Technical expertise towards the New Urban Agenda
The United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in October 2016, in Quito, Ecuador, to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, and to focus on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda with a set of global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development.
The Habitat III Conference and its preparatory process provided a unique opportunity to bring together diverse urban actors, particularly local authorities, to contribute to the development of the New Urban Agenda in the new global development context after the historic adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Goals, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and other global development agreements and frameworks.
In September 2014, during the first session of the Habitat III Preparatory Committee (PrepCom1) held in New York at the United Nations headquarters, the Secretary-General of the Conference, Dr. Joan Clos, presented a report on the preparations for the Conference and launched an innovative, inclusive, and action-oriented preparatory process carried out in four areas: knowledge, engagement, policy, and operations.
