned event for 2022 is the Eleventh Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF11).

The World Urban Forum is a global conference on sustainable urbanization, first held in 2002. This year, the conference is set for June 26-30. WUF11 will happen in Katowice, Poland, with the theme “Transforming our Cities for a Better Urban Future”. 

WUF11 will be attended by representatives of national, regional, and local governments, academics, business people, community leaders, urban planners, and the general public. It will feature an opening and closing session, dialogues, roundtables, and a series of events.

One of the most anticipated events is the Urban Expo, with exhibition spaces currently open to everyone for booking. The online application process for the following events is also open now until March 7: SDGs in Action, ONE UN, Voices from Cities, Networking, Training, and Urban Library.

The five-day global conference will conclude with declared actions: recommendations that representatives of government, civil society, and private sector take back to their home cities for further discussion and implementation.

On a lighter note, UN-Habitat has designed free mobile and desktop wallpapers that visualize the cities and communities we need now. These designs bring hopeful themes of Inclusive Cities, Adequate Housing, BiodiverCities, and Vibrant Public Space, which can be viewed and downloaded here. 

Nazalea Kusuma

Editor at Green Network Asia | Website | + posts

Naz adalah Manajer Editorial Internasional di Green Network Asia. Ia pernah belajar Ilmu Perencanaan Wilayah dan Kota dan tinggal di beberapa kota di Asia Tenggara. Pengalaman pribadi ini memperkaya persepektifnya akan masyarakat dan budaya yang beragam. Naz memiliki sekitar satu dekade pengalaman profesional sebagai penulis, editor, penerjemah, dan desainer kreatif.

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