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As the world sees the biggest wave of urban growth in history – with almost 70% of its population expected to be living in urban areas by 2050, up from 56% today – the task of making cities greener and safer is becoming more urgent. That cities are attracting more people is nothing new noted urban specialist Philipp Rode, who runs London-based research centre LSE Cities. "People move to cities to live and work because they're a solution: they significantly reduce the amount of movement and space required to do anything," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. From space shortages to worsening climate change, cities are being forced to adapt at a pace never experienced before. How far can they push their limits and make sure they leave no one behind? Follow this link to learn more Sourced from: Place

What is the future of street design? How do we define “the street” in the future? As new mobility options and smart city deployments arrive on our streets and sidewalks, street design is top of mind. Cities are faced with a growing list of urban services and smart city street deployments to balance on the street: bikeshare and scooters to bathrooms, digital kiosks, neighborhood news feeds, pedestrian safety, and street furniture. As a result, cities and their partners have to think carefully about how to better design their streets and who we are designing our streets for. You will hear from three of the leading thinkers – Anna Muessig from Gehl, Geeti Silwal from Perkins & Will, and Ed Krafcik from Soofa, on how we redesign our streets for public life and what our streets might look like in the near-term and distant future. The webinar is being held Tuesday, October 22, 1-2 p.m. ET. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: Meeting of the Minds

The children of the Rey Poeta orchestra filed onto the stage at Mexico City’s Anthropology Museum Monday morning clutching recycled instruments made from buckets, bits of piping, and plastic bottles. This was an innovative way to illustrate the 2019 World Habitat Day theme of Frontier technologies as an innovative tool to transform waste to wealth. The Museum’s auditorium was packed with over 300 dignitaries, politicians, experts, academics, NGOs, and young people and from round the world eager to share innovative ideas. The Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, told a packed audience “We are facing a global waste management challenge on a global scale that requires urgent action. Our cities produce 7 to 10 billion tonnes of waste a year and current rubbish collection services don’t even reach half of the urban population in low-income countries.” Full video linked here. Outside the auditorium, participants signed a large board pledging to rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle their waste. This pledge echoes the UN-Habitat Waste Wise Cities campaign which encourages cities to sign up to promote sustainable waste management and has so far attracted over 80 cities. This year World Habitat Day celebrations were held across the world including Cameroon, Kenya, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. Last year over 80 cities, towns and communities celebrated the day. Follow this link to learn more about World Habitat Day. Sourced from: UN-Habitat

With the impact of climate change and urbanization growing rapidly, cities are called to act and redesign their urban policies to ensure a healthy life to their citizens. In this context, FAO recently launched the “FAO Framework for the Urban Food Agenda,” which encourages local and national governments to adopt a Food Systems approach in their public policies, in order to face environmental crises and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals also at a local level. The seminar foresees an interactive discussion after a presentation by Ms. Barbara Emanuel on the case from the city of Toronto, which leveraged on climate change action and a Food Systems approach to improving the life of its communities. Ms. Barbara Emanuel is currently Manager of the Toronto Food Strategy, which proposes an innovative vision for Toronto's food, integrating health, climate change action, city-building, and systems transformation. This discussion will provide an opportunity to understand how Food Systems are able to fight climate crises, fostering sustainable cities with inclusive urban policies that promote safe nutriment and new food procurement strategies: from food loss and waste reduction to influencing public’s dietary behavior. The proposed actions reflect the commitments outlined in the C40 Good Food Cities Declaration, with scientific evidences enforcing the need to introduce this approach at any level, as FAO’s core mission through the Urban Food Agenda. The seminar on Tuesday, October 15 will be held in Rome, Italy. You can join via Skype (5-6:30 a.m. EDT) at this Link.