Coalition for Urban Transitions Launches in Mexico
Photo by WRI Mexico.
On November 27, the Coalition for Urban Transitions launched a major new initiative in Mexico to support the incoming national government in its mission to transform the country’s cities. The launch event – with a well-attended press conference and roundtable discussion – happened just days ahead of the inauguration of new president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has already published the ambitious urban development plan AMLÓpolis.
The Coalición para la Transformación Urbana (CTU MX), or Coalition for Urban Transitions, brings together leading institutions with expertise in urban development. The program aims to identify, design and evaluate public policy to create dynamic, healthy and prosperous cities. The program will follow a twin-track research and engagement approach, with the aim to help the central government advance toward the New Urban Agenda, the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.
Cities in Mexico generate more than 75 percent of the country’s GDP, yet 35 million of their inhabitants live in poverty, and access to jobs and services is blighted by uncontrolled sprawl. Getting Mexico’s cities right is vital to raise millions of people out of poverty, ensure sustainable economic development, and reduce carbon emissions.
The program is a partnership between the Coalition for Urban Transitions and World Resources Institute Mexico (WRI Mexico), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Faculty of Architecture of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), the Global Institute for Green Growth (GGGI) and UN-Habitat. It will work primarily on the issues of housing, land management, urban planning systems and metropolitan coordination, and mobility and transportation.
CTU MX was launched in Mexico City with keynote remarks by Ani Dasgupta, Global Co-Director of the Coalition for Urban Transitions and Global Director of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, and Gabriela Rodríguez Herrera, Head of Climate and Energy Policy at the British Embassy in Mexico, along with key partners of the Mexico program. Over 25 outlets covered the launch, including the influential La Jornada, as well as a substantial segment on Milenio TV.
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About the Coalition for Urban Transitions
The Coalition for Urban Transitions is a major global initiative to support national governments to accelerate economic development and tackle dangerous climate change by transforming cities. It provides an independent, evidence-based approach for thinking about how to manage urban areas, and the accompanying process of economic, social, and environmental transformation, to maximize benefits for people and the planet.
The Coalition is a special initiative of the New Climate Economy and jointly managed by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. It brings together major institutions spanning five continents, including research institutions, city networks, international organisations, infrastructure providers, and strategic advisory companies and is guided and championed by an Urban Leadership Council.
