NewsSeptember2018

The MAVEN project will run a workshop in Greenwich (London) on 24 October about how increasing vehicle automation may affect urban traffic management. It follows two similar workshops held in Brussels in October 2017 and Barcelona in November 2016.

The workshop's aims are to:

explore in more detail how increasingly instrumented vehicles are likely to behave on city roads and how this may affect the traffic management task and wider transport goals

provide insight to the role that communication technology can play in the shorter-term of connected transport and the longer-term of automated transport

promote reflection among local authorities on their role and responsibility as CCAV evolves.

Local authorities are the main target group of this workshop; however, it is also open to other urban transport stakeholders with an interest in CCAV.

https://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1794/45/Traffic-management-in-an-increasingly-connected-and-automated-transport-system

Global Social Economy Forum

The Global Social Economy Forum GSEF is an international network that brings together local governments and civil society stakeholders committed to supporting the development of the Social Economy (SE). Through the collaboration between social economy organizations and local governments, the GSEF pursues creation of quality jobs, fair growth, progress of grassroots democracy, and sustainable development. Values such as human dignity and sustainable ecology are to be the underlying principles for every activity of the GSEF.

http://www.gsef-net.org/

New global initiative to strengthen urban climate investment

The Global Climate City Challenge launched in San Francisco today will address key technical and financing barriers to strengthen investment in green projects and programmes essential to improve resilience to a changing climate in cities home to millions of people.

Urban climate action projects will be strengthened by accessing best-practice and technical assistance intended to mitigate the risks of climate change, enhance impact and improve financial sustainability of first time projects.

Projects in an initial six cities will be selected to benefit from the Global Climate City Challenge and eligible schemes can get in touch today

https://www.globalcovenantofmayors.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Global-Climate-Change-City-Challenge-I-Press-Release-I-GCoM-x-EIB-I-September-13th-2018.pdf

Why Affordable Housing Isn’t More Affordable

Local regulations—and the NIMBY sentiments behind them—are a big driver of costs of low-income housing developers. Why don’t we know exactly how much?The low-slung apartment buildings that line the streets of Houston, Fort Worth, and other Lone Star cities are some of the cheapest affordable housing projects to build anywhere. Two-story jobbers in Texas cost a whole lot less to build with housing tax credits than affordable mid-rises in California or New England. Where land prices are higher, it’s more expensive to build affordable housing.

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/09/why-affordable-housing-isnt-more-affordable/569650/

Prague parking workshop: "Parking is a catalyst for urban mobility innovation"

Polis organised a meeting on parking innovation on 13 September 2018 in Prague, in partnership with the European Parking Association (EPA) and the Czech Parking Association. Polis members Prague, Lille, La Rochelle and Sofia presented their latest innovations in parking.

https://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1789/45/Prague-parking-workshop-quot-Parking-is-a-catalyst-for-urban-mobility-innovation-quot

World Human Rights Cities Forum

Under the theme of Whom Do We Live With? Diversity, inclusiveness, and Peace will held WHRCF 2018 at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in the City of Gwangju.

Some of the topics that will be discussed are respect, tolerance, and solidarity, which lie at the heart of this practice. Accordingly, at this year’s forum, local governments are also invited to have in-depth discussions with the central government to search for a new vision of cities as the main agents of implementing universal human rights over the next 70 years.

Concurrently, officials from different human rights cities as well as numerous activists are expected to participate in the ‘Asia Human Rights Cities Network’.

http://whrcf.org/E_p1100.php

How Agile is Your City? Urban Experts Call for More Flexible Land Use

At the moment cities typically designate a single purpose for a piece of land

SEATTLE - Cities will have to embrace "agility" to adapt land use to the flexible needs that new technological innovations will require, the World Economic Forum said in a report released on Wednesday.

At the moment cities typically designate a single purpose for a piece of land - such as a public road or a lot for building a house. An agile approach would allow that land to be used in different ways as the need arose, the report said.

http://www.urbangateway.org/news/how-agile-your-city-urban-experts-call-more-flexible-land-use

The New Climate Economy Will Be Powered by Compact Cities

Bold action on climate change could deliver $26 trillion in cumulative economic benefits by 2030, according to a new report by the New Climate Economy (NCE). Without immediate action to cut emissions, the costs of “runaway” climate change will be severe: heat waves, flooding, storms, food scarcity and sea level rise.

Cities have been warned: they will need to peak their emissions as soon as 2020 and reach net zero emissions by mid-century to avoid a global temperature increase of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

http://thecityfix.com/blog/new-climate-economy-will-powered-compact-cities-report-catlyne-haddaoui/

II World Forum on Urban Violence

The II World Forum Against Violence and for Peace Education will take place in Madrid on 05-08 November 2018 back to back with the UCLG World Council.This event will gather mayors and international leaders to a meeting point that will enable an exchange of experiences, strategies, campaigns and policies.

http://www.ciudadesdepaz.com/

Registrations are open for the Mobility Days in Strasbourg!

The event, organised among others by Cerema and supported by UITP, will take place in Strasbourg on 28-30 November 2018.The 4th edition of the Journées d'échanges sur la mobilité urbaine dans les villes européennes will explore the role of shared mobility services in the wider urban mobility context. The event is organised among others by Cerema and is supported by UITP.

https://www.cerema.fr/fr/evenements/4emes-journees-echanges-mobilite-urbaine-villes-europeennes

Using strangers to explore the city

The rules of the art of ‘following’ are simple: choose a stranger and secretly copy their route – you’ll see the city in a new lightTwo days after I arrive in Belgrade, I’m being shown the outskirts of the city by a man in pink trousers. I think he must be a local: he knows exactly where he’s going, striding confidently down narrow alleys and across wide roads, showing me parts of the Serbian capital far from the beaten track.Sometimes I have to break into a little run to keep up. But I don’t get too close, because he doesn’t know he’s acting as my guide to the parts of Belgrade that are off the tourist route – and the last thing I want is for him to find out he’s being followed.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/21/i-follow-a-different-person-every-day-using-strangers-to-explore-the-city

Copenhagen uses short car-free sections to encourage cycling

Experience in the Danish capital Copenhagen, suggests that preventing motorised traffic from using short sections of a major thoroughfare enhances the use of the route by cyclists. This is the result of the implementation of so-called 'filtered permeability' on two sections of Nørrebrogade, in central Copenhagen.Nørrebrogade, a street which forms part of the C95 cycle superhighway in Copenhagen, welcomed up to 48,000 cyclists a day in 2016. Two short sections of the street - 2 km apart - were redesigned to 'filter out' motorised traffic, i.e. motorised traffic was not allowed to use these sections. This appears to have contributed towards the high usage of the cycle superhighway along the street.

http://www.eltis.org/discover/news/copenhagen-uses-short-car-free-sections-encourage-cycling

Smart City Expo World Congress 2018: "Cities to live in"

Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) will host its 2018 edition from 13 to 15 November in Barcelona, Spain. The event is expected to gather over 700 cities, 700 exhibitors and 400 speakers. Under the theme "Cities to live in", the event will stress how cities must aim all transformation strategies towards the goal of making metropolises the best possible places for its citizens to live, work and thrive.

SCEWC provides an opportunity for governments, companies, entrepreneurs, research centres and innovators to connect and share their vision of how to build a smarter and more sustainable future. Both the congress and exhibition area allow all participants to draw inspiration from leading experts and learn about cutting-edge developments that are already making positive impacts on people's lives.

This 2018 edition will focus on the leading role of cities and the need for a holistic approach that can contribute to create more liveable urban environments.

http://www.smartcityexpo.com/

A smart city vision: how to make it happen!

The next meeting of the action cluster on Business Models, Finance and Procurement of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities will take place in Brussels next 10 October in cooperation with the action cluster Integrated Planning, Policy and Regulations.

Are you in Brussels for the European Week of Regions and Cities? Are you interested in how to better implement your smart city strategy? Wondering about business models and procurement?

Don't miss the opportunity to learn and exchange with smart cities experts!

http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/news/A-smart-city-vision-how-to-make-it-happen-WSPO-B4RJEP

Troubling Trend for Cities: Slowing Revenue But Rising Spending Growth

The annual National League of Cities report signals potentially more challenging times ahead for many localities.

Despite a relatively strong economy, most U.S. cities aren’t enjoying robust revenue growth.

On Thursday, the National League of Cities (NLC) released its annual survey of finance officers across the country, finding city revenues grew by an inflation-adjusted average of only 1.25 percent in fiscal year 2017 and are expected to further slow over the current fiscal year. At the same time, spending pressures aren’t subsiding, climbing at a steeper 2.16 percent last fiscal year.

http://www.governing.com/topics/finance/gov-city-fiscal-revenue-nlc-report-2018.html

Chaos in Megacities

The United Nations has classified Tokyo, Delhi and Shanghai as the most heavily populated cities in the world. Economic growth in Asian regions is attracting lots of people from provinces to metropolitan centres. This is happening too quickly for the infrastructure to deal with. Overcrowded streets are causing congestion, air pollution and accidents. Smart management and vehicle recognition systems must get this chaos under control in the future. After all, not all vehicles can fit onto the streets at the same time. A piece of German technology can be used to clearly identify vehicles and pave the way for digital traffic management.

https://h3bconnected.com/chaos-in-megacities-digital-licence-plates-prevent-traffic-jams-and-smog/

UMD18: Shifted towards 2019

We regret to inform you that due to the insurmountable circumstances, laying beyond our influence and at the same time significantly raising financial and content-wise risks of the Urban Mobility Dialogue, planned for November 2018, we move the event towards the 4th quarter, 2019.
http://www.smartcity-dialogues.com/

Empowering Cities and Citizen - IHS 60th anniversary's conference

The IHS, Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, are organizing a 60 year anniversary conference in Rotterdam, on 6-7 November. This conference aims to reflect on current and new urban trends, whether in urban development and management, or humanities, social and behavioural sciences.
https://www.ihs.nl/en/about/ihs-history/empowering-cities-and-citizens-conference

Successful C-ITS esting on Austrian motorways

The C-Roads Platform keeps on approaching the target of supplying vehicles with safety-relevant traffic information in real-time and seamlessly across borders. As part of the platform, Austria has successfully tested C-ITS use cases during the summer time with international partners on relevant parts of the Austrian motorway network.
http://www.austriatech.at/en/pdf/420

Dresden establishes a network of 76 mobility hubs from this autumn

Dresden, the state capital of Saxony, Germany wants to set up 76 mobility hubs in the city area. At these stations, users can quickly switch between environmental friendly and city-friendly means of transport such as bicycles, car sharing, electric cars and local public transport. Six of these will be implemented as pilot sites: Pirnaischer Platz, Bahnhof Mitte, Altpieschen, P+R Prohlis, Fetscherplatz and Wasaplatz. Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB) receives financial support for these pilot sites from the national climate protection initiative.
http://www.matchup-project.eu/news/dresden-establishes-a-network-of-76-mobility-hubs-from-this-autumn/

Announcing Open City Forum

Open City Forum is part of “OPEN CITY: Theories, Perspectives, Instruments” A joint inter- and transdisciplinary research project by TU Braunschweig, TU Dortmund and the German Institute of Urban Affairs – in cooperation with the Senate of the City of Berlin and supported by a renowned advisory board – funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation.
https://offene-stadt.org

UITP Global Public Transport Summit

With almost 130 years of history behind it, the UITP Global Public Transport Summit proudly remains the world’s biggest event dedicated to sustainable mobility. Covering all urban and regional transport modes across the globe, the Summit combines a diverse programme of leading congress sessions and an outstanding exhibition full of the latest innovations, solutions and products.
https://uitpsummit.org/call-for-contributions-2/

Urban Planners Aim To Eliminate Slums With Computer Programs

Cities across the globe are exploding in size. The problem with such rapid growth is that, when cities fill up or become too expensive, new residents are forced to settle in slums, which lack access to water, sanitation, emergency services, and hospitals. Now, scientists have come up with a way to redesign these under-serviced areas, using a computer program that takes a mathematical approach to urban planning.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/08/urban-planners-aim-eliminate-slums-computer-programs

Mexico City's resilience strategy

The Resilience Strategy is a response by the City of Mexico (CDMX) to foster public policies that contribute to strengthening the city's adaptive capacity.
Resilience is built through an all-embracing process that considers the views of stakeholders from various levels of government, members of the scientific community, civil society, , representatives of the private sector, and multilateral and bilateral cooperative organizations. It is important to foster cooperation among these stakeholders through a coalition of organizations with shared goals and actions to build resilience.
https://policytransfer.metropolis.org/case-studies/cdmx-resilience-strategy

Cities for Adequate Housing

Our constituency lived a historical turning point last 15 and 16 July, when a group of major global cities brought to the UN a firm pledge for the Right to Housing in the form of the Declaration “Cities for Adequate Housing”. This global call to action builds on the #MakeTheShift campaign, launched by the UN Rapporteur on Adequate Housing.
https://www.uclg-cglu.org/en/media/news/cities-adequate-housing-call-action-ensure-right-housing

Metropolis Annual Meeting - key takeaways

As the Metropolis Annual Meeting in Gauteng is now over, we can take a look back at some highlights from this year’s event, in which our members played a key role and our projects gained greater visibility.
https://www.metropolis.org/news/2018/09/03/3612

How can our streets become living streets ?

Are you rethinking public space in your city? Get inspired by 8 European cities where collaborating citizens, businesses, local authorities, associations enable inhabitants to temporarily transform their streets in the place they have always dreamed of.
http://www.energy-cities.eu/How-citizen-can-transform-streets-into-living-streets

Cooling Cities

Cities are getting hotter and the consequences of these increased temperatures are becoming more dire. 2018 is on track to be the fourth hottest year on record and as capitals across the world are being stuck by deadly heat waves, the need to mitigate these rising temperatures has become absolutely critical. Ross Douglas, Founder & CEO of Autonomy lays out his own creative solution that could transform urban spaces from overheated asphalt jungles into cooling oases.
https://urbanmobilitydaily.com/cooling-cities/

At October’s Urban20, City Leaders Must Stand Together to Help Shape the G20 Agenda

This October’s inaugural U20 Summit offers cities the opportunity to raise the profile of urban policy issues just in advance of the G20. For the U20 to be successful, city leaders must be intentional about finding policy solutions that span scales and levels of government, include a dedicated urban focus, coordinate among cities globally on key issues, and remain context-specific.
https://www.oxfordurbanists.com/magazine/2018/8/30/at-octobers-urban20-city-leaders-must-stand-together-to-help-shape-the-g20-agenda

International Healthy Cities Conference 2018

We are all aware of the challenges involved in urban living. Urban health is not only a priority for our cities at the moment but it is increasingly a global priority. The challenges that we are facing locally are global challenges and increasingly we are seeing a demand at local level for cities to not only meet these challenges, but also lead on them. Global challenges are felt most acutely at local level, which is where the first response is. The world frontline of accountability is local.
https://www.healthycitiesbelfast2018.com/

The World's Most Reputable Cities 2018

When Yuriko Koike was elected governor of Tokyo, in 2016, her victory marked the dawn of a new age in Japan. The country’s first female defense minister had become the capital’s first female governor, and in a landslide, no less. But breaking through Tokyo’s “steel ceiling” wasn’t just a triumph for Koike or the women of a nation notorious for its gender gap—it was a win for the city’s reputation, too.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/vickyvalet/2018/08/23/the-worlds-most-reputable-cities-2018/#33dae5b67b4d

New cities may make millions more vulnerable to climate change

A forthcoming study of over a hundred new cities being built around the world suggests developers and planning authorities are doing very little to make their projects resilient to climate change. On the contrary, a boom in new city projects in coastal areas – including some on reclaimed land in the sea – appears to fly in the face of the danger of rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events.
https://www.mcgill.ca/science/channels/news/new-cities-may-make-millions-more-vulnerable-climate-change-289432

Smart Cities 101 Online Course - Enrolment now open!

It's time to enrol to the Smart Cities 101 online learning programme, starting on 18th October.
As a reminder, this high impact 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/

Le Havre Forum - The International Meeting of positive cities & territories

From 28 to 29 September, Le Havre, France
The ambition of the forum is to highlight experiences in cities around the world and bring together all actors committed to a positive and sustainable transition of these territories. For 3 days, Le Havre will become an incredible laboratory of the territorial positive economy. There will be in attendance mayors and representatives of agglomerations, departments and regions around the world, business leaders, political leaders, leaders of NGOs and associations, entrepreneurs, artists, economists, scientists but also the youth and the general public!
http://positiveplanet.ngo/en/lh-forum-2018/

These are Asia's Most Future-Ready Cities

The planet is urbanizing at an unprecedented speed, generating enormous social, economic and climatic stress. If sustainable urbanization is one of the paramount challenges of the 21st century, then Asia is ground zero for determining whether humanity can succeed. Just under half of all Asians live in cities, compared to roughly 82% of Americans and 74% of Europeans.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/these-asian-cities-are-best-equipped-for-the-future

Why Did America Give Up on Mass Transit?

Streetcar, bus, and metro systems have been ignoring one lesson for 100 years: Service drives demand.
One hundred years ago, the United States had a public transportation system that was the envy of the world. Today, outside a few major urban centers, it is barely on life support. Even in New York City, subway ridership is well below its 1946 peak. Annual per capita transit trips in the U.S. plummeted from 115.8 in 1950 to 36.1 in 1970, where they have roughly remained since, even as population has grown.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/08/how-america-killed-transit/568825/

Join Autonomy's matchmaking platform today!

Autonomy has launched its custom matchmaking platform to provide urban mobility makers with personalized connections, and to facilitate the organisation of B2B meetings at Autonomy & the Urban Mobility Summit, 18-20 October 2018.
This year's edition of Autonomy is set to be bigger and more international than ever with sponsors such as Alstom, Bestmile, Qualcomm, Uber, TomTom, INDIGO weel, Toyota Mobility Foundation and Oscaro and strategic partners like Polis Network, MaaS Alliance, ICLEI, AMIF and many more. We believe it will be the world's biggest gathering of urban mobility actors and the ideal setting to do business and make deals. This is why Autonomy has invested in a custom platform that will allow you to join to start making business meetings today and to buy your tickets later.
https://autonomy.vimeet.events/en/

Mix and Move ! European Mobility Week 2018

From 16 to 22 September, Europe
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/

Here’s why poor local transport is blighting prospects and lives

Every day millions of people rely on local public transport to complete their daily commutes to and from work. When it runs smoothly, we barely pause to think about it: it’s only when something goes wrong that we realise the huge impact transport has on our daily lives.
For decades politicians and policy makers have failed to adapt our transport network to meet the challenges posed by the changing geography of work. Our attention often has been on national, flagship projects between cities at the expense of local public transport within cities. This has resulted in a serious disconnect between where people live and the job opportunities that are available to them. This locks people out from being able to fully participate in the labour market.
https://www.citymetric.com/transport/here-s-why-poor-local-transport-blighting-prospects-and-lives-4184

Can Housing Be Affordable Without Being Efficient?

About 3 billion people, or 40 percent of the world’s population, will need new housing by 2030. That will require constructing approximately 21 million new homes every year across the world.
Several of the fastest-growing countries have ambitious goals to meet this need. The Indian government aims to construct 20 million affordable houses by 2022. Nigeria targets 1 million homes built per year for the next decade. Indonesia’s president initiated the One Million Houses program to serve low-income citizens.
While these programs show much promise, a critical question remains: What kinds of homes will they be?
http://thecityfix.com/blog/can-housing-affordable-without-efficient-catalina-demidchuk-eric-mackres-henrique-evers/

Global District Energy Days - ‘Unite | Innovate | Experience‘

From 25 to 27 September, Helsinki, Finland
Euroheat & Power and Finnish Energy have teamed up for the 2018 Global District Energy Days. During this two and half days event you will get the opportunity to discuss major issues of importance for European and Global District Energy sectors across a range of technical and commercial issues ; from resource assessment and innovative technological design, to market and policy developments.
http://www.2018dedays.org/

18th OIPD Conference - Citizen initiative and direct democracy

Tuesday 27 November, Barcelona Spain
Organised by the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy
The proposed organisation of the 2018 Barcelona IOPD Conference and Assembly is intended to be the result of a process of debate and exchange of ideas and practices, based on the cornerstones of citizen initiatives and direct democracy, as ways of encouraging inclusive participation. This exchange will continue from now until the conference in November 2018.
https://oidp.net/en/18conference.php

A smarter way to park in UK cities

Different cities within the UK are investigating launching smart projects and developments to advance local service capability, evolve their competitiveness and enhance sustainability. One such example of an initiative designed to enhance city ‘liveability’ is ‘smart parking systems’.
As reported by the British Parking Association, 5.9 minutes is the typical time spent by drivers in finding a parking space. Out of all stakeholders questioned, 44% described the process as a ‘stressful experience’, 59% become angry when multiple spaces are taken up by a single vehicle and 48% are annoyed by the limited number of spaces in their area. Therefore, tools including smart parking apps that aid cities in managing parking provisions are increasingly becoming more attractive.
http://www.eltis.org/discover/news/smarter-way-park-uk-cities

Inside the Canadian cities where minorities are the majority

The Foody Mart in Markham, a sprawling city near Toronto, is found in a typical North American suburban plaza, sprinkled with fast-food chains, nail salons and a small legal firm. But look closely and you will notice the mall’s parking signs are in Chinese and the bank serves customers in Cantonese and Mandarin.
Inside the Foody Mart, there are shelves of salted duck eggs, air-shipped mangosteen and durian. Staff hand out samples of fish balls and regulars drinkbubble tea alongside young families enjoying hot meals from the takeaway counter, as Shanghai pop plays over the speakers.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/04/canadian-cities-where-minorities-are-the-majority-markham-brampton

ASSURED workshop: Strategies & needs on EV fast-charging infrastructure for urban freight

The event, part of the ASSURED project, will take place on 24 September 2018 in Oslo, Norway. It aims to discuss strategies for upscaling electric full-size commercial fleets and fast charging infrastructure, with a focus on urban freight and service trips.
https://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/1775/45/ASSURED-workshop-Strategies-amp-needs-on-EV-fast-charging-infrastructure-for-urban-freight

Vitality of Smaller Cities in Europe Conference

Registrations are open for the URBACT Capitalisation Conference "Vitality of Smaller Cities in Europe (link is external)", jointly organized by RetaiLink, Agri-Urban, and CityCentreDoctor networks. It takes place in Barcelona, on 25 October 2018.
Vitality of Smaller Cities in Europe is a one-day conference highlighting the importance of sustaining smaller cities despite the attractiveness of large cities.
http://urbact.eu/vitality-smaller-cities-europe-conference-barcelona-25-october-registrations-open

The Role of Utilities in Advancing Smart Cities

Explosive population growth along with economic competition, rapidly advancing technologies and environmental concerns are challenging cities across the country to become more efficient, adapt to new expectations and be better stewards of the planet. The electric utilities serving those communities are confronted with a changing marketplace they must adapt to while driving solutions at the same time.
https://meetingoftheminds.org/the-role-of-utilities-in-advancing-smart-cities-28067

No toying around with air quality for city dwellers

Vehicle access restrictions have come under fire from the FIA motor car users group, which argues they are a whimsical instrument that cities spontaneously decided to employ. In fact, it was the car industry that was playing with real-world driving emissions, writes Karen Vancluysen.
Karen Vancluysen is secretary general of POLIS, the association of cities and regions working for sustainable urban transport.
Cities and regions in virtually all EU member states are struggling to meet legal requirements for ambient air quality and safeguarding citizens’ health.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-of-mobility/opinion/no-toying-around-with-air-quality-for-city-dwellers/

Connecting cities - Local solution for global challenges

We are more interconnected today than ever before. Taking full advantage of this fact in our cities and towns will help us face an array of pressing challenges. Together, we can better decouple our production and consumption systems from natural resource depletion while tackling climate change, enhancing resilience, easing social tensions and diminishing financial instability. Our cities and towns are already co-creating solutions to these challenges. Every day, local authorities are implementing innovative approaches to governance that facilitate new coalitions and networks for more just, sustainable and resilient societies.
http://www.climatealliance.org/events/international-conference/2018-programme.html

2018 Annual Polis Conference offers 25 sessions, side visits and associated workshops

The 2018 Polis Annual Conference is only some 2,5 months away. The event takes place on 22-23 November 2018 at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, UK. It is hosted by the current Polis Presidency, Transport for Greater Manchester.
Over 25 plenary and parallel session will discuss the latest developments in urban mobility. The site visits twill show mobility innovation from a close angle.
http://www.polisnetwork.eu/2018conference

NIMBYs Dominate Local Zoning Meetings

A study of the Boston area shows that those who participate in planning and zoning board meetings are older, wealthier, and much more NIMBYish.
The late Jane Jacobs never much liked forums for community participation in zoning and housing issues. She thought they were usually a sham to harness community sentiment in ways that benefitted powerful government and development interests. She personally told me the story of how Robert Moses dismissed her and her colleagues at one critical meeting as “nobody but a bunch of mothers!”
https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/09/nimbys-dominate-local-zoning-meetings/569440/

China is building 19 'supercity clusters'

The world has a demand problem, and it is dealing with it all wrong. Rather than allowing itself to be harmed by other countries’ problematic policies, China must work to create its own demand by making full use of its capacity for policy experimentation, long-term planning, and pragmatic decision-making.
In the decade since the 2008 global economic crisis, advanced economies have leaned heavily on easy monetary policy, hoping that large amounts of liquidity and ultra-low interest rates would generate enough demand to eliminate excess capacity. But this has undermined productivity, encouraged speculative activity, fueled asset bubbles, and exacerbated income and wealth inequality.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/how-cities-are-saving-china

European Cycling Summit 2018

We want to invite you to this year’s European Cycling Summit, taking place from September 24th to 26th in Salzburg.
This year's event is being held under the motto “Cycling culture moves” and will spotlight cyclists into the very centre of interest. Our goal for these three days is to shift the focus from infrastructure, technology and administration to humans on bicycles. We will provide inspiring impulses for the establishment and improvement of vibrant cycling cultures in cities and municipalities. The European Cycling Summit 2018 is going to host a wide variety of keynotes, panel discussions, paper sessions, interactive formats and an exhibition area. Moreover, excursions and an attractive social program are going to be offered to the delegates.
http://www.cyclingsummit2018.at/

New Urban Champions

Learning Expedition in Columbus, Ohio
NewCities is planning a Learning Expedition in Columbus, Ohio on October 23rd and 24th, 2018. This Learning Expedition, hosted in partnership with ENGIE, is the first installment of “New Urban Champions,” an initiative that invites medium-sized cities to share exemplary approaches to economic, social and environmental development on a global learning platform.
https://newcities.org/new-urban-champions/

Reclaiming the Smart City

This report “Reclaiming the Smart City: Personal Data, Trust and the New Commons” was recently published by Nesta, as part of DECODE (DEcentralised Citizen Owned Data Ecosystems), a major EU Horizon 2020 project. Addressing some of the major flaws in how traditional smart city projects have approached data collection and use, it focuses on how and why city governments are taking a more responsible approach to the use of personal data.
https://www.urenio.org/2018/09/06/new-report-nesta-reclaiming-smart-city/

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

International New Town Day 2018

New Town, Boom Town
After two successful International New Town Days in Almere (2016) and Milton Keynes, UK (2017) we bring this day of coming together and sharing experiences back to the Netherlands. We love to invite you to the annual International New Town Day, themed New Town, Boom Town, held at our location in Rotterdam on Thursday, November 15th.
http://www.newtowninstitute.org/

Invitation to the 6th international eBus:conference

Electric mobility in public transport is in a phase in which the various systems are making cross-connections and taking advantage of synergies. At the same time, a standard solution for electric buses is, however, still not in sight. There are many questions that need to be discussed: battery or fuel cell? With or without overhead wires? Clean air or potentially obstrusive charing infrastructure in the cityscape?
Be there and discuss with us! We look forward to your hearing your ideas and seeing you at the conference.
For registration and tickets:
scharzenberger@trolleymotion.eu

Reick's new district heating plant

Thomas Dautert stands in the innovation power plant Dresden.
Where one and a half years ago a large excavation pit was still gaping, now grey storage tanks tower up almost 30 metres – announcing that the municipal energy supplier DREWAG is expanding its district heating network. The 42-year-old specialist manages the project. Built in 1985, DREWAG already stored up to 6,600 cubic meters of hot water for optimized operation of the district heating network and the power plants. With the 20 new towers, the capacity has been more than doubled.
http://www.matchup-project.eu/news/big-boilers-from-reick/

Four strategies to deliver on a smart city vision in 2018

Almost five years ago, amidst the initial hype of the technology-driven “smart city,” we published a report urging cities to take a step back. While talking to the early digital pioneers within city government, these leaders expressed to us that technological development was happening faster than their agencies could keep up. In response, we proposed judging “smartness” by whether places had developed a clear vision to guide their digital future, rather than by how many sensors and software systems they had installed.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2018/08/20/four-strategies-to-deliver-on-a-smart-city-vision-in-2018/

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/

Green Streets in Dense Communities Webinar

This webinar will showcase a two-year planning initiative by the City of Cambridge and the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) to design green infrastructure strategies for dense, residential city streets. CRWA designed three individual green streets and developed a Green Streets guidance document to facilitate green infrastructure systems in all local roadway improvement projects.
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6949262425055015682

With Transportation Data, These Cities Became More Sustainable and Socially Inclusive

Cities across the world have pledged to take action on climate change, including planning for more sustainable forms of transportation. Many cities, however, lack the data and information necessary to track and monitor their progress. This data provides valuable examples of transportation patterns and needs, allowing cities to plan mitigation actions that decrease their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – an important step to meeting goals set in the Paris Agreement.
http://thecityfix.com/blog/transportation-data-cities-became-sustainable-socially-inclusive-ginette-walls-cassandra-etter-wenzel/

Horizontal Skyscraper in China Open to The Public Next Year

The growing Raffles City Chongqing complex boasts several firsts for China and the world. It’s crowning glory, a 300m “horizontal skyscraper,” set atop the tall, residential and commercial towers, is certainly among the biggest talking points. So much so, that the hoisting of its first section was televised live on prime-time Chinese television. The complex, consisting of eight towers, four of which are joined by the accordion-shaped upper conservatory area, and a lower podium featuring six floors of retail space and a transport hub, comprises a total of 1.12 million square meters. The upper skybridge is the world’s highest and links the world’s greatest number of towers besides offering a unique community space.
http://ecourbanhub.com/horizontal-skyscraper-china-raffles-city-chongqing-open-next-year/

Top 3 ICLEI World Congress 2018 takeaways

The ICLEI World Congress 2018 in Montréal brought together more than 1,000 people with one unifying question in mind: How do we build a sustainable urban world? With 177 cities and regions and more than 120 political leaders in the room, from Warsaw, Poland to Phuentsholing, Bhutan and from Honiara City, Solomon Islands to Cape Town, South Africa, there is no one single answer to this question.
Sustainable urban development will always be context-specific, but there were some clear unifying messages from the ICLEI World Congress that are worth our attention.
http://talkofthecities.iclei.org/your-guide-to-global-urban-transformation-top-3-iclei-world-congress-2018-takeaways/

World Cities Day

The United Nations has designated every 31st of October as World Cities Day. The Day is expected to greatly promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.
www.urbanoctober.org

Cascais bets on its young people

Young people have something to say about their school conditions and their environment but often lack access to governance structures that take them into account. That is why the Portuguese City of Cascais has chosen to invest in involving its young people (from 10 to 17) in its democratic governance (Good Practice – Bridging the Gap )
http://www.blog.urbact.eu/2018/08/cascais-bets-on-its-young-people/

Malaysia says no to foreign homeowners in Forest City project

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday he wanted to prevent foreigners from buying residential units in the $100 billion Forest City project, a setback for the Chinese developer as it tries to revive faltering demand for the site.
The project by developer Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd to build a city for 700,000 people in the state of Johor bordering Singapore has faced uncertainty since Mahathir's coalition won a shock victory at a May general election.
"One thing is certain, that city that is going to be built cannot be sold to foreigners," Mahathir told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, the capital.
http://www.thisisplace.org/i/?id=155101d4-b8c1-4545-b09b-b7fbbcf66383

Training workshop on Climate Strategy and Partnership

United Cities and Global Governments (UCLG) and its Sections will host a training workshop in partnership with the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) with a goal: provide a clear overview of regional priorities in climate strategy and action from the point of view of local authorities and start building a discussion between UCLG Sections and the GCoM on strategic and practical aspects of climate.
Organised in a full-day and half, this training workshop should explore how the tools developed by GCoM can help respond to the challenges defined around climate action at the local level in the different parts of the world.
https://www.uclg.org/en/media/events/training-workshop-climate-strategy-and-partnership

Autumn Mobility Forum in Burgas

Over the past 12 months, the European Commission has taken on several policy initiatives aimed at helping the EU transport sector to become future-proof, more sustainable and innovative. With the three mobility packages, under the branding 'Europe on the Move', published between May 2017 and May 2018, the European Commission aims to allow all Europeans citizens to benefit from safer, cleaner and smarter mobility solutions.
EUROCITIES Mobility Forum meeting in Burgas will present the participants with these initiatives and discuss not only their impacts for cities but also how EUROCITIES and its members could approach them and deal with them.
http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/news/Autumn-Mobility-Forum-in-Burgas-WSPO-AYRHFU

London's parks accused of 'creeping privatisation' of public spaces

Proliferation of music festivals and other events across capital’s green spaces means disruption and restrictions to access for residents
Access to parks across London is being increasingly restricted by corporate events such as music festivals, a researcher has found, linking it to “creeping privatisation” of public space.
Findings presented at the Royal Geographical Society’s annual conference on Friday show that, more than ever before, London parks are being rented out to private companies as councils seek to boost revenue to fund key services.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/31/londons-parks-accused-of-creeping-privatisation-of-public-spaces

Pedestrian-centred urban planning in Spain

As with many other cities, Barcelona faces many problems, including a lack of green space, high levels of pollution and ever-increasing traffic. Its solution potentially provides a way forward for cities facing similar problems.
Since Mayor Ada Colau came into office in 2015, she has developed the city's transport policy around large-scale city pedestrianisation (using Barcelona’s historic plan as a vision), with a goal to reduce private car and moped use by 21%. The ‘cutting edge of urban design’ concept developed across the Catalonian capital is known as ‘Superblocks’, which are 40-acre, pedestrian-first environments. The superblock is not a completely new idea; in 1993 the first large pedestrianised area was situated in the El Born district of the city. However, Colau’s intention is much more extensive this time, with the ultimate aim being to have some 500 superblocks covering practically the whole of Barcelona.
http://www.eltis.org/discover/news/pedestrian-centred-urban-planning-spain

CIVITAS Forum 2018: Experience Europe's Inclusive and Multimodal Mobility Future

The importance of transport’s social dimension is becoming increasingly clear - mobility shapes lives and prospects. It is crucial that transport systems are environmentally friendly, inclusive, efficient, and centred on meeting diverse user needs. Yet how can this be accomplished?
Under the banner of "Mobility for U and Me", this year's CIVITAS Forum Conference will gather hundreds of policymakers, city representatives, academics, and practitioners in Umeå, Sweden, from 19-21 September to debate this critical question.
http://www.eltis.org/discover/news/civitas-forum-2018-experience-europes-inclusive-and-multimodal-mobility-future

SPICE Final Webinar - How can cities obtain innovative mobility solutions

SPICE's aim has been not only to collect the best practices, but also share them and, in turn, improve public procurement throughout Europe. To this end, the SPICE consortium organised a series of workshops and webinars. In this final webinar, the SPICE team will disclose the key findings of the project. The SPICE Project is coordinated by the City of Copenhagen and supported by EUROCITIES.
http://spice-project.eu/2018/06/26/spice-final-webinar-how-can-cities-obtain-innovative-mobility-solutions-by-applying-new-procurement-approaches/

As heat rises, Swedish city goes green - and thrives

Ringed by forests in southern Sweden, the city of Vaxjo is thriving even as it cuts greenhouse gas emissions at rates more typical of economic crashes in recessions or wars.
It is a radical example of tackling climate change by cutting the use of fossil fuels, offering a glimpse of how the world could stay within warming limits which U.N. scientists say are needed to avoid significant environmental damage.
http://www.thisisplace.org/i/?id=4e449e8a-ae80-4c0f-82cd-ab85f07e5e8f

What cities would look like if they were designed for humans

What would cities look like if they were designed by infants? As Christine Murray says (What would cities look like if they were designed by mothers?, 27 August), they would have the slopes and lifts so necessary for pushchairs. But what policymakers do not know, and every infant could tell them, is how vital it is for their development that their parents and other caregivers have plenty of good company.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/29/what-cities-would-look-like-if-they-were-designed-for-humans

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Further archived news available on request from: Kate More