“This is the most successful forum of mayors of them all” the executive director of the Center for Liveable Cities of Singapore, Khoo Teng Chye, said. “It’s been three incredible days. This is a very enriching experience which shows why Medellín was worthy of the Lee Kuan Yew Award. The city has shown the world its true face, a project characterized by citizen participation and social investment,” the director said.
300 leaders from 80 cities attended the summit which left new cooperation alliances, half a million dollars in economic benefits and the promotion of the transformation of Medellín in the international media.
In the 10th Mayors Forum of the World Cities Summit, the leaders signed a declaration where they commit to working for habitable and sustainable cities.
The tour on the commune 13 was full of expressions of admiration from the mayors and delegates participating in the World Cities Summit. Far from the protocol, they enjoyed music, art, gastronomy, and expressions of affection from the people of Medellín. The language was not a barrier to spontaneous conversations.
As requested by the mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga, the Summit was also lived in the streets and with the citizens as a way to address the central theme of the meeting: the building of trust in the institutions from the projects of urban and social transformation.
“We want to thank the people of Medellín for being such great hosts. This meeting is a recognition of the city, its people, and its communities. As one of the mayors said, Medellín is a city with lots of charisma, and today we can say that we are in line with the global trend of building trust through citizen culture and inclusion,” said the local leader.
New cooperation alliances
Mayor Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga held meetings with his peers from Bilbao, Jakarta, Singapore, and Seoul; he signed a memorandum of understanding on sustainable mobility and economic development with the latter, which will give continuity to the work being done with the Ministry of Transport of South Korea and the largest international cooperation that Medellín has received to improve technology in sustainable mobility.
There were also parallel events such as the 30 young leader’s symposium; the session of the C40 group on sustainable mobility; the meeting of Asocapitales and the forum on technology and innovation of Ruta N, in addition to seven business rounds.
300 people of high political and institutional level from 80 cities around the world, including Seoul, Moscow, Jakarta, Delhi, Doha, South Miami, Panama, Chapeco, and Bilbao attended the event.60% of the international delegation comes from Asia and Africa.
The economic benefit for the city was half a million dollars. Occupation of 65% was registered in the hotels in which the visitors stayed, specifically due to the World Cities Summit.
Diverse cities with common challenges
Despite the geographical and cultural differences, the concerns of large cities are common: climate change, transport, public infrastructure, waste management, environmental sustainability, public services, joint work with citizens and the construction of trust.
In this sense, the leaders participating in the 10th Mayors Forum of the World Cities Summit signed a declaration where they commit to working for livable and sustainable cities to achieve public trust.
One of the main conclusions has to do with the responsibility of cities when taking action against climate change, promoting public and private transport systems with zero emissions and incorporating clean fuels.
This afternoon the participants of the Summit toured the Center of Medellín, the tramway of Ayacucho, and the Metrocable La Sierra. There, they will be able to witness the environmental urbanism implemented in the city and that which has allowed the decrease of the temperature in the city, as well as the reduction of emissions to the environment, thanks to the clean transport systems.
Medellín will be present at the next Summit to be held in Singapore on June 2020.
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