Sixth Asia Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-6)

The Sixth Asia-Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-6) will take place on 19-21 October 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia back-to-back with the High-level Regional Preparatory Meeting to Habitat III in the Asia-Pacific, to be convened by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on 22-23 October 2015.

The Asia-Pacific Urban Forum is a multi-stakeholder meeting organized every 4-5 years by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in order to provide a platform for urban policy actors in the region to discuss emerging and critical urban development issues. The forum thereby facilitates the sharing of experiences, good practices and approaches which encourage the formation of new stakeholder partnerships.

A crucial aim of APUF is the catalyzing of regional and global processes and development objectives. This year, APUF-6 will be guided by the theme “Sustainable Urban Development in Asia-Pacific: Towards a New Urban Agenda” and will take place at a key point in the development of international urban policy: APUF will be held closely following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and one year prior to the Third United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat III). The discussion of persistent and emerging issues related to sustainable urban development in Asia-Pacific, and in particular priority areas for the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda will therefore be core focus areas of the forum.

The outcomes of APUF-6, in the form of a Chair’s summary, will be circulated and presented at the High-level Regional Preparatory Meeting to inform Member State discussions. The outcomes of both APUF-6 and the High-level Regional Preparatory Meeting for Habitat III for Asia-Pacific will feed into the Habitat III preparatory process and inform the drafting of its outcome document.

“Sustainable Urban Transport Infrastructure & Services​ in Asia and the Pacific: Solutions for implementation of the SDGs and the Habitat III agenda”

Together with Clean Air Asia (CAA), Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and the Volvo Research and Education Foundations (VREF),  SLoCaT is organizing a parallel session in the Sixth Asia Pacific Urban Forum on urban transport and infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific.

Session Description:

Urban transport and infrastructure will play a crucial part in the development of sustainable cities in Asia and the Pacific and the realization of the Global Goals on Sustainable Development. Bottlenecks relating to financing, implementation and governance are hampering efforts to increase resilience and reduce emissions in the region’s cities. Transport policy is also critical to inclusive cities Many of the region’s rapidly growing urban areas face paralysis and rising emissions because of poor transport and infrastructure choices that have locked in carbon-intensive urban forms and functions. Small and medium sized cities, although growing very fast, receive very little investment in transport to facilitate more sustainable urbanization. It is critical that as they grow that they do not repeat the mistakes of the region’s most polluted and congested cities.

The session aims to analyze the principal transport services and infrastructure challenges faced by cities in the region. It will do this by providing an overview of transport challenges and then by providing targeted best practices and solutions. Experts will also highlight how these challenges will respond to key 2015-2016 global processes (e.g., adoption of post-2015 agenda, a new global climate agreement, Habitat III agenda). 

Session Objectives:

1. Increase awareness on the key role of sustainable urban transport for global policies on sustainable development and climate change
2. Highlight best practices concerning freight and passenger transport in Asia for urban policy makers and practitioners in Asia
3. Provide analysis of key bottlenecks in the development of sustainable infrastructure and services in cities in Asia
4. Provide policy recommendations to accelerate the scaling up of sustainable, low carbon urban transport in Asia presented and discussed.

The program of the session can be found here.