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Humankind and The City.

Towards A Human and Sustainable Development

Naples, 6-8 september 2000

 

Naples DECLARATION

 

Preamble

 

We, the participants at the World Meeting Humankind and The City: Towards A Human and Sustainable Development, held in Naples, 6-8 September 2000:

 

·        Recognising the pivotal role that cities play in economic development and job creation, in promoting cultural creativity and technological and organisational innovation;

 

·        Concerned with the social, economic, environmental impacts of urbanisation, globalisation and social change; and

 

·        Noting the potential contribution that cities could make in promoting more sustainable forms of development and improving quality of life;

 

Hereby declare that:

 

1.      Justice for a more humane city

A more humane city must be based on the principles of social and environmental justice. It must respect and promote the dignity of each person, and ensure the rights of diverse cultures to self-expression. Urban problems, such as poverty, unemployment and underemployment, lack of adequate shelter, secure tenure and basic services, and social and ethnic exclusion are not inevitable evils. Rather, they are a scandal, too often resulting from a lack of political will and good governance. Particularly in developing countries, foreign debt and environmental degradation are closely linked. The “global common good” of a more humane city cannot be achieved without reducing inequalities of all kinds and at all levels.

 

2.      Good Governance

 

The challenge of more humane and sustainable urban development cannot be met without good governance. Good governance requires the participation of all humankind – women and men of all ages - in public choices at all levels of decision-making.

 

3.      Towards a new integrated economic vision

 

There is a need to build a new paradigm for economic development, based on inherent human and environmental values, and recognising the contribution of the “civil economy”. This expression, inspired by the Neapolitan economist Antonio Genovesi (1713-1769), means an economy that incorporates the wealth, added value produced by family, community, non-profit, voluntary, LETS (Local Exchange Trade System), micro and ethical financing, fair trade and mutual and self-help activities, as well as the critical unaccounted use of natural resources. Such an economy requires adequate indicators, not only economic but environmental, not only aggregate but also distributional, not only material but also spiritual.

 

4.      The role of integrated and participatory planning

 

Integrated and participatory planning should provide the basis for more sustainable urban development strategies. Such planning should strengthen civil society; build social capital; promote community-based development; and stimulate local enterprise (particularly among women and the young) and cultural vitality.

 

5.      The principle of subsidiarity and the promotion of sustainable communities

 

The Habitat Agenda and Local Agenda 21 are important instruments recognising the critical  contribution of partnerships, participation, capacity-building and decentralisation based on the principle of subsidiarity. They should be widely applied by governments at all levels, and involve the active participation of religious, social, economic, cultural and professional associations, academic and research institutions, and grassroots organisations.

 

6.      The importance of collective memory and the culture of the city

 

Cities are increasingly multiethnic and multi-cultural. The right to the city must be broad-based and all-encompassing. Nevertheless, the historical and cultural heritage, representing the collective memory of the city, its specificity and identity, must be preserved and promoted as a key contribution to the humanisation of our cities.

 

7.      Technology

 

Scientific and technological advancement is an essential component of sustainable development. In the past, however, it has too often accentuated inequality and harmed the environment. From now on new forms of technology should directly address the needs of the poor and abide by the precautionary principle.

 

8.      The cultural and educational dimension

 

The cultural and educational dimensions have a strategic role to play in providing the human and social capital for more sustainable forms of development. These dimensions must be promoted together with spiritual, aesthetic and relational ones within more comprehensive and holistic educational systems. A particular responsibility lies with the media. New Information and Communication Technologies should be put to work to promote the education necessary to achieve social and environmental justice.

 

9.      Towards a new global ethics

 

Our norms and ethics of behaviour for the 21st century should be based on a shared recognition of our common humanity and our shared eco-systems, to enable the non-violent resolution of conflicts and differences and the recognition of the “global common good”. These ethics and norms must keep the human being and human relationships at the centre of all decision-making, to go beyond the narrow logic of economic development to include the concern for social and environmental justice.

 

10.  The importance of the spiritual

 

The spiritual dimension in its broadest sense is essential to sustainable human development. It strengthens justice, solidarity, reciprocity and aesthetic values. Every city should preserve and promote this dimension as an essential aspect of the well-being of its people.