Blog

This blog is a space for knowledge-sharing, opinion, advocacy and debate, both between UCLG members and the wider international local and regional government community. Contributions and comments are welcome from anyone who is interested in how sub-national governments can make the world a better place for their citizens.

Read on to discover the most varied, up-to-date and innovative initiatives of local governments and their partners from across the globe.

Interview: Bernard Soulage, Vice President of the Rhône-Alpes region
Blog
Coopération - 10/09/2014
Bernard Soulage is the Vice President of the Rhône-Alpes region and its representative for Europe and external relations. He has been a member of the Committee of the Regions since 2004 and is also a member of the Executive Bureau of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), as well as the spokesman for their Forum of Regions. (+)
Urban planning, environmental exposures and health
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Urban Strategic Planning, Urban health, Sustainability - 08/09/2014
The Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) is one of the main research groups conducts research around the theme of Urban planning, environmental exposures and health. Nowadays, The majority of people live in cities and urbanisation is continuing. Cities have long been known to be society’s predominant engine of innovation and wealth creation, yet they are also its main source of pollution and disease. (+)
International Seminar: "Urban policy in the cities of Mozambique"
International Seminar: "Urban policy in cities of Mozambique"
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Cooperación descentralizada, Intermediary Cities - 28/08/2014
The international seminar on "Urban policies in cities of Mozambique" was held in the University Lúrio FAPF (Faculty of Architecture and planning) in Nampula, Mozambique, from 11 to 14 August, 2014. Around 80 municipal technicians, local governments and academia representatives, gathered on this occasion. (+)
Cairo in Egypt rehabilitates the ‘el darb el ahmar’ neighbourhood
The Inclusive Cities Observatory: A successful Participatory Rehabilitation Process in Al Darb al-Ahmar, El Cairo
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Urban Strategic Planning, Urban innovation - 26/08/2014
Al-Darb al-Ahmar is an historic district in Cairo, and its 100,000 inhabitants are among the poorest. While featuring rich concentration of Islamic monuments, Al-Darb al-Ahmar suffers from a lack of adequate infrastructure and services, as a baseline survey revealed in 2003. (+)
Josep Roig, UN
Finding a place for cities in the UN’s “Sustainable Development Goals”
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Sustainable urbanization, SDGs, Urban SDG - 25/08/2014
UCLG and its members are advocating for Sustainable Development Goals that take local and regional priorities into account, in particular in the light of rapid urbanization faced in many regions of the world. The Campaign for an Urban SDG was launched because the dynamism of cities represents a major sustainable development opportunity and a dedicated and stand-alone urban SDG is essential. (+)
The report reviews issues of access, legal and institutional frameworks, service management and financing, and governance structures. It works to strike a balance between the presentation of global and national level data, and local level case studies. Of course one of the limitations of the report, is that in taking a global approach to the subject matter there is very little space to go in-depth on the complex conditions found within countries, or the very real differences between different local gov
Basic Services for all in an Urbanizing World: GOLD III, Book review
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Access to basic services, Post-2015 - 30/07/2014
Basic Services for All in an Urbanizing World is the third instalment in United Cities and Local Government’s (UCLG) flagship series of global reports on local democracy and decentralisation (GOLD III). In the context of rapid urbanisation, climate change and economic uncertainty the report is an impressive attempt. (+)

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