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Recent UN and EU Sustainable Development Policies (Post 2015): What challenges for city

planning and governance

Roudaina Al Khani

Architect MAA, Urban and Regional Planner DEA PHD

Director of Platforms for sustainable cities and regions ltd

Europe at a crossroads: the challenge for future sustainable development20 July 2016

1972: UN Conference on Environment

1992: The Earth Summit (Sustainability Agenda 21)

Brundtland Report (Sustainable Development)

2012: UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)

2015: UN Sustainable Development Summit

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - September 2015

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17 Sustainable Development Goals - 169 Targets

To be implemented towards 2030

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – September 2015

• Integrated global approach to development.

• Strategic approach

• Local states’ authorities to define priorities within frameworks

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – September 2015

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Inclusive

Safe

Environmentally Sustainable

Resilient

Sustainable Cities and Communities – 2030

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• Access for all to adequate and affordable housing and services

• Upgrade slum areas and informal settlements

• Access to affordable, accessible public transport system for all

• Road safety

• Inclusive and sustainable urbanisation

• Improve local economies and job opportunities

• Access to inclusive, safe and accessible green areas and public spaces.

Sustainable Cities and Communities - 2030

Inclusive and safe cities

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• Strengthen efforts to safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

• Reduce the per capita environmental impact of cities: Municipal waste

and air quality.

• More cities and urbanities implementing integrated policies and plans to

enhance inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to

climate change, resilience to disasters.

• Financial and technical support to building sustainable and resilient

buildings using local materials.

Sustainable Cities and Communities - 2030

Environmentally

sustainable and

resilient

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• Integrated sustainable human settlement planning

• Support positive economic, social and environmental link between urban,

peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional

development planning.

Sustainable Cities and Communities - 2030

Integrated and cross-level

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Sustainable Cities and Communities - 2030

Implication of the

Other 16 goals

Implementation through a central platform:

Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform HLPF

- High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

Supporting Dialogue among countries and stakeholders organisations

Monitoring national reviews of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – September 2015

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How is it going?

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Sustainable Copenhagen

Copenhagen Development Strategy , 2007

focused on:

• Environmentally sustainable city

• A diverse city for all

• A dynamic and knowledge city

• The city down to water

With open dialogue

Copenhagen & Malmø

Copenhagen: 510,000 inhabitants within a

region of almost 1,8 million

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Copenhagen – Sustainable City

• More compact city

• Less private cars - less CO2 emission

• Copenhagen - Environmental Capital

• Environmental policy for

urban development

• Better public transportation

& bicycle lanes

• New low-energy areas

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A diverse city for everyone

• A diverse housing offer

• Mixed and diverse urban neighbourhoods

• A dense and accessible city

• Diverse retail in the urban neighbourhoods

• A diverse city for every one

Photo: Copenhagen Municipality

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Copenhagen – a dynamic city

• Leadership in the Oresund Region

• Synergy between industries & universities

• Densification around main

• transportation nodes

• A lively urban life

• Good public spaces

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The city by the water

• A coordinated development along the coastal areas

• A better relationship between the

city and its ”water”

• A good exploitation of the urban

and leisure potentials

• Livable urban spaces.

Photo: Politiken

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Learning from two London boroughs

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London Borough of HackneySustainable Community Strategy 2008-2018

VisionWorking borough, a vibrant part of London with innovative and creative

economy;

A place that values the diversity of its neighbourhoods, and makes the most of

their links across the globe to enrich the economic and social life of everyone;

A borough with greater opportunity for everyone, whatever their background

Decreasing economic, environmental and health inequality,

A green, cosmopolitan part of London

Safe, strong and cohesive communities, and a shared sense of fairness,

citizenship, and social responsibility.

www.closetlondon.com

London Borough of HackneySustainable Community Strategy 2008-2018

6 priorities and 18 focus areas:

• Reduce poverty by providing employment opportunities. Attract new

employers (retail, hospitality, catering, finance, ICT, and creative and

media industries)

• Help residents to become better qualified and raise educational

aspirations.

• Promote health and wellbeing for all.

• Make the borough safer for people living in, working in, studying in and

visiting Hackney: Community Safety Plan.

• Promote mixed communities in well-designed neighbourhoods, where

people can access high quality affordable housing.

London Borough of HackneySustainable Community Strategy 2008-2018

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• Enable people to take active role in community, civic and democratic life.

• Use excellent, sustainable urban design. Encourage and enable people to walk, cycle, play and spend time together safely.

• Ensure that town centres are vibrant places for shopping and leisure time.

• Reduce CO2 emissions in line with national and international standards from domestic, commercial, industrial and transport use.

London Borough of Hackney

Sustainable Community Strategy 2008-2018

City of London Local Plan 2015Employment for over

370,000 people

Offices make up over

70% of all buildings

9,000 residents

over 29,000 students

destination with 8.8

million visitors/year

The challenge:

Delivery of sustainable long-term economic growth to support the London and

national economies, whilst providing for population growth and protecting and

improving the environment and quality of life.

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City of London Local Plan 2015

5 Strategic Objectives for city development until 2026:

1. Maintain the City’s position as the world’s leading international financial and

business centre.

2. Contribute to the qualities and characteristics of the city’s main spaces.

3. High quality of architecture and street scene while respecting the historic

core. Support the city’s continued cultural role and development.

4. Ensure response to climate change and other sustainability challenges in this

high density area. Gain national and international recognition.

5. Ensure the provision of inclusive facilities and services that meet the

expectations of the City’s business, resident, student and visitors.

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London and Hackney - Challenges

• Good city strategies although with challenges on the ground.

• Challenge in coordinating sector strategies and spatial strategies.

• Need for coordination of planning goals among the boroughs to resolve

challenges as housing and inequalities.

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Other challenges facing implementation in European planning

• Municipal planning/City planning is still seen as the tool for space

organisation and to manage building related matters and landuses.

• Institutional and legal challenges to developing and implementing a cross-

sector strategy.

• Development challenges facing cities depending on their national and

regional role and dynamics.

• Regional challenges and inequalities.

• Need to improve social-economic policies to meet recessions.

• unemployment, integration etc.

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Challenges facing city development and planning

in the Middle East

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• Rapid urbanization, massive migration flows. Urban and regional inequalities.

• Growth of Informal Settlements threatening inclusiveness.

• High unemployment in smaller cities parallel to declining rural areas and deprived economies and technologies.

• Unemployment in some urban areas exceeding city averages.

– 50 million jobs needed towards 2020.

• Inefficient service delivery, networks and management of resources.

• Environmental and Climate challenges

• Worsening situation under recent political conditions.

� Need for extensive resources and reconstruction.

Development challenges facing sustainable development in Arabic Cities

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The challenge of informal settlements

Greater Cairo (18 million inhabitants)

Over 60% of households in informal settlements

Problems: Spatial, social, economic, environmental and political divides.

Many resources wasted.

Informal Settlements in brown

Aleppo, Syria (2 million inhabitants)

Over 45% of households in informal

settlements

Source: Aleppo Masterplan

� 18% of the Arabic world residents below national poverty line.

� Declining middle class. Increasing gaps.

� Weakness of major development sectors: Low spending on public health,

weak housing sector and municipal services.

� Status of women and human rights in several countries.

General conditions to sustainable development in Arabic countries affecting cities

SUM Consult GmbH

Challenges to planning and governance at the local

government level

• Traditional planning approaches are not capable of meeting the need for

economic development, inclusiveness and environmental sustainability.

• Need to improve legal and institutional frameworks.

• Need to improving finance.

• Need to improve governance including society agents and cooperation

across government levels.

• Need to coordinate development visions and budgets between the

national and the local level.

• Need for capacity building.

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National–level challenges influencing sustainable

development in Arabic countries - 1

Need for

� Concise development visions for economy, society and human

resources and for development in urban and rural areas.

� Concise sector development programs and integrated visions.

� Concise planning systems (urban, regional and national), planning

approaches and capable administrations at all levels.

� Strengthening congruency between national planning and local

development needs.

� More effective use of active local efforts and international-aid.

� Participatory approaches to be enabled.

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� Improving legal frameworks and justice systems.

� Improving transparency and overcome bureaucracy are great obstacles to

inclusiveness and economic growth.

� Better investment and management of human and natural resources

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National–level challenges influencing sustainable

development in Arabic countries - 2

Building on on-going efforts:Example: Meeting challenges to Sustainable Development in Riyadh

Great efforts made to move towards green buildings / Green Buildings Forum

Need to move towards sustainable city principles.

Some of the challenges to deal with in a sustainable development strategy:

• Social-economic and city environment inequalities between North and South.

• Environmental sustainability to reduce the energy foot print, including

compact city structure. Improve city ecology and resilience to climate change.

• Public transportation and development, which have to go hand in hand

• More diversity in urban areas and focus on the quality of urban

neighbourhoods

• Housing for the youth

• Urban governance. Participatory approaches.

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Building on on-going efforts:Example: Meeting challenges to Sustainable Development in Riyadh

Implementing planning reforms at the national level

Building urban and national observatories

Capacity building

Improving governance

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exchanging experiences

Building awareness and changing behaviour at all levels

Bottom-top approaches are important

“No one is left behind…..”

Importance of collective action and support to essential

rights, peace and liveability in the whole world,

in countries with circumstances like Syria as a major condition

for reaching the sustainability development goals