Cities around the world on Monday marked the 2006 celebration of World Habitat Day, which was launched at a glittering waterfront ceremony in the ancient Italian city of Naples. The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October every year to reflect on how we manage our cities in the new millennium as humanity now moves from being predominantly rural to overwhelmingly urban. Today, half of us live in cities, and the world is witnessing the fastest urban growth ever experienced. At the same time, never before have the absolute numbers of people on the move been as great as they are today. And mostly, they are moving into cities, whether from the hinterland or abroad. This migration is taking place at a time when cities are growing at unprecedented rates. And this is why UN-HABITAT chose the theme, Cities, magnets of hope, to mark the 2006 events. Naples symbolises this in the numbers of people it has drawn for centuries as a bustling and innovative, constantly changing crossroads of the Mediterranean, said UN-HABITAT’s Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka in her World Habitat Day speech. In the global migration debate on protecting immigrant rights, or stemming the tide of migration, UN-HABITAT officials are concerned that the weakest link in the chain of any solution is at the local government level. In many instances, local authorities have very little say, if any, over national migration policies. Similarly, they are unable to control trans-national migration flows to their cities. Yet, local government always has to deal with the consequences of migration. Mrs. Tibaijuka paid special tribute to Italy, a major donor to UN-HABITAT, for supporting a massive post-war housing programme in Serbia, and other projects in Africa. Mrs. Tibaijuka also said it was essential that policymakers understand the power of the city as a catalyst for national development. Cities had to be able to provide inclusive living conditions for all their residents. Rich or poor, everyone has a right to the city, to a decent living environment, to clean water, sanitation, transport, electricity and other services. “How we manage this is arguably one of the greatest challenges facing humanity,” Mrs. Tibaijuka said. And in a special message read out on his behalf of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said: “Today, 1 billion people, or 1 of every 3 urban dwellers, lives in slums. If municipalities and governments fail to manage urban growth and migration sustainably, this number is expected to double in the next 30 years.” The ceremony in Naples climaxed with the presentation of the World Habitat Awards by Building and Social Housing Foundation, and the annual UN-HABITAT Scroll of Honour Awards. At the opening ceremony, Mayor Rosa Iervolino Russo said Naples shared many of the problems of cities all over the world which needed innovative inclusive social and economic strategies. The closing ceremony of World Habitat Day this year will be in the Russian city of Kazan. Half a world away, in the Kenyan city of Eldoret, some 350 kilometres west of Nairobi all roads on Monday led to the local sports grounds as hundreds of people turned up for the Kenyan national celebration of World Habitat Day 2006. In the capital, Nairobi, over 300 young people marked World Habitat Day at the One Stop Youth Centre. Managed by the Nairobi City Council it is a “magnet of hope” for the young men and women, many of whom were invited on Monday to share their stories, exchange views on matters of concern to them. The closing ceremony of World Habitat Day this year will be in the Russian city of Kazan. |
