For billions of people worldwide, quality of life will depend on the way cities grow in the coming decades. The Lincoln Institute will play an active role at the historic United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) from October 17-20 in Quito, Ecuador, where nearly 200 nations are expected to adopt the New Urban Agenda, a framework for sustainable urban development.
The Lincoln Institute is working to advance effective land policies to help make cities more environmentally, socially, and financially sustainable. With this goal in mind, the institute has contributed to the Habitat III process over the past two years through the following roles:
- Co-lead of the Habitat III Policy Unit on Municipal Finance and Local Fiscal Systems
- Co-lead of the General Assembly of Partners Research and Academia Partner Constituent Group
- Member of the U.S. National Committee for Habitat III
- Expert on the Habitat III Policy Unit on Urban Spatial Strategies: Land Market and Segregation
With a draft New Urban Agenda agreed upon in September, the Lincoln Institute is now focused on implementation. The institute is focused on promoting municipal fiscal health, helping cities employ land-based finance tools—property tax and land value capture—to pay for the infrastructure they will need, and creating tools such as the Atlas of Urban Expansion and global municipal fiscal database to monitor urban expansion and fiscal health.
The following is a schedule of the Habitat III sessions in which we are involved:
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16
Keynote address by Lincoln Institute of Land Policy President George “Mac” McCarthy: The Next Four Days and the Next 20 Years: Our Last Chance to Get Urbanization Right - 5:45 p.m.
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
UN-Habitat Special Session: Municipal Finance - 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R17
Committee on Local Finance for Development / City of Rabat Networking Event: Financing the New Urban Agenda: Towards a global observatory on local finances
- 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R12
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
Brookings Institution Side Event: Financing the New Urban Agenda: Multi-level Metropolitan Finance for 21st Century Cities - 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R14
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Side Event featuring Secretary Julian Castro: Equity & Inclusion: A mayor and minister discussion of national-local policies to combat inequality and achieve opportunity for all - 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R19
Lincoln Institute Networking Event: Land and Revenue: A North-South Dialogue on Value Capture - 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This international panel discussion will provide an overview of value capture, a set of tools for recovering the increase in land value that results from urban public interventions such as investments, regulatory changes and other government actions.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R6
Urban Journalism Academy - 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Press Conference Room
Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) panel: Cities as engines of productivity and growth - 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Swissotel Quito
Monitoring fiscal conditions in the world’s cities 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19
Training Event: Scaling Up Inclusive and Affordable Housing in the New Urban Agenda: Land Use Regulation Challenges for Socially Inclusive and Sustainable Cities - 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R5
UN-Habitat Dialogue: Municipal Finance and Local Fiscal Systems, co-convened by the Lincoln Institute and the World Bank - 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room 15 Teatro Demetrio Aguilera
New York University Urban Library Event: Atlas of Urban Expansion: the 2016 Edition - 12:00 to 12:45 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Urban Library
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20
Kresge Foundation-Urban Institute event Inclusive Economies in Slow Growth Shrinking Cities - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30
Lincoln Institute Urban Library Event: Foundations of Municipal Fiscal Health - 11:00 to 11:45 a.m.
A panel led by Martim Smolka, director of the Lincoln Institute’s Program on Latin America and the Caribbean, featuring the use of the property tax as local own-source revenue in the US, Latin America, China, and Africa.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Urban Library
Global Planning Education Association Side Event: Capacity Building for the New Urban Agenda: Roles of Universities – 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R12
City of São Paulo Side Event: São Paulo: The New Urban Agenda Implementation Experience. Public Space Planning and Private Use Regulation: towards a City for Each and Everyone - 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R6
Monitoring Global Urbanization: The Atlas of Urban Expansion - 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30
Nature and Cities - 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Nature and Cities book sneak preview
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30