UN-Habitat's Research Unit is determined to improve
the awareness of sustainable urbanization issues from local to global levels.
WCR 2015 is a key instrument for Focus
Area 7 (Research and Capacity Development) of UN-Habitat's ?2014–2019 strategic
plan. Further, the report is an
excellent vehicle to monitor urbanization, produce and disseminate knowledge
and best practices on emerging urban trends and key strategic issues of the
urban agenda. It will also serve
as a major background document for the United Nations Conference on Housing and
Sustainable Development (Habitat III) scheduled to be convened in 2016. The
Report should provide the justification for why the Habitat III Conference
should adopt a ‘new urban agenda'.
The ‘new urban agenda' should help steer cities away
from patterns of urbanization that are unsustainable, inefficient, costly and
out-dated. The report should thus propose ways for making cities more functional,
sustainable and prosperous. From a global and city-based perspective, the WCR
2015 will:
1.
Show how urban areas have
changed since 1996, and discuss the forces that have shaped these changes. This
description should take note of regional variations.[1]
2.
Examine recent urban trends
(since 1996) and their manifestation in the major regions. The examination
should include, inter alia, a discussion of
demographic trends, shrinking cities, emergence of urban corridors, city
regions, mega regions, as well as the persistence of inequalities and poverty
in some regions and the emergence of new forms of poverty and marginalization
in the developed regions.
3.
Provide an analytical
discussion explaining how urbanization constitutes a transformative force that may
be harnessed to positively impact on cities and countries in different ways.
4.
On the basis of this analytical
discussion, present evidence of how this transformative force can be enhanced
and harnessed for the purpose of increased urban prosperity, national development
and sustainability (e.g. within the thematic scope of each of the chapters of
the report), and – on a larger scale – how cities can serve as drivers of
sustainable development.
5.
Review progress with
implementation of the urban development agenda (focusing on the Habitat Agenda
and the MDGs, but also other agendas where appropriate) during the last two
decades with respect to housing, slum reduction and basic services; social
inclusion; urban environment; local economic development; urban governance; and
urban/regional planning. The review should include an examination of the
policies, initiatives and actors that have contributed to the successful
implementation of the urban agenda during the last two decades, including the
challenges and constraints associated with its implementation in the various regions.
6.
Based on this review, identify
areas that require further improvements, i.e. the ‘unfinished business' of the
Habitat Agenda and the MDGs; including, inter alia,
the increasing incidence of poverty in some regions; inequality in urban areas;
slum formation; access to basic services; vulnerability of human settlements;
human rights; and social justice. The existence of such ‘unfinished business'
and unresolved questions provides addition impetus for a revisiting the urban
agenda. This review should also include
a discussion of ‘new' areas of concern for urban development (i.e. issues that
were omitted in the past, existed but have been exacerbated in recent years, or
new issues that have been brought about by recent trends in urban development,
such as climate change, new forms of inequality, increase in urban sprawl, the
amplification of different types of crises, etc.).
On the basis of the foregoing, present a proposal for
how to reposition the urban agenda, so that it is capable of responding to the
challenges and opportunities of urbanization in the 21st century,
and addressing the ‘unfinished business' of the urban development agenda. This
‘new urban agenda' should propose strategies for how to improve the lives of
slum dwellers, ensure that less people are living in slum conditions, reduce
poverty, and address persistent inequalities that are prevalent in many cities.
The ‘new urban agenda' should also prescribe conditions that would facilitate a
shift towards more sustainable patterns of urbanization, combining enhanced
urban prosperity with inclusive, people-centred, and sustainable development.
[1]. The regional discussion throughout
the report should focus on the differences between developed and developing
countries, as well as where relevant the conditions in countries with economies
in transition, e.g. the countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The regional discussion should also,
where appropriate make distinction between the conditions in the major
geographical regions as defined by the United Nations, i.e. Latin America and
the Caribbean, Africa and Asia/Pacific.
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