May 11, 2009

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Chicago Sister Cities International welcomed mayors and municipal leaders from around the world for the first-ever Chicago Global Cities Forum on April 27-29.

The 2009 Forum opened with the Richard J. Daley Urban Forum, a public event that featured Vice President Joseph Biden as the keynote speaker. The Forum was followed by two days of private discussion focused on pathways to economic recovery, urban planning and human capital initiatives. During this three-day summit, visiting municipal leaders presented their city’s own innovative strategies and exchange ideas and “best practices” on a number of topics.

Nearly 30 mayors and municipal leaders attended the Forum including those from Moscow, Paris, Dubai, Bangkok, Beijing, Bogotá, Reykjavik, Athens and Prague.

“As mayors and leaders of municipal government, we share the same challenges. To secure our individual city’s economic futures, we must remain committed to fully participating in the global economy and continue to overcome those challenges which have become greater in recent months,” Daley said.

“The world has shifted from a collection of regional or national economies to a truly global economy. The future well-being of cities depends on how we plan for and deal with global inter-connection. We must make cultural connections and expand our working relationships with global partners,” he said.

Daley and Mayor Samuel Moreno Rojas of Bogota, Colombia, signed the first Sister Cities partnership April 28 between Chicago and a South America city. “Bogota becomes our 28th Sister city, and the first of what I hope will be many others in South America,” said Daley, noting that more than 40,000 Colombian-Americans live in the Chicago area.

A committee of Chicago volunteers is expected to generate business, education, and cultural affairs exchanges between the two cities. Moreno Rojas reflected on the many shared experiences between Chicago and Bogota, noting that Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games had many similarities to Bogota’s bid for the 2015 Pan American Games.

Throughout the Forum, the municipal leaders presented ideas used in their cities for improving urban infrastructure, economic development and transportation as well as human capital issues, including health care and education.

For example, traffic congestion proved a critical problem for many of the municipal leaders. Several noted that as their country’s economy and citizens’ personal incomes improve, more residents want to own cars, which compounds the congestion issue. Among the solutions presented:

Paris Deputy Mayor Pierre Schapira noted that his city has led the way in providing bikes to rent, partnering with a private company to offer 20,000 bikes in the city. Paris now plans to team with another private company to rent small electric cars. The city also restricts bus lanes to buses, taxis and bicycles, which is helping promote municipal bus ridership because buses now move in and out of the city more rapidly than cars.

Hamburg, Germany, is investing funds in transportation methods that reduce the distance residents must travel to use public transportation. These include a new tram system; clean, safe and on-time buses; rental bikes and, perhaps, electric car rentals, too.

In Reykjavik, Iceland, the city is using some hydrogen-powered buses and is moving toward methane and electric-powered buses as well. Already, two fleets of garbage trucks are fueled by methane gas from the city’s municipal waste sites. In addition, eco-friendly cars can park free in city parking garages.