Human Settlements and Urban Issues
Foreword
Our planet has already warmed by around 1.2 degrees. The battle to reach net zero by mid-century to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change will be won or lost this decade. In 2022 we have already seen devastating effects of climate change ranging from oppressive heat waves across Europe and America to floods in South Africa and Pakistan and severe drought in Brazil and China.
Introduction
The Smart Sustainable City Profile of Podgorica Montenegro aims at supporting the Podgorica city government realize its vision of becoming a smart and sustainable city. The City Profile was developed under the United Nations Development Account (UNDA) 12th tranche project “Smart Sustainable Cities for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda in the UNECE Region”. It was carried out by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in close cooperation with the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development of Podgorica and the Ministry for Ecology Spatial Planning and Urbanism of Montenegro.
Recommendations
In recent years (and since starting the EU accession process) Montenegro and its capital city Podgorica have been ambitious to accelerate and implement development through a variety of national and regional measures such as digitalization of public services modernization of public transport and increased environmental protection. However due to a lack of data and planning documents on the regional level the local government of Podgorica is unable to accurately assess issues around illegal construction and energy efficiency which has slowed down future aspired developments.
Ageing in Sustainable and Smart Cities
There is now only a decade left to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to achieve its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A decade of accelerated action is needed to do so and cities are key actors in this process. In an increasingly digitalized world Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can help cities become more efficient in their operations and services and thus more sustainable with opportunities for a greater quality of life and well-being of city dwellers of all generations levels of ability and backgrounds. Focusing on three realms of urban life - housing green and public spaces and transport - this brief draws attention to the importance of ensuring that the needs of older persons are taken into account when planning designing and implementing sustainable development plans at the local level. It addresses the question of how policy-makers business and civil society actors citizens young and old can design age-friendly sustainable urban environments with the help of new technologies that meet the needs of all generations overcome the digital divide foster inter-generational solidarity and ensure that older people are not left behind in sustainable and smart cities for all ages.