Skip navigation

 

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

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:

  1. Mr. Josep Roig, Secretary-General, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
  2. Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
  3. Ms. Skye Dobson, Executive Director, ACTogether Uganda, Slum Dwellers International
  4. 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:

  1. Mr. Shri Karan Bir Singh Sidhu, Joint Secretary of Housing, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, India
  2. Mr. Hans d'Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
  3. Professor Saskia Sassen, Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology;  Co-Chair of the Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University [Presentation]
  4. Professor Yang Kaizhong, Peking University, China [Presentation] [Paper]
  5. 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:

  1. His Excellency Mpho Parks Tau, Mayor of Johannesburg, South Africa (via video-link)
  2. Mr. Paul Carrasco, Prefect of Azuay, Ecuador
  3. Ms. Zoubida Allaoua, Acting Vice President and Network Head, Sustainable Development, World Bank
  4. 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:

Panelists:

  1. His Excellency Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Ghana
  2. Her Excellency Jacqueline Moustache-Belle, Mayor of Victoria, Seychelles, and Co-President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
  3. His Excellency Amiri Nondo, Mayor of Morogoro, United Republic of Tanzania
  4. His Excellency Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, Special Advisor on Economic Affairs to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission
  5. 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:

  1. Her Excellency Angela Brown-Burke, Mayor of Kingston, Jamaica
  2. Professor Hassan Radoine, Central Director of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ministry of Urban and Territorial Planning, Morocco
  3. 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:

  1. Mr. Holger Dalkmann, Director, Embarq, World Resources Institute [Presentation]
  2. Mr. Lance J. Brown, President of American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Chapter, and Founding Director, Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization [Presentation]
  3. Dr. Janice Perlman, Founder & President of the Mega-Cities Project [Presentation]
  4. Dr. Kalpana Viswanath, Founder, Safetipin [Presentation]
  5. 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:

  1. His Excellency Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Ghana
  2. Her Excellency Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, France, and Co-President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
  3. Dr. Patrick Ho Chi Ping, Secretary-General, China Energy Fund Committee
  4. Mr. Don Chen, Just Cities, Ford Foundation
  5. Mr. Gary Lawrence, Corporate Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, AECOM
  6. 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:

  1. His Excellency, Mr. Paul Lindvall, Mayor of Linkoping, Sweden
  2. Mr. David Cadman, President of ICLEI
  3. Mr. Tikender Singh Panwar, Deputy Mayor, Shimla, India
  4. Mr. Mussa Natty, Municipal Director, Kinondoni Municipal Council, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Closing Remarks by

FROM GLOBAL COMMITMENT TO NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION