[MUSIC] Hello, this is Kes McCormick. Today, I'm gonna talk about processes for sustainable urban transformation. The 21st century has been called the Urban Century by UN-Habitat, which is the United Nations agency responsible for sustainable human settlements. This is not only because more and more people are living in cities. In fact, over 50% of the global population now lives in urban areas, and this trend will continue. It's also because of the strategic importance of cities in relation to sustainable development and the green economy. Furthermore, it's increasingly recognized that policies by international bodies and national governments need to be implemented at the city level to have an impact. Cities play a dominant role in global consumption, production, and pollution. And they are associated with some big problems like air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and poverty. But the concentration of population, activities, and resource use in cities also brings potentials for important efficiency increases, as well as for multi-purpose solutions, combining different sustainability goals. Cities are also centers of innovation and creativity, where incredible change is possible. The emerging concept of sustainable urban transformation places a strong emphasis on structural transformation processes that are broad, multi-dimensional, and have a potential for radical change. These processes can effectively direct urban development towards sustainability. It also means understanding cities as a source of possibilities for sustainability, promoting active collaboration among diverse stakeholders, and integrating different perspectives and bodies of knowledge and expertise. There are three key areas to discuss when it comes to sustainable urban transformation: governance and planning, innovation and business, and lifestyles and consumption. When we talk about governance, we mean the act of governing, rather than government itself. Governance involves multiple public and private actors in debates, conflicts, and power struggles, as well as interactions between international, national, regional, and local levels. It also relates to processes and decisions that seek to define actions, grant power, and verify performance. Government refers to formal structures or systems by which a state or territory is organized and governed. Effective strategic planning and the integration of policy instruments is very important. Such efforts should be interconnected across sectors and be adapted for specific urban and national policy conditions to ensure empowerment, engagement, and collaboration of relevant stakeholders. But for strategic planning to be effective, there are three key policy challenges that have to be taken into account. Policies must be ambitious, but politically and economically realistic. Policies must be developed quickly and and with flexibility for rapidly changing urban conditions. And contradictory policies have to be eliminated. There are also significant challenges in reconciling economic growth and maintaining or restoring the local and global environment. Innovation and clean technology are a key part of a green economy, but also for fostering urban competitiveness in a globalizing economy. Sustainable urban economic development must encourage symbiotic relationships among industries, governments, universities, and citizens to ensure sustainable management of human ecological and economic capital. The negative implications of over-consumption are particularly evident in cities. UN-Habitat suggests that harmony within cities hinges not only on prosperity and its benefits, but on two pillars that make harmony possible: equity and sustainability. By defining an improved quality of life and creating visions of sustainable lifestyles, it will be possible to outline how to design, support, and govern more sustainable cities where people have a good life. Intelligently designed cities can respond to the major environmental, social, and economic challenges of the 21st century. And we have many great examples here in Scandinavia, like Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Malmö. WWF, or the World Wide Fund for Nature, concludes, depending on how we develop and manage our urban infrastructures during the next three decades, they could become either a force for environmental destruction or a primary source of ecological rejuvenation. Cities therefore represent both a complex challenge and an amazing opportunity for greening our economies and advancing sustainable development. [MUSIC]
