{"id":13360,"date":"2012-09-04T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2012-09-04T17:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingvancouver.ca\/?p=13360"},"modified":"2013-01-21T07:10:25","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T15:10:25","slug":"welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the World Urban Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Attendees arrive at the World Urban Forum in Naples. Photos courtesy of Christine McLaren.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[Editor’s Note:<\/strong> Former Vancouver reporter Christine McLaren<\/strong> is\u00a0traveling\u00a0around the world as the resident blogger for the\u00a0BMW Guggenheim Lab<\/a>, a mobile think tank investigating solutions to urban problems. She is currently in Naples covering the World Urban Forum <\/a>and we at Spacing Vancouver are honoured to have her permission to post her ongoing coverage. All posts are also being published on Lab|log at\u00a0bmwguggenheimlab.org<\/a>.<\/em> Be sure to follow Christine\u2019s thoughts from the WUF all week at @BMWGuggLab<\/a>\u00a0and #BGLab<\/a>. <\/em>Enjoy!]<\/em><\/p>\n

After a couple dozen hours of train travel, a lot of hand gesturing (note: broken Spanish\u00a0\u2260 Italian), and surprisingly little bureaucratic finagling, I have finally arrived at the World Urban Forum in Naples.<\/p>\n

I was grateful to have arrived early to get registered and get acquainted with the site\u2014a monstrous sixty-hectare complex west of the city center\u2014without competing with 13,000 others trying to do the same, all in time for the 9 am opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

The first thing that immediately hit me upon receiving my (also) monstrous information package\u2014it came in a\u00a0box<\/em>, if that\u2019s any indication of its size\u2014was the necessity of focus. With a program a whopping 206 pages thick, and topics ranging from slum upgrading, to livable public spaces, to waste management and water sanitation, to the involvement of women, youth, and indigenous people in urban development and economies, there is no question that it is impossible to cover the forum in its entirety, or even to scratch the surface. The best approach is to narrow in on a more specific area of interest, and stick with it.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve decided that, in between my reporting on the major dialogues and events at the WUF, I will attempt to spend my time at the smaller sessions and networking events focusing primarily on housing and shelter.<\/p>\n

Over the past year working with the Lab, it has become increasingly clear to me that much of what we talk about regarding cities eventually comes back to housing and where we live. This, I think, is because it determines\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0we live. It determines who is in your community, how you move around the city, what city amenities you can or cannot access, or even the type of food you eat. In the worst cases, it can determine whether or not your water is clean, or maybe even how long you have to travel to access it. It is also the indicator species of inequity: even if our cities grow sustainably and well, affordable, adequate housing for the poor, or even for the middle class, is often the first casualty.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sign from Amnesty International’s new anti-eviction campaign. Photo courtesy of Christine McLaren.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are many fascinating sessions over the next several days broaching this topic, and I hope you\u2019ll join me in carrying the conversation forward here while following along with the other major dialogues, events, and sessions.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The WUF grounds, empty and waiting for the beginning of a week of events. Photo courtesy of Christine McLaren.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/p>\n

Get more of Christine\u2019s thoughts from the WUF all week at @BMWGuggLab<\/a>\u00a0and #BGLab<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

**<\/em><\/p>\n

Christine McLaren<\/strong> is a freelance journalist who investigates solutions to urban problems. She is currently traveling as the resident blogger for the BMW Guggenheim Lab<\/a>, a mobile urban think tank investigating urban solutions in nine cities around the world. Her writing and research explores how the shape of our cities impacts the lives and behavior of those living in them and how shifting social, environmental, and economic climates are changing our relationship with the urban fabric. Based in Vancouver, Canada, she has written for publications such as\u00a0Spacing,\u00a0Zoomer,\u00a0BC Business,\u00a0Unlimited, and Momentum Magazines and reported for numerous print, online, and television news outlets. She was also the lead researcher for award-winning Canadian journalist and New York Lab Team member Charles Montgomery\u2019s upcoming book\u00a0Happy City, and conducted research for National Geographic Emerging Explorer Alexandra Cousteau\u2018s upcoming book,\u00a0This Blue Planet.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s Note: Former Vancouver reporter Christine McLaren is\u00a0traveling\u00a0around the world as the resident blogger for the\u00a0BMW Guggenheim Lab, a mobile think tank investigating solutions to urban problems. She is currently in Naples covering the World Urban Forum and we at Spacing Vancouver are honoured to have her permission to post her ongoing coverage. All postsContinue reading “Welcome to the World Urban Forum”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6040,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11232],"tags":[6212,367,792,4147,6213,814,11611,6208,398,2808,6207,1348,8898,3369,6209,6210,6206,9857,214],"class_list":["post-13360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-alexandra-cousteau","tag-bmw-guggenheim-lab","tag-canada","tag-charles-montgomery","tag-christine-mclaren","tag-editor","tag-food","tag-freelance-journalist","tag-indepth-features","tag-journalist","tag-lead-researcher","tag-naples","tag-new-york-lab","tag-reporter","tag-tank-investigating-solutions","tag-tank-investigating-urban-solutions","tag-team-member","tag-train-travel","tag-vancouver-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWelcome to the World Urban Forum - Spacing Vancouver<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome to the World Urban Forum - Spacing Vancouver\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[Editor’s Note: Former Vancouver reporter Christine McLaren is\u00a0traveling\u00a0around the world as the resident blogger for the\u00a0BMW Guggenheim Lab, a mobile think tank investigating solutions to urban problems. She is currently in Naples covering the World Urban Forum and we at Spacing Vancouver are honoured to have her permission to post her ongoing coverage. All postsContinue reading "Welcome to the World Urban Forum"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Vancouver\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-04T17:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-21T15:10:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Photo3-558x416.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christine McLaren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christine McLaren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/\",\"name\":\"Welcome to the World Urban Forum - Spacing Vancouver\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Photo3-558x416.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-04T17:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-21T15:10:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#\/schema\/person\/f06db9f067e8c8760318d9e53187198a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Photo3-558x416.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Photo3-558x416.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Welcome to the World Urban Forum\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Vancouver\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Vancouver Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#\/schema\/person\/f06db9f067e8c8760318d9e53187198a\",\"name\":\"Christine McLaren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8c9107c023d5fed709b24654df3a98d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8c9107c023d5fed709b24654df3a98d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Christine McLaren\"},\"description\":\"Christine McLaren is a freelance journalist who investigates solutions to urban problems. Her writing and research explores how the shape of our cities impacts the lives and behavior of those living in them and how shifting social, environmental, and economic climates are changing our relationship with the urban fabric. She has written and reported for numerous magazines and print, online, and television news outlets, was the lead researcher for award-winning Canadian journalist and Lab Team member Charles Montgomery\u2019s upcoming book Happy City, and conducted research for National Geographic Emerging Explorer Alexandra Cousteau\u2018s upcoming book, This Blue Planet. She is currently traveling as the resident blogger for the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a mobile urban think tank investigating urban solutions in nine cities around the world.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/author\/christinemclaren\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Welcome to the World Urban Forum - Spacing Vancouver","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Welcome to the World Urban Forum - Spacing Vancouver","og_description":"[Editor’s Note: Former Vancouver reporter Christine McLaren is\u00a0traveling\u00a0around the world as the resident blogger for the\u00a0BMW Guggenheim Lab, a mobile think tank investigating solutions to urban problems. She is currently in Naples covering the World Urban Forum and we at Spacing Vancouver are honoured to have her permission to post her ongoing coverage. All postsContinue reading \"Welcome to the World Urban Forum\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Vancouver","article_published_time":"2012-09-04T17:00:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-21T15:10:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Photo3-558x416.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Christine McLaren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christine McLaren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/","name":"Welcome to the World Urban Forum - Spacing Vancouver","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Photo3-558x416.jpeg","datePublished":"2012-09-04T17:00:49+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-21T15:10:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#\/schema\/person\/f06db9f067e8c8760318d9e53187198a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Photo3-558x416.jpeg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/Photo3-558x416.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/09\/04\/welcome-to-the-world-urban-forum\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Welcome to the World Urban Forum"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/","name":"Spacing Vancouver","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Vancouver Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#\/schema\/person\/f06db9f067e8c8760318d9e53187198a","name":"Christine McLaren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8c9107c023d5fed709b24654df3a98d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8c9107c023d5fed709b24654df3a98d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Christine McLaren"},"description":"Christine McLaren is a freelance journalist who investigates solutions to urban problems. Her writing and research explores how the shape of our cities impacts the lives and behavior of those living in them and how shifting social, environmental, and economic climates are changing our relationship with the urban fabric. She has written and reported for numerous magazines and print, online, and television news outlets, was the lead researcher for award-winning Canadian journalist and Lab Team member Charles Montgomery\u2019s upcoming book Happy City, and conducted research for National Geographic Emerging Explorer Alexandra Cousteau\u2018s upcoming book, This Blue Planet. She is currently traveling as the resident blogger for the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a mobile urban think tank investigating urban solutions in nine cities around the world.","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/author\/christinemclaren\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6040"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13360"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16676,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13360\/revisions\/16676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}