Manila, Philippines – Asian Development Bank launched a book titled Creating Livable Asian Cities on Thursday, 29th April 2021 to create green, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities.
The trends of urbanization lead the cities to be inadequate spatial and economic planning, urban infrastructure deficits, pollution and air quality, growing impact of climate change, lack of affordable housing, also the poor and vulnerable. Therefore, to create more livable cities is important for the future development.
The book provides 5 keys priorities with some ways to achieve the livable cities, such as smart and inclusive planning, sustainable energy, sustainable transport, innovative finance, also resilience and rejuvenation.
On the discussion session, Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi as Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC given a chance to talk about financial sustainability. She mentioned that having several options for the cities to access and explore is important. She believes to optimized the use of available instruments supported by legal frameworks; explore possible options, such as open the opportunity for collaboration; and a good enabling environments, including clear mandates and clear authorities from central government will give local governance chance to explore variant options on finance.
Talking about Technology, huge opportunity also came from the improvement of technology nowadays. The Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC stated that we need to invest in technology and a conducive environment for innovation in all sectors and level. Technology is a beneficial tool for local government to improve urban efficiency, increase transparency, and build trust.
Bambang Susantono, the Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) who is also one of the editor of this book said there is no one size fit all approaches. We should always adopt a tailored approach to build innovative, evident based, and integrated solutions. (By KM Team)
