Secretary -General of the Arab Towns Organization: We seek to make cities resilient and able to withstand by 2030
Jamila khair- Amman Mayor, Yousef AlShawarbeh, President of the Arab Forum for Smart Cities and President of the Cultural Acting Group for Arab Towns, in his name and the members of GAM Council and the Ammanies, congratulated on the occasion of the Arab City Day, which falls on Saturday, March 15, 2025, under the slogan "resilient cities capable to withstand".
Al Shawarbeh said that celebrating the Arab City Day embodies our joint commitment to develop our Arab cities and enhance the welfare of our citizens.
He added that choosing the slogan of “resilient cities able to withstand”, for celebrating the Arab City Day this year represents a forward -looking vision for the challenges facing our cities in a rapidly changing world.
He praised the Arab Towns Organization's efforts to translate its vision into a tangible reality, through valuable initiatives and programs that aim to support Arab cities in achieving sustainable development and enhancing their ability to adapt to various circumstances and confront crises in a way that ensures the welfare and stability of our people.
Al Shawarbeh also praised the important role of the organization's specialized bodies, characterised by distinguished experience in various vital fields, and support our efforts in developing our cities and upgrading them to the ranks of global cities.
He stressed the importance of cooperation and coordination between Arab cities, and the importance of participatory, cooperation, and exchanging experiences and best practices to upgrade our Arab cities, stressing on GAM's commitment through Amman's hosting two vital institutions.
For his part, the Secretary -General of the Arab Towns Organization, Eng. Abdul Rahman Hisham Al Asfour, said in his speech celebrating this occasion, which coincides with the anniversary of the organization's founding in 1967 in Kuwait, that the celebration of the Arab City Day for this year came under the slogan "Resilient cities capable to withstand” which was chosen by the members of the Executive Council of the organization at the sixty-second session held in the city of Tangier in Morocco, believing that Cities represent the future of global life.
He added that the world's population reached 8 billion in 2022, half of whom live in urban areas, and this number is expected to rise to 70 percent of people living in cities by 2050 .
He pointed out that in light of increasing the global challenges, such as climate change, natural disasters, urban crawls, health crises and damage caused by wars, the need to make cities resilient and able to withstand more urgent, as resilient cities depend on sustainable urban planning, strong infrastructure, economic diversity, society involvement , and smart technology, which enhances their resilience and their ability to adapt And withstand the environmental, economic and social changes, and responding to natural disasters and crises in a way that reduces damage and speeds up the recovery process, ensuring the creation of a safe and sustainable environment that enables the continuation of normal life even within the crises.
Al Asfour explained that to enhance cities flexibility and their ability to withstand, in December 2021 in Amman, Jordan launched "the ministerial declaration towards resilient cities capable of withstand", which aims to enhance housing and sustainable urban development in the Arab region, and focuses on implementing the new urban agenda and addressing challenges related to climate change and natural disasters.
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction launched an initiative Make cities capable to withstand 2030”, which is a global framework aimed at ensuring that cities become safe, resilient and sustainable by 2030 by focusing on improving local resilience through advocacy, exchanging knowledge and experiences, creating educational networks between cities, and strengthening partnerships between the various concerned parties .
He added that the organization founded various arms according to specialization and geographical distribution, as the Arab Urban Development Institution in Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, specialized in training, research, consulting and urban planning programs, in Qatar, the Arab Cities Award Foundation, which is concerned in encouraging renewal and innovation by providing various awards in various areas of sustainable development, in the city of Dubai the center of the environment which is concerned in the fields of environment and sustainable development, in Amman, the capital of Jordan, the Arab Forum for Smart Cities, which is concerned in the field of information technology services and electronic and smart transformation for Arab cities, in addition to the cultural acting group concerned with developing cultural reality in Arab cities, and in the city of Tunis, the Arab Heritage and Historical Cities specialized in all areas of Arab historical cities and maintaining and managing its heritage .
To celebrate this occasion, the Greater Amman Municipality raised the flag of the Arab Cities Organization on the main squares and intersections, in GAM facilities and its main building.