The New Urban Agenda (NUA), adopted in 2016 at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador, represents a globally shared understanding of the vital link between urbanization and a sustainable future. At the heart of this new vision stand a myriad of legal challenges - and opportunities - that must be confronted for the world to make good on the NUA's promise. In response, this book, which complements and expands on the editors' previous volumes on urban law in this series, offers a constructive and critical evaluation of the legal dimensions of the NUA. As the volume's authors make clear, from natural disasters and resulting urban migration in Honshu and Tacloban, to innovative collaborative governance in Barcelona and Turin, to accessibility of public space for informal workers in New Delhi and Accra, and power scales among Brazil's metropolitan regions, there is a deep urgency for thoughtful research to understand how law can be harnessed to advance the NUA's global mission of sustainable urbanism.
It thus creates a provocative and academic dialogue about the legal effects of the NUA, which will be of interest to academics and researchers with an interest in urban studies.
It thus creates a provocative and academic dialogue about the legal effects of the NUA, which will be of interest to academics and researchers with an interest in urban studies.
A groundbreaking volume on the essential role that law, and law reform, plays in realizing the promise of the New Urban Agenda. The contributors bring to the forefront the different challenges that cities and their leaders face as they endeavor to incorporate more robust citizen participation, protect human rights, sustainably develop to meet the demands of urban migration, and prepare for climate change and other threats to the health and safety of their communities. The range of contributors and the various regions they represent is a strength of the volume and renders it an indispensable starting place for appreciating the legal dimensions of the ambitious New Urban Agenda.
-Sheila R. Foster, Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Urban Law and Public Policy, Georgetown University Law Center
Law and the New Urban Agenda underscores the value of urban law as a discipline in supporting the healthy development of inclusive cities for all. This timely volume sheds light on the many complex challenges that urban growth poses for legal systems around the globe and I commend this eclectic group of scholars for their engagement with the New Urban Agenda.
-Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, UN-Habitat
-Sheila R. Foster, Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Urban Law and Public Policy, Georgetown University Law Center
Law and the New Urban Agenda underscores the value of urban law as a discipline in supporting the healthy development of inclusive cities for all. This timely volume sheds light on the many complex challenges that urban growth poses for legal systems around the globe and I commend this eclectic group of scholars for their engagement with the New Urban Agenda.
-Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, UN-Habitat