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Urban planning can help cities meet SDG’s: Bainiamarama

October 16, 2019 12:45 pm

Picture Source: The Fijian Government

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has highlighted that when it comes to meeting any of the Sustainable Development Goals, we shouldn’t see our cities as the problem.

While officiating at the 7th session of the Asia-Pacific Urban Forum in Malaysia, Bainimarama adds that with proper urban planning, innovative and local thinking, there can be a solution.

He says as countries themselves are proving slow to change, the mobilisation of urban centres are filling the void of nation-based leadership.

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The Prime Minister adds that while the Pacific Islands are experiencing some of the most rapid rates of urbanization on the planet, the drivers of this change are common throughout the world.

“Mayors are stepping up where presidents and prime ministers are not. While countries stick to the status quo, cities are finding new ways to collectivize and innovate, and that gives countries like Fiji who are on the front lines of climate change, a ray of hope.”

The Prime Minister also urged the region’s leaders to learn the approaches the Pacific is taking to manage urbanisation at the Pacific Urban Innovation Session that will be held later today in Penang, Malaysia.