- Title
- iCities report: localising the SDGs - towards transformative actions and base planning in Singleton (NSW)
- Creator
- Perez Lopez, Irene; Tardin-Coelho, Raquel; Llop i Torne, Josep Maria; McBain, Bonnie
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.25817/nc0v-3m39
- Publisher
- University of Newcastle
- Resource Type
- report
- Date
- 2024
- Description
- With the rapid urbanisation of the world’s population, much focus is on large cities. But most of the world’s population (56%) lives in small to medium-sized urban settlements with populations smaller than half a million people. These ‘intermediate’ iCities are particularly significant as hubs for infrastructure and services to their immediate residents and extended regional areas. It is critical that iCities can plan their future development strategically to enable a sustainable future. The methodology implemented is based on the Base Plan Approach, an inclusive planning tool developed by UNESCO UdL-CIMES Chair for Intermediary iCities, adjusted to the Australian planning context. The workshop, organised in Singleton in November 2022, assembled broad stakeholders - local governments, community members, and academics - in the thinking-planning-proposing process as a collective endeavour. The workshop focused on localising the SDGs: 1) exploring how existing local plans meet Singleton’s future sustainable development needs with attention to its relationship with its region – spatially and functionally; 2) verifying how existing local plans meet the SDGs (or not) (Fox & Macleod, 2022; Krellenberg et al., 2019; Mueller, 2020); and 3) proposing future planning addressing gaps. The UNESCO Chair of iCities unites more than 176 iCities worldwide and has facilitated workshops in more than 90 iCities. The workshops aim to build a local and global network collaboratively to tackle common intermediate cities’ challenges, propose solutions, disseminate good practices, and qualitatively inform local government professionals. The program also seeks to build collaborative networks across intermediate cities so that they can cooperate and learn from one another. The methodology is based on the Base Plan Approach, an inclusive planning tool developed by UNESCO UdL-CIMES Chair for Intermediary Cities to identify ‘territorial logics’ and strategic urban interventions. The Base Plan focuses on recognising, valuing, and recovering the role of iCities in their urban-rural setting. It also seeks to accelerate transformative actions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) (Sietchiping et al., 2016)and the United Nations Urban Agenda (Caprotti et al., 2017) - an initiative of the United Nations that seeks to coordinate interdependent social, environmental, and economic agendas that are critical to sustainability. The iCities Workshop ‘Localising the SDGs towards transformative actions’ was co-led by the UNESCO Chair on Intermediate Cities, Singleton Council (NSW), and the University of Newcastle, Australia. Singleton was selected amongst other Australian intermediate iCities due to its prominent role within its regions and the critical biophysical, social, cultural, urban, and economic context. Singleton faces challenges concerning urban and regional development and planning in transitioning towards a different sustainable future. Plan Base initiatives have been developed primarily in Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Developing this initiative in Australia for the first time represents an opportunity to include Australian iCities in the global network of other iCities, localise the SDGs, and propose transformative actions where necessary. The collaboration aims to support local iCities planning framework, and reapply the methodology in other localities worldwide.
- Subject
- SDGs; intermediate cities; iCities; sustainable development; UNESCO Chair of Intermediate Cities; Singleton N.S.W.; Australia
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1507354
- Identifier
- uon:56012
- Rights
- © The Author(s) 2024. These works are licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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