Press Releases/Others

1.        On October 20th, the "International Conference on the Future of Cities" will be held in the City of Kitakyushu, Japan, co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the City of Kitakyushu.

2.         The world’s urban population is rapidly increasing and the future of cities is becoming a global development agenda. In order to contribute to initiatives by various countries around the world, including developing countries, geared toward building sustainable cities, this conference aims to allow local governments and international organizations to discuss extensively how future cities should be. Participants will include officials from relevant ministries, international organizations, and local governments.

3.         The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan decided to host this conference based on the “Green Future Initiative” announced by the Government of Japan at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) in June last year. This conference is also a part of the City of Kitakyushu’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

4.         In addition, on October 19th, the 3rd International Forum on the “FutureCity” Initiative will be held by the Cabinet Secretariat and the Cabinet Office.

(*This is a provisional translation by the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations. The above date denotes the date of issuance of the original press release in Japanese.)