22-26 March 2010

This forum saw the participation of more than 12,000 people (heads of governments, academics, private companies, governmental and non-governmental institutions) representing more than 150 countries.

The Brazilian President, Mr Lula da Silva, accompanied by the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Ms Anna Tibaijuka, opened this fifth session of the World Urban Forum, the theme of which was 'The Right to the City'. The aim was to debate the gaps that exist in the daily life of urban populations and to offer solutions to the differential between rich and poor, between the relationship with the central power and with local authorities.

Global Fund for Cities Development (GFCD) meeting

Metropolis invited representatives from local authorities in Latin America and their institutional, technical and financial partners to take part in a strategic regional workshop on the creation of a Global Fund for Cities Development (GFCD). This workshop took place on 25 March this year in Rio de Janeiro, alongside the World Urban Forum, in the premises of SEBRAE (Brazilian service offering support for micro- and small enterprises). It brought together a broad range of players in local development in Brazil and Latin America.

The aims of the workshop were to present the overall approach of the GFCD in order to identify local authority-led urban development programmes and projects that could benefit from technical assistance and financial engineering support from the GFCD so as to facilitate access to funding sources.

The workshop president was Elisabete França, Director of Social Habitat for the city of São Paolo, and it was run by teams from GFCD and Evensen Dodge International (EDI), a financial intermediation company with whom Metropolis has worked on the design of a financial model that allows local authorities to access funding for their urban programmes.

Presentations were followed by talks and debate between those present, which made it possible to deepen discussions on the needs of Brazilian local authorities' access to funding and on the instrument that they are being offered through the GFCD. Everybody present welcomed this approach, and expressed a wish to continue the discussions.

Commission 1: Eco-regions - Food Security

Within the framework of the cooperation agreement signed between the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Metropolis, and on the occasion of the networking event organised on 24 March within the FAO's Food for the Cities programme, "Food Security: Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide", the coordinator of Commission 1 for Metropolis, Iuli Nascimento, of the Ile-de-France Institute for development and urban planning, presented the case for planning suburban and local agriculture in the Ile-de-France (greater Paris region). "Urban planning and local agriculture: The example of the Ile-de-France region". This networking event offered an opportunity for a variety of players to discuss their experiences regarding the food security of urban and rural communities. This theme is also one of the priority themes of Metropolis's Commission 1.

The combined climate, financial and food crises illustrate the problem of food insecurity in a certain number of metropolises. These crises have threatened their ability to ensure the means for subsistence for inhabitants and have further reduced the purchasing power of low-income populations. Meeting the food needs of the population has become a key issue, both at a national and local level, as a result of the crises and the strong expansion of metropolitan areas, in order to ensure urban dwellers' rights to a plentiful supply of good quality food. The right to food makes it possible to avoid the risk of local unrest and conflicts between different peoples.

Particular attention must be paid to the relationship between rural and urban communities in order to ensure a balanced management of water resources and natural and agricultural resources to ensure the harmonious development of the various communities on the planet. Such a heightening of awareness will make it possible to find answers to the problems linked to natural disasters and conflicts within the framework of urban and rural communities. Lastly, the aim is to have urban food security included in the concerns of political decision makers, local authorities, developers and town planners.