cities around the world
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United Nations Leads The Way
The UN's Second World Urban Forum in Barcelona in the summer of 2004 put the focus most firmly on cities with a number of key conferences and seminars looking at their role and diversity. A presentation by Mr Bakary Kante, director of the Division of Policy Development and Law under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) revealed that three billion people - half of the world's population - now live in cities, which are centres of production, education and social and cultural activities.
In Barcelona, the UN presented its Report on the State of the World's Cities 2004-5 - a hugely important research document that examined the urbanising processes of cities. Those taking part in the debate included Naison Mutizawa-Mangiza, former director of the Office of the World Bank of Argentina, Michael Cohen of the New School University of the United States and a distinguished architect, along with Luri Misseeu representing the UN-HABITAT team.