Adequate urban infrastructure and access to basic services, including energy, transport, and mobility, are critical to sustainable urban development. It is essential to include regulations that allow access to decent and adequate housing while understanding the importance of improving informal settlements' conditions.
Urban mobility performs fundamental social and economic functions such as providing access to essential opportunities and services in cities. In a region characterized by inequality, deficiencies in public transport systems disproportionately impact the most vulnerable. Only 43% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean has convenient access to public transportation, and its users spend 70% more time commuting to work compared to those who use private vehicles (on average, 70 and 42 minutes, respectively, according to mobility surveys in six cities in the region).
The thirty-second General Assembly of the Forum of Ministers and Highest Authorities of Housing and Urban Development of Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI) will be held on November 9 and 10, 2023. The Assembly will take place in Buenos Aires and will be led by the Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat of Argentina, which chairs the Forum for the period 2023, and will be supported by ECLAC in its role as technical co-secretariat of MINURVI.
This event offers an opportunity to place crucial topics for the future of our cities on the discussion agenda, including the link between sustainable mobility, housing, and urban development.
The project "Inclusive, Sustainable, and Smart Cities within the Framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean,", part of the CEPAL-BMZ/GIZ cooperation program, focuses on strengthening the technical and institutional conditions to promote development in urban areas of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Additionally, CEPAL, MINURVI, MERCOCIUDADES, and the IDB share concerns about having more detailed information to improve the design and implementation of public policies, subsidies, and financing for addressing housing deficits.
Within this context, two sessions are proposed with the participation of national authorities, local governments, and representatives from financial organizations and development support institutions. The panels aim to facilitate dialogue and discussion between local and national levels, with the goal of promoting better urban public policies.
