As representatives from 193 countries gathered, they put forward and officially adapted a new blueprint for the future, the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. The world’s new to-do list of seventeen goals includes ending poverty and hunger, clean water and sanitation, as well as fighting climate change. Cities were also given their own goals, and will play massive roles over the next 15 years of their implementation.

Goal number eleven states, “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable,” and is an important reminder that our cities should become safer, protect heritage, and be ready to prevent or bounce back from any potential destruction they face. However, cities are more than just a goal, cities are a golden thread that weaves all of the other goals together. Today, 50 percent of the world’s population lives in cities, and in 2050 that number will rise to 70 percent. As a city’s population grows, so do the innovations that come out of them. Large populations within cities mean more potential for collaboration, which in turn leads to the development of more sustainable solutions that address the Goals. The Goals will be financed via capital markets all over the world that are contained in global cities. Finally, cities, the world leaders that reside in them, the massive institutions that function in them, and the money that flows in and out of them will be held accountable for these goals and their successes.

Mayors themselves are often a driving force behind city-wide innovation and how mayors collaborate with their peers abroad is integral to expanding and improving their cities. The importance of city to city exchange on a global scale is a key ingredient in how cities grow their economies, develop new technologies, and share best practices in disaster resistance, sustainability, resilience, innovation in business, trade, and development of solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Available at: http://www.diplomaticourier.com/cities-and-the-sustainable-development-goals/