WCS 2016: Mayors and Leaders Pledged to make Cities Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable

Declaration to be submitted at United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III)

Themed “Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Innovative Cities of Opportunity”, the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum (WCSMF) 2016 held today brought together about 110 mayors and city leaders, top executives of corporations and international organisations who participated actively at the Forum. They discussed how cities are addressing urban challenges with innovative solutions, and how governance processes and tools can be adopted to facilitate these innovations and developments to create opportunities for urban populations.

Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development, Singapore, and Chairman of the Forum, highlighted three key considerations in urban planning and governance for cities. They include the need for long-term city planning; the need for constant innovation and research and development and; the need to constantly engage different stakeholders and take decisive actions.

The WCSMF 2016 is a key highlight at this year’s World Cities Summit (WCS), a biennial global platform for government and industry leaders to address liveable and sustainable city challenges, share integrated solutions, and forge high-level partnerships. Currently in its 7th edition, the WCSMF nurtures a global community of mayors and city leaders, to exchange ideas and best practices and explore solutions to address common challenges.

Discussions at the Forum centred on the persistent urban problems cities face which require complex, integrated solutions. The solutions discussed looked at building resilience against extreme weather, putting liveability at the heart of urbanisation, engaging youths in new solutions using technology, coordinating different levels of city plans, and enhancing capacity building for city development.

Also at WCSMF this year, the discussions from the World Cities Summit Young Leaders Symposium [1] were summarised and presented. Held this morning, the Symposium with 56 young leaders from 38 cities generated active discussions on innovative solutions and governance. Gabe Klein, Entrepreneur at Cityfi & Fontinalis Partners LLC, presented the Young Leaders’ insights into urbanisation’s long-standing challenges. Challenges surfaced included the ageing of infrastructure and ageing populations. They also discussed insights into urban management and effective governance.

This year, mayors and city leaders pledged their support through a declaration, to make cities safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. They have identified areas of action for cities as contributions to the upcoming United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) held in October 2016, and the New Urban Agenda [2] . Please refer to Annex A for details on the Declaration.

WCS Mayors Forum 2017

Minister Lawrence Wong also announced that next year’s WCSMF will be held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The city was awarded the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in 2014 for overcoming difficulties through several stages of transformation to achieve remarkable economic prosperity, and preserving its celebrated cultural and historic heritage concurrently. Mr Qu Futian, Mayor of Suzhou extended a warm welcome to the mayors and city leaders, on behalf of the city and people of Suzhou, to attend the 2017 Mayors Forum.

[1] The World Cities Summit Young Leaders is a select group of change-makers from diverse sectors who shape the global urban agenda at the annual World Cities Summit Young Leaders Symposium – the 3rd edition this year.

[2] The New Urban Agenda is an outcome document that will be adopted at the Habitat III Conference in October 2016.