Towards Sustainable Urban Proximities 2025

Towards Sustainable Urban Proximities 2025
Paris Hosts the International Conference on Sustainable Urban Proximities on the occasion of the 10th Paris Agreement Anniversary.

Paris Hosts Global Conference on Sustainable Urban Proximities
Sept 4–5, 2025

On the 4-5 of September 2025, the City of Paris, UN-Habitat, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Chaire ETI co-organised the International Conference “Towards Sustainable Urban Proximities, within the broader framework of the Global Observatory of Sustainable Proximities. The event took place at the iconic venues of the Climate Academy, Paris City Hall, and Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne University, marking a key milestone in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The event convened partners and representatives from academia, international organisations, civil society, and the private sector, to unfold the concept of sustainable proximities. The conference served as a global platform to present best practices, foster collaboration, exchange knowledge, and catalyse collective action.

The conference was opened by the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat Anacláudia Rossbach, the President of UCLG Jan van Zanen, and the Scientific Director of Chaire ETI Pr. Carlos Moreno. Other institutional representatives contributed to the high-level segment of the event, including the Vice-President of the European Commission Teresa Ribera and the French Minister of International Partnerships and Francophonie Thani Mohamed Soilihi.

Over two days, local and regional leaders and urban experts shared innovative experiences and discussed the challenges and lessons learned in promoting proximity-based urban models, touching upon adequate housing, sustainable mobility, access to essential services, climate adaptation, and inclusive governance. In the face of climate change, economic inequality, social exclusion, and a global housing crisis, the conference reaffirmed proximity as a powerful model for building resilient, connected, and inclusive urban environments that improve quality of life.

Takeaways of the conference were summarised into a set of key messages that will inform upcoming proximity-based initiatives and guide urban expert to develop together a better urban future.

To find out more about the conference, read the Press Release.

Download here the Key Messages of the conference.

Watch The Conference Sessions

Anne Hidalgo Mayor of Paris (France)

Anacláudia Rossbach Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

Jan Van Zanen President of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

Carlos Moreno Scientific Director at Chaire ETI (France)

Thani Mohamed-Soilihi Minister delegate for international partnerships and Francophonie (France)

The voices of the cities: Mayors and elected officials roundtable
Cities representatives exchange on urban proximities and best practices

Emilia Saiz Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

Daniel Bumba Lubaki Governor of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Hanna Zdanowska Mayor of Łódź (Poland), European Climate Pact Ambassador

Hugo Kerguelen Mayor of Monteria (Colombia)

Ian Seong Deputy Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City (South Korea)

Christian Gaebler Senator for Urban Development, Building and Housing of the city of Berlin (Germany)

Arkadiusz Ptak Mayor of Pleszew (Poland)

Paolo Micheli Mayor of Segrate (Italy)

Jan Gehl Professor of Urban Design (Denmark)

Paul Krugman Nobel Prize for Economy (video message)
Foreward by Pr. Peter NIJKAMP, VU University, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)

[Stakeholders Roundtable 1]
Reducing cities’ environmental impact and enhancing their climate resilience

Martha Thorne Former executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and currently Director at Gallery Institute (Spain)

Takashi Terakawa General Director of Public Works Bureau of Osaka City Government (Japan)

Alexandre Labasse Architect and General Director of APUR (France)

Maria Buhigas Chief Architect of the city of Barcelona (Spain)

Reggie Ramos Executive Director of Transportation for Massachusetts (USA)

Sharon Gil Program management officer at UNEP

Andrea Gorrini Director of Fondazione Transform Transport (Italy)

[Stakeholders Roundtable 2]
Reducing cities’ environmental impact and enhancing their climate resilience

Albert Lladò Head of Policy of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

Gérard Wolf Special advisor to the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs for sustainable cities

Guadalupe Giselle Zavala Ojeda Director of Urban Regulations and Land Management at San Luis Potosí (Mexico)

Aida Robbana Country programme manager of UN-Habitat Tunisia Country Office

Amina Bécheur Professor at University Gustave Eiffel (France)

Giordana Ferri General Director at Fondazione Housing Sociale (Italy)

Hendrik Tieben Professor & Associate Director at Chinese University of Hong Kong (China)

[Stakeholders Roundtable 3]
Reducing cities’ environmental impact and enhancing their climate resilience

Michelle Thompson Associate Professor at University of New Orleans (USA)

Anouch Toranian Deputy Mayor of Paris (France)

Rania Hedeya Head of UN-Habitat Regional Office in Arab States (Egypt)

Frédéric Vallier General Delegate at AIMF (France)

Anna Köning Jerlmyr CEO of Arwidsson Foundation (Sweden)

Ramon Marrades Director of Placemaking Europe

Adalgisa CASTILLO Director of Santo Domingo Oeste (Dominican Republic)

Teresa Ribera First Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition

Building global capacity for sustainable proximities
Opening session and Launch of the Global Methodology for Sustainable Proximities

Catherine Gall Executive Director at Chaire ETI (France)

Opening remarks
Introduction of the academic segment

Carlos Moreno Scientific Director at Chaire ETI (France)

Inaugural lecture

Ezio Manzini Honorary Professor at Politecnico of Milan (Italy)

The scientifc field of Urban Proximities
Renowned academics and researchers from around the world diving into the impact of Proximities as a powerfull integratic cross-cutting scientific framework to empower urban transformations

Catherine Gall Executive Director at Chaire ETI (France)

Li Wan Professor at Cambridge University (UK)

Giselle Sebag Executive Director, International Society for Urban Health

Giuseppe Cappochin Member of National Council of Italian Architect, Planners, Landscapers and Conservators (CNAPPC – Italy)

André Torre Professor at University Paris-Saclay (France)

Benjamin Büttner Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning at Technology University in Munich (Germany)

Rossana Valdivia Pallares Professor at Tecnologico of Monterrey (Mexico)

Ian Seong Deputy Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City (South Korea)

Karima Kourtit Lecturer at Open University Rotterdam (the Netherlands)

Sunil Dubey Professor at Institute for Cities Sydney (Australia)

Innovative solutions for Sustainable Proximities 1
PRINCIPLES : What is proximity?

Albert Lladò Head of Policy at United Cities Local Governments (UCLG)

Catherine Gall Executive Director at Chaire ETI (France)

Alexandre Granié CEO at Cartosphère (France)

Andrew Schmidt Senior Policy Analyst at UN-Habitat

Seunghoon Han City designer at Chaire ETI (France)

Innovative solutions for Sustainable Proximities 2
INDICATORS : How do you measure it?

Chiara Martinuzzi Research Project Manager at Chaire ETI (France)

Kader Makhlouf Special Advisor to the Secretary General at UCLG

Aline Matta Programme Management Officer at UNITAC

Fanny Rabu Manager Consulting Services at Inetum (France)

Jon Aguirre-Such Cities Countdown to 2030 coordinator at UCLG

Innovative solutions for Sustainable Proximities 3
PARTICIPATORY TOOLS : How do you implement it?

Alina Koschmieder Climate Change and Environmental Expert at UN-Habitat

Jose Chong Programme Management Officer at UN-Habitat

Victoria Escobar Board Member of Shared City Foundation (Sweden)

Anna König Jelmyr CEO at Arwidsson Foundation (Sweden)

Alice Constant Gender Equality project manager at City of Paris (France)

Closing session
The conference will conclude with key messages from the various sessions and ideas for next steps for advancing urban proximities

Lamia El Aaraje Deputy Mayor of Paris

Raf Tuts Director of the Global Solutions Division at UN-Habitat

Albert Lladò Head of Policy at United Cities Local Goverment (UCLG)

Carlos Moreno Scientific Director at Chaire ETI (France)