WORLD CITIES DAY (EDC): historical background
UN-Habitat is an area of human settlements development in the United Nations system. UN-Habitat was founded in 1978.
Its objectives are to promote sustainable human settlements development through awareness-raising, policy-making, capacity-building, knowledge-building, and strengthening partnerships between Governments and civil society. The organization focuses on two priority areas: providing quality housing and sustainable urban development.
UN-Habitat is the organizer and inspirer of the annual celebration of World Cities Day. In 2019, World Cities Day will be held in Yekaterinburg in the Russian Federation on October 30-31. It is organized by UN-Habitat, the Shanghai People's Government and Yekaterinburg.
The goal of World Cities Day is to draw attention to urbanization trends, challenges and prospects for sustainable urban development, support international cooperation and contribute to global efforts to build balanced, prosperous cities. As a result, people's living conditions and quality of life are improving.
The main goals of World Cities Day 2019:
- Raising awareness of how digital innovations can be used to provide urban services in order to improve the quality of life and improve the urban environment.;
- Identify promising best practices on the latest technologies that will increase the level of inclusivity in cities, and share experiences;
- Presentation of renewable energy generation opportunities in cities;
- A study of how advanced technologies can promote social inclusion in cities, including those located in remote areas.