Habitat III - Greater Montréal contributes to the New Urban Agenda

MONTRÉAL, Sept. 23, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - On October 6 and 7, 2015, stakeholders from the international community representing Member States, metropolitan area institutions and international civil society will gather at the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montréal to adopt the Montréal Declaration on Metropolitan Areas. This declaration of the importance of acting at a metropolitan level aims to be included in the "New Urban Agenda for the 21^st Century" which will be adopted in Quito in 2016.

For Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal and President of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), "Around the world, more and more people are living in metropolitan areas. These metropolitan areas face significant challenges in economic development, planning, transport, environment and housing. To achieve our goal of creating sustainable living environments, mayors need to collaborate on a metropolitan scale; they need to make their combined voices on metropolitan issues heard by governments to ensure support and an adequate response. I am proud to be meeting with key stakeholders from around the world - here in Montréal – with the common goal of confirming the importance of metropolitan areas to the New Urban Agenda for the 21^st Century."

One of several preparatory meetings selected by the UN, the Montréal thematic meeting is the only one being held in North America. Habitat III is a major global conference on housing and sustainable urban development organised by the UN; it is held every 20 years to adopt a New Urban Agenda. This agenda acts as a roadmap for developing urban policies, implemented by national governments around the world for the next 20 years.

Representatives from more than 40 countries, 90 cities, 145 organizations, and 115 local governments from around the world will gather in Montréal to discuss the role of large metropolises and the importance of cooperation within metropolitan areas.

The Montréal Thematic Meeting on Metropolitan Areas, organized by the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) under the leadership of the UN, has the support of several partners: the Government of Canada, the Government of Québec, the Network of Metropolitan Areas of the Americas (RAMA), UCLG, METROPOLIS, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Canadian Commission for the United Nations Organization for Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Global fund for cities development (FMDV).

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For more information, please visit the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal website: http://cmm.qc.ca/evenements/montreal-thematic-meeting-on-metropolitan-areas/

SOURCE Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal

For further information: Maryline Charbonneau, 514-350-2550, [email protected]