The UN General Assembly proclaimed the date in 2014, and this year’s theme is “Financing a sustainable urban future for all.”

More than half of the world’s population (54 percent, or four billion people) live in cities.

In the last few decades, humanity has experienced significant urban growth, and an estimated five billion people expect to live in urban areas by 2030.

This event aims to promote the sustainable development of cities and encourage cooperation among countries for urbanization planning to maximize the capacity to generate employment and wealth and foster social cohesion.

One of the significant challenges facing metropolises is to withstand the natural disasters that have recently hit so many urban centers.

Representatives and specialists from Cuba, Panama, and Costa Rica are debating in Havana on the urban policies of each country at the 10th National Urban Forum, to which government representatives attend, in addition to representatives of civil society and academia.

The event has the technical assistance of the United Nations Agency for Urban Settlements (UN-HABITAT) and the financing of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (COSUDE) as part of the Urban October program.

The workshop’s theme is “Building alliances for a sustainable urban future, following the echoes of the Habitat International Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

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