Lincoln Institute engages in Habitat III Conference to Promote Sustainable Cities

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For billions of people worldwide, quality of life will depend on the way cities grow in the coming decades. The Lincoln Institute will play an active role at the historic United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) from October 17-20 in Quito, Ecuador, where nearly 200 nations are expected to adopt the New Urban Agenda, a framework for sustainable urban development.

The Lincoln Institute is working to advance effective land policies to help make cities more environmentally, socially, and financially sustainable. With this goal in mind, the institute has contributed to the Habitat III process over the past two years through the following roles:

• Co-lead of the Habitat III Policy Unit on Municipal Finance and Local Fiscal Systems
• Co-lead of the General Assembly of Partners Research and Academia Partner Constituent Group
• Member of the U.S. National Committee for Habitat III
• Expert on the Habitat III Policy Unit on Urban Spatial Strategies: Land Market and Segregation

After the adoption of a draft New Urban Agenda in September, the Lincoln Institute is now focused on implementation. The institute is focused on promoting municipal fiscal health, helping cities employ land-based finance tools—property tax and land value capture—to pay for the infrastructure they will need, and creating tools such as the Atlas of Urban Expansion and global municipal fiscal database to monitor urban expansion and fiscal health.

The following is a schedule of the Habitat III sessions in which we are involved:

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16
Keynote address by Lincoln Institute of Land Policy President George "Mac" McCarthy: The Next Four Days and the Next 20 Years: Our Last Chance to Get Urbanization Right - 5:45 p.m.
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
UN-Habitat Special Session: Municipal Finance - 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R17

Committee on Local Finance for Development / City of Rabat Networking Event: Financing the New Urban Agenda: Towards a global observatory on local finances - 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R12

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
Brookings Institution Side Event: Financing the New Urban Agenda: Multi-level Metropolitan Finance for 21st Century Cities - 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R14

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Side Event featuring Secretary Julian Castro: Equity & Inclusion: A mayor and minister discussion of national-local policies to combat inequality and achieve opportunity for all - 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R19

Lincoln Institute Networking Event: Land and Revenue: A North-South Dialogue on Value Capture - 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This international panel discussion will provide an overview of value capture, a set of tools for recovering the increase in land value that results from urban public interventions such as investments, regulatory changes and other government actions.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R6

Monitoring fiscal conditions in the world's cities 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19
Training Event: Scaling Up Inclusive and Affordable Housing in the New Urban Agenda: Land Use Regulation Challenges for Socially Inclusive and Sustainable Cities - 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. 
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R5

UN-Habitat Dialogue: Municipal Finance and Local Fiscal Systems, co-convened by the Lincoln Institute and the World Bank - 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room 16 Teatro Demetrio Aguilera

New York University Urban Library Event: Atlas of Urban Expansion: the 2016 Edition - 12:00 to 12:45 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Urban Library

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20
Kresge Foundation-Urban Institute event: Inclusive Economies in Slow Growth Shrinking Cities - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30

Lincoln Institute Urban Library Event: Foundations of Municipal Fiscal Health - 11:00 to 11:45 a.m.
A panel led by Martim Smolka, director of the Lincoln Institute's Program on Latin America and the Caribbean, featuring the use of the property tax as local own-source revenue in the US, Latin America, China, and Africa.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Urban Library

Global Planning Education Association Side Event: Capacity Building for the New Urban Agenda: Roles of Universities – 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R12

City of São Paulo Side Event: São Paulo: The New Urban Agenda Implementation Experience. Public Space Planning and Private Use Regulation: towards a City for Each and Everyone - 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Casa de la Cultura, Room R6

Monitoring Global Urbanization: The Atlas of Urban Expansion - 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30

Nature and Cities - 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Nature and Cities book sneak preview
Location: Next City World Stage Pavilion, Habitat Expo, Stand B30

Global Municipal Database and the Finance for City Leaders handbook - 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Location: One UN Pavilion, Room A

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is an independent, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to help solve global economic, social, and environmental challenges to improve the quality of life through creative approaches to the use, taxation, and stewardship of land.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161013/428577

SOURCE Lincoln Institute of Land Policy