Cities that work

Cities that work is the title of Issue 18 of UNIDO’s quarterly magazine. The magazine Making It: Industry for Development is aimed at stimulating critical and constructive thinking about the intersection between industry and development (page 2), and this issue focuses on cities as they occupy a special position in the global development agenda. Contrasting their significant socioeconomic benefits with some of the greatest challenges of the 21^st century, this issue highlights the urgent need for cities the world over to  “transition to ways of living and of working that no longer pollute the air and result in a sharp reduction in the production of greenhouse gases” (page 3). Acknowledging that there is no “one size fits all” approach to urban sustainability, editor Charles Arthur states nevertheless that it is imperative for all urban areas to reinvent themselves and adapt quickly (page 3).

In the feature articles, David Thorpe investigates options for cities to feed their inhabitants, while Jan Dictus considers the qualities that define an eco-city and how we can create a common language.

The keynote feature by Parag Khanna is called “In the century of cities”. In this Khanna “surveys some of the opportunities and challenges facing metropolises in the 21^st century” (page 22). He asserts that facilitating self-starting entrepreneurial activities is essential to build inclusive cities, especially in light of governments’ failures to devote most of their attention to inequalities between informal settlements and the glamorous side of cities.

The next section contains five short articles: “Sustainable consumption and lifestyle initiatives in Asian cities” (by Patrick Schroeder and Uwe Weber); “Getting the new urban agenda right” (by Fernando Casado Cañeque); “Why we need more women engineers” (an interview with Roma Agrawal); a country profile of Chile and a look at its move towards a knowledge-based economy; and a profile of Oribags Innovations, a Ugandan company that turns agricultural waste into bags.

Presented in a magazine format, this is a very approachable and easy-to-read resource. It provides a diversity of thought-provoking articles touching on many of the issues that cities face in the journey towards contributing to global sustainability.

Available from:

https://issuu.com/makingit/docs/makingit_18_web

Book note prepared by Hannah Keren Lee