UN-Habitat's "State of the World's Cities
2008/2009" Report Singapore Launch

The Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) hosted the launch of UN-HABITAT’s flagship publication “State of the World’s Cities 2008/2009” Report in Singapore on 24 October 2008.

The focus for this year’s Report is “Harmonious Cities”, as a run-up to the upcoming World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China.  The Report was launched by UN-HABITAT officials, Mr. Ali Shabou (Chief of the UN-HABITAT Office in Amman, Jordan), Mr. Banji Oyeyinka (Director of Monitoring and Research Division) and Ms. Rasna Warah (Editor of the Report).

Mr Andrew Tan, Director of CLC, noted the timeliness and relevance of the theme for the Report as half the world’s population lives in cities today.  Many of the emerging cities are from the developing world, namely Africa, Asia and Latin America.  In Asia itself, there is growing awareness of the need to manage the growth of cities well.  As cities increase in size, concerns over employment, environmental pressures, safety and security have risen to the forefront of national agendas.

Mr Andrew Tan also highlighted that dealing with these challenges requires a multi-faceted response, at the national, regional and international levels. In this regard, UN-HABITAT’s report provides policy makers with a better understanding of the challenges. Platforms such as the World Cities Summit and World Urban Forum provide opportunities for various stakeholders to learn from one another and explore common solutions.

The media release of the launch is available here.

Downloads

UN Report Overview		Launch Summary