The guidelines, titled “Are we building competitive and liveable cities,” address the development eco-efficient and sustainable urban infrastructure in Asia and Latin America and are based around five strategic principles.
February 2011: The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have released a preview of guidelines titled “Are We Building Competitive and Liveable Cities?”
The guidelines address the development of eco-efficient and sustainable urban infrastructure in Asia and Latin America. The guidelines aim to inspire and guide political leaders, urban planners and policy makers in Asia and Latin America in planning and developing sustainable urban infrastructure. They take an eco-efficiency approach in order to assist in identifying win-win solutions leading to improved competitiveness and quality of life, including for the poor.
The guidelines are based around the following five strategic principles: lead the change, by putting sustainable infrastructure at the top of the agenda; link sectors and actors, ensuring integration across sectors and between institutions; recognizing the multiple values of natural resources, through a life-cycle approach; turning ‘green’ into a business opportunity, by building the business case for eco-efficient solutions; and building the city for the people together with its people, through board-based participation.
The Guidelines were developed by ESCAP and ECLAC, in partnership with the Urban Design Lab (UDL) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, in the context of the project “Eco-efficient and Sustainable Urban Infrastructure in Asia and Latin America.” A final version of the guidelines will be produced in April 2011. [Publication: Are We Building Competitive Liveable Cities?]