Cities are on the front line of current climate challenges, and the technologies available must be used to the fullest.
Report informs that Anacláudia Rossbach, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), said this at an event titled "Artificial Intelligence for Cities – Urban Planning and Building Smart, Sustainable Communities," held as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku.
According to her, there is no other choice: "We must make sure that what we have works for people. People are increasingly living in cities and suffering in many ways. I mean that the work being done around digital tools and smart cities is highly aligned with our strategic plan. We have developed a body of work and worked with member states, and now we are working within the UN system. We are working with ITU around the idea of smart cities and technology in cities.
"The most important issue in our work is that smart cities must truly be people-centered and place human rights, inclusivity and equality at the center. This is a key aspect of our work and leadership. There are many practical examples and illustrations."
The guest added that one of the problems of urbanization is the global housing crisis: "We need to build homes. Many homes built in our cities do not work for everyone. One billion people live in informal settlements or are homeless. All this is happening amid climate change, which brings additional disruption to the lives of people living in cities. As we saw here two days ago, an unexpected scenario required us to be resilient and react quickly."