Statements and presentations
DAY I (Tuesday, 27 May)
Opening of the Integration Segment [Summary of the opening and the panel discussion] [WATCH ARCHIVED VIDEO]
- Opening remarks by the Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council, His Excellency Vladimir Drobnjak (Croatia)
- Address by the President of the General Assembly of the sixty-eighth session, His Excellency John W. Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda), to be delivered by Her Excellency Isabelle Picco (Monaco), Vice-President of the General Assembly
- Address by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Ban Ki-moon
Keynote Addresses
- His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda
- His Excellency Angelino Garzon, Vice-President of Colombia
- His Excellency Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City and the United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change
- Mr. Joan Clos, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
Statements on the flooding in Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia
- His Excellency Zlatco Lagumdzija, Deputy Chair of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (video message)
- Her Excellency Vesnu Pusic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia (video message)
- Her Excellency Kori Udovieki, Deputy Prime Minister, and the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government of Serbia (statement delivered by His Excellency Milan Milanovic, Permanent Representative of Serbia to the United Nations; video message)
Panel discussion on "How can urbanization policies promote integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development?" [Biographies] [Summary of the opening and the panel discussion] [Watch archived video]
Keynote Address:
- His Excellency Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey, and President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
Moderator:
- Professor Eugenie Birch, Urban Research and Education, the University of Pennsylvania School of Design
Panelists:
- Mr. Josep Roig, Secretary-General, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
- Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- Ms. Skye Dobson, Executive Director, ACTogether Uganda, Slum Dwellers International
- Mr. David Post, Executive Manager, Global Smarter Cities, IBM
Panel discussion on "Cities as drivers of sustainable development" [Biographies] [Summary] [Watch archived video]
Keynote Address:
- Her Excellency Anka Mrak-Taritas, Minister of Construction and Physical Planning, Croatia
Moderator:
- Mr. Andrew Reynolds (United States), Chairperson of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD)
Panelists:
- Mr. Shri Karan Bir Singh Sidhu, Joint Secretary of Housing, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, India
- Mr. Hans d'Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- Professor Saskia Sassen, Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology; Co-Chair of the Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University [Presentation]
- Professor Yang Kaizhong, Peking University, China [Presentation] [Paper]
- Mr. Peter Calthorpe, Principal, Calthorpe Associates, Urban Designers, Planners and Architects
Discussants:
- Professor Gunter Meinert, Programme Manager, German Development Cooperation, Germany
- Ms. Lorena Zarate, Habitat International Coalition
General debate [Watch archived video]
DAY 2 (Wednesday, 28 May)
Interactive dialogue on "Urban prosperity and urban inequalities" [Biographies] [Watch archived video]
Moderator:
- Ms. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
Speakers:
- His Excellency Mpho Parks Tau, Mayor of Johannesburg, South Africa (via video-link)
- Mr. Paul Carrasco, Prefect of Azuay, Ecuador
- Ms. Zoubida Allaoua, Acting Vice President and Network Head, Sustainable Development, World Bank
- Ms. Carmen Griffiths, Executive Director, Construction Resource and Development Center, Kingston, Jamaica (Representing Women Major Group)
Discussant
- His Excellency Dr. Michal Mlynár, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to UN agencies in Nairobi and Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) to UN-Habitat
Keynote Address: Urbanization as Opportunity [Biography] [Watch archived video]
- Paul Romer, Professor of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University; Director, Urbanization Project
General debate [Watch archived video]
Panel discussion on "Sustainable urbanization in Africa" [Biographies] [Summary] [Watch archived video]
Focus/questions:
What are the specific challenges of urbanization in Africa? How can sustainable urbanization address the rural-urban divide?
Moderator:
- Mr. Maged Abdelaziz, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa
Panelists:
- His Excellency Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Ghana
- Her Excellency Jacqueline Moustache-Belle, Mayor of Victoria, Seychelles, and Co-President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
- His Excellency Amiri Nondo, Mayor of Morogoro, United Republic of Tanzania
- His Excellency Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, Special Advisor on Economic Affairs to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission
- Mr. Abouhani Moulay Abdelghani, Director General of Urbanization, Architecture and Planning, Morocco
Discussant
- Dr. Susan Parnell, Professor of Environmental and Geographical Sciences at the University of Cape Town
DAY 3 (Thursday, 29 May)
Thematic discussion on "Effective governance, policy-making and planning for sustainable urbanization" [Biographies] [Summary] [Watch archived video]
Introduction of the report of the Secretary-General on the Thematic Debate
Moderator:
- Mr. Berry Vrbanovic, Vice-President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities; Councilor of Kitchener, Canada; Deputy Treasurer of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
Speakers:
- Her Excellency Angela Brown-Burke, Mayor of Kingston, Jamaica
- Professor Hassan Radoine, Central Director of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ministry of Urban and Territorial Planning, Morocco
- Ms. Clara Irazabal Zurita, Director of Latin Lab; Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Columbia University
Imagining the cities of the future- Solutions, innovations and partnerships for sustainable urbanization [Biographies]
Moderator:
- Professor Urs P. Gauchat, Dean of College of Architecture and Design, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Founding Director, Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization
Speakers:
- Mr. Holger Dalkmann, Director, Embarq, World Resources Institute [Presentation]
- Mr. Lance J. Brown, President of American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Chapter, and Founding Director, Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization [Presentation]
- Dr. Janice Perlman, Founder & President of the Mega-Cities Project [Presentation]
- Dr. Kalpana Viswanath, Founder, Safetipin [Presentation]
- Ms. Rose Molokoane, Coordinator, Slum Dwellers International
A conversation on sustainable urbanization [Biographies][Watch archived video]
Keynote Address:
- Her Excellency Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Co-President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
Moderator:
- Ms. Afaf Konja, Spokesperson for the President of 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly
Participants:
- His Excellency Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Ghana
- Her Excellency Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, France, and Co-President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
- Dr. Patrick Ho Chi Ping, Secretary-General, China Energy Fund Committee
- Mr. Don Chen, Just Cities, Ford Foundation
- Mr. Gary Lawrence, Corporate Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, AECOM
- Mr. Richard Florida, Professor, University of Toronto and New York University; Senior Editor, The Atlantic
The Way Forward [Biographies] [Watch archived video]
- Keynote address by Mr. Joan Clos on HABITAT III: The way forward towards a 2016 urban agenda
- Moderator: Richard Florida, Professor, University of Toronto and New York University; Senior Editor, The Atlantic
Live video connection with the following participants of the Mayors Adaptation Forum at the Resilient Cities Congress hosted by ICLEI in Bonn, Germany:
- His Excellency, Mr. Paul Lindvall, Mayor of Linkoping, Sweden
- Mr. David Cadman, President of ICLEI
- Mr. Tikender Singh Panwar, Deputy Mayor, Shimla, India
- Mr. Mussa Natty, Municipal Director, Kinondoni Municipal Council, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Closing Remarks by
- H.E. Mr. Vladimir Drobnjak, Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council [Watch archived video]