Special Sessions

Tuesday, June 20th - 10:00 - 12:00
Location: VCEC - Ballroom A

Title: Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements
Description: This special session brought together Governments at national, state and local levels as important partners responsible for financing, as well as governance and regulatory policies to meet the challenge of providing water and sanitation for human settlements. The event also provided a platform for unheard voices of women from slums, expressing their needs and priorities on Water and Sanitation. In addition, the private sector in todayï¿½s globalizing world has a major role to play in mobilizing resources and improving delivery mechanisms together with international development finance institutions, like the development banks and NGOs involving communities at all levels which have a major role to contribute in building a new consensus for addressing the issue of water and sanitation for sustainable human settlements.

Featuring:
Margaret Catley-Carlson, Chair, Global Water Partnership, Sweden - Facilitator
Maria Mutagamba, Minister of State for Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation, Government of Uganda
Andre Juneau, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Government of Canada, Canada
Arcot Ramachandran, Chairman, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), India
Ana Teresa Aranda Orozco, Minister of Social Development, Government of Mexico

Tuesday, June 20th - 10:00 - 12:00
Location: Waterfront - Ballroom C

Title: The Wealth of Cities: Towards an Assets-based Development of Urbanizing Regions
Description: This address marked the first annual United Nations Human Settlements Lecture series. The UN-HABITAT Lecture award recognizes outstanding and sustained contribution to research, thinking and practice in the human settlements field. A key component of the award was the delivery, by the award winner, of a lecture before a live audience. The delivery of the lecture was intended to stimulate global debate and provoke new thinking in the field of human settlements.

Featuring:
John Friedmann, Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada

Wednesday, June 21st - 10:00 - 12:00
Location: VCEC - Exhibit Hall A&B;

Title: The Role of Local Government: Leadership in Sustainability
Description: Municipalities around the globe are looking for new and innovative ways to achieve sustainability. This session focused on the local government experience and leadership in reaching sustainability. Decentralization is the starting point for local leadership and will be one of the key areas of discussion, in addition to access to basic services and local finance and authority. The panelists participated in an exchange on the key themes of the session, followed by questions and commentary from the floor.

Featuring:
Wim Deetman, Mayor of The Hague; President, Association of Netherlands Municipalities, the Netherlands - Co-Chair
Enrique Riera Escudero, Mayor of Asunción, Paraguay - Co-Chair
Elisabeth Gateau, Secretary General, UCLG, Spain - Moderator
Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT; Under-Secretary General of United Nations, Kenya - Remarks
Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul; UCLG Vice President, Turkey
Simon Compaore, Mayor of Ouagadougou; President of the Association des Maires du Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso
Abbès Mohsen, Mayor of Tunis; President of the Féderation Nationale des Villes Tunisiennes, Tunisia
Lu Bing, Vice Mayor, City of Nanjing, China
João Avamileno, Mayor of Santo André; Executive Secretary of Mercociudades, Brazil
David Bronconnier, Mayor of Calgary, Canada

Friday, June 23rd - 08:30 - 10:30
Location: VCEC - Ballroom A

Title: From Vancouver to Nanjing
Description: China's approach to rapid urbanization will influence the global urban agenda for the foreseeable future. This session explored the changes and opportunities for urbanization in China and elsewhere, and provided insight on the issues that will be on the table at the WUF4. In recognition of the significance of Chinaï¿½s contribution to the international urban dialogue, the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum in 2008 will be hosted by the Ministry of Construction of China and the City of Nanjing.

Featuring:
Brock Carlton, Director, International Centre for Municipal Development, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Canada - Moderator
Andre Juneau, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Government of Canada, Canada
Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT; Under-Secretary General of United Nations, Kenya
Michael Harcourt, Co-Chair of the Canadian National Advisory Committee, WUF 3; Former Premier of BC; Current Chair, External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities
Wang Guangtao, Minister of Construction, Government of China
Wu Zhiqiang, Dean, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, China
Wu Tinghai, Deputy Director , Institute of Architectural and Urban Studies, Qinghua University, China
Gao Yufeng, General Manager, Shanghai Land Development Group, China
Lu Bing, Vice Mayor, City of Nanjing, China
Martin Lilja, State Secretary, Ministry of Sustainable Development, Government of Sweden
Fu Ping, Assistant President, Shanghai Land Development Group, China

Friday, June 23rd - 08:30 - 10:30
Location: VCEC - Ballroom B

Title: Future of Cities
Description: This discussion drew upon a panel of well-known urban experts who made short presentations on where cities are today and what they will look like in the future. The discussion began with highlights from the State of the World's Cities Report 2006/7. Panelists were asked to give their impressions on what they see as the major trends and challenges facing cities in the 21st century.

Featuring:
Ben Malor, UN Radio - Facilitator
Inga Bjork-Klevby, Assistant Secretary General, United Nations; Deputy Executive Director, UN Habitat, Kenya
John Friedmann, Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada
Janice Perlman, Executive Director, Megacities Project, USA
Xuemei Bai, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan
Kalpana Sharma, Mumbai Bureau Chief, The Hindu, India
David Satterthwaite, Senior Fellow, Human Settlements, International Institute for Environment and Development, United Kingdom
Clive Harridge, President, Royal Town Planning Institute, United Kingdom