6 September 2012: The UN Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) and EMBARQ, the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) center for sustainable transport, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on creating more sustainable cities. Agreed on the sidelines of the Sixth World Urban Forum (WUF 6), the initiative aims to provide universal access to affordable, clean and safe transport, particularly for the poor and vulnerable, and to incorporate transport into broader land use planning and implementation.

Under the MOU, UN-HABITAT and EMBARQ will collaborate on sustainable urban mobility solutions, including capacity building, financing, knowledge management and research. One of EMBARQ’s goals is to ensure that 200 cities adopt sustainable mobility aims by 2016.

Joan Clos, UN-HABITAT Executive Director, said “the new cities of the 21st Century should be designed to drive growth and prosperity,” and that he expected the partnership with EMBARQ to increase urban planning’s focus on efficient, safe and clean transport. Holger Dalkmann, EMBARQ Director, said the partnership will “help us reach millions of people worldwide and provide them with opportunities to live and work in a safe, clean and attractive urban environment, with easy access to high-quality transport systems that benefit both the environment and the economy.”

UN-HABITAT and EMBARQ also launched their first joint publication, “Quick Guide: Establishing a Multi-Stakeholder Forum for Urban Mobility.” The publication is the first in a series of four step-by-step guides for city officials on improving urban mobility. The other three publications address: developing an urban mobility plan, setting up a metropolitan transport authority and developing an urban mobility compact. [WRI Press Release] [Publication: Quick Guide: Establishing a Multi Stakeholder Forum for Urban Mobility]