UN Habitat Symposium: UN NEW URBAN AGENDA towards Sustainable Urban and Territorial Development

The member countries of the United Nations are discussing the “United Nations New Urban Agenda,” a set of international policies which aim to support countries in addressing urbanization in appropriate ways. The New Urban Agenda is to be adopted at the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), scheduled to be held on October 17th~20th of this year in Quito, Ecuador.
 
After the 1976 Habitat I Conference held in Vancouver, the “United Nations Declaration on Human Settlements” was implemented, which recognized collectively the necessity of an emphasis on the quality of life within human settlement policies to ensure the protection of human rights. Twenty years later in 1996, the Second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) brought forth a global plan of action addressing the issue of human settlements through the development of the “Habitat Agenda” and “Istanbul Declaration.”
 
In this occasion, the UN Conference reconvenes 20 years after “Habitat II” with the goal of reflecting upon the progress made by each country within these past 20 years as well as tying in the issue of rapid urbanization to economic growth and problem-solving the human settlement issues under the direction of Dr. Joan Clos, Secretary General of the Habitat III Conference and Executive Director of UN-Habitat. A draft (of the New Urban Agenda) has been under negotiation by member countries through various preparatory meetings.
 
With that said, prior to Habitat III taking place, we have decided to hold a symposium, which includes a keynote speech by the Secretary General of Habitat III, Dr. Joan Clos, and a panel discussion by professionals and experts, as a way to understand what the New Urban Agenda entails and to hold a place for debate and discussion upon the ultimate urban vision illustrated by the Agenda. To those who are interested in participating, we ask that you register beforehand. Please see the link below for more information about the draft of the Agenda.
https://www.habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda/
 
<Program>
15:30  Registration Open
16:00  Welcome and Opening Remarks
 Atsushi Deguchi
 Professor, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences
16:05  UN-Habitat Introduction
 Yoshinobu Fukasawa
 Director, UN-Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific - Fukuoka
16:15  Keynote: “Vision of Cities and Urban Vision of the United Nations New Urban Agenda”
  Joan Clos
  Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Secretary-General of the Habitat III Conference
16:45  Panel Discussion
 “UN New Urban Agenda towards Sustainable Urban and Territorial Development”
 Coordinator:
  Norihisa Shima
  Associate Professor, Toyo University, Department of Regional Development Studies
 Panelists:
  Akiko Okabe
   Professor, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences
  Mamoru Taniguchi
  Professor, University of Tsukuba, Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences
  Yoshifumi Muneta
  Professor, Kyoto Prefectural University, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences
  Toshiyasu Noda
  Professor, Seinan Gakuin University, Department of Law
  Joan Clos
  Executive Director of UN-Habitat
17:55  Closing Remarks
18:00  Closing