Cities, globalization and governance December 2022 –

Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection

Bloomberg CityLab 2024
Mexico City, Mexico
October 14 – 16, 2024

16 July
Cities around the world share many challenges. To address them, they need to develop science diplomacy
Rémi Quirion, Scientifique en chef du Québec et professeur au Département de psychiatrie de McGill
States should be more aware of how cities and local governments can help them carry out their diplomatic and scientific strategies.
(The Conversation) In major global discussions, city-level governments are often the ones who can transform commitments into concrete action. A good example is the actions taken by the City of Montréal to support biodiversity at the recent COP15 conference, as well as Mayor Valérie Plante’s call to other cities around the world to commit to the Montréal Pledge. The aim is for cities to implement 15 tangible actions towards pursuing and accelerating their efforts to preserve ecosystems.
This type of action demonstrates the key role that governors and mayors can play in activating the “from global to local and from local to global” lever.
In the United States, the White House created the Department of State’s Subnational Diplomacy Unit to make sure the voices of local governments would be heard at the international level, and that their views be taken into account in U.S. foreign policy.

6 June
Federation of Canadian Municipalities urges governments to develop new fiscal plan for cities
(CBC) The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has released new recommendations calling on federal, provincial and territorial governments to modernize funding and commit to a new support framework for municipalities.
[A] paper published by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is asking for a new fiscal framework to better support services used daily by Canadians, such as transportation, water services, housing and other city-run infrastructure.
In a discussion paper released Thursday, the FCM says municipalities are “struggling to fund, maintain and improve” municipally-managed services because of an “outdated revenue framework that is creaking under Canada’s record population growth.”
This discussion paper appears as over a thousand municipal politicians from across Canada gather in Calgary over the next few days for the FCM’s annual conference. …mayors and councillors will …discuss the recommendations made in the paper.

22 May
Bloomberg Philanthropies and Aspen Institute 2024 CityLab Conference
It was shared today that Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute will host the eleventh Bloomberg CityLab, the annual preeminent global cities summit, in Mexico City, Mexico on October 14 – October 16, 2024.
Bloomberg CityLab was founded on the principle that the most important innovation is happening at the local level and that global impact can be achieved when cities share solutions. For over a decade, CityLab summits have crisscrossed the globe, gathering the most influential mayors and voices from hundreds of cities worldwide. Summits have made international headlines, and generated tangible takeaways for attendees. Past CityLab conferences have been hosted in New York, Los Angeles, London, Miami, Paris, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Amsterdam.
Bloomberg CityLab’s presence in Mexico City marks a milestone in the longstanding partnership between Bloomberg Philanthropies and the municipality.

21 May
New York, London Top New Ranking of 1,000 Global Cities
Cities in the US and Europe dominated the top 50, based on factors ranging from economic output to quality of life.
Oxford Economics on Tuesday released its inaugural Global Cities Index, which it calls a “comprehensive evaluation of the world’s 1,000 largest urban economies.”
The economic forecaster crunched the numbers for 27 indicators to determine that New York, London and San Jose, California, are the world’s top cities, in a list whose first 50 places were dominated by the US and Europe. Aside from Tokyo, in fourth place, Asia’s next showing was Seoul in 41st position and Singapore in 42nd.
The Index was compiled using five broad categories — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance — with weighting placing most emphasis on economic factors such as GDP and employment growth.
New York City “has the largest economy of any city in the world by far,” Oxford Economics said, along with stable growth, allowing it to dominate the Economics category. London took the Human Capital category because of its wealth of top universities and global corporate headquarters, the report said. Grenoble, France, offers the best quality of life due to a lack of income inequality and the number of cultural offerings per capita. The two leaders ranked well down the list for their quality of life, with New York at 278th and London at 292nd.
…Governance scores are calculated at a national level so countries are shown to represent the major cities, with indicators including institutions, political stability and civil liberties. New Zealand tops the list, followed by Denmark; Finland; Norway; Sweden.

15 May
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Annual Meeting
Montreal, QC 2024
May 15-17
Theme: Economic Transformation: Tapping into Water for Sustainable Prosperity – As the world changes, our local economies must change too. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin represents the world’s third-largest economy and is uniquely positioned to emerge stronger from this period of transition.
Canadian and U.S. mayors promise ‘blue-green corridor’ along Great Lakes and St. Lawrence
The declaration constitutes a commitment to “attract blue and green industries” to the basin’s communities, such as high-tech companies that have strict standards for water consumption.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson signed a declaration Wednesday supported by more than 260 mayors, which aims to transform the Great Lakes—St. Laurence Lowlands into a “blue-green economic corridor of the 21st century.”
Elected officials from these three major cities took advantage of the annual conference of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in Montreal this week to make the announcement.

2023

14 May
The Progressive Takeover of Big Cities Is Nearly Complete Philly may elect a left-wing mayor too.
(New York) Just over a month after Brandon Johnson was elected mayor of Chicago, another Democrat endorsed by Bernie Sanders has a chance to govern a major U.S. city. Philadelphia’s Helen Gym, a former City Council member who has secured the support of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, is a top contender in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. If Gym prevails — and this is no guarantee given the number of viable contenders — progressives will have capped a remarkable run of victories in mayoral races that were once the domain of machine-backed moderates.

24-30 April
2023 Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver, Colorado.
The Cities Summit will promote regional cooperation, convening subnational leaders from across the entire Western Hemisphere with diverse and inclusive representatives of government, civil society, business, academia, youth, culture and the arts, and indigenous and underrepresented groups.
24-26 April
City Leaders Finally Get an ‘Open Door’ to US Foreign Diplomacy
A new State Department initiative signals federal recognition of cities as increasingly crucial and experienced players in US foreign policy.
(Bloomberg) Denver will become a global hub this week as mayors and other city leaders from across the Western Hemisphere gather at the same table as federal officials, ambassadors and international policymakers. They’ll discuss topics like sustainable infrastructure, the energy transition and affordable housing — issues that are local but have regional and international implications.
The event, dubbed the Cities Summit of the Americas, is part of the US State Department’s new initiative to put local officials at the forefront of conversations that advance the country’s broader foreign policy goals.
Cities are key to regional migration solutions, but we must invest in them to succeed
Seven in 10 of the world’s refugees move to cities in pursuit of employment and a safe place to call home.
(WEF) Cities such as Barranquilla are using funding from the Mayors Migration Council to connect newcomers to jobs.
The first Cities Summit of the Americas is an ideal opportunity to highlight the benefit of city-led solutions to migration.
Most of the world’s migrants and refugees move to cities in pursuit of employment and a safe place to call home.
Mayors across the globe understand that migration isn’t a crisis to be solved, but rather an opportunity to unlock the potential of newcomers to contribute to the economic, civic and cultural life of their cities.
While national governments debate border and visa regimes, the world’s mayors are creating investment-ready projects for migrant and refugee inclusion.
Last June, US President Joe Biden and 20 other leaders from the Americas signed a new deal promising a more cooperative approach to regional migration and new investments in migrant inclusion – the LA Declaration on Migration and Protection.
Now, the Biden-Harris administration in the US is bringing mayors from across the western hemisphere to the first-ever Cities Summit of the Americas to share city-led solutions on everything from migration, to climate change, to global health.

26 March
Shanghai Expat Exodus Shows Covid Zero’s Enduring Scars
China’s most cosmopolitan city is losing foreign talent after last year’s chaotic lockdown dimmed its allure
(Bloomberg City Lab) A year after the lockdown that made Shanghai a byword for all that was wrong with the country’s Covid approach, China’s most international city is showing the effects of a policy that left the nation disconnected from the world.
Home to most foreign company headquarters and a quarter of China’s expatriate population before 2022, Shanghai has seen an exodus since the brutal two-month lockdown that crippled the city of 25 million from late last March. Foreigners like Xenia Sidorenko, a Russian fashion entrepreneur who has called China home for a dozen years, are leaving and foreign investment and business activity in the metropolis have also dwindled.

20 March
UN-Habitat discusses sustainable reconstruction, SDG localisation at the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development
Through a session on sustainable reconstruction in the Arab region, organised by UN-Habitat, in cooperation with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), International Labour Organization (ILO) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), panelists convened to discuss what constitutes sustainable reconstruction and the possibility of considering it at a time of crisis, as well as review examples from the Arab region.
“After any crisis, immediate humanitarian response is crucial, and so is the provision of infrastructure and basic services which is essential for human wellbeing and social cohesion,” Rania Hedeya, the acting UN-Habitat Regional Representative for the Arab region, stated. “Numerous examples have demonstrated that delaying the reconstruction process can exacerbate tensions and prolong the crisis.”
During the session, the elements of a policy framework, developed by UN-Habitat and UNDP, in collaboration with the consulting firm, Oliver Wyman, and aiming to guide Arab countries emerging from conflict or crisis and entering a process of infrastructure and reconstruction, were also examined.
The session concluded that sustainable reconstruction must be considered from the outset of any crisis response and must be seized as an opportunity to build back better. It is a practical expression of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus, providing an approach to balance response to immediate humanitarian needs with long term sustainable development that contributes to building peace and stability.

2022

12 December
United Nations program:
Montréal to host UN-Habitat project office
(UNHabitat.org) Montreal has been chosen as the site of a new United Nations office that will oversee a program focused on developing green, resilient and sustainable cities.
UN-Habitat, the United Nations program for human settlements and sustainable urban development, is opening a new project office in Montréal. The office will be responsible for the Global Programme on Green, Resilient Sustainable Cities and will be the sixth UN office located in Montréal. UN-Habitat aims to leverage the latest advances in science and technology to support the sustainable development of cities.
The Montréal office will explore scientific advances and innovative tools to make policy recommendations and propose measures to foster sustainable urban development. The team will use AI to deal with the most pressing issues, while developing a multidisciplinary platform to better address the specific needs of cities and communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The office will also seek to forge new partnerships to support vulnerable groups and Indigenous communities across the globe.
Montréal was chosen for its leading-edge AI and urban development ecosystems, academic institutions, and its pool of international organizations.

UN-Habitat, the international body’s program for human settlements and sustainable urban development, made the announcement today at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, COP15.
Stéphane Paquet, the president of the organization Montreal International, says the city was chosen due to its expertise in sustainable development and artificial intelligence, as well as its universities and the number of international organizations it hosts.
Neil Khor, chief of staff at UN-Habitat, said Montreal’s bilingualism was another factor in choosing it to host the office, which will employ 28 people.