Shanghai celebrates World Cities Day

Focus of three-day event on supporting urban development

The 2022 World Cities Day, which runs from Monday to Wednesday in Shanghai, contributes to global sustainable urban development with the city's practices and experiences highlighted in the event.

Established in 2013, World Cities Day, one of the outcomes of the 2010 World Expo, which was held in Shanghai, is the first international day initiated by the Chinese government.

It is also the first international day set by the United Nations with a focus on supporting urban development.

Organizers of World Cities Day said the overall design and every exhibit of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo had a theme of "Better City, Better Life".

It inspired many urban planners and developers with wonderful displays of how cities could bring changes to people's lives and make urban life better.

The 2010 Shanghai World Expo organizers and participants jointly released the Shanghai Declaration of World Expo 2010 on Oct 31 of that year, where they proposed setting up World Cities Day.

The proposal was adopted at the UN General Assembly on Dec 6, 2013. In 2014, the day was set on Oct 31, marking the anniversary of the closing of the Expo 2010 and the release of the Declaration of Shanghai.

Event organizers said World Cities Day is set to address the significance of sustainable development. By organizing activities such as forums, seminars, training and research results sharing, they hope to push forward cooperation among governments and related parties to address challenges of urbanization and contribute to sustainable development around the world.

The first World Cities Day was held in Shanghai in 2013, while the other seven were held in different cities around the world, including China's Guangzhou and Liverpool in the United Kingdom.

The government officials of Shanghai have been taking measures to make Shanghai the permanent host for World Cities Day since 2018 to demonstrate the development of Shanghai. This year's global observance has as its theme "Act Local to Go Global".

2022 World Cities Day

The 2022 edition features many Shanghai elements including the Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities (Shanghai Award) and the Shanghai Adapted Index.

Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities (Shanghai Award) was initiated by the UN Human Settlements Program, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Shanghai government to praise cities which achieve breakthroughs in promoting sustainable urban development and strengthening exchanges among cities across the globe.

The award, presented once a year, is open to cities around the world to recognize and honor their achievements in sustainable urban development and delivering Sustainable Development Goals at a local level, and to incentivize cities to accelerate their implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda and the New Urban Agenda.

The achievements made by countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the Global Development Initiative launched by China in 2021, will be highlighted. The Shanghai Award will be revealed in early 2023.

Apart from the award, the Shanghai Adapted Index, developed by the Chinese government and UN-Habitat, was released on Monday.

The index is one of the creditable, scientific, applicable and authoritative evaluations in the world. Many Chinese cities, including Shanghai and its five new towns, known as Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian and Nanhui, are included.

By 2030, the index will cover 1,000 cities around the globe. The index is set to be a strong tool to support the UN 2030 Agenda and New Urban Agenda.

Shanghai Manual, a guide for sustainable urban development in the 21st century, features 21 case studies on sustainable urban development in different countries and regions. They include two cases from Shanghai.

One of the Shanghai cases is about how century-old brands in Huangpu district pass on the best of traditional culture and grow in new and creative ways.

The other demonstrates efforts of Yinhang subdistrict in Yangpu to support the installation of elevators in old residential buildings.

A landscaping project along the Suzhou River within East China University of Political Science and Law attracted great attention.

It is the eighth time for the manual, which received wide recognition across the globe since 2011, to be revised and published.

The UN SDGs Shanghai Voluntary Local Review 2022 includes four cases covering clean energy, fairness and sharing, green and resilience, and cooperation development.

The cases display what Shanghai has achieved in creating a sustainable urban environment.

Two books, which focus on displaying Shanghai's practices in green development and measures taken in upgrading old residential communities, were also released.