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Kelbaugh Speaks on the New Urban Agenda at the UN’s Habitat III Conference in Quito

Kelbaugh Speaks on the New Urban Agenda at the UN’s Habitat III Conference in Quito

Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning Douglas Kelbaugh will be part of a panel discussion on “The Road to Implementation of the Public Space Agenda” at Habitat III, the United Nations conference on housing and sustainable urban development in Quito, Ecuador on October 19, 2016. The UN-Habitat events take place every 20 years and the expected attendance for this year’s conference is 35,000. Kelbaugh and four other panelists, including members of UN-Habitat and key researchers in public spaces, will attempt to identify collaborations, partnerships and strategies to implement a sustainable commitment to global urbanization.

The New Urban Agenda, set to be approved at Habitat III, deals with the key role of public space, as “drivers of social and economic development” and “enhancing safety and security, favoring social and inter-generational interaction and the appreciation of diversity” as well as “promoting walkability and cycling towards improving health and well-being.” This central emphasis on public space accords with the findings of the Future of Places initiative, a partnership of UN-Habitat, Project for Public Spaces, and the Ax:son Johnson Foundation, its NGO host. Over its four years of conferences and other gatherings, the initiative has brought together over 1,500 researchers, practitioners, officials and activists, representing more than 700 organizations, 275 cities and 100 countries from around the world.

Read about the initiative: https://habitat3.org/about

Additionally, while in Quito, Kelbaugh will also speak at  “Sustainable Mobility and Electric Vehicles” hosted by Ecuador’s Ministry of the Coordination of Production, Employment and Competitiveness.

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