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Major Cities Vow to Cooperate More in Cyber Age
Heads of the world's 25 major cities promised Friday to strengthen cooperation in an information-prone age with accelerating economic globalization.
Twenty-five member cities that have participated in the Sixth Major Cities' Summit Beijing 2000, held in Beijing from September 28-29, signed the Beijing Declaration as a result of the two-day discussion on cities' development and cooperation in the 21st century.
The Declaration claims that the 20th century is a century in which urban civilization is highly developed in human history. Century-long industrialization has accelerated the pace of human civilization as well as pushed forward urbanization.
Increasingly more people live in compact communities in cities, which as an epitome of modern civilization has contributed significantly to the prosperity and development of the world.
However, the Declaration notes that a host of vital issues such as resources shortage, environmental degradation, population explosion, and ever-growing development gaps in cities have presented tremendous challenges to urban development.
Mankind is once again at a critical historical juncture, and cities are about to make another serious choice at the threshold of the new century.
The Declaration says that the 21st century will be the "century of cities". For the first time in human history, most men, women and children will be living in cities. Accelerated economic globalization, the increasingly internationalized functions of cities and the growing interdependence among cities make it essential to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in more areas and at higher levels under the principles of prosperity and equality.
The Declaration says that the rapid development of information technology and the knowledge economy is bringing profound changes to the lifestyle of city dwellers and exerting an extensive impact on urban development. Communication among cities and among communities will become easier and faster.
Major cities must grasp the opportunity for development and promote urban development through scientific and technological advances and technical innovation, and make ties within and among cities more humane.
The Declaration stresses that it is only natural for cities to choose the road to sustainable development in order to meet the needs for urban growth.
In view of the above understanding, the Declaration promises to use economic globalization as an opportunity for increasing wealth and equality among cities and stepping up substantive cooperation among cities in the fields of economy, trade, science, technology, culture, education, tourism and the environment.
It asks to see the advent of "Digital Earth" as a useful resource to promote fruitful exchange among cities and their residents and to explore mechanisms for the sharing of information, knowledge and other resources.
The Declaration urges to take the creation of a beautiful, comfortable, convenient, fair and secure living environment as a prerequisite for economic development. Mayors are requested to adopt more effective measures to reduce the overall consumption of resources in cities, bring under control and cut down environmental pollution and improve the ecological environment of cities.
The Declaration calls to further strengthen exchange and cooperation among cities of the world, to depend on and make full use of the influence of the United Nations, and, with the support and help of other international organizations, governments of various countries, non-governmental organizations, and civil societies, to work for urban development and the advancement of human civilization as a whole.
The 25 member cities signing on the Beijing Declaration are Abidjan, Athens, Bangkok, Berlin, Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Istanbul, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Lima, Lisbon, Madrid, Mexico City, Montreal, Moscow, Nairobi, Paris, Santiago, Seoul, Stockholm, Vienna, Warsaw, Tokyo, and Beijing.
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