2.6 billion people fall into the zone of influence of the new Association of Cities and Municipalities of the BRICS+ countries. Thanks to the joint work, 18,260 cities belonging to the association will have the opportunity to quickly implement effective and innovative solutions in all areas of urban life
At the BRICS+ Cities Forum, which took place at the end of June in Kazan, it was decided to create an Association of Cities and Municipalities of the BRICS+ countries. The organization, which includes 18,260 cities located on three continents, will become one of the largest such associations in the world.
For the period of its formation, the association will be headed by the initiator of its appearance, the mayor of the capital of Tatarstan, Ilsur Metshin. According to his proposal, cities and municipalities will be able to join the association not only from the BRICS member countries, but also from other interested states. But it was decided to open the headquarters of the association in Dubai: for representatives of cities in Asia, Africa, Russia and Latin America, it will become a convenient intersection point.
According to the official press release*, “The Association of Cities and Municipalities of the BRICS+ countries (whose zone of influence includes 2.6 billion people) was created as a platform for active international cooperation, exchange of experience and implementation of joint projects. Cities within the association will have the opportunity to quickly implement effective and innovative solutions in all areas of urban life, create new jobs. The topics of the committees will cover the broadest aspects of modern city life — from transport to architecture and ecology. A special emphasis in the activities of the association will be placed on education, which is extremely important in conditions of constant competition for human capital.”
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Indeed, the first concrete activities of the association were projects specifically in the field of education — the creation of the international library of BRICS+ cities and the urban database Shared City, which is of particular interest to real estate market players. Shared City is a common base of successful solutions in all areas of urban infrastructure, thanks to which each city will be able to share its practices and freely get acquainted with others, borrow technologies from colleagues and implement them much faster at home. At the moment, the database contains 200 cases from 104 cities (34 countries) of the world. There are no restrictions on orientation, you can talk about innovative approaches to energy conservation, and about the arrangement of public areas.
Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan, Head of the Association of BRICS Cities+ “I have always believed in the power of urban diplomacy, but I was still pleasantly surprised by how warmly our initiative received. It turned out that the exchange of experience, technologies, innovations and even just advice is now incredibly in demand in all BRICS+ countries. That is why our first joint project is Shared City, a platform where all cities of the world can share the most successful practices in the field of urban management and freely exchange ideas. Let me remind you that together we represent the interests of 2.6 billion people on the planet — this scale is impressive and inspires us to create a solid foundation for long-term cooperation between the cities of our countries.”
Andualem Teno Habti, Director General of the Association of Cities of Ethiopia, commented on the prospects for work within the new structure, in particular. He stressed that “Ethiopia is a developing country, and we strive to actively improve the services provided to our population. The BRICS+ Association of Cities and Municipalities will allow us to learn more about the valuable experience of our colleagues and gain access to the necessary knowledge about urban environment management. First of all, we are interested in the following issues: solid waste disposal, effective administration, technological innovations and the use of artificial intelligence in various fields. Nowadays, things cannot be done alone, and we want to maximize the range of our cooperation with large and small nations.”
The city of Addis Ababa.Photo: DPA/TASS
Sergio Arredondo Olvera (Mexico), Secretary General of the Latin American Federation of Cities, Municipalities and Associations of Local Authorities, noted that “our cities, of course, also face global challenges. But now it is also important for us to solve several problems unique to the region. Firstly, our main task at the moment is to create an economically stable environment in which our citizens will live comfortably. Secondly, these are issues of city administration and management: we need to optimize the practices that you have. Thirdly, it is communication and cooperation on issues of global problems. And the fourth is a typical Latin American problem: the problem of migration. The population migrates north in search of a better life, in search of new opportunities. And this creates certain problems and difficulties in countries and cities located in the north of the continent.”
The next meeting of the Association of Cities and Municipalities of the BRICS+ countries will be held in Brazil. According to the mayor of Cordeiropolis, Vice President of the Brazilian Association of Municipalities Jose Adinan Ortolan, “next year municipal elections will be held there. We will be very glad to see all of you in our country.”
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