Urban Forum of CIS countries in Khabarovsk

A foundation conference of urban forum of CIS countries was held on July 3 in Khabarovsk. It was organized by the UN - HABITAT (United Nations Program on sustainable development of communities), the secretariat of the Intergovernmental Council for Cooperation in a sphere of construction of CIS countries, International Assembly of capital cities and metropolises.

During the event participants chose Sergey Kruglik as the President of Urban Forum of CIS countries, approved the members of the organizing committee, which included Secretary General of UCLG-Eurasia R.K.Sagitov. They also approved a plan of the Forum for the period from July 2013 to March 2016. According to Sergei Kruglik, the preparation for the World Conference Habitat III dated in 2016 even today is in high gear. These meetings are held once in twenty years in order to discuss the results and plans for the future.

The forthcoming conference will be widely discussed by mayors from around the world at the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders, which will be held on October 1-4 this year in Rabat.

Urban Forum of CIS countries together with its conferences of the Commonwealth countries will become a platform for regional dialogue on urban policy. The main areas of discussion will be improvement of the quality of life, efficiency of urban development and creation of good conditions for entrepreneurship.

Forum leaders will coordinate the preparation for the forthcoming World Conference. According to Sergey Kruglik and inter-regional adviser of the UN-Habitat Paulius Kulikauskas, Khabarovsk can be considered to be a model city from which one can learn a lot. Particularly, they noted that the development of the city is under control of the general plan and the rules of land use and building regulations, which defines the types of permitted use of land and capital construction projects.

According to the Mayor of Khabarovsk Alexander Sokolov, the Far East capital will present its proposals on the Urban Forum of CIS countries, among which the environmental projects are of top priority. Thus, over the last few years they managed to do a lot in improving the conditions of water bodies and in the development of waste management as well.

Alexander Sokolov said that in order to get UN-Habitat’s support it is necessary to choose the best project and present it on the Russian level first. As for urban development, they will continue a comprehensive development, the development of built-up areas and the implementation of individual projects. According to Paulius Kulikauskas, one of the most important factors for the development of cities is their financial independence and municipal resources endow. This issue will also be discussed at the World Conference Habitat III.

The results of the conference will be registered in Khabarovsk’s Declaration of Urban Forum of CIS countries. This Forum will become a platform for regional dialogue on urban policy and its work will be built on the basis of the national committees of UN-Habitat activity.

15.07.2013

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