World Habitat Day: Emphasis laid on better planned cities

ISLAMABAD: UN-Habitat Pakistan in collaboration with the ministry of climate change celebrated World Habitat Day in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta. This year’s theme was ‘Changing Cities, Building Opportunities’. In his message, the secretary general said: “Better planned and better functioning cities can help us attain a bright future.” Executive Director UN-Habitat, Joan Clos said that the main challenges confronting cities and towns all over the world today include unemployment, social and economic inequalities, unsustainable energy consumption patterns, urban sprawl and increasing emissions of greenhouse gases. He added that it was the need of the hour to combat these problems.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2012.