South Africa's rep at WUF13: Approaches to managing agglomerations around world differ significantly

Urban planning plays a vitally important role, primarily in coordinating territorial development and overcoming existing fragmentation, stated Rashid Seedat, Executive Director of the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (South Africa), at an event held within the framework of WUF13 in Baku, Report informs

According to him, metropolitan regions generally demonstrate higher productivity indicators compared to their share of population and area. This is explained by the fact that metropolitan regions bring together large labor, real estate, finance, and services markets.

Of particular significance in this context is the issue of land and housing, which from the perspective of metropolitan governance is critically important.

He also noted that cities constantly face external impacts - including climate change, which requires adaptive solutions and effective responses.

The expert emphasized that there is no single model of metropolitan governance: in different countries and regions of the world, including Africa, approaches to managing agglomerations differ significantly.