World Cities Day 2021: World Cities Day is observed globally on October 31, every year as designated by the United Nations General Assembly by its resolution 68/239.
The Day is celebrated to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contribute to sustainable urban development around the world.
The Day is expected to greatly promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities addressing challenges of urbanization and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.
World Cities Day 2021 Theme
The global theme of World Cities Day 2021 is “Adapting cities for climate resilience”, acknowledging that integrated climate resilience policies and action plans will greatly reduce climate-related risks for urban populations.
A variety of city-themed events and activities are being organized by the UNESCO Cities Platform networks and programmes, across the Organization’s fields of expertise – education, culture, sciences, communication and information.
World Cities Day History
Urban October was launched by UN-Habitat in 2014 to emphasize the world’s urban challenges and engage the international community towards the New Urban Agenda. World Cities Day 2021 is the Eighth global celebration since the day was launched on 31 October 2014 in Shanghai, China.
More than half of the world’s population currently live in urban areas and cities have progressively become hubs of human activities, resilience, sustainability and innovation. UNESCO recognizes the important role that cities play in realising sustainable development.
In 2019, the UNESCO Cities Platform (UCP) was established, bringing together its 8 city-centered or related networks and programmes, namely the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC), the International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable cities (ICCAR), World Heritage Cities Programme, Megacities Alliance for Water and Climate, Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Cities, Disaster Risk Reduction Programme, and UNESCO/Netexplo Observatory, to promote and contribute to sustainable urban development with a crosscutting approach.
World Cities Day, 31 October, is an opportunity to showcase the Organization’s full range of resources, expertise, networks and programmes that directly contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, notably Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities.
The Urban Solutions focus on cities in countries which are most vulnerable to climate change, such as the Small Island Developing States and African countries, and will contribute to the upcoming 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), to be launched in Glasgow, on 31 October, also on World Cities Day.
