CIP & the World Urban Forum
In 1976, Canada hosted the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT I) in Vancouver. Participants signed the Vancouver Charter – a global manifesto for national and international action on matters of global urbanization.
The 1976 Habitat Conference led to the formation of the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements, which directs an operational arm, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UN-HABITAT), based in Nairobi. In 2002, following a series of consultation sessions, UN-HABITAT launched the World Urban Forum (WUF) , holding WUF I in Nairobi, Kenya.
In April 2003, CIP was invited to assist Canada’s federal government in its preparations to host the 2006 World Urban Forum (WUF III) in Vancouver. Specifically, CIP was asked to develop a planning-related stream through which to engage the Canadian and international planning communities in WUF III and to help mark the 30th anniversary of HABITAT I.
During the period that followed, CIP served as a member of various committees formed to help organize WUF III. In addition, CIP decided to hold its own conference in Vancouver in 2006, just prior to WUF III, dubbing it the “World Planners Congress”.
In 2004, in preparation for its involvement with WUF III, a CIP delegation attended WUF II in Barcelona. Among other things, CIP’s contributions to the Canadian contingent at the 2004 WUF included a networking session on CIP’s international outreach activities.
2006 World Urban Forum (Vancouver, Canada)
By all accounts, the 2006 World Urban Forum was the most successful yet, attracting some 10,000 participants from 100 countries, marking not only a huge increase in attendance from previous forums, but also a notable increase in private sector participation.
2006 World Planners Congress
The World Planners Congress (WPC) was headquartered at the Westin Bayshore Resort & Marina in downtown Vancouver, and spanned three and a half days from June 17 – 20, 2006. Attended by nearly 1,200 delegates from across Canada and around the world, it featured a special day of interdisciplinary events with associated professionals, prominent keynote speakers, 64 plenary, roundtable and concurrent sessions, 12 mobile workshops, and a multi-media, film and video program.
The WPC served as an important staging grounds and platform for carrying a planning-related dialogue into WUF III.
Global Planners Network
In June 2006, at the World Planners Congress, some 15 countries signed the Vancouver Declaration (2006). The Declaration sets out the highest order issues that the world’s planners aspire to uphold. Initially drafted and signed by CIP and its partners, the American Planning Association, the Royal Town Planning Institute (U.K.), and the Commonwealth Association of Planners in 2005, it was presented to participants at the WPC and served as the foundation for the Global Planners Network (www.globalplannersnetwork.org). The GPN and the Declaration were legacies of the World Planners Congress, creating a forum for sharing best planning practices, strengthening personal and institutional networks, and finding ways to bring planners together from throughout the world.
2008 World Urban Forum (Nanjing, China)
Since 2006, the Global Planners Network (GPN) has established and been implementing a work plan that includes preparing to hold a GPN Congress in conjunction with the World Urban Forum IV, to be held in Nanjing, China, from November 3-7, 2008.
Click here for the Call for Proposals.