Representatives from the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, CLGF, the Commonwealth Association of Architects and the Commonwealth Association of Planners met last week with The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth at Marlborough House to discuss the opportunity provided by urbanisation to help deliver the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

They also discussed the challenges posed by rapid urbanisation, the need to build capacity, strengthen built environment policy and develop toolkits which are of practical use by communities and city leaders throughout the Commonwealth. The Secretary-General recognised that cities are one of the drivers of economic growth and offered her support to drive forward the cities agenda. 

Creating prosperous and healthy cities

This aligns closely to the work that CLGF is already undertaking via the Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Network (CSCN). Convened to look at the impact of rapid urbanisation by bringing together mayors from across the Commonwealth to review the best ways to create prosperous and healthy cities - while also developing rural and small state economies. In September, CLGF brought together a group of local government officials from Belize City, Colombo, Durban, Windhoek and the West of England and Microsoft from the private sector for the first meeting of the CSCN Steering Group and drew up a blueprint for future work by reviewing priorities and the overall vision of the CSCN.

Mandate to members

This is part of CLGF's mandate to support mayors and local governments across the Commonwealth in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 11 - to create cities that are inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.