Metropolis' Political Debate
| Subject: International Relations
The vice-president of the Area for International Relations and Cooperation, Ernest Maragall, took part on behalf of the AMB
On 7 July, the third edition of the Metropolis Network's Political Debate took place.
The aim of this debate is to bring together people with a wide range of political perspectives to discuss the main strategies and actions for the coming term. Present in the debate were around twenty political representatives from network-member metropolises from around the world, including major metropolitan areas such as Berlin, Brussels, Guangzhou, Montevideo, Montreal, Seoul, Madrid, Mexico City and Buenos Aires.
Taking part on behalf of the AMB was Ernest Maragall, vice-president of the Area for International Relations and Cooperation, who pointed out that, to ensure social and economic revitalisation and address climate change, in addition to further resources, metropolises must be given greater power in the decision-making process.
Post-COVID-19 metropolitan challenges
The COVID-19 crisis has laid bare the major role metropolitan areas play in providing an immediate response to the urgent needs of the population, in terms of, for instance, basic social services, social inequalities and the consequences of the economic crisis. The members of the Management Board spoke about the network's ability to help member metropolises confront these new metropolitan challenges. Young people, urban mobility and climate change are the priority issues that will be addressed in the upcoming action plan, as they among the many issues currently facing metropolises.
The reflections made during the third Political Debate will serve to define the strategic and operational action lines for the coming term, which will be outlined in the forthcoming 2021-2023 Metropolis Action Plan, in which particular emphasis will be placed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, as always, people shall be kept in the centre of all future Network policies.