Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Thembi Nkadimeng will chair the traditional BRICS Urbanization Forum in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa on 26-27 July. The theme of the event is "Enhancing Urban Resilience for Sustainable Cities and Towns for Future Generations."
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The BRICS Urbanisation Forum will precede the BRICS Summit, scheduled for August 2023. The forum provides governments, organisations, experts and academics from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa with an opportunity to discuss some of the issues expected to arise at the BRICS Summit and subsequently provide policy recommendations to BRICS leaders in August this year.
The event will also ensure that the main urbanisation issues that are placed on the global agenda of the BRICS member countries. Building a productive and sustainable urban economy is among the issues to be discussed.
The forum of the Five on urbanisation will facilitate the exchange of views, best practices and cooperation on urban development issues among the BRICS member countries. South Africa will use this opportunity to showcase the country's urbanisation achievements and highlight successful projects that promote sustainable development and inclusive growth.
Minister Nkadimeng, who leads South Africa's sustainable cities programme, expressed enthusiasm for the forum, "South Africa is honoured to host distinguished delegates from BRICS countries as well as other African countries at this important event that will address some of the key issues in urban development."
During the forum, participants will take part in panel discussions and knowledge sharing sessions on thematic areas such as localisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, digital transformation, sustainable human settlements development, climate change, urban water sustainability and urban sustainability - governance perspectives.
The exchange of ideas and experiences will contribute to the development of effective policies, strategies and activities that can be adapted to the unique conditions of each country.
The venue of the event is Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre Complex, as reported by the official website of the South African government.
In February 2013, the first BRICS Urbanisation Forum was held in New Delhi, India. It was designed to bring together various stakeholders from the BRICS countries - ministerial delegations from the grouping, local government representatives, politicians and other stakeholders to put major urbanisation issues on their agenda for necessary action. The forum was last held online under the Chinese presidency in 2022.
Urbanisation is the growth of cities due to the movement of people from rural areas in search of better jobs and better living conditions. Cities and towns are at the centre of a rapidly changing world economy they are the cause and effect of global economic growth.
Around the world, cities are growing because people are moving from rural areas in search of jobs, better living conditions and a better future for their children.
The major achievements of civilisation are undoubtedly linked to the process of urbanisation. The development of cities has contributed to the prosperity of society, the development of culture and the diversity of social life. At the same time, it is associated with many environmental, social, economic and other issues. Urban life will undoubtedly become increasingly complex, and the need to address the numerous problems and vices of modern cities requires continuous improvement of social management of this process.