Proposal for a UNECE Study on Urban Planning

Michele Melchiorri Housing and Land Management Unit Forests, Housing and Land Division

United Nation Economic Commission For Europe

First Meeting of the UNECE Task Group on Urban Planning

15 December 2014 Geneva

The 75th Session of the Committee on Housing and Land Management endorsed the proposal for a Policy brief on urban planning

The study

Implements objectives of the CHLM Strategy 2014-2020 supporting the development of national strategic directions in

urban planning

Promotes the dissemination of best practices to support the regional implementation and adaptation of international urban

planning guidance documents

Will be a collaborative product with the involvement of stakeholders including partner Organizations

Proposal for a UNECE Study on Urban Planing

Proposed Structure

The policy study will support Habitat III with a regional perspective Also adapting UN-Habitat international design guidelines

Close cooperation with other Organizations, programmes, and institutions is envisaged

Including: UN-Habitat, THE PEP, JRC, WB, ADB, OECD, IOM, UNISDR, ISOCARP, INU, Universities (Copenhagen, IUAV, Geneva, TU-Delft, Politecnico di Milano, Glasgow

School of Arts, , KTH-Royal Institute of Technology) etc,

Urban Planning is a cross cutting domains, several expertise are required Including: Transport, Energy Efficiency, Governance, Economics

A Task Group will be established to support the preparation of the policy study

The study could contain seven policy areas

Proposed Content

Proposal for Policy areas to include:

Fundamental Services and Informal Settlements

Sustainable Accessible and Inclusive Mobility and Transport

Safe and Resilient Human Settlements

Spatial Dimensions of Sustainability, Compactness, Climate Responsive Design and Energy Efficiency

Healthy, Liveable, Vital and Inclusive Public Spaces

Between Rural and Urban, the Links for Better Regional Policies

City Governance and Regional Cooperation

Proposed Content

Proposed Policy areas:

1) Fundamental Services and Informal Settlements

address aspects and recommendations for access to basic services for all in the ECE region, i.e. urban technical infrastructures and facilities

Additionally, this section will address the importance of slum upgrading and improving quality of life of

informal human settlements in the countries and cities of the region

2) Sustainable Accessible and Inclusive Mobility and Transport

sustainable transportation systems that are accessible, clean, environmental friendly, safe and inclusive for all citizens, especially for those in vulnerable situations such as women, children, persons with disabilities and

the elders

inclusion of multi-modal mobility systems including cycle routes, the prevalence of pedestrian rights over the automobile, the development of public transport systems such as bus of rapid transit (BRT), tram ways and

rail- based modes

Proposed Content

Proposed Policy areas:

3) Safe and Resilient Human Settlements

Urban plannig measures to reduce deaths, number of affected people and economic losses caused by disasters, including water (flooding, rainfall and sea level rise), geological (earthquakes and landslides),

volcanic, and climate change and human-generated related disaster

4) Spatial Dimensions of Sustainability, Compactness, Climate Responsive Design and Energy Efficiency

energy efficiency, green homes, and policies to improve the environmental performance of human

settlements, infrastructure and the built environments paying special attention on carbon emissions, air quality, comfort, waste management and pollution.

Proposed Content

Proposed Policy areas:

5) Healthy, Liveable, Vital and Inclusive Public Spaces

Livable and Vital public spaces for all are fundamental components of human settlements and help improving quality of life. The phase of design is a key aspect, national policies helps shaping tools and directions.

The workshop on Vital Spaces: Promoting inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements through designing and managing public spaces organized by KTH, UNECE , Ax:son Johnson Foundation and UN-

Habitat can provide an important input to this section.

6) Between Rural and Urban, the Links for Better Regional Policies

links for better national and regional planning is the name of the section devoted to address the future challenges regarding the economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas

by strengthening and support a more inclusive national and regional planning

Proposed Content

Proposed Policy areas:

7) City Governance and Regional Cooperation

Effective and empowered formal governance structures for metropolitan regions are required.

More effective and efficient cooperation between rich and emerging economies of the block is needed. In this sense, this chapter is proposed to address cooperation mechanisms to foster financial and technical

assistance between ECE member states and to strengthen governance and democratic capacities of the most vulnerable countries of the region

Cooperation

A Pre-Zero Draft of the policy study will be circulated

An initial working draft for the study will be circulated in the weeks following the meeting, already including suggestions of todays’ discussion

The Task Group will be open ended, HLM secretariat collects requests and will establish

a web spaces to share information

Working sessions will be organized during workshops and on web spaces to support the preparation of the study

An advanced draft will be discussed at the 76th Session of the CHLM Meeting in fall 2015

The study will be released in advance to Habitat III

Thank you for the attention! Michele Melchiorri

Housing and Land Management Unit

Forests, Housing and Land Division United Nation Economic Commission For Europe

michele.melchiorri@unece.org

15 December 2014 Geneva

Thematic Workshops will be organized to support the work of the Task Group

First Workshop: January 13

Building Resilient Communities through Urban Planning and the Integration of Natural Sciences

Hosted by University of Geneva

Policy area III

Resilient Cities and Human Settlements

Outcome: Inputs for the chapter on Resilient Cities

Proposed Timeline

Thematic Workshops will be organized to support the work of the Task Group

Second Workshop: February 2015

Designing and Managing Public Spaces in the UNECE Region to Support SDGs

Co-organized with Ax:Son Foundation and UN-Habitat

Policy area V Healthy, Livable, Vital and Inclusive Public Spaces

Outcome: Inputs for the chapter on Public Spaces

Proposed Timeline

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