NewsAugust2018

The CIVITAS ECCENTRIC project is holding a workshop from 17-18 September in Stockholm, Sweden, that will give participants insight into the innovative work being undertaken in its five project cities.
Together with Ruse (Bulgaria), Madrid (Spain), Turku (Finland), Munich (Germany), and Stockholm (Sweden), CIVITAS ECCENTRIC works on solutions for low-/zero-emission urban freight logistics and bringing sustainable urban mobility to suburban districts.
http://civitas.eu/forum2018

Artificial Intelligence and the City event

urbAIn in Toronto urbAIn is a series of unique, one-day events gathering 100-150 city leaders and innovators to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can and will transform our cities. Our next urbAIn event will take place in Toronto on January 15, 2019.Tech companies big and small are coming up with new AI-based solutions that could transform urban life in all aspects: mobility, health, civic engagement, placemaking and energy management, among others.
https://newcities.org/urbain-ai-and-city/

Why cultural heritage matters for urban resilience

Across the disaster risk management community, there is growing recognition that protecting cultural heritage is fundamental to urban resilience. Traditional knowledge embedded in cultural heritage, such as historical evacuation routes or shelters, can help societies cope with natural hazards. Moreover, when these hazards disrupt cultural heritage sites, such as museums, monuments and places of worship, they often cause irreparable damage to people’s cultures, identities and livelihoods.
http://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/why-cultural-heritage-matters-urban-resilience

London's Mayor to make 20mph the default speed in the city

A feature of Londons new 'Vision Zero' road safety action plan has led to the Sadiq Khan to announce his intention to make the default speed in London 20 mph. Speed cameras, on-street enforcement and redesigned streets will also be part of a 'Safe System' approach.
To see the full Vision Zero action plan see: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/vision-zero-action-plan.pdf

European Day of Sustainable Communities

This conference takes place within the context of the 2nd European Day of Sustainable Communities and is part of ongoing collaboration between the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European network for community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability (ECOLISE).
Citizen and community-led action on climate change and sustainability has spawned a dynamic, grassroots movement, with thousands of communities across Europe striving to redefine our relationship with the natural world by designing and testing new economic, social and environmental innovations that promote regeneration and sustainability.
https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/agenda/our-events/events/european-day-sustainable-communities

ERTICO workshop: “IoT open data access to advance mobility in European cities

On 4 September, ERTICO is co-organising the workshop “IoT open data access to advance mobility in European cities: how can we achieve it?” in collaboration with the European Commission, AIOTI, Open & Agile Smart Cities and Big Data Value Association on the integration of Big Data and IoT platforms, which is leading to new data-driven business models and has the power to transform Europe’s industry.
Among other things, the workshop focuses on the IoT benefits for smart mobility. It includes insights about IoT solutions for smart mobility and emphasises the huge potential IoT has for developing new connected automated mobility (CAM) paradigms by focusing on the long-term target outcome and working backwards towards immediate actions needed.
http://erticonetwork.com/event/focus-on-workshop-iot-open-data-access/

How to innovate in Smart Cities with AI

In recent years, there has been a loud and lingering fear that AI, automation and robots have come to steal our jobs. Although innovation and digitalization of cities continues to grow, it’s unlikely that smart technology and machines will completely replace the workforce that currently keeps our smart cities running. They will, however, change how we do those jobs and what skills are required to maintain the cities of the future.
https://meetingoftheminds.org/how-to-innovate-in-smart-cities-with-ai-28055

Will banning foreign buyers solve homelessness in New Zealand?

New Zealand's parliament has passed a law to bar many non-resident foreigners from buying existing homes
A ban on foreigners buying homes in New Zealand is not enough to solve the problems of affordable housing and homelessness, analysts and campaigners said, as the country became the latest to impose curbs on non-residents buying property.
New Zealand's parliament last week passed a law to bar many non-resident foreigners from buying existing homes in a bid to curb house price growth and reduce rates of homelessness.
http://www.thisisplace.org/i/?id=5447002e-1259-4bfc-9587-48686d630c3c

Discounted passes for Autonomy now available

The Autonomy team are back at work and making great progress for the 3rd edition!
They have attracted 80 new exhibitors, 8 new sponsors and are getting great delegate registrations from cities and industry. As Autonomy is all about doing business they will be installing their matchmaking platform next week.
In the meantime they have a cheeky week-long special on ticket sales to help you ease back into the daily grind - book your tickets today and they'll email you to invite you on their business matchmaking platform so that you can start securing those meetings that will get your business moving!
https://www.autonomy.paris/en/get-your-pass/

A resilient city: Los Angeles in the year 2050

The event brings together a panel of experts to discuss the future of the city of Los Angeles, facing new challenges such as the evolution of our lifestyles and housing / lifestyle standards: how the city design and idea will evolve. Even a megalopolis like Los Angeles must prepare for it.
The main themes of the debate will be the design of a sustainable and resilient city, which no longer ignores soil and water, the preparation for the effects of global warming, the creation of a city of tomorrow exemplary in its energy and water consumption, the reduction of greenhouse gases, and many other topics.
https://www.bhglaar.com/calendar/commercial-committee-special-event:-a-resilient-city---los-angeles-in-the-year-2050-464

No, 8 in 10 People Don’t Live in Urban Areas. Not Yet.

Most people now live in cities and cities are growing rapidly. We are living in the midst of the urbanization age, an age that started in earnest at the beginning of the 19th century, when people first decided en masse to be closer to other people rather than the land. There is no longer any doubt that sooner or later the great majority of us humans will live in cities.
Still, it is possible to overstate how far we have come along this arc and doing so has important implications.
http://thecityfix.com/blog/no-8-10-people-dont-live-urban-areas-not-yet/

Why Cities Should Embrace ‘Slow Mobility’

It’s not necessarily about traveling far and fast.
This year I became a father again, and while my wife returns to work full time, I’m staying home taking care of our infant daughter. This means I’m sticking pretty close to our neighborhood in Brooklyn: I don’t venture farther than an easy stroller distance of a half-mile. Based on this, you would probably say I have a low degree of mobility, because mobility means traveling far and fast, right?
I ask because “mobility” is a hot word in transportation and urban planning circles. There are mobility institutes and mobility programs. The World Economic Forum has a Future of Mobility initiative. In June, I moderated a discussion on “The Politics of Mobility” at an urban design nonprofit in New York. So, it’s important to define what it means.
http://www.governing.com/columns/eco-engines/gov-mobility.html

Save the date: 2nd Urban Mobility Dialogue 2018

Following the successful launch in 2017, academus is proud to open the next round for those of you, who are interested in shaping future mobility strategies in our growing smart world.
The Urban Mobility Dialogue is a boutique event with a high-level audience of around 300 international experts – those influential visionaries and thought-leaders in urban mobility who can make a marked improvement on the quality of life in urban environments.
Save the date: 7th - 10th November 2018
http://www.smartcity-dialogues.com/

ETC 2018: Decision-making under uncertainty

Decision making under uncertainty - the perils of ignorance and a means of effective response
Taking place on Thursday 11 October, this seminar is collaboratively organised by Transport Scotland; University of the West of England (UWE Bristol); the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation; PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency; Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water/Rijkswaterstaat; and UK Department for Transport.
The purpose is to share and capture views and experiences regarding both the handling of uncertainty in transport planning and policymaking, plus the engagement and buy-in of decision makers. The event is prompted by insights from the UK and Netherlands and is seeking input from across countries represented at the conference.
https://aetransport.org/en-gb/this-year-at-etc

Planning for New York City as It Ages

How is New York City “future-proofing” itself? Avison Young’s James Nelson talks with the city’s Marisa Lago to catch up on the latest initiatives.
This month, I sat down with Marisa Lago, director of the New York City Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission. Chair Lago has previously worked for two other New York City mayors and served in the Obama administration. Her office has divisions that focus on urban design, open space, housing, economic development and infrastructure planning, and she believes that it is imperative to plan for city growth as the housing and lifestyle needs of its residents evolve. “We have to plan for the city’s residents today, people who will be coming here, people who work here, 10 years out, 20 years out, 50 years out,” chair Lago says.
https://www.globest.com/2018/08/06/planning-for-new-york-city-as-it-ages/?slreturn=20180723135407

What's Crazy About Biking to the Hospital to Have a Baby?

Congratulations to Julie Anne Genter, New Zealand’s minister for women and associate minister for health and transport, who made global headlines this weekend for riding a bike to have a baby.
Specifically, Genter biked to Auckland City Hospital on Sunday to give birth through induced labor. In an Instagram post, she wrote, “My partner and I cycled because there wasn’t enough room in the car for the support crew... but it also put me in the best possible mood!” she wrote.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/08/why-a-new-zealand-ministers-bike-ride-to-give-birth-caused-a-stir/567913/

Declaration-Charter of the Intermediary Cities of the World

The specific character and challenges of intermediary cities have, until recently, received limited attention. Their pivotal role in the achievement of more balanced and sustainable urban development processes, and the reduction of territorial inequalities, makes it imperative that Intermediary Cities become more prominent within the localization processes of all Global Agendas.
In this framework, the UCLG Forum on Intermediary Cities, consolidated as a consultation and policy development process, has adopted the Declaration-Charter of the Intermediary Cities of the World at the first UCLG World Forum of Intermediary Cities – held in the city of Chefchaouen on 5–7 July – which gathered more than 250 participants from 40 different countries.
https://www.uclg.org/en/media/news/intermediary-cities-adopt-chefchaouen-declaration-charter-intermediary-cities-world

Child in the City World Conference in Vienna, Austria

WienXtra and the city of Vienna are inviting you to attend the 9th child and the City World Conference held from 24th – 26th of September in the beautiful city of Vienna. The Child in the City World Conference is one of the leading conferences on child friendly policies and research. More than 400 international youth professionals, policy makers and planners will meet during the conference. The international event is a joint project of the Child in the City Foundation and the City of Vienna.
https://www.childinthecity.org/2018-conference/

Cycling is the urban transport mode associated with the greatest health benefits

A study carried out in seven European cities highlights the role of active transport in good mental health and self-perceived health.
How do transport modes influence people’s health? A new study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation, has concluded that cycling is the mode of transport associated with the greatest health benefits: better self-perceived general health, better mental health and fewer feelings of loneliness.
The study formed part of the EU funded PASTA project and was carried out in seven European cities: Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Örebro, Rome, Vienna and Zurich. A baseline questionnaire was completed by more than 8,800 people, 3,500 of whom also completed a final survey, on transport and health that included questions about what transport modes they used, how often they used the different transport modes, and how they perceived their general health.
https://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1770/45/Cycling-is-the-urban-transport-mode-associated-with-the-greatest-health-benefits

What would happen if we removed cars from cities?

Air pollution is now the fourth biggest killer in the world after smoking, high blood pressure and diet. It contributes to more than six million deaths every year. The majority of these are in poorer nations. Worryingly, air quality may become increasingly worse with rapidly expanding urbanization.
More than half the world’s population now live in cities. By 2050, this will reach two thirds. As more people move from rural areas to cities, there will be more cars on the roads, more traffic congestion hotspots near homes and workplaces, and less green space.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/air-pollution-opportunity-not-just-problem

Social Affairs Forum in Stuttgart

Do you wish to make your city socially sustainable for the future? Do you want to deliver social rights for all people in your city? Join our autumn Social Affairs Forum in Stuttgart on 23-24 October to learn and be inspired on how to achieve these ambitions.
The theme of our forum will be: 'Together for Socially Sustainable Cities: Anchoring the Sustainable Development Goals to achieve Social Rights for All'. We will discuss the role of cities as active agents to deliver social sustainability and social rights for all. As the European Pillar of Social Rights is entering the implementation phase and the EU is preparing a reflection paper on the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals in the EU, it is a timely opportunity to show the role of cities in linking these two agendas as well as with the Urban Agenda for the EU.
http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/news/Social-Affairs-Forum-in-Stuttgart-to-look-into-social-sustainability-and-social-rights-WSPO-B3GND3

Cities Meeting on Free Public Transport

From the 1st of September 2018, Dunkirk (France) will become the largest French and European conurbation (with 200,000 inhabitants) to offer a totally free access to its bus network...
To celebrate this event and promote the exchange of experiences and knowledge on fare-free public transport systems, the Urban District Council of Dunkirk will hold its first Cities Meeting on Free Public Transport on the 3rd and 4th of September.
http://www.rencontrestransportgratuit.com/

Making Cities Work For Every Urban-Dweller

It’s the urban age for people – and for other species too – so it’s time to start planning for all the plants and animals that call our cities home
The urban age is upon us, with 4.2 billion people (55 per cent of the global population) now living in cities.
Some argue urbanisation is inevitably leading to humans disconnecting from nature and failing to see the environmental destruction at the heart of the Anthropocene (the current geological age, characterised by the dominance of human activity).
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/making-cities-work-for-every-urban-dweller

Identifying the Hero City!

UCLG needs your help to identify the Hero City!
Local leaders have a history of leading from the bottom up in combatting climate change and of raising awareness at local level.
As founding member of initiatives such as the Global Covenant of Mayors, , UCLG continues to foster climate action at the local level and supports local leaders on their way towards a low carbon and more resilient future.
We are looking for a Hero Citiy that will be featured on the new website of the Global Covenant.
The aim is to feature a real leader and model for local governments around the world!
https://www.uclg.org/en/media/news/identifying-hero-city

Mix and Move ! European Mobility Week 2018

Embracing the concept of multimodality means rethinking the way we move about our cities, and having the willingness to try out new forms of mobility. From a city’s perspective, it requires the political will to support alternative transport methods.
http://mobilityweek.eu/

Time is running out to register to attend the World Water Congress.
The IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition is the global event for water professionals covering the full water cycle. As the Congress rotates through cities and countries each event has an extra emphasis on issues of specific interest to the region. The 2016 edition took place in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and covered 5 programme themes: Cities, Utilities and Industries Leading Change; Re-Charting the Course of Water Resources; Enabling Progress with Good Governance, Sustainable Finance and ICT; Water Quality, Safety and Human Health and Water and Wastewater Processes and Treatments.
http://worldwatercongress.org/

Heat: The Next Big Inequality Issue

The deadly global heatwave has made it impossible to ignore: in cities worldwide, we are now divided into the cool haves and the hot have-nots
When July’s heatwave swept through the Canadian province of Quebec, killing more than 90 people in little over a week, the unrelenting sunshine threw the disparities between rich and poor into sharp relief.
While the well-heeled residents of Montreal hunkered down in blissfully air conditioned offices and houses, the city’s homeless population – not usually welcome in public areas such as shopping malls and restaurants – struggled to escape the blanket of heat.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/heat-next-big-inequality-issue-heatwaves-world

'Volunteering Cities' a Powerful Model

To develop the innovative policies necessary to face the currently emerging multidimensional social needs in cities such as elderly and children care, social isolation and depression, poverty, addiction, just to name some, it is necessary to create collective learning processes based on exchange and peer to peer learning.
European social policies have been in a central position in the last Cohesion Policy frameworks. However, the last mid-term report has shown that in spite of a general improvement of the economic indicators, poverty and social inclusion have not registered the same positive evolution. In this framework, the community involvement and participation is getting an increasing importance either to identify the problems with more accuracy, but also to create the solutions that are closer to people in need and more adequate to the problems.
http://urbact.eu/volunteering-cities-powerful-model-european-cities

2 weeks left to apply for the 4th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation

Reaching its fourth edition in 2018, the biennial Guangzhou Award is putting a special focus on innovative approaches taken by local governments to accomplish the SDGs and meet the commitments of the New Urban Agenda towards the prosperity and quality of life of their citizens.
You have until 23:59:59 August 31 (UTC+8:00) to submit your projects!
http://apply.guangzhouaward.org/site/login

Global Trends in Transport

New for ETC 2018: Global Trends in Transport (GTiT), a programme committee that covers the broad area of developments concerning key drivers and trends that impact the transport system. Join us for papers on current topics such as transport planning in developing countries, social issues, safety and risks, long term planning, Brexit, car sharing, MaaS and mobility choice.
https://aetransport.org/en-gb/this-year-at-etc/booking

This Is What Resiliency Planning Looks Like

With the upcoming post-Harvey bond election, many people throughout the region are scrutinizing lists of potential flood mitigation projects and wondering if the published list would protect them from the next flooding event we all know is coming. Yet given the wide variety of challenges our region faces – such as issues related to economic development, affordable housing, public space access, equity, congestion, and threatened ecosystems – as well as limited public funding for addressing any and all of these challenges, it is crucial that we think of ways to leverage future public investment to address multiple challenges simultaneously to create a more resilient urban environment.
https://kinder.rice.edu/2018/07/22/what-resiliency-planning-looks

Recovering Urban Nature For A Healthier City

The first city in Costa Rica to adopt form-based coding has created a citywide plan to connect urban neighborhoods to nature. Sweet City is the next phase of a Charter Award-winning plan of 2014.
The majority of Curridabat’s 72,500 citizens live among public spaces dominated by asphalt—inhibiting biodiversity, negatively impacting the visual landscape, and adding to the stress of day-to-day living. Sweet City mitigates that impact through investment in green infrastructure.
New urbanist interventions like shared streets, mixed uses, sidewalks, and public spaces are combined with park improvements, wetlands, and projects to improve biodiversity.
https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2018/07/23/recovering-urban-nature-healthier-city

C-ITS City Pool workshop - 17/9/18 - Copenhagen

A workshop for cities on urban C-ITS is being organised by the H2020 project C-Mobile as a side event of the ITS World Congress in Copenhagen. The purpose of this workshop is to continue discussions and knowledge sharing about urban C-ITS.

https://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1769/45/C-ITS-City-Pool-workshop---17-9-18---Copenhagen

Asian-Pacific City Summit discuss sustainability

Thirty-two city leaders from 16 countries recently gathered for the 12th Asian-Pacific City Summit to discuss “sustainable cities and communities” addressing SDG11. The summit was co-organized by Fukuoka City and UN-Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) on 1 – 3 August 2018.
Mr. Soichiro Takashima, Mayor of Fukuoka City, opened the Summit by saying “through the network of cities in Asia and the Pacific, I hope we will find a new value to solve urban issues.”
Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat, delivered the keynote speech on Sustainable Cities and Communities. Outlining urbanization opportunities and challenges, Ms. Sharif highlighted SDG11 to make cities and human settlements safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, as well as New Urban Agenda (NUA).
https://unhabitat.org/asian-pacific-city-summit-discuss-sustainability/

Uber Hit With Cap as New York City Takes Lead in Crackdown

New York became the first major American city on Wednesday to halt new vehicle licenses for ride-hail services, dealing a significant setback to Uber in its largest market in the United States.
The legislation passed overwhelmingly by the City Council will cap the number of for-hire vehicles for a year while the city studies the booming industry. The bills also allow New York to set a minimum pay rate for drivers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/nyregion/uber-vote-city-council-cap.html

Secondary Cities Are the New Urban Champions

What do cities of Toulouse, Eindhoven or Manchester have in common? They’re all “second-tier cities” in their countries and have outperformed their respective capital city in terms of GDP growth over 2009-2013. And across all continents, numerous second-tier cities, from Brazil to China, from India to the United States, are gaining economic impact and increasing their contribution to their national GDP.In a context of growing urbanization which could push larger cities beyond the threshold – and where diseconomies make them less competitive – second-tier cities are emerging as new urban champions and the next places of growth. They will turn their higher agility and their easier decision-making process into advantages which will pave the way to more sustainable and livable cities in a competition to attract talent, investment and business.
https://newcities.org/the-big-picture-why-secondary-cities-are-the-new-urban-champions/

International Conference on Walking and Liveable Cities

The Walk21 conference series supports, encourages and inspires the Global Walking Network to confirm the importance of walking politically and in policy, provide an international platform for an inclusive discussion, acknowledge current research, practice and promotion and identify the need for future research and networking.
International delegates attending a Walk21 conference do so to have the opportunity to hear from leading professionals about programmes, policies and projects that really work and explore those themes in action through walking tours and visits arranged in the host city.
http://walk21bogota.com/

Asian-Pacific City Summit discuss sustainability

The making of the smart city paradigm

The smart city paradigm was shaped in two decades at the turn of the century, between 1990 and 2010. The paper of Mora, Bolici and Deakin “The First Two Decades of Smart-City Research: A Bibliometric Analysis” reports on these first two decades of research on smart cities, examining the literature published between 1992 and 2012 by a bibliometric analysis.
https://www.urenio.org/2018/07/30/the-making-of-the-smart-city-paradigm/

Are Smartphones Speeding Up Gentrification?

Location-based apps like Yelp and Foursquare might be exacerbating housing problems in transitional neighborhoods.
That smartphone in your pocket just might be speeding up the gentrification of urban neighborhoods. Or at least that's the basis of new research from the University of California, Berkeley.
Will Payne, a doctoral candidate in geography and new media, is collecting data to examine how smartphones -- and specifically the location-based apps Yelp and Foursquare -- are impacting transitional and blighted neighborhoods in cities across the country.
http://www.governing.com/topics/urban/gov-smartphones-gentrification-yelp-foursquare-lc.html

CIVITAS Forum 2018 - Europe's foremost sustainable urban mobility event

This year's CIVITAS Forum takes place from 19-21 September in Umeå, Sweden. During the event, over 450 attendees will debate the most crucial topics in sustainable urban mobility and witness the pioneering solutions bringing cleaner, better transport to Europe. Register and read the draft programme now.
http://civitas.eu/forum2018

Urban Transitions 2018 - early registration closing

Register now to take advantage of reduced delegate fees at Urban Transitions 2018.
Early registration will close on 24 August 2018
Participate in a topical and comprehensive programme: six plenary lectures by our invited speakers will be supplemented by parallel sessions of contributed talks selected from nearly 900 submitted abstracts.
Meet with leading experts to discuss multi-sectorial solutions to promote healthy urban development.
Network with international delegates at the drinks reception and optional conference dinner.
https://www.elsevier.com/events/conferences/urban-transitions/register

Open Call for 'Follower Cities'

If your region, city or town is developing a sustainable urban mobility plan (SUMP) for its functional urban area or is implementing or planning to implement a pilot measure for LOW-carbon mobility, you are warmly invited to apply to become one of 18 selected cities in the Interreg Central Europe region to benefit from the LOW-CARB ‘Follower City Programme.’
Selected followers will profit from a knowledge transfer scheme which includes mentored site visits to LOW-CARB’s partner cities (each open to 2-4 persons), workshops and tool-testing. Moreover, a granting scheme of up to EUR 2,000 per city/region will be available for the reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs.
http://bit.ly/2KVx2Oe

Urban foragers take the law into their own hands

According to Langdon Cook, there’s one golden rule of foraging: if you don’t know what it is, don’t eat it. Cook is a leading figure in America’s growing urban foraging movement – in fact he’s written the book on it. As we make our way along a trail through one of his favourite hunting grounds, Seattle’s Seward Park, he mentions some of the poisonous plants out there, such as hemlock. The famous feller of Socrates looks a lot like carrot tops or flat leaf parsley to the uninitiated.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/07/hungry-for-change-urban-foragers-take-the-law-into-their-own-hands

URBACT City Festival 2018 programme is online

The URBACT City Festival 2018 Programme is now online on the event's website: 2018cityfestival.urbact.eu
May you be joining the Festival or not, we invite you to have a look throughout the great variety of topics that will be discussed at URBACT City Festival 2018.
Those topics will be explored in a variety of formats, including walkshops, to break-out sessions, labs and trainings.
Imagine you get ready for a nice and inspiring walk in the city, here are the integrated urban development tours that you could join.
http://2018cityfestival.urbact.eu

Why We Need a Summit on Youth Urban Road Safety

Our cities are rapidly expanding, and with them motorization is increasing at an unchecked pace. Unless the global community takes meaningful strides to address the impact of these trends on the most vulnerable in our society, we will be met by a catastrophic health emergency.
Every three minutes a child or young person dies as a result of road traffic injury. A quarter of a million children and adolescents die on the world’s roads every year. Road traffic injury is the fifth-leading cause of death for children aged 5 to 14 years old.
Beyond the headline figure, for every child who dies, another suffers an irrevocably life-changing disability. For each disability, there are several serious injuries.
http://thecityfix.com/blog/need-summit-youth-urban-road-safety-natalie-draisin/

Apply for Access City Award 2019

Are you representing a city that has worked to become more accessible for its citizens? Do you have over 50 000 inhabitants? Is you city promoting the equal access to the resources and facilities?
Then you can apply for the Access City Award until 16 September 2018.
The Access City Award scheme was launched in 2010 by European Commission together with the European Disability Forum, to promote accessibility for older people and people with disabilities in European cities.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/access-city-awards_en#what-is-the-access-city-award

These countries are all building brand-new cities

In the early years of this century, completely new cities began emerging across Asia and Africa, transforming previously unremarkable expanses of land or reclaimed ocean areas. Could some of these new urban creations become the economic powerhouses of the future?
The fervour for building cities from scratch seems inexhaustible, with construction starting on mega-projects in Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Kenya, Oman and Saudi Arabia, among other countries. According to United Nation estimates, 66% of the world population will live in cities by 2050. Meeting the needs of these billions of people will provide huge challenges.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/smart-cities-forest-city-belmont

REAL CORP 2019 - Call for Papers

We are pleased to inform you that the next REAL CORP conference will be held in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 2 to 4 April 2019. The Call for Papers is open from now.
The theme for 2019 is Is this the Real World? Perfect Smart Cities vs. Real Emotional Cities
Can urban planning support keeping and creating places, spaces and cities – “Real Emotional Cities”? What are the tools for the 21st century city? Of course we must not forget that sustainability and resilience stay primary goals for urban development.
https://conference.corp.at/index.php?id=3&L=0

Intermediary cities meet at their 1st World Forum

The Moroccan city of Chefchaouen hosted the First World Forum of Intermediary Cities from 5 to 7 July 2018. Under the slogan "Imagining an urban future together through Intermediary Cities", the forum helped to identify a series of concepts and strategies that are key to achieving sustainable development.
https://www.uclg-cglu.org/en/media/news/intermediary-cities-meet-their-1st-world-forum-set-priorities-and-define-new-commitments

The Blueprint for Building a Smart City

First, there were smartphones and then smart houses. Now, the next disruptive “smart” move is the smart city. As work, life, and society become increasingly connected through the wide adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, it’s a natural progression to build smart cities that leverage tech to provide benefits like convenience and efficiency.
What makes smart cities so interesting is that they are not necessarily just about technology. The city is the heart of an economy from which pulses work, school, retail, entertainment, and social life. By connecting the city in new ways, it becomes smarter and more capable of quickly responding to the changing (and growing) needs of those who live and work within its boundaries.
Also, the evolution of smart cities provides opportunities to address some key challenges urban areas have faced, such as making room for affordable housing, improving transportation systems, and leveraging available data to create safer neighborhoods and streets.
https://readwrite.com/2018/07/30/the-blueprint-for-building-a-smart-city/

The Subway Systems of the 21st Century

The 21st century subway system is not a subway system. It goes from anywhere in the city to anywhere else as fast as a taxi, as affordably as a bus, and as quietly as a bicycle. Every city in the world is getting one. They will make us healthier, wealthier, and happier. In just a few years we will not be able to imagine cities without them.
https://urbanmobilitydaily.com/the-subway-systems-of-the-21st-century/

Stand Up for Planning at APA's Policy and Advocacy Conference

Hundreds of planners gather in DC each fall to learn about federal and state policy issues affecting local planning. Attend the APA Policy and Advocacy Conference to connect with planners and officials on important planning policy issues, expand your network and learn how to address planning policy issues at the state and federal levels. This year's program digs deep into the issues that top APA's 2018 policy agenda, including housing affordability, infrastructure and resiliency. September 23 - 25, Washington D.C.
https://planning.org/conference/policy/

Quality Keynote Speakers at ISE 2018

International Security Expo is the flagship event uniting Government and industry by sharing knowledge, innovative homeland and commercial security technologies, integrated solutions and intelligence to create a safer world.
250+ World-Renowned Speakers delivering 55+ hours of CPD Certified Points over 2 days and with over 350 exhibitors, 1,000+ product launches, inspiring features, a series of 13 FREE conferences it promises to be the biggest yet!
Join us on 28-29 November at Olympia London.
https://ise18-visitor.reg.buzz/Register

Construction Plans for Kuwait's $86 Billion “Silk City”

The design and construction details of the new US$86 billion (KWD26.1 billion) Silk City development, part of the Kuwait National Development Plan 2035, have been revealed.
Spanning 250 square kilometers in Subiya, Silk City is a multi-phased development that is due to complete over a 25-year period. It will be linked to Kuwait City through the under-construction Jaber Causeway, and feature four quarters, or “villages”, that will offer hotels, sports, medical, and environmental facilities.
http://www.ctbuh.org/News/GlobalTallNews/tabid/4810/Article/6221/language/en-US/view.aspx

Global Metro Monitor 2018

This report reaffirms the economic power of large cities in the global economy, but also reveals significant variation in urban economic growth across the world. While many large cities are pulling away from their surrounding regions, others are struggling. With so much economic activity centered in these 300 metro areas, their individual and collective progress will continue to shape global economic, political, and societal trends.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Brookings-Metro_Global-Metro-Monitor-2018.pdf

Host the 2019 International Conference on Learning Cities

The fourth International Conference on Learning Cities is scheduled to take place in 2019. It will provide a platform to share best practice in building learning cities, take stock of progress of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities to date, and highlight an integrated learning city approach for achieving lifelong learning and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at local level.
http://uil.unesco.org/event/call-applications-host-2019-international-conference-learning-cities

Carsharing 3.0

With emerging technology, new players in the mobility mix, and the approach of autonomy, it’s more important than ever for mobility stakeholders and advocates from around the world to gather, discuss, and learn.
The Carsharing Association (CSA) conference in Paris will equip carsharing organizations and other attendees with an actionable toolkit of data, strategies, practical operating solutions and case studies to optimize their growth.
http://conference.carsharing.org/

Singapore’s Journey to Becoming a Biodiversity Model

You wouldn’t know it today, but in 1965 Singapore was a polluter’s paradise: mucky rivers, polluted canals and raw sewage running rampant. It was a developing country, newly split from neighbouring Malaysia, an island surrounded by waters that now they had to govern on their own.
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/city-garden-singapores-journey-becoming-biodiversity-model

The Reality of Migration in Cities

Current mediatised depictions of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ would have us place this phenomenon in a border fence, raft on the sea or at a makeshift camp. However, this is only the beginning of the story.
Paradoxically, some people risk it all in treacherous journeys in search for a safe place to settle. For them and many others, the prospect of opportunities in education and employment or being reunited with family is a strong enough motivating factor to make such a life altering decision. For a vast majority of migrants, the city is the place where these opportunities unfold.
According to the 2015 World Migration Report published by the International Organisation for Migration, nearly a fifth of migrants live in the world’s 20 largest cities. Given that for the first time ever, more than half of the world population reside in cities, and that this figure is due to increase to over 60% by 2050, it is highly likely that the same will be true for migrants, who will increasingly congregate in these urban settings.
http://meetingoftheminds.org/looking-beyond-borders-reality-migration-cities-17901

Attending the largest gathering of Europe’s towns and regions is a must

October is one of the most important months for towns, cities and regions. Not only because of the UN World Habitat Day (2 October) and the World Cities Day (31 October), but also because the main gathering for Europe’s local and regional governments takes place annually during that month: the European Week of Regions and Cities (EWCR).
From 8 to 11 October, over 6,000 local and regional leaders and experts will showcase their capacity to implement EU cohesion policy, exchange ideas with their peers around the continent and prove the added value of a local and regional dimension in European governance.
http://www.ccre.org/en/actualites/view/3759

Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility – presentations available

The 4th Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility – CSUM2018 was held in Skiathos Island, Greece on 24 – 25 May 2018. The Conference focused on Data analytics: Paving the way to sustainable urban mobility.
The University of Thessaly, Department of Civil Engineering, Traffic, Transportation and Logistics Laboratory – TTLog, organized the 4th Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility – CSUM2018 which was held at “THE SKIATHOS PALACE HOTEL”, in Skiathos Island, Greece on 24 – 25 May 2018. The Conference focused on Data analytics: Paving the way to sustainable urban mobility, as a sequence on the themes of the previous three events on green modes of transport, the impact of ITS in transit services and behavior, and the anthropocentric approach in urban mobility planning. The increasing and demanding needs for transport services, alleviating at the same time the consequences on the sustainability of the urban agglomeration and environment, place the emerging technologies as the top priority of the involved stakeholders. In the era of big data and digitization, the interest is set to meet the challenge of providing high level mobility services through exploring the new capabilities opened to the domain. Data mining, data analytics and machine learning techniques are in play. GPS and smart personal appliances, point detectors and social media are indicative sources providing ample information, which when handled properly is transformed to vital knowledge for better planning and achieving sustainable mobility.
http://csum.civ.uth.gr/

AR Is Transforming Tech: What Can It Do for Cities?

If it isn’t already there, augmented reality is coming to a device near you. Cities need to work to ensure that AR makes the leap from “cool experience,” to a technology that improves residents’ lives.
As today’s cities look for better ways to use the troves of new data at their disposal, augmented reality (AR) offers a new way of bringing this data to life. This technology—which assimilates digital objects and information into the real world via headsets, mobile devices, and other tech tools—has a unique capacity to enliven information and processes via immersive experiences.
https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/08/ar-is-transforming-tech-what-can-it-do-for-cities/566618/

Fake Riverbanks Turn a Chicago Canal ‘Wild’

Chicago’s manmade North Branch Canal is polluted and lacks natural habitat. Enter 80 coconut-fiber “islands” that host wildlife and filter the water.
If you can bypass the cheese display at the Goose Island Whole Foods in Chicago, there’s a strange sight out the building’s back doors. In the river below float 80 coconut-fiber beds, replete with native grasses, shrubs, and even river birch trees. Most days, you’ll also see Nick Wesley, co-founder of the nonprofit Urban Rivers, inspecting the beds from a kayak pulled up alongside.
https://www.citylab.com/environment/2018/08/fake-riverbanks-turn-a-chicago-canal-wild/565985/

4th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation

Call for Submission
The year 2018 begins with the launch of the 4th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award), a platform for the sharing and exchange of successful innovative practices. The Guangzhou Award supports the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and New Urban Agenda (NUA), contributing to the creation of inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements.
We would like to invite you to join us if your city or region is putting in place any initiatives under the themes highlighted by the SDGs (especially SDG 11) and NUA. For NUA, special focus is being placed on urban planning and design, financing urban development, as well as access to affordable housing, infrastructure, and services.
http://www.guangzhouaward.org/en/applynow.html

Overcoming urban security threats: welcome to MUNIWORLD 2019

Is your town well prepared when it comes to security threats? What about cyber security? In the smart city era, security threats can come in many shapes and sizes. Make sure you’re ready: come to MUNIWORLD and join the global brainstorming on smart cities facing urban terrorism.
This three-day event is taking place in Tel Aviv, Israel, from 26 to 28 February 2019. It’s the place to be to find smart solutions to address, and anticipate, all sorts of urban security threats. But beyond that, this event also serves as fertile ground for innovation, entrepreneurship and business interactions: you will have the opportunity to exchange with 170 companies and start-ups.
https://muniexpo.co.il/muni-world/

Getting Civic Analytics Off the Ground

From improving public health outcomes to supporting safer transportation systems, analytics can offer new insights and improvements to city governance across core issue areas. While the structure, application, and processes used to develop, iterate, and implement the Civic Analytics Network cities’ projects vary significantly, there are common policies adopted and operating within each that other cities can replicate. There is a need for more research and literature on city-level analytics to help practitioners and theorists alike understand how data-driven decision-making practices are operating within municipal governments.
http://www.govtech.com/data/A-Guide-Getting-Civic-Analytics-Off-the-Ground.html

NOVELOG SULP Guidelines for urban freight planning

NOVELOG has developed the NOVELOG SULP Guidelines, a guidance for Sustainable Urban Logistics Planning (SULP) for local authorities.
The NOVELOG project is filling the gap of the current SUMPs approach by suggesting specific guidelines on how a local authority could incorporate UFT measures and policies in their sustainable mobility planning, with a planning document called SULP.
It is recommended that the SULP process is implemented separately from the SUMP process. The SULP process starts after the definition of the overall sustainable mobility vision of the city. In this way, the city approach for sustainable distribution and service trips resulting from the SULP development process will be in line with the SUMP vision and will focus on serving the general objectives set for the city sustainability.
http://novelog.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NOVELOG_SULP-Guidelines.pdf

Webinar Video: Planning for Urban Resilience

Dr. Zhixi Zhuang, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ryerson University, and Stacy Harwood, Dept of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Illinois, discuss planning for urban resilience in Toronto's multicultural context, and how municipal planning policies and smart investments in the public realm can create safe, accessible, and inclusive public spaces.
http://citiesofmigration.ca/webinar/planning/

Smart Cities 101 Online Course - Enrolment now open!

This high imapact online course offers a comprehensive insight into the emerging technologies, processes and infrastructures influencing the formation of smart cities. The programme analyses the different players within the various ecosystems, using extensive case studies to illustrate the requirements, opportunities and dangers. On completion, participants will hold the knowledge and competencies required to face current smart city initiatives.
https://telecomstechacademy.com/course/smart-cities-101-online-academy/

The 'Living Labs' That Show How Robots are Changing Cities

Ready or not, autonomous robots are leaving laboratories to be tested in real-world contexts. With more and more people living in cities, these technologies offer ways to cope with ageing populations and poorly maintained infrastructures, while promoting safer transport, productive manufacturing and secure energy supplies.
Urban “living labs” are one way scientists are trying to understand how autonomous robots – or Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), to give them their full title – will affect our everyday lives.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/drones-malawi-mosquitoes-malaria-africa-disease-a8438381.html

Who Should Pay for a City’s Homelessness Crisis?

Big businesses want lower taxes. Cities—and many of the people who live in them—want lower rates of homelessness. Lately, the compatibility of these two desires is being tested, as local governments across the U.S. float a new strategy to help the growing number of unsheltered people on their streets: Asking businesses to pay a greater share in funding aid.
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/07/who-should-pay-for-a-citys-homelessness-crisis/565718/

The Future of Transportation

Symposium Proceedings and Discussion
This discussion paper summarizes the proceedings of the January 11, 2018 symposium, “The Future of Transportation,” hosted at The Fletcher School by the Climate Policy Lab and Acadia Center. Topics included the prospects of regional market-based solutions, advanced transportation technologies, and innovations in transportation accessibility and design to reduce carbon pollution from the transportation sector.

https://sites.tufts.edu/cierp/files/2018/07/CPL_FutureTransportation.pdf

Global Harbour City Forum

Harbors began to develop the moment when urbanization and civilization took to the seas.
Cities exist for the people that live in them. Similarly, harbors flourish because of the trade between cities.
A harbor is a part of its city, though there are barriers between the city and its harbor, which are not natural but man-made.
The separation between a city and its harbor deepens even further when the movement of people and goods reaches a functional bottleneck.
The ideal relationship of a city and its harbor, that “The city supports the harbor, and the harbor allows the city to flourish,” has faded into the distance.
It is fortunate that, in recent years, the world has proposed green goals and environmental protection; it is also fortunate that cities have become aware of their self-determination.
Within that context, new applications in smart technology have provided harbor cities with actionable solutions for transformation and evolution.
Thus, the theme for the 2018 Global Harbor Cities Forum is “Here and Beyond: Forces affecting our future”
http://www.ghcf.org.tw/

Smart and clean, but also carefree mobility

According to a new strategy, mobility in The Netherlands needs to change drastically to bring it in line with the country’s climate goals for 2050. It has to become ‘smart’, ‘clean’ and ‘different’.
A proposal for a climate strategy, including a mobility chapter, was presented in July 2018. It aims to deliver a shift to electric vehicles, with all private vehicles being emission-free by 2030. It also pursues smarter mobility to optimise transport flows and capacities. It also hints at a behavioural change, such as a convenient choices between transport modes, the avoidance of peak rush-hour times and working remotely.
http://www.eltis.org/discover/news/dutch-climate-plans-2050-smart-and-clean-also-carefree-mobility

By 2100 none of the World's Biggest Cities will be in China, the US or Europe

Throughout the course of human history, the biggest cities have always seemed impossibly large.
For many millennia, it was almost unfathomable for a city to sustain more than 1 million residents. In fact, it wasn’t until the 19th century that the largest citiesglobally, such as London and Beijing, were able to consistently hold populations beyond that impressive mark.
Despite this, in the modern era, we’ve quickly discovered that a city of 1 million people isn’t remarkable at all. In China alone, there are now over 100 cities with a million people today – and as such, our mental benchmark for what we consider to be a “big city” has changed considerably from past times.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/by-2100-none-of-the-worlds-biggest-cities-will-be-in-china-the-us-or-europe

WC2 Toronto 2018 Symposium

The WC2 Network brings together top universities located in the heart of major world cities to address culture, environment and political issues of common interest to world cities. This year, Ryerson University hosts the 4th annual symposium on the theme "Migration, the City and the University."
https://www.ryerson.ca/ri/WC2/

European Mobility Week

The European Mobility Week is an annual event happening at cities around Europe. It is the perfect opportunity for cities, residents and visitors to test out new solutions for sustainable mobility.
http://www.mobilityweek.eu/

Autonomous vehicles might make cities more car dependent

Cities across Europe are taking steps to become increasingly car free. London mayor Sadiq Khan is aiming for 80 per cent of all trips to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041, while Copenhagen authorities are aiming for three quarters of all trips to be made in these ways by 2025. Policymakers in Paris want to halve the number of private cars in the city centre, and Madrid will ban all non-resident vehicles except zero-emission delivery vehicles, taxis and public transport from its city centre in November 2018. In Helsinki, the aim is to phase out the use of private cars by 2050, by providing on-demand, affordable public transport.
https://www.citymetric.com/transport/how-autonomous-vehicles-might-actually-make-cities-more-dependent-cars-4028

Bristol: Future-Proofing the City

A Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cities member and the fastest growing city in the UK, Bristol is alive to the challenges facing modern cities to build resilience into its infrastructure, city systems and communities: “Resilience planning is about making Bristol a better place to live, work and play for everyone, in both good times and bad.”
http://citiesofmigration.ca/good_idea/future-proofing-the-city/

ISOCARP Awards 2018 - deadline extended to 15 August

The Awards for Excellence are conferred in recognition of exceptionally innovative urban and regional initiatives.
Due to several requests we have decided to extend the deadline for entries for the Awards for Excellence to 15 August 2018.
https://isocarp.org/awards/call-awards-excellence-2018/

Your complete guide to Smart Cities Summit 2018

The all new Smart Cities Summit Event Brochure is now available to download.
Get the inside scoop on the latest event updates, speaker lineup, agenda, co-located events, pricing, special discounts, and see what makes this year's conference stand out from the rest.
Backed by over 600 key players from global enterprises, city leaders and technology professionals, Smart Cities Summit is where resilient and responsive cities are made.
https://get.knect365.com/smart-cities-2018-event-brochure/

Leading Change in Your City

A survey of 155 European cities¹ revealed human capacity constrained innovative responses to local challenges more than finances. Considering a future with more and bigger cities, investing in skills to better manage urban regions is increasingly relevant. Peter Griffiths interviews LSE's Philipp Rode and Savvas Verdis on how new forms of research and executive education are central to plugging capacity needs in cities.
http://www.urbangateway.org/news/leading-change-your-city

Cities Are Replacing Dangerous Slip Lanes With Space for People

When you come across a short segment of asphalt that carves up the sidewalk so drivers can take turns faster, that's a slip lane, and it's very dangerous for pedestrians. See how cities are converting their slip lanes for pedestrian space.
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/13/cities-are-replacing-dangerous-slip-lanes-with-space-for-people/

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Further archived news available on request from: Kate More