Thursday, June 18, 2009

International Planning: US-Arab Cities Forum Coming Up

6:26 PM | Posted by David Boston
For the second year in a row, mayors from American cities and various Arab cities around the world will be meeting to discuss local governance and issues of urban planning. According to an article in the Jordan Times, the forum is going to be held in Amman this year, the capital city of Jordan. The forum is going to be hosted by the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), and will take place from June 22 - 24.

Mayor Daley of Chicago, who started this annual event last year, will be taking part and delivering a speech. Amman Mayor Omar Maani, who attended last year's forum as well, will be delivering the opening speech of the forum. According to the Jordan Times, he will mainly be talking about the major areas of cooperation and exchange that can be facilitated through the conference.

The foci of the forum this year will be several urban planning issues including good governance in city management, youth programs, public transportation and the role of local governments in economic development and investment.

There was quite the turnout in Chicago last year for this forum. Though I'm sure people have to be invited to attend as a representative of their city, hopefully even more mayors and city officials will attend this year. To give you a rough idea of how many people to expect at this year's forum, this is what attendance looked like last year:

  • Algeria (1 mayor)
  • Bahrain (1)
  • Canada (1)
  • Djibouti (1)
  • Iraq (3)
  • Jordan (6)
  • Kuwait (3)
  • Lebanon (4)
  • Libya (4)
  • Mauritania (1)
  • Morocco (3)
  • Palestinian Authority (5)
  • Qatar (2)
  • Saudi Arabia (3)
  • United Arab Emirates (3)
  • Union of the Comoros (1)
  • United States (9)
  • Yemen (1)
The mayor of Windsor, Eddie Francis, apparently did not have too much of an issue with the name of the forum, as his country seems to have been left out for simplicity's sake. Can we send Canada some love and respect please?

Thanks for reading.

(Photo of Amman courtesy of Cathy Breen from Voices in the Wilderness)

- David
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I graduated from the University of North Florida with a BA in Political Science, double-minoring in Public Administration and Urban & Metropolitan Studies. Starting in the Fall of 2010, I'll be pursuing a Master's degree in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of Maryland - College Park.

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