E n g l i s h
Action Plan
2006-2008
Summary
Letter from the President
Organization
1
Vision
2
Mission
3
Objectives and actions
4
Commissions
6
Training
10
Technical Assistance
11
Bank of Cities
12
Women’s Network
12
Advocacy Activities
13
Corporate Activities
14
Contacts
16
Joining Metropolis
17
World association of the major metropolises
Letter from the President
This action plan, approved at the Berlin Congress 2005, is the result of a long process of reflection on the
part of Metropolis members. The main objective we have set through to 2008 is to continue to fight to
improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the world’s major cities and metropolitan regions. This vision
has remained fundamentally unchanged since the creation of Metropolis twenty years ago, although today
it is more pressing than ever. In 2005, one in every five people on the planet lives in a city. In 1985, the figure was one in seven.
Metropolis’s strategy for the next three years will be based on four basic pillars: knowledge transfer; the
promotion of cooperation and technical assistance; the defense of city interests in international forums;
and analyses and debates about the evolution of cities.
Exchange and collaboration between cities can boost development and bring us closer to meeting the
Millennium Development Goals. In that regard, I want to emphasize the importance to cities and to the
world of the challenge of eradicating extreme poverty before 2015. Cities must play a major role in meeting this goal. We will continue to work to that end.
Joan Clos i Matheu
Mayor of Barcelona,
President of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area
Board of Directors
1
11 President / Barcelona
Joan Clos i Matheu. Alcalde
de Barcelona, Presidente del Área
Metropolitana de Barcelona
17 Regional Vicepresident
Europe / Berlin
Ingeborg Junge-Reyer. Senator
for Urban Development
12 First Executive Vicepresident
Europe / Paris - Île-de-France
Jean-Paul Huchon. Président du
Conseil Régional d’Île-de-France
18 Regional Vicepresident
Asia-Pacific / Seoul
Lee Myung-bak. Mayor of Seoul
13 Executive Vicepresident
Asia-Pacific / Melbourne
Rob Hulls. Minister for Planning/State
of Victoria
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
19 Regional Vicepresident
North America / México
Enrique Peña Nieto. Gobernador
del Estado de México
14 Executive Vicepresident and Treasurer
North America / Montréal
Gérald Tremblay. Maire de Montréal
10 Regional Vicepresident
Africa / Antananarivo
Patrick Ramiaramanana. Maire
de la Commune Urbaine d’Antanarivo
15 Executive Vicepresident
Africa / Abidjan
Djédji Amondji Pierre. Gouverneur
du District d’Abidjan
11 Regional Vicepresident Latin America
& The Caribbean / La Habana
Juan Contino Aslán. Alcalde de Ciudad
de La Habana
16 Executiva Vicepresident Latin America
& The Caribbean / Rio de Janeiro
Cesar Maia. Prefeito da Cidade do Rio
de Janeiro
Organization
Metropolis is the world association
representation of cities can be an
The Metropolis General Assembly
of cities and metropolitan regions,
active member of the association,
in Berlin in May 2005 elected the
i.e., those with more than a million
regardless of its system of local
members of the Board of Directors
inhabitants.
administration.
for the 2005-2008 period, as well
It is a voluntary association and
Metropolis is also the metropolitan
currently includes more than 90
section of United Cities and Local
governments and public
Governments (UCLG), with whom
Metropolis is organized into five
administrations from cities and
it shares the task of representing
continental regions with offices
metropolitan regions from across
and defending the interests of
in Paris, Melbourne, Montreal,
the world.
major cities before international
Abidjan and Rio de Janeiro.
organizations.
The Secretariat General is located
as the Secretary General and the
Regional Secretaries.
in Barcelona.
It is a non-profit international
organization, independent of
It is governed by a General
political parties and religions.
Assembly composed of all the
members and a 22-member Board
Any public power or authority with
of Directors that is renewed every
territorial powers or institution or
three years.
organization that works in the
12
15
13
16
14
Europe:
North America:
Istanbul
12 Kadir Topbas. Mayor of Metropolitan
Istanbul
Toronto
19 David Miller. Mayor of Toronto
Moscou
13 Youri M. Loujkov. Maire de Moscou
Africa:
Bruxelles
14 Guy Vanhengel. Ministre du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale
17
19
Bamako
20 Moussa Badoulaye Traore. Maire
de Gouvernorat du District de Bamako
Stockholm
15 Annika Billstrom. Mayor of Stockholm
Rabat
21 Omar El Bahraoui. Président du Conseil
Municipal de Rabat Hassan
Asia-Pacific:
Latin America & The Caribbean:
Guangzhou
16 Zhang Guangning. Mayor of Guangzhou
Municipal People’s Government
São Paulo
22 José Serra. Prefeito de São Paulo
18
20
Tianjin
17 Dai Xianglong. Mayor of Tianjin
Municipal People’s Government
Dubai
18 Qassim Sultan. Director General
of Dubai Municipality
21
22
1 Action Plan 2006-2008
Foster sustainable urban
development of major cities and
metropolitan areas to improve
the quality of life of citizens,
by leading the world network
of metropolises.
Vision
Evolution of the World’s metropolises: 1985-2015
Number of metropolises, population and percentage of urban population (by size and development group).
Development group
and size
Number of metropolises
1985
2005
2015
Population (milion inhab.)
1985
2005
2015
% of total urban population
1985
2005
2015
World
10 million or more
5 to 10 million
1 to 5 million
Total metropolises
9
20
242
271
20
29
381
430
22
39
480
541
127
147
450
724
292
195
726
1.213
358
268
914
1.540
6
7
23
36
9
6
23
38
9
7
24
40
More developed regions
10 million or more
5 to 10 million
1 to 5 million
Total metropolises
4
5
93
102
5
9
107
121
6
10
109
125
67
39
184
290
88
59
211
358
101
62
218
381
8
6
23
37
10
6
23
39
11
6
23
40
Less developed regions
10 million or more
5 to 10 million
1 to 5 million
Total metropolises
5
15
149
169
15
20
274
309
16
29
371
416
61
108
266
435
204
136
514
854
257
206
696
1.159
5
9
22
36
9
6
23
38
9
7
24
40
Source: Population Division, United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs (2004).
In 2005, the UN calculated there were 1.213 million people living in the 430 cities with more than
a million inhabitants; 1.958 million people in urban areas of a smaller size and 3.382 million people in rural areas.
The world’s urban population is set to exceed 50% in the next few years and metropolis dwellers
will soon represent 20% of the world’s population and 40% of the world’s urban population. By
the year 2015, 541 metropolis will be home to 1.54 billion people: 75% in metropolis in developing countries and 25% in metropolis in developed ones.
metropolitan population
other urban
population
rural population
1985
In both cases, it will be metropolitan citizens who will have to ensure the progress of humanity.
The big economic, social and political changes that mark the evolution of the globalized world
are taking place in the metropolis of the north and south.
metropolitan population
Metropolis are the places where citizens’ and political rights are exercised with most force, where
consumption and production generate economic change, where social changes and welfare policies (education, health, etc.) are manifesting – and metropolis are also the source of concern
about environmental and sustainability issues, as well as matters of security and terrorism.
rural population
other urban
population
Metropolis, as the world association of major metropolises, wants to contribute to the sustainable urban development of the major metropolis and ensure a better quality of life for all city
dwellers.
2005
metropolitan population
rural population
other urban population
2015
2 Action Plan 2006-2008
Mission
To serve our members in
• Transferring knowledge and expertise
• Fostering cooperation and exchanges
• Representing their interests in international forums
• Anticipating and debating trends in the development
of metropolises
Metropolis is a voluntary association of local and metropolitan governments from across the
world; a network of people and institutions that believe in the joint work of cities.
Firstly, the association promotes the exchange of knowledge and experiences. Metropolis provides metropolitan politicians and technical staff with the possibility of rising above the local vision
to share problems and solutions with their counterparts in other countries and other continents.
Secondly, Metropolis promotes cooperation and technical assistance between cities. Metropolis’
contact network is a catalyst for formal and informal collaboration between cities. It is the cities
themselves who must define their needs, and Metropolis helps find partnerships with other cities.
Thirdly, the phenomena of globalization and the constant calls from society for a change in the
institutions and mechanisms of global governance compel local and metropolitan governments
to be present in international forums and organizations and to take part in their discussions and
decisions. Metropolis is committed to this task and joins UCLG in defending the participation of
local and metropolitan governments in debates and decision-making about the world’s global
problems.
Fourthly, Metropolis has made a commitment in this new period to participate and discuss the
trends in the evolution of cities. Metropolis wants to unite the theoretical vision of urban research
and analysis with the practical vision of policies and real problems that citizens run up against
in their day-to-day activity.
ABIDJAN
ACCRA
ADDIS ABABA
ALEXANDRIA
ALGER
ALMATY
AMMAN
ANTANANARIVO
ATHÈNES
BAMAKO
BANGUI
BARCELONA
BELO HORIZONTE
BERLIN
BEYROUTH
BRASILIA
BRAZZAVILLE
BRUXELLES
BUCAREST
BUENOS AIRES
BUSAN
CAIRO
CASABLANCA
CHONGQING
COLOMBO
CÓRDOBA
COTONOU
DAEJEON
DAKAR
DILI
DOUALA
DUBAI
ESFAHAN
FRANKFURT
GUADALAJARA
GUANGZHOU
GYEONGGI
GWANGJU
HANGZHOU
HANOI
HARARE
ISTANBUL
JOHANNESBURG
KAZAN
KOLKATA
KATHMANDU
KINSHASA
LA HABANA
LA PAZ
LIBREVILLE
LISBOA
LONDON
MANCHESTER
MANILA
MARACAIBO
MARRAKECH
MASHHAD
MELBOURNE
MÉXICO
MONTERREY
MONTREAL
MOSCOU
NIAMEY
OMSK
P A R I S, Î L E - D E - F R A N C E
PORT MORESBY
PORTO ALEGRE
PUEBLA
QUITO
RABAT
RIO DE JANEIRO
SANTIAGO
SÃO PAULO
SARAJEVO
SEOUL
SHENYANG
SOFIA
STOCKHOLM
SYDNEY
TABRIZ
TEHRAN
TELAVIV
TIANJIN
TORONTO
TUNIS
TURIN
VARSOVIE
WUHAN
YAOUNDÉ
ZAGREB
3 Action Plan 2006-2008
Actions of the 2006-2008 Strategic Plan
Objectives and actions
I. Services to Members
Action 1: Commissions 2006-2008
Action 2: Training
Action 3: Technical assistance
Action 4: Bank of Cities
Action 5: Women’s network
1. Increase the network of exchange
and cooperation among members
• Coordinate the activities of the standing
commissions, training and technical assistance.
• Advise members.
2. Advocate the interests of major cities
and metropolitan regions
• Participate in international forums.
• Represent cities before international
organizations.
• Head the Metropolitan Section of UCLG.
3. Increase partnership with other institutions
• Facilitating projects between metropolises
and other institutions.
• Sharing information and knowledge.
4. Strengthen Metropolis regionalization
• Empowering regional secretaries.
• Promoting a Marketing and Members
Campaign.
• Improving communication.
Elaboration of the Plan
Following similar experiences in drafting previous Action Plans, a Metropolis Strategic Committee comprising representatives of member cities and collaborating institutions met in 2004 to initiate the elaboration of the action plan 2006-2008. A meeting was convened
with 26 members and external stakeholders to identify emerging issues, propose ideas for the 2006-2008 period and discuss the
cities’ needs and how Metropolis can meet them.
In November 2004, after evaluating Metropolis’ mission, objectives and past activities and after proposing the priorities of the Action
Plan 2006 – 2008, the Secretariat General prepared a preliminary report entitled “Strategic and Action Plan 2006-2008. Executive
Summary”. This document was sent to all members, along with a specific survey requesting their contributions to the Action Plan
2006-2008.
In February 2005, a preliminary proposal for the Strategic and Action Plan 2006-2008 was prepared and reviewed at the Secretaries
Meeting held in Melbourne in March 2005.
In April 2005, the final proposal of the plan was sent to all members to keep them informed.
The plan was discussed by the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors and proposed for approval at the General Assembly
in Berlin in May 2005.
Once amended and approved, the Plan is to be published and sent to the members and stakeholders.
4 Action Plan 2006-2008
II.Advocacy Activities
Action 6: International activities
Action 7: Relations with International Organizations
Action 8: Activities with UCLG
III. Corporate Activities
Action 9: Statutory Meetings 2006-2008
Action 10: General and Regional Secretariats
Action 11: Information and Knowledge Exchange
Action 12: Communication
Action 13: Marketing and Members Campaign
Metropolis Actions for 2006-2008
The actions of Metropolis detail the activities approved by the General Assembly through to the Sydney Congress to take place
in 2008.
The main nucleus of activities is based on the work of the Standing Commissions. Metropolis has established 31 Standing
Commissions since 1985 that have dealt with different economic, social, political and environmental issues relating to cities.
Each commission, under the presidency of a city, groups together interested cities and completes it work with external contributions
from experts, universities, NGOs, companies and international organizations. The commissions have been able to complete exchanges between their members by developing training activities, carrying out technical-assistance programs, organizing seminars and
preparing case studies.
A feature of the current period is the establishment of a working group entitled ‘Bank of Cities’, where the goal is to make proposals
to improve the direct funding to local authorities on the part of public and private financial institutions.
A women’s network has also been established to boost women’s participation in local life and in the activities of Metropolis.
A second block of actions is aimed at representing metropolitan regions in international and regional forums. The mission is to represent member cities and their interests, transmit their messages and promote their ideas and points of view, in close collaboration
with UCLG. Metropolis also aims to shore up relations between its members and companies, universities and civil society.
Finally, a third block of actions includes the main corporate actions that Metropolis carries out to meet its statutory obligations (Board
of Directors and Congresses) and to manage the association: management of the Secretariat General and the regional secretariats,
information-exchange activities and activities of communication and relations with members.
5 Action Plan 2006-2008
Commissions
Metropolis is committed to maintaining the standing commissions and improving their management,
seeking the commitment of participating cities and promoting collaboration with other organizations.
The Standing Commissions will continue to be a key part of our plan, and their activities and outcomes
will be opened up to interested Metropolis and UCLG members that would like to participate, within
the terms of reference of each Commission.
We recommend adopting the following criteria, as suggested by the participants in the strategic reflection:
• The cities that take responsibility for the Presidency and vice-presidency of each Commission
should contribute human and financial resources to ensure correct functioning.
• The participating cities should actively commit to the Commissions and ensure the participation of
politicians or experts from their city. The Commissions are aimed at promoting the active participation of cities from developing countries.
• The Presidents of the Commissions and the Secretariat General are authorized to prepare the terms
of reference for the Commissions to improve the quality of outcomes, monitoring and communication to members.
• Collaboration with external organizations at the technical and financial level is to be promoted within the Commissions.
• The Commissions are authorized to work together to consider common issues in an across-theboard and innovative manner.
• We recommend developing activities aimed at disseminating expertise and cases studied within the
Commissions (current and past) as much as possible, and using outcomes in training activities and
technical assistance schemes for members.
• Taking into account the initiative of the creation of the International Network Women and Local
Governance and following discussions at the Board of directors on this matter, we propose that all
new commissions should involve more women to participate to their activities, by ensuring a balanced presence of women and men in each Commission in which they take part in order to systematically implement the principle of gender transversality.
The new Commissions for the period 2006-2008 are:
Commission 1:
Ecological Regions
President: Île-de-France; Vice-President: Toronto
Commission 4:
Urban Mobility Management
President: Berlin; Vice-President: Seoul
Commission 2:
Financing of Urban Services and Infrastructures
President: Montreal; Vice-President: São Paulo
Commission 5:
Metropolitan Perfomance Measurement
President: Melbourne; Vice-President: State of Mexico
Commission 3:
Comprehensive Neighborhoord Regeneration
President: Barcelona; Vice-President: Rio de Janeiro
Commission 6:
Water Management
President: State of Mexico; Vice-President: Montréal
6 Action Plan 2006-2008
Commission 1
Commission 2
Presidency: Île-de-France
Vice-Presidency: Toronto
Presidency: Montreal
Vice-Presidency: São Paulo
Ecological Regions
Financing of Urban Services
and Infrastructures
Since the 1992 Earth Summit, local authorities have progressively assumed their responsibilities in the challenge of sustainable development. This has crystallized into the implementation
of numerous Local Agendas 21. However, Local Agendas 21
have still to take fully into account the complexity of territories,
in particular in metropolitan areas that often run into conflict with
the administrative limits of the cities.
The effective and long-lasting sustainability of the metropolises
necessarily involves greater coordination between the municipalities concerned and, often, providing more powers in the area
of the environment to regional and/or metropolitan institutions.
The commission aims to analyze different models of urbanization in metropolitan regions in order to identify the elements that
threaten or favor their sustainable development.
The commission has set the following objectives:
• Develop the Ecological Regions concept and the idea of metropolitan reserves of the biosphere from a global reflection,
seeking collaboration with Unesco (MAB Program and University of Colombia/CUBES).
• Hold practical training seminars on interregional sustainabletourism policies.
• Hold practical training seminars on the maintenance and
development of peri-urban agriculture.
The suitable provision of infrastructures and services is one of the
conditions needed for the economic development of metropolises, and one of the keys that make their role as key drivers in
the domestic and international economy possible. The concept
of metropolitan infrastructures is very broad and includes the
infrastructures of transport, water, environment, telecommunications, culture and housing.
Local and metropolitan authorities have to mobilize the economic resources necessary, whether their own or external, to create
or modernize their infrastructures. Financial and fiscal autonomy
is one of the ways to achieve this, but not the only way, as the
situation differs profoundly between countries and, particularly,
between the developed world and developing countries.
The commission has set the following objectives:
• Delimit the financial problems of cities, distinguishing between
national and regional peculiarities.
• Examine the different fiscal policies that exist, as well as the
reforms anticipated for improving the financial capability of
local and metropolitan governments.
• Analyze city government funding.
• Analyze how cities plan their investments and fund their infrastructure projects.
• Contribute to the development of the ‘Bank of Cities’ project.
7 Action Plan 2006-2008
Commission 3
Commission 4
Presidency: Barcelona
Vice-Presidency: Rio de Janeiro
Presidency: Berlin
Vice-Presidency: Seoul
Comprehensive Neighborhood
Regeneration
Urban Mobility Management
The city transformation process often has diverging consequences. While some areas experience the positive side of urban
development, other neighborhoods and districts, and even entire
cities, can fall into a cycle of depression and abandonment.
The causes of the depression of a neighborhood are very
diverse and can include both structural factors and unwanted
results of public policies. Other more specific causes may be:
the deterioration of urban infrastructure or the housing stock in
historical centers; the worsening of the environmental conditions
in an area; the consolidation of informal settlements lacking
basic urban services; changes in the neighborhood’s sociodemographic structure; the construction of major infrastructure
that alters the balance of the urban fabric, etc.
Today, we often turn to policies based on a concept of comprehensive regeneration applied to a neighborhood or urban area.
Such policies make a simultaneous and coordinated impact on
the physical environment, the infrastructures, the economy, the
environment and the social and cultural reality.
The commission has set the following objectives:
• Gather the experience of cities that have made or which are
carrying out comprehensive regeneration projects in neighborhoods.
• Evaluate the physical, urban-planning, economic, social and
environmental impacts of comprehensive neighborhoodregeneration projects.
• Assess the impact these projects may have on the city as a
whole.
• Assess the factors that may favor or threaten the impact and
the lessons learnt from the implementation of other comprehensive neighborhood-regeneration projects.
8 Action Plan 2006-2008
Sustainable development and the quality of life in the metropolises will depend increasingly on the comprehensive management of urban mobility. This should make traffic and transport
compatible with urban planning, economic development and
the protection of the environment.
Among the aspects to deal with in the 2006-2008 period are
mobility and social cohesion: the importance of mobility for
guaranteeing all citizens access to and participation in social life;
establishing transport systems adapted to the people with the
most needs, such as children, the elderly and the handicapped;
paying particular attention to gender issues; developing and
implementing measures that guarantee equal access to public
transport and that increase traffic safety through the use of technology and organization.
Another aspect is funding mobility: mechanisms to fund infrastructures and public transport systems; to promote the exploration and use of innovating funding systems for all types of
transport; to follow the principles of efficiency, transparence and
modal integration and to prioritize the interest of transport users
and analyze the economic and social impact of public transport,
and its specific value in the way the city functions.
Finally, the Commission will tackle the management of urban
freight transport and the need to create less-polluting distribution systems. To this end, it will prioritize the coordination of
freight movements; the strengthening of sea and train transport
and the establishment, implementation and strategic use of
innovative forms of freight transport.
Commission 5
Commission 6
Presidency: Melbourne
Vice-Presidency: State of Mexico
Presidency: State of Mexico
Vice-Presidency: Montreal
Metropolitan Perfomance Measurement
Water Management
This commission is a joint Metropolis/UN-HABITAT project. Since
it was launched in 2002, its objective has been to assist cities
in developing countries to develop performance measurement
systems.
The accelerated rise of the urban population, together with the
limitation of water resources, has forced the world’s cities to
step up to bat a challenge of great magnitude, i.e., to guarantee
the supply of drinking water and treatment of wastewater.
Through to 2008, the emphasis will be on providing practical
technical assistance in capacity building to a limited number of
cities (6-8), whilst encouraging wider participation by other cities
in seminars, training workshops and information exchanges.
This will be done through city consultations, training workshops,
expert missions and targeted technical assistance.
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals made halving the number of people without access to a supply of drinking
water and domestic sewerage a challenge for 2015.
Key aspects of the Commission’s work are:
• Mutual support of member cities in the development of performance measurement systems.
• Mutual support in the establishment and capacity building of
Local Global Observatories.
• Editing and documentation of data and provision of decisionmakers with a guide to best practices.
• Knowledge-sharing, networking and review of existing indicator systems and performance measurement tools.
The commission has set the following objectives:
• Generate sustainable and innovative projects.
• Shore up institutional capabilities through technical-assistance
programs, courses, workshops and seminars.
• Promote knowledge exchange between cities and regions.
• Link the commission’s activities with those of other public and
private organizations.
• Establish a network of technical, legal and political information
• Encourage international funding for solidarity through a platform of cooperation with governmental and international
organizations.
• Publicize the commission’s activities.
The goal is to generate a harmonious balance of water resources
in economic, social and environmental aspects at the local and
regional levels that responds to long-term strategic planning.
9 Action Plan 2006-2008
Training
The Metropolis International Institute based in Montréal is responsible for proposing and coordinating training activities. The
Institute offers applied management training in various urban
sectors. This practical and hands-on appreciation training is
intended primarily for elected representatives and senior managers involved in areas of urban activity. The Institute’s activities
have made it possible to accumulate a great deal of knowledge
about challenges in the local and metropolitan sphere, and a
solid experience in shoring up capabilities and governance.
Through these activities, Metropolis will make a significant contribution to boosting the professional and institutional skills of
its members.
The main objectives of the training institute are to:
• To offer training and professional development seminars
geared to participants’ needs.
• To foster the acquisition of functional competence that
can be directly applied to the participants’ work.
• To update participants’ knowledge and management methods.
• To enable participants to develop professional relationships that will facilitate the carrying out of projects.
In the last Action Plan, the Metropolis International Institute
linked training seminars to issues managed by the Commissions
and the technical assistance activities. The 2006-2008 plan recommends:
• Organizing courses in collaboration with other institutions
• Linking training to the technical assistance schemes and
the work of the Commissions
• Focusing on particular urban issues
• Promoting distance expertise exchanges and training
• To continue organizing special seminars for cities of developing countries.
• Keeping a regional balance in training activities.
• Assigning special resources for members of developing
countries.
The Action Plan is to carry out the following training activities:
• The Metropolis International Institute based in Montréal will develop a course on metropolitan governance as recommended
by the 2002-2005 Metropolis Commission 1 on metropolitan governance.
• The Metropolis International Institute, the International Center for Environmental Training in the State of Mexico and the Area
Metropolitana de Barcelona, will offer courses on environmental issues, based on the Training Manual prepared by the 20022005 Metropolis Commission 3 on Urban Waste Management.
• In the 2006-2008 period, two training seminars will be held within each Commission, preferably at the same time as the
Commission meetings. In total, 10 training seminars relating to the Commissions are anticipated for the next three years.
• The Metropolis International Institute will submit to the Board Meeting each year the special seminars requested by member
cities.
• The Metropolis International Institute will support the International Network Women and Local Governance by developing a
course on gender issues.
• The Metropolis International Institute will develop and offer courses on line in order to reach a greater number of participants
and better disseminate knowledge.
• The Metropolis International Institute will continue promoting collaboration with other organizations for the delivery of training
courses and, in particular, is authorized to monitor the proposals of the World Bank and the ILO.
• We also recommend that the Institute promote joint collaboration and action with UCLG in on-site and distance training activities aimed at members and local governments in general.
10 Action Plan 2006-2008
Technical Assistance
The 2006-2008 Plan proposes continuing with the idea of technical-assistance activities created by Metropolis and based on
technical assistance between cities: one city (or a group of
cities) provides technical advice in response to a request from
another city.
International cooperation and solidarity among member cities
is one of the important grounds of Metropolis actions. The
Technical Assistance program began in 1995 and contributes to
exchanges between member cities to enable them to put their
development and urban-management projects into action.
Every active member of the association can request technical
assistance by presenting an official request to the Executive
Committee and Board of Directors for approval. Once
approved, requests are reported to the other cities so they can
bid to deliver the expressed requirements.
Metropolis thus ensures suitability between supply and needs
and supports parties in project preparation and supervision.
Metropolis only assists in the case of projects that have been
approved by the political authorities of the cities that request
assistance.
To shore up technical assistance and consultancy
activities between cities, the Action Plan proposes:
• Officially calling for new technical-assistance requests
from member cities.
• Facilitating members a consultancy structure to advise
on and help present projects to international organizations and programs. In particular, it emphasizes the need
for advice in seeking funding for infrastructure projects in
Africa.
• Considering the creation of an urban-project database
that member cities can consult.
• Continuing the technical-assistance projects involving
urban waste management and mobility management, following the work carried out in the respective Commissions
during the previous period. It is especially important for the
projects already initiated in Quito, La Paz, Brazzaville and
Abidjan to continue.
The approach taken toward the assistance is very pragmatic
and aimed at particular, well-defined projects. Assistance translates into the provision of technical and advisory services in project realization phases, carried out under the responsibility of
Metropolis, which also provides financial aid to cover international journeys by experts. Beneficiary cities contribute by taking
care of the board and lodging expenses of the international
experts.
Once these technical questions have been settled, projects are
prepared jointly and accompanied through to the funding stage.
If the city that has received technical aid does not have the
financial resources to carry the project forward, Metropolis will
assist it in contacting international organizations and fund
providers.
This work method has proven its efficiency, particularly in the
case of cities in developing countries that lack specialized
experts and significant financial resources. Metropolis has managed to help a number of its members carry out important projects in different spheres of urban management and has clearly
demonstrated that the metropolises are important agents in the
field of international cooperation.
• Promoting collaboration with the private sector, universities and other technical organizations.
11 Action Plan 2006-2008
Bank of Cities
Women’s Network
Improving the cities’ financial capability is one of Metropolis’s
strategic goals for the next few years, particularly in developing
countries. To that end, we have created a working group led by
the Paris Ille-de-France Region, which will involve the participation of financial experts and active members of Metropolis. The
initiative has the participation of the United Cities Local
Governments (UCLG) organization.
As part of the activities of supporting city interests, Metropolis
promotes increased participation by women in the political and
technical work of local governments.
The aim of this group is to facilitate funding for the investment
projects of local and metropolitan governments. With this aim, it
will seek the suitable formulas for establishing a cities bank.
Considering that the Board of Directors at Seoul 2002 supported the creation of an International Network of Women and Local
Government, and considering the progress made by the network and the presentation of reports in Istanbul (2003) and
Ixtapan de la Sal (2004), Metropolis has resolved to shore up
this international network:
Work Plan
• For the next three years, the International Network of
Women and Local Governments shall be considered a
commission of Metropolis.
• Analyze existing financial instruments at the service of the
governments of developing cities.
• The network shall seek funding to support its activities and
mission.
• Prepare a snapshot of the existing needs and demands in
the area of local project funding.
• Given that a similar network is being organized by UCLG,
Metropolis could consider a partnership with this organization.
• Develop one or various innovative funding systems to facilitate the development and above all the execution of local
projects.
• Define the role of the most developed cities: training, technical support, contribution to project viability, guaranteeing
credit operations.
12 Action Plan 2006-2008
• Metropolis shall promote the participation of women in
statutory meetings and technical commissions and ensure
that women’s interests, concerns and experiences are
applied across the board in all Metropolis activities.
Advocacy Activities
International activities
Metropolis is the leading association of metropolitan governments and will continue to defend cities’ interest before international organizations, participating in international forums and
heading up the Metropolitan Section of UCLG.
The plan makes the following recommendations:
• Metropolis should coordinate its international representation
with UCLG and be represented at international meetings and
activities of interest to cities.
• Metropolis should continue to actively shore up the effective
weight of local and metropolitan governments at the international level and within the United Nations and its agencies,
particularly UN-Habitat.
• Metropolis should work closely with UCLG, its Secretariat and
Regional Sections on exchanging information among members and other activities of common interest.
Each year, the Metropolis Board of Directors will approve
the list of main activities and in the periods between Board
Meetings, the President of Metropolis will delegate representation among the members to ensure broad representation at international meetings.
Relations with International
Organizations
Metropolis will pursue its contacts with international organizations in close collaboration with UCLG to increase the effectiveness of the weight of local and metropolitan governments in
world governance.
• Cities Alliance: Metropolis is represented on the
Consultative Group and will also continue to take part in
the Municipal Finance Task Force, which was recently created to identify and increase long-term flows of private
capital for neighborhood improvement activities and city
development strategies.
• World Bank and Regional Banks: Metropolis will continue to collaborate with the World Bank and will contact through regional secretariats the corresponding
regional banks particularly on the project to develop a
cities bank and the search for direct funding for city
projects.
• Forum of Cultures: Metropolis will promote, together with
UCLG, the continuity of the Forum of Cultures as a new
world event for local authorities and support the creation of
an International Foundation to ensure the continuity of the
event beyond Barcelona 2004 and Monterrey 2006.
• US Conference of Mayors: Metropolis has proposed a
collaboration agreement which will see the US Conference
of Mayors become an associate member of Metropolis and
the two associations propose cooperating and collaborating on activities relating to major cities.
• Other Institutions: Metropolis will continue with isolated
collaborations with various institutions of interest to major
metropolises, e.g., ICLEI, EMI, Mosaïcultures, IMPACTS,
the Glocal Forum, UITP and other organizations of a
regional nature.
Activities with UCLG
The action plan recommends to continue the participation and
relations with the following organizations:
• UN-Habitat and UNACLA: Metropolis will continue to
actively participate in the activities of UN-Habitat and particularly in the activities of UNACLA (United Nations Advisory
Council for Local Authorities), currently led by Joan Clos,
President of Metropolis. Following the changes made in its
regulation and the agreements reached with UCLG,
Metropolis is assured a seat on the Board and participation
as an observer of the Secretary General. Metropolis will support UN -Habitat with its agenda and, in particular, with the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and
the World Urban Forum, to be held in Vancouver in 2006.
• UN-ECOSOC: Metropolis has a special consultative status
for the Economic and Social Council and each year proposes the appointment of its representatives at the different UN offices in New York, Paris and Vienna (see list of
appointments).
• Other UN Agencies: Metropolis will continue to develop
partnership agreements with UNESCO, UNEP, UNDP,
DPKO and other UN agencies.
Within the framework of its 2005-2007 Work Programme, the
UCLG Executive Bureau agreed to establish Committees and
Working Groups. Their mandate is for two years, until the next
UCLG Congress in 2007.
Metropolis will participate, through their members, in these
committees and from the general andf regional secretariats will
give its support to the following networks proposed by UCLG:
Committees
• Decentralisation and Local Self-Government.
• Local Finance.
• City Diplomacy.
• Local Management of Water and Sanitation.
• Decentralised Cooperation.
• Social Inclusion and Participative Democracy.
• Gender equality.
• Information Society.
Working Groups
• Culture.
• Capacity Building (ACB-CIB platform).
• Peripheral Cities.
• Millennium Development Goals.
13 Action Plan 2006-2008
Corporate Activities
Statutory Meetings 2006-2008
Over the next period, Metropolis will organize the 2006, 2007
and 2008 Board of Directors meetings as well as the Congress
and General Assembly of 2008.
The cities to host the statutory meetings will be:
• 2006 Board of Directors meeting in Toronto.
• 2007 Board of Directors meeting in Antananarivo.
• 2008 Board of Directors meeting, General Assembly
and Congress in Sydney.
Secretariat General and Regional
Secretariats
Metropolis proposes maintaining the current regional structure
based on five regional secretariats, although a future revision is
not excluded if the increase in membership on a specific area so
requires.
Information and Knowledge Exchange
Organizing statutory meetings, seminars, workshops and
Commission meetings provides added value to the times when
members meet. The balance between the political statutory
meetings and experts’ meetings is considered key to the political/technical approach that Metropolis pursues in urban issues.
The Plan 2006-2008 decisively supports working in a network and
exchanging knowledge and information among members and
stakeholders. The following criteria and activities are suggested:
• Intensifying communication between members.
• Exchanging case studies and experiences.
• Promoting collaboration with public and private organizations.
• Facilitating staff exchanges.
We therefore recommend that the organizing cities and
Secretariat General ensure that, along with the statutory meetings, they also carry out Commission meetings or technical seminars of different types that complement the political/technical
content of the meetings.
The plan emphasizes the need to publish reports, case studies
and prospective papers on particular policies and future perspectives:
Metropolis will encourage its members to follow a pro-active
policy concerning the participation of women (elected and
expert) in the statutory meetings of the network.
14 Action Plan 2006-2008
The following activities were approved for the 2006-2008
period:
• Policy Papers: We propose the first document be devoted to overall metropolitan policy and that subsequent documents take advantage of the work of the Commissions,
the technical assistance schemes and training to focus on
more specific matters.
• Prospective report on Metropolises: Metropolis will publish a report on metropolitan cities and regions in partnership with universities and research centers.
• Case Studies and Working Papers: Metropolis will publish issue-specific works based on the activities of the
Commissions, the awards, training, technical assistance
schemes, etc., as working documents, thus avoiding the
three-year period between the traditional Congress
reports and allowing for a more frequent communication
campaign.
• The Website as a Knowledge Management Tool: Given
that the website can be a tool for knowledge, Metropolis
should redesign the Commissions’ portals and continue to
promote the use of the Internet as a tool for exchanging
data and information.
Communication strategy
The Action Plan updates the current communication strategy,
bearing in mind the different types of cities and people who
receive information. Maintaining our member and stakeholder
database is an essential task in ensuring that the communication strategy adopts a more personalized and member-oriented
approach.
As tools, Metropolis will continue improving the website, will
give priority to E-mail communication, publish newsletters and
launch Information Campaigns Aimed at Institutions and Media
as well as improving informative dossiers about Metropolis.
Marketing and Members Campaign
The campaign to attract new members will consider Metropolis’
relation with UCLG and study a joint marketing plan for major
metropolises.
We should analyze the member and fees policies of the two
organizations to bring them into line and make it viable for cities
to participate in the regional and metropolitan sections of UCLG.
We propose extending the concept of City Member from meaning a city with more than a million inhabitants or capital city to
include metropolitan regions. This involves facilitating the incorporation of various levels of metropolitan governments (local,
metropolitan or state wide) that represent more than 400 metropolitan regions across the world (of more than one million inhabitants) even though in some cases there is no central city, or
even a local government, which exceeds the figure of one million inhabitants.
The communication strategy proposes for the 2006-2008 period
to improve internal and external communication at Metropolis
and increase the public projection.
15 Action Plan 2006-2008
Contacts
General and Regional Secretariats
Secretariat General - Barcelona
Josep Roig, Secretario General Metropolis
Avinyó,15 3ª planta
08002 Barcelona (España)
Tel. (+34) 933 429 460
Fax (+34) 933 429 466
metropolis@mail.bcn.es
Africa Regional Secretariat - Abidjan
Émile Danho, Secrétaire Régional Afrique
Vice-Gouverneur
Discrict d’Abidjan
BP V24 Abidjan (République de Côte d’Ivoire)
Tel. (+225) 20 223 916 / 20 323 623
Fax (+225) 20 328 740
danhoemile@yahoo.com
North America Regional Secretariat - Montreal
Amara Ouerghi, Secrétaire Régional Amérique de Nord
Conseiller spécial
Ville de Montréal
1550, rue Metcalfe 14ème étage
Montréal, Québec H3A 3P1 (Canada)
Tel. (+1) 514 280 3518 Fax (+1) 514 282 0241
amara.ouerghi@cum.qc.ca
Latin America & The Caribbean Regional Secretariat - Rio de Janeiro
Alfredo Sirkis, Secretario Regional de América Latina y el Caribe
Secretario de Urbanismo
Prefeitura de Rio de Janeiro
Rua Alfonso Cavalcante, 455, 11o andar sala 1101
Cidade Nova CEP: 20211-110
Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brasil)
Tel. (+55) 212 736 544 Fax (+55) 212 736 096
sirkis.smu@pcrj.rj.gov.br
Asia-Pacific Regional Secretariat - Melbourne
Lyndsay Neilson, Regional Secretary Asia/Pacific Secretary
Secretary of the Departament of Sustainability and Environment
State of Victoria
8 Nicholson Street P.O. Box 500
3002 East Melbourne, VIC (Australia)
Tel. (+61) 3 9637 8765 Fax (+61) 3 9637 8177
lyndsay.neilson@dse.vic.gov.au
Europe Regional Secretariat - Paris
Alain Le Saux, Secrétaire Régional Europe
Directeur des Affaires Internationales et Européennes
Conseil Regional Ile-de France
35, Boulevard des Invalides
75007 Paris (France)
Tel. (+33) 153 856 210 Fax (+33) 153 856 219
alain.lesaux@iledefrance.fr
16 Action Plan 2006-2008
Joining Metropolis
All governments of cities and metropolitan regions with more than one million inhabitants
and capitals are invited to join the World Association of the Major Metropolises as active
members.
Visit our website and become a member:
www.metropolis.org
World association of the major metropolises
World association of the major metropolises
Asociación mundial de las grandes metrópolis
Association mondiale des grandes métropoles
Secretariat General of Metropolis
Avinyó, 15
08002 Barcelona (Spain)
Tel.: (+34) 93 342 94 60
Fax: (+34) 93 342 94 66
metropolis@mail.bcn.es
www.metropolis.org