Term of the Road Dictionary
Habitat II
- Language : PIARC Road Dictionary / English
- Theme : Operations Transport Sustainable Transport
- Definition : United Nations Conference on Human Settlements held in Istanbul from 3rd to 14th June 1996, which acknowledged the upheaval caused by metropolitization and identified the main challenge of the 21st century for sustainable urban development as one of curbing metropolitization. Notes: 1. Habitat II also highlighted the key roles of cities as political stakeholders in their own right, besides the States, in implementing sustainable development policies, particularly for travel and transport. The key message of the conference confirmed the need for democratic decentralization of powers and resources and for reinforcing local autonomy, offering national governments and their peoples the most productive way forward. 2. Habitat II also acknowledged the birth of the World Associations of Cities and Local Authorities Coordination (WACLAC), as representative of cities in the international area, in the same way as the United Nations represent the States. 3. The conference ended with the Istanbul Declaration by the Heads of Government, highlighting the need for a new partnership with local government. 4. Experience-sharing concerning decentralized cooperation took place at the same time in Istanbul, with the Taksim Lectures (name of a place in Istanbul) attended by forty-four countries from 30th May to 11th June 1996.
- Synonyms : Istanbul Conference / Istanbul Declaration