From Sunday 16 to Thursday 20 October, Luxembourg’s Minister for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, François Bausch, and Secretary of State to the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, Camille Gira, will take part in the UN’s third conference on sustainable housing and urban development, in Quito, Ecuador.
The Habitat III Conference’s objectives are to obtain a worldwide political engagement in a new urban agenda for the next 20 years. This engagement should respond to the many challenges of urbanisation, such as environmental degradation, climate change, poverty and inequality.
The new urban agenda also aims to promote a new urban development model capable of meeting the objectives of sustainable development as well as those of the Paris agreement of 2015.
During the plenary meeting, Minister François Bausch will speak of the challenges of small and medium-sized cities in Luxembourg and beyond, as much as poles of attraction as service providers. He will prove the need to densify urban zones and, in this context, highlight mobility issues for a city’s competitiveness and quality of life.
Outside the conference, Minister Bausch and Secretary of State Gira will participate in workshops and seminars on topics such as smart cities, circular economy, soft mobility, and zero-emission public transport, as well as strategies for adapting to climate change in an urban setting.
