Urban October is an opportunity for everyone to be part of the conversation about the challenges and opportunities created by the fast rate of change in our towns, cities and city-regions. Each October, everyone interested in sustainable urbanization from national and local governments to universities, NGOs and communities is encouraged to hold or participate in virtual or physical activities, events, and discussions.
This year’s Urban October will focus on the climate crisis and is traditionally kicked-off by the World Habitat Day on the first Monday of October. The theme for this year’s World Habitat Day is Accelerating urban action for a carbon-free world. World Habitat Day will amplify the global Race to Zero Campaign and UN-Habitat’s ClimateAction4Cities and encourage local governments to develop actionable zero-carbon plans in the run up to the international climate change summit COP26 in November
While the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP) encourages its individual and institutional members to fully engage in Urban October activities all over the world, we are preparing the 57th World Planning Congress which will take place 8-11 November in Doha, Qatar – providing a unique in-person platform to discuss the outcomes of Urban October and COP26. ISOCARP will also participate in the climate-action oriented Innovate4Cities conference and actively engage in the COP26 event respectively this and next month. This way we also pay tribute to UN-Habitat with whom we recently renewed our strategic partnership and collaboration until 2030.