The Future of Cities: Tensions between Environmental Macro-Regions and Decentralization. A Conversation with Two Former Mayors

 

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Event Description:

More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. As the world continues to urbanize, sustainable development and climate resilience increasingly depend on local governments’ policies and actions. Yet, in many countries, local governments lack the necessary fiscal and financial resources to confront these challenges and are politically dependent on higher levels of government. Moreover, the governance of food, water, air, transit, and waste requires coordination in environmental macro-regions or metropolitan areas that do not have political or institutional incentives to cooperate. How can policymakers sort out these dilemmas towards the future? What do successful mayors do? We will learn from two seasoned mayors and scholars who will reflect about their experiences leading two world cities and about the challenges and opportunities that lay in the future of cities.

Featuring:

Claudia López was mayor of Bogotá (Colombia) from 2020 to 2023, with the Green Alliance party. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University and an MA in Public Administration from Columbia University and has been a visiting scholar at Harvard and Yale. Prior to becoming mayor, she was a national senator and ran in her party’s primaries for the presidency of Colombia. She was a student leader in the Séptima Papeleta movement, which was largely responsible for making Colombia’s 1991 constitutional reform a reality.   

Mauricio Rodas was mayor of Quito (Ecuador) from 2014 to 2019, with the party SUMA, which he founded. He holds an MA in Government Administration and another MA in Political Science, both from the University of Pennsylvania and a Doctor in Law degree from Universidad Católica of Ecuador. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, lecturing on cities’ climate finance, Senior Advisor at the Atlantic Council, and member of the United Nation’s Committee of Experts on Public Administration. Prior to being elected mayor, he ran for President of Ecuador.

Moderator and Organizer: Tulia Falleti, Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Political Science; Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies Founding Director (2016-2024)