This week, planners, policymakers and urban practitioners from across the world are gathering in Kuala Lumpur for World Urban Forum 9. This story is part of Next City’s coverage of the Forum. For more stories, visit our World Urban Forum 9 page here.
Each day during World Urban Forum 9, Next City is inviting attendees to visit the World Stage for conversations about the principles enshrined in the New Urban Agenda. On Monday, Feb. 12, our speakers talked about how slum-dwellers maintain their informal settlements in the absence of government assistance and the importance of building age-friendly cities.
Gallery: World Urban Forum 9, Day Six: Slum-Dwellers Improvise Solutions
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Michael Strauss, acting U.S. executive director of the Asian Development Bank, explains how investments in infrastructure must be aimed not only at economic growth, but also inclusive urbanism. “Look at Timor Leste with its mineral wealth, or Laos with its hydropower, or Mongolia with its mining,” he said. “Their GDPs are growing really fast, but the money and opportunities aren’t spreading to the people yet.”
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Clara Mvogo, the mayor of Monrovia, Liberia, shared the stage with Next City publisher and CEO Tom Dallessio.
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At a panel hosted by Slum Dwellers International, speakers discussed how residents of informal settlements improvise their own solutions in the absence of government assistance. "Every two weeks, the whole community does a cleanup. We put out bins for the food vendors to put their trash in," said Janet Adu of SDI Ghana. "When we come together we can do more for ourselves, our settlement and our children."
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A panel discussed how cities can help ensure healthy and sustainable diets for their youngest residents.
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Katherine Kline, co-chair of the General Assembly of Partners (GAP) Older Persons group, talked about the importance of building age-friendly cities and leaving no one behind.
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