The Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) shares its international strategy with other world cities
| Subject: International Cooperation
This morning Alfred Bosch, Vice President of the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), opened the conference on International Strategies of Major Cities, organized by the AMB in conjunction with the Barcelona Institute of International Studies (IBEI) and the Euro-Latin-American Alliance of Cooperation Among Cities (AL-LAS). This event has been an opportunity to exchange experiences and strengthen ties with cities like New York, Montreal, Johannesburg, Lima, Mexico City, Manchester, or Medellín.
The conference, held on 08 July at the IBEI headquarters in Barcelona, enabled more than 40 representatives of 15 cities from 14 countries to meet, share, and discuss the international activities of their respective metropolitan governments such as of public policies, modes of cooperation with economic and social agents, and the strategies employed by the various cities to find their place in the global agenda.
Alfred Bosch was in charge of welcoming the participants and introducing the inaugural conference on global cities and the world order, along with the international expert from the "Chicago Council on Global Affairs", Simon Curtis.
The day also included two roundtable discussions, the first on internationalization strategies and the role of cities in the world, and the second on the impact of such strategies and their implementation with local agents and players.
This international meeting is part of an increasingly powerful process to which the AMB is fully committed, involving recognition of the need for a global urban agenda. It is in the large cities and metropolitan areas around the world that the highest national rates of economic growth, innovation, and job creation can be found. However, cities lack the resources and regulatory frameworks necessary to respond to the immense complexity of the problems that may arise as a result of the concentration of the needs and interests of citizens, both with regard to basic public services such as security or economic, social, and environmental sustainability, just to name a few.
The conference "International Strategies of Major Cities" will also serve as preparatory work ahead of the UN Habitat III Summit on Housing and Urban Development, which is to be held in Quito (Ecuador) in October 2016.
Alfred Bosch was in charge of welcoming the participants and introducing the inaugural conference on global cities and the world order, along with the international expert from the "Chicago Council on Global Affairs", Simon Curtis.
The day also included two roundtable discussions, the first on internationalization strategies and the role of cities in the world, and the second on the impact of such strategies and their implementation with local agents and players.
This international meeting is part of an increasingly powerful process to which the AMB is fully committed, involving recognition of the need for a global urban agenda. It is in the large cities and metropolitan areas around the world that the highest national rates of economic growth, innovation, and job creation can be found. However, cities lack the resources and regulatory frameworks necessary to respond to the immense complexity of the problems that may arise as a result of the concentration of the needs and interests of citizens, both with regard to basic public services such as security or economic, social, and environmental sustainability, just to name a few.
The conference "International Strategies of Major Cities" will also serve as preparatory work ahead of the UN Habitat III Summit on Housing and Urban Development, which is to be held in Quito (Ecuador) in October 2016.
