Valuing our communities and cities

Oct 27, 2020 Latest News

The world is rapidly becoming more digital. The explosion in digital technologies is playing a major role in shaping cities – from the internet of things to digital platforms for service delivery and 5G for autonomous mobility – and our challenge is to set a new direction that favors inclusive, resilient, and sustainable use of technologies by local governments.

FIABCI-USA Hawaii Council hosted the 2020 UN World Cities Day Celebration on “Building People - Focused Smart Cities – The Future is Now” on Monday, October 26 with featured speakers from Japan, Korea, China, and Nigeria. Please read the concept note here.

Ms. Eugenia Foxworth, FIABCI-USA President-Elect, made an opening speech including updates on initiative and projects in New York. She also talked about FIABCI’s collaboration with the United Nations supporting the development of affordable housing around the world with The City We Need is Affordable book series and the Chapter's Grand Prix of Real Estate Awards.

The next speaker, Mr. Wataru Kawasaki, Program & Planning Officer for UN-Habitat in Japan delivered a live speech on the updates of the upcoming World Cities Day Celebration in Kenya and WUF 11 in Poland in 2022.

The first featured speaker was Mr. Chungha Cha, Co‐founder and Chair of Re‐Imagining Cities Foundation in Seoul, Korea who strive for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Action through the accelerated development of smart, sustainable communities and cities around the world. As part of his intervention, Mr. Chungha Cha shared a presentation on the Lakeview Village Project, in the city of Mississauga, Canada.

The following speaker was from the City officials from Chengdu Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, America-Oceania Division Staff in China, who presented the latest development of Chengdu City and one smart city program called "City Brain".

Lastly, a City official from Legos State Government, Nigeria shared their digital infrastructure in Lagos Smart City.

The full recorded webinar is available here.