Page 14 - issue 66 en
P. 14
ELITE
ELITE
Not only that, the choice of Cairo in Can it really help us build and achieve
itself is pivotal as the city’s sustainable futures for our cities? Or is
metropolitan area is the largest in Africa it going to become like any other forum
and it faces several challenges and that don’t achieve or realize change
suffers from rapid urbanization and high especially in developing countries?
demographic growth. But most Some of the sessions and discussions
importantly, the recommendations and offered out of reach solutions, that
fruitful outcomes from the sessions cannot be adopted in developing
surpass the simple concept of “home”, countries; and if they were meant to be
because “home” is not only defined by a adopted, structural changes should be
physical structure but it represents the implemented to the infrastructure or
attributes of belonging to the values sometimes changes in the roots of
that shape the cities and communities these countries’ cultures… Because
around the world. After its stop in Cairo, some of the “first world countries”
WUF13 is going to Baku in Azerbaijan problems are not the same as “the
where discussions are going to be second world” or “less developed
carried on. world” problems. And even if they were
adopted for these countries, the
general lack of political will to shift
economic and unsustainable practices
can be a barrier in front of the
achievement of this development, and
the SDG goals.
What was really remarkable in that
forum was the voice given to the youth
within the dialogue sessions. In
addition, at the Urban Expo, the booths
gave a platform for countries and for
some NGOs and startups to
market/represent sustainable urban
planning projects from around the
world. However, as impressive as it was
especially in relation to the topics 14
tackled, and in its inclusivity, we are
here to ask:
