G7 economies shaping urban futures

How can G7 economies help solve the challenges faced by cities across the world? The G7 Sustainable Urban Development Group, established during the G7 German Presidency in 2022, aims to unite experts and practitioners from urban development ministries of G7 economies to discuss priorities and possible solutions to global issues and their impacts on cities.

In 2023, the Group set the Takamatsu principles within the Kagawa - Takamatsu Communiqué. The principles include, among others the support to local governments to achieve climate neutrality and resilience, the promotion of sustainable transport and transit-oriented development, the improvement of energy-efficient measures, the protection of biodiversity and the fostering of multilevel governance and localization approaches. 

Building on the Takamatsu Principles, the current G7 Italian Presidency has established an action framework to collect national and local urban initiatives, identify priorities and integrated thematic areas and finally assess how initiatives relate to existing sustainable development frameworks such as the SDGs and European Union Cohesion Policy Targets.  

This WUF12 Special Session represents an opportunity to gather the G7 Ministries along with other countries’ urban development ministries, city officials and urban development experts with the aim of disseminating the results of the Communique’ at the global level. The results show what G7 economies can do for cities facing important challenges. 

By providing a global platform for debate and exchange between G7 members, leaders in sustainable urbanisation, and the rest of the world, this WUF Special Session will set the bases for further political commitments and actions for national and local sustainable, resilient and inclusive development. 

Session highlights

• Firsthand insights into the G7 Urban Ministerial Communique’ which will highlight the key role of cities and local governments in addressing our world major challenges and crisis.
• The G7 Italian presidency’s common framework will be presented at the Special Session, providing the necessary tools to assess challenges in an integrated manner, taking into consideration the environmental, social and digital transitions of our cities.
• High-level panel discussion between G7 representatives and other countries and cities on the power of initiatives that address environmental, social and digital challenges in an integrated manner.  

Guiding questions

• How does the G7 Kagawa - Takamatsu Communiqué set the stage for improving domestic and international sustainable urban development?
• What initiatives are G7 countries planning and implementing to advance sustainable development at the city and national level?
• How can G7 countries best cooperate with other national and local governments across the world to advance sustainable and inclusive urban development

Key messages

• Global economies can contribute to solving pressing urban challenges domestically, and in cooperation with other national and local governments across the world.
• The current G7 Italian Presidency has established an action framework to collect national and local urban initiatives, identify priorities and integrated thematic areas.