CLGF has committed to be part of the Penang Platform for Sustainable Urbanisation, an important new body which aims to tackle the rapid expansion of cities in the Asia Pacific region.

Dynamic new partnership

The Platform is a major outcome of the 7th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum (APUF7) which took place in Penang this October. This dynamic new partnership will seek to leverage the strengths of cities and leading urban development organisations to support local, regional and national governments in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and New Urban Agenda in Asia and the Pacific.  

Prepare for demands on public services

With most people in the region living in urban areas, cities are crucial as focal points for SDG acceleration and achievement. Local government is already tasked with providing opportunities for livelihoods, education and poverty reduction, and must now prepare for the increasing and inevitable demands on public services, infrastructure and the environment as a result of urban growth. 

The Penang Platform brings together an alliance of partners to address these multi-faceted issues: to collaborate to accelerate implementation of the SDGs in cities; integrate the use of tools, models, research and evidence of good practices; transform access to innovative sources of urban financing through new partnerships, and increase political commitments for sustainable urbanisation. 

Asia Pacific Mayors Academy

One of the concrete actions under the first phase of the Penang Platform from 2019 to 2023 is the Asia-Pacific Mayor’s Academy, which supports newly appointed mayors with access to expertise, greater awareness of regional resources and a support network to assist in the acceleration of urban sustainability initiatives. Mayors at the beginning of their term are well-positioned to benefit from the Academy’s resources, which include week-long intensive boot camps together with ongoing peer-learning.

CLGF Regional Programme Manager for the Pacific, Ms Karibaiti Taoaba announced the organisation’s support for the Platform during her presentation at the closing event of the APUF7. Stressing that urban transformation in Asia and the Pacific required an urgent response with a vision of sustainable action that respected the history, values and context of the region. 

Urbanisation on CHOGM agenda

She said: "One key priority for CLGF is to encourage Commonwealth member states to put greater priority in their policy and work on achieving sustainable urban development and making sure that the places where increasing numbers of our 2.4 billion Commonwealth citizens live are inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.”

She stated that CLGF has been successful in ensuring that sustainable urbanisation is on the main agenda for the biennial summit of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in June 2020

More details about this exciting new Platform can be found in the flyer. 

Founding members

In addition to CLGF, the other founding members of the Penang Platform are 100 Resilient Cities, Penang Island City Council, CityNet, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, the European Union International Urban Cooperation Programme (IUC), Huairou Commission, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Japan (IGES), The Rockefeller Foundation, United Nations Development Programme, UN-Habitat, ESCAP and Urbanice Malaysia.