On Monday, 3 October, World Habitat Day will be marked with a series of events around the theme: Mind the Gap. Leave No One and No Place Behind. 

Every October, UN-Habitat and partners organise a month of activities, events and discussions on urban sustainability. Urban October is an opportunity for people around the world to join the conversation about the challenges and opportunities created by the fast pace of change in our cities and towns. Urban October begins with World Habitat Day at the start of the month and ends with World Cities Day on 31 October.

The need and urgency to plan for rapid urbanisation in a collaborative and inclusive way is a key issue for CLGF. Much effort has already gone into explaining why sustainable development is such a priority, and the importance of working collaboratively - politically, across all the professional disciiplines and, most crucially, with all members of our communities - if we are to create cities of the future that function well and where everyone can thrive.

Working with our partners: the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Commonwealth Association of Architects, the Commonwealth Association of Planners, and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, with support from The Prince’s Foundation and the Rwandan Government, a Call to Action was developed and showcased at an Official Side Event of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, held in June in Kigali. This resulted in Heads of Government referencing the importance of a stronger focus on sustainable urbanisation and work at the local level in the official Communique. Details of CLGF's presence at CHOGM are detailed in our news section.

This work is evolving and growing ever stronger; this includes the creation of a network specifically for young people - the Commonwealth Youth for Sustainable Urbanisation Network; and the CSCN - Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Network using the Call to Action as a key focus. You can find out more about our work on Sustainable Urbanisation on the Commonwealth Sustainable Cities Initiative website, including the Call to Action itself. 

If you want to find out more about our CSCN network, please contact our network coordinator - Janine Xavier-Cross.

Please find more information about the celebration on the World Habitat Day web page and register for events, using this page.

Activities include:

• High-level opening ceremony of the global observance of World Habitat Day 
• Roundtable discussion: Guiding social inclusion in cities   
• Roundtable discussion: Leave no Youth and no Place behind 
• Roundtable discussion: Urban regeneration for social value creation 
• Roundtable discussion: A new social contract for urban resilience and sustainability 

We will only build cities and liveable areas - urban and rural - if we work together and use the full range of skills and ideas that we possess.