The first METROPOLIS Commission 3 meeting was held in the city of Porto Alegre on 24 and 25 November. The meeting was part of the Democratic Governance in Cities International Symposium, which as well as the Metropolis event, also addressed the bases of urban innovation and participative democracy. The Symposium attracted over 700 participants from such diverse cities and institutions as Bamako, Barcelona, Belo Horizonte, Rosario, Salvador, Sao Paulo, Berlin, Edinburgh, Estado do México, Katmandu, Porto Alegre, Roma, Melbourne, UNDESA, UNESCO y CISCO Systems.

Attendees also had the chance to visit a number of the paradigmatic projects implemented by the Prefeitura de Porto Alegre, such as Social Sailing, the Popular Mall and Rural Roads. These projects have all adopted joint governance and co-responsibility as an instrument for problem-solving, bringing together the municipal government, civil society and the private sector.

As well as the traditional presentation of best practice case studies from Metropolis member cities, the World Cafe event was organized, in which participants broke into small groups to discuss three points: challenges, daily practice and obstacles to achieving suitable governance in local policies.

Finally, the Commission presided by the city of Berlin and with the vice-presidency shared by Porto Alegre and Estado de Mexico will obtain frther best practice case studies from other cities so that a wide-ranging, useful manual can be delivered at the Cairo Congress to help local governments with regards urban and regional management.

If you would like to take part in Commission 3, please write to: metropolis@metropolis.org

If your city would like to present a project on integrated urban governance, please complete the project file and email it to the abovementioned address.

You will find all the information on Commission 3 and it's first meeting at the following link.