In an interview with Citiscope, city planner and Vice-president of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP) Martin Dubbeling has talked about the role city planning plays in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN.
City planners often only see SDG 11, which deals with urban sustainability, as their responsibility, but he argues that is missing the point. Sustainability in cities is interconnected with waste, with infrastructure, with public space, and with identity. Cities have to exchange knowledge and experiences to act as guiding forces for the implementation of new innovations.
Especially in less developed regions, he sees a need for more restraint. He suggests to rather analyse existing cities and making them better than building new cities. Making cities livable with public spaces, clean rivers and parks and more trees is an important first step to make cities truly sustainable.
CitiscopeWhy not share this article?
