The Covid-19 crisis introduced new challenges to the already complex urban management tasks. Faced with the emergence of the virus and the lock-down measures, local and regional authorities looked for solutions to meet the pressing needs of the most vulnerable communities, ensure a safe return to social and economic life, protect the cultural sector and address rising unemployment, poverty and inequality.
Solutions to the challenges cannot come from one single actor alone but will instead need joint knowledge and solutions. UCLG, in its role as a binder of local and regional governments, stimulated the debate to leverage the collective power of its network to share ideas, resources, and knowledge.
As the crisis evolved, 2021 started with other levels of experience and maturity in the debates and exercises. This year, new discussions took place, including on how to give shape to the living community that has been formed beyond the virtual gatherings.
UCLG hosted, then, new spaces for dialogue and interaction between different stakeholders and the political leadership of the local and regional governments constituency. The topics addressed focused on each of the axes of the Pact for the Future to renew the social contract for the people, the planet, and governments.
The #CitiesAreListening Experiences discovered how to bring about a resilient recovery, and provide an ongoing dialogue to shape UCLG’s international advocacy and inclusive, sustainable thinking for the future.
These sessions explore issues such as the future of tourism, access to public space and developing healthy cities beyond healthcare, the relationship between culture and sustainable development, and the relationship between climate change and our food systems.
To host the outputs of the #Citiesarelistening discussions, accompanied by an adequate organization and presentation of the information, GlobalCAD supported UCLG with the provision of an online knowledge platform.
The #Citiesarelistening knowledge hub presents and documents the main conclusions generated by the #CitiesareListening discussions as core, valuable outputs for the participatory roadmap to the 7th UCLG World Congress, to take place in October 2022, in Daejeon, Korea.
The platform is organized in 17 topics of discussions, including Housing, Migration and youth, Smart Cities, Cooperation, Local Democracy, Urban Policies, Economic Inclusion, Public Space, Food systems, Tourism and Culture, among others.
All the topic is available in English, Spanish and French and highlights the contributions of around 200 speakers from 94 cities.
