About half of the world’s population are living in cities. Rapid urbanization puts pressure on urban infrastructure and labor markets, also contributes to environmental degradation, and speeds up the instability of construction projects and dwellings. Climate change is yet another cause that will harm the stability of cities. A solid and global plan on how to tackle urban planning is therefore much needed, which is why the New Urban Agenda was endorsed by the UN in 2016. The prospect of the Agenda is to function as a tool to halt poverty and realize Sustainable Development Goals.

The 9th session of the World Urban Forum, Cities 2030, Cities for all: Implementing the New Urban Agenda, took place February 7-13 in Kuala Lumpur.

A set of participants representing civil societies, indigenous people and local communities, local and national governments, academia, the private sector, and multinational organizations gathered to write a declaration on how to engage key actors to be part of the realization of the Agenda. One section of the forum discussed ways to overcome the challenge of broadening access to vulnerable participants – such as youths and women – to engage in planning, implementation, and monitoring in cooperation with governments and international agents. You can read more about the declaration on this page: http://wuf9.org/kuala-lumpur-declaration/.