The 3rd Urban Economy Forum, UEF 2021, will have a systematic focus on how to deliver adequate and affordable housing and healthy environments as vehicles for urban economic recovery to achieve the SDGs and make cities sustainable. UEF 2021 will hence focus on housing as one of the key elements for urban equality, and as a practical arena for shifting societal behaviour in a world affected by climate change and pandemics. It is also worth noting that there are a number of good practices for effective and scalable solutions being adopted by the people most impacted by COVID-19, who are least likely to have a steady place to call home and most affected by the damage to our climate.

The Forum will take place from Monday 4 October, 2021 – Tuesday 5 October, 2021. It will be held in Toronto, Canada, and virtually. Climate Policy Initiative will be participating in the following session:

Theme: Climate Change and Urban Economy

Topic: Urban Climate Financing

Session Type: Panel

• Date: Oct 4th, 2021 (Day 1)
• Time: 1:00PM – 2:45PM (EST)

The COVID-19 pandemic further constrained cities finances through loss of local revenue sources and diverting resources toward public health initiatives. This has led to limitation in cities ability to provide essential infrastructure, such as housing, and future urban planning. As cities look to urban recovery, ensuring future planning emphasizes a sustainable approach, requires city leaders to have access to the necessary models and tools to help mobilize both tangible (i.e., finance) and intangible (i.e., knowledge sharing) capacities and resources.

This panel discussion will look at opportunities and barriers for cities to mobilizing financial resources and capacity building and how cities can move forward. The session will take a practical approach and further explore Public-Private-People partnerships, multi-stakeholder partnerships, impact investing, and blended financing.