[International Relations News] Summary: “International Forum on Urban Policy for Sustainable Development Goals”
International Forum on Urban Policy for Sustainable Development Goals
- Date: Wednesday, June 8 – Friday, June 10, 2016
- Co-hosts: Seoul Metropolitan Government, UNESCAP (The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), Citynet (The Regional Network of Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlements)
- 500 representatives from 38 international cities (8 mayors, 5 deputy mayors, 1 vice minister-level official, public officials from 11 central governments, representatives from 50 international organizations)
- Structure: ▲ The general session included a keynote speech and discussion on the role of city governments in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the necessity of sharing policy experiences; ▲ The subcommittee sessions were followed by presentations by the representatives from international organizations (on transportation, urban planning, waterworks, sewage systems, housing, safety, urban innovation, the social economy, disaster management, the smart city, and finance, etc.); ▲ During the forum, the partners working with Seoul Metropolitan Government promoted advanced South Korean technologies at the promotion center.
□ Main Outcomes
An agreement was made to export Seoul’s excellent policy experiences in 5 areas to the 5 cities (countries) visiting Seoul:
- ▲ Bangladesh: Fire protection system; ▲ Colombo, Sri Lanka: Integrated information system for tax administration / waste management system; ▲ Bogor, Indonesia: Smart city development and smart administration system; ▲ Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: Transportation card system and Transport Operation and Information Service (TOPIS); ▲ Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Seoul’s excellent policy experiences in 5 areas
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On the first day (June 8th), Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto (Indonesia) signed a Letter of Intent for cooperation in smart city development to share the policy experiences on urban development in general. Seoul agreed to offer its civil servant training program in August and to share policy experiences with the public officials from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) where a large-scale urban redevelopment project is planned.
The participating cities adopted a “Seoul Declaration” for the sustainable development goals for 2030:
- The Seoul Declaration is comprised of 5 principles to uphold the key agenda – No One Left Behind, No Cities Left Behind – of the SDGs adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September last year.
- Five principles of the Seoul Declaration: ▲ The leadership of local governments and integrated planning are key to achieving SDGs; ▲ Public involvement is central to sustainable urban development; ▲ Smart technology is used for sustainable and inclusive urban development; ▲ Multi-dimensional partnership is utilized to implement the plans; and ▲ Cities share knowledge and expertise
To pursue the SDGs, Seoul Metropolitan Government will set out action plans tailored to its conditions and requirements and share the outcomes. Evaluation and monitoring will begin this year.
In addition, Seoul Metropolitan Government worked with UNESCAP and Citynet to announce plans to launch the Urban SDG Knowledge Platform designed to help cities share their policy experiences.
- A draft was announced for the development of an online platform by which cities can share their excellent policy experiences and progress. Joint development of the platform will be conducted with Citynet
