I’m a City Changer is a worldwide campaign with the aim of sensitizing and creating awareness among citizens on urban issues to achieve better cities. It is promoted by UN-Habitat, the city agency of the United Nations, through the World Urban Campaign. Good Cities for All I’m a City Changer Campaign works to achieve better cities and better life fostering proper sustainable urban development through key core components:
A Resilient City – Prepare cities for change, managing adversity, resilience and take action to reduce risk. Urbanization and development can only be sustainable if it is adaptable to future demands and risks, and is resilient to the consequences of climate change or natural disasters. Empowering cities and communities to plan for and effectively manage adversity is fundamental to the urban agenda.
A Green City – Build environmentally sound and carbon efficient cities. Buildings alone account for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, and the way we plan and design our cities now will have significant implications for how resilient, resource efficient and environmentally sound they are in the future. A green city means promoting sustainable development through a carbon efficient built environment.
A Safe and Healthy City – Make cities safer and healthier. Cities hold the answers to challenges posed by urbanization, which are in turn inextricably linked to issues of and agendas concerning the economy, climate change, resource consumption, food security and more. Cities need to be highly livable environments in order to capitalize on their tremendous potential as the drivers of sustainable solutions to our current and future challenges.
An Inclusive City – Build socially inclusive, accessible, pro-poor, equitable and gender sensitive cities. Socially equitable development is one of the three pillars of sustainability, and is vital to creating a shared, sustainable urban future. The challenges posed by the pace and scale of contemporary urbanization require us to invest in infrastructure, development and political processes that promote inclusivity, and a pro-poor, gender sensitive agenda. An inclusive city promotes equitable rights to the city and therefore allows all citizens to partake of the urban advantage.
A Planned City – Plan the cities of tomorrow for sustainable decision-making processes. Sustainable urbanization and development requires planning processes and political frameworks that harness the city’s assets and potential. Sustainable planning entails participatory decision making processes and particular attention to development that balances social, environmental and economic needs. Of equal importance, sustainable planning and a planned city are fundamental to achieving the characteristics of all other World Urban Campaign thematic areas.
A Productive City – Make cities more efficient and better places to ensure decent work. Economically equitable development is also one of the three pillars of sustainability, and a requisite component of any healthy, livable and sustainable city. Pursuing a sustainable development agenda means planning cities that promote and foster livelihoods for all citizens through economic opportunities.
Peace, dwight
