As Urban October comes to an end, a month dedicated to raising awareness on urban challenges, successes and sustainability, faced by cities and human settlements around the world, I am delighted to learn that an unprecedented number of global celebrations marking this month have taken place around the world. This month, over 100 events have taken place across almost 50 cities and nearly 30 countries. For World Cities Day on 31 October, we expect some 20 events to take place around the world, with the global observance being celebrated this year in the city of Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Asker, Norway, 24 October 2018 -  UN-Habitat and Asker Kommune (Norway) co-hosted the third Asker Youth Conference on UN Day, celebrating the engagement of youth in achieving the SDGs through local action. Convened under the theme of “Localization of the SDGs”, 50 youth from the Norwegian communities of Hurum, Røyken and Asker came together with international youth delegates and government leaders to discuss how the three communities could use the SDGs as a framework for sustainability.

Liverpool, United Kingdom, 26 October 2018 – As cities and towns around the world expand daily, Liverpool is hosting a high-level, international event on city resilience.

La Paz, Bolivia, October 2018 – Policy makers and urban transport stakeholders from Bolivia, India and Zimbabwe met at the International Mobility Congress to discuss integrated urban public transport solutions and draw lessons from implementation of the integrated mobility system in La Paz. Participants included municipal officials, transport operators, transport regulators, non-governmental institutions, international organizations, the private sector and academia.  Participants were introduced to the integrated mobility system in La Paz.

Geneva, October 2018 – Policymakers and urban experts from North and Central Asia have met in Geneva to discuss the Future of Asia and Pacific Cities 2019 Report and exchange experiences on managing challenges to sustainable urbanization that are unique to the region.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 18 October 2018 – Minecraft is an online block by block building game in which players create their own unique world using 1x1m blocks. UN-Habitat facilitators have been helping local school children to set priorities for their communities using Minecraft.

Nairobi, 17 October 2018 - A rapid assessment of approaches to collecting city level data reveals a mixed bag of results with huge variations not only in how each country defines urban, but also in how urban level data is collected.

UAE will be first Arab country to host landmark United Nations Forum

UAE will be first Arab country to host landmark United Nations Forum