We must start thinking of the city as a rapidly evolving historic and symbolic totality, and at the same time as a diverse group of actors working in much larger systems: ecological spaces (the city is itself a group of overlapping ecosystems), rural spaces, regional spaces, international spaces.
The city needs urgent action, aimed primarily at the most deprived areas (which in turn calls for an accurate evaluation of urban poverty), based on a city “model” in which the different actors and actions could be integrated with a view to long term change…
The Convention of Urban Goals (COU for its acronym in French) is a research programme of ENDA in partnership with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. Its thematic axis include:
Reduce violence
Support vulnerable groups
Decide the city otherwise (urban governance)
Urban-rural interactions
Access to urban land
The program is being executed in metropolis of the South (Dakar, Rabat, Addis Abeba, Ho Chi Minh Ville, Saint Domingue, Bogota et Medellin, Rio…), specially in spontaneous neighbourhoods or peripheries, characterized by an important urbanization and transformation.
Source: Enda T.M.
More information: diapol@enda.sn