Press Briefing
Thursday, 9 June 2016
1:00 p.m.
UN Headquarters, Room S-237
Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN Habitat
Mr. Eduardo López Moreno, Coordinator, Research and Capacity Development Branch, UN-Habitat
Prof. Shlomo Angel, Adjunct Professor & Senior Research Scholar, New York University
Mr. Anthony Flint, Fellow & Director of Public Affairs, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
UN Habitat’s Global Urban Observatory has created a new UN Global Sample of Cities to monitor, report, and advise on world urbanization trends, conditions and developments.
In preparation for Habitat III Conference, UN-Habitat presents to the world a global sample of 200 cities that is scientifically representative of the universe of cities. Without studying each and every city in the world, which is virtually impossible, this sample allows to track and understand what is happening in the world’s cities using new statistical tools and techniques.
The UN Sample of Cities will allow for global and regional monitoring of progress of both the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at Habitat III and the Sustainable Development Goals urban indicators. The sample will be available through open sources data to be consulted by practitioners, academicians and the international community at large to advance in the efforts of connecting data and information to informed decision-making.
The UN Sample of Cities is currently used to estimate the worldwide expansion of urban areas between 1990 and 2015 as well as changes in urban land consumption during this period. UN-Habitat will present to the press key findings and results of this study in advance to the final report to be unveiled during Habitat III Conference. This work is done in collaboration with New York University, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
The press conference will be webcast live on UN Web TV. http://webtv.un.org/
Media contacts:
Florencia Soto Nino, sotonino@un.org; UN Department of Public Information
For more information, please contact: Spokesperson & Head, Press & Media Relations Unit, Media Liaison,
Tel: (254 20) 7623153, 7623151;7625518 Mobile: 254-0791749981, Fax: (254 20) 7624060: E-mail: habitat.press@unhabitat.org