The 1st Ministerial Meeting of the Union for Mediterranean, held on 25 June 2009 in Paris, has brought together ministers in charge of urban development and environment of Mediterranean countries under the theme of sustainable urban development. Co-organised by the French and Egyptian Co-Presidencies of UfM, this ministerial meeting was preceded by four workshops gathering national, regional and local authorities, finance institutions and other relevant actors of sustainable urban development. The workshop were held under the topics "transport", "water and environment", "energy" and "sustainable urban development". The results of the workshop were then presented at the Ministerial Meeting.

The workshop on urban development has been opened by Shehadeh Abu Hdeib, Minister of Municipal Affairs of Jordan. Minister Abu Hdeib stressed the importance of balances urban development in the region and expressed his countries willingness to involve fully in the realisation of the Union for Mediterranean. He drew attention to the fact that in 20 years teh region will face two main challenges, the serious increase of urban population, especially in the south and east of the region, and the climate change.

Speaking at the same workshop, Murat Daoudov, Director of EU &International Relations Centre of Union of Municipalities of Marmara (Turkey), presented the activities of UMM in the field of inter-municipal cooperation in the Mediterranean region. He mentioned the project on sustainable urban mobility developed with Gaziantep, Paris, Stuttgart and Lyon Municipalities aiming to work in Aleppo (Syria), Amman and Irbid (Jordan). The project currently awaits the approval by the European Commission under CIUDAD Call for Proposals. He announced the opening of UMM's International City and Local Government Library, with publications in Turkish, English, French and Arabic. Finally, Murat Daoudov informed that UMM intends to bring together its partner associations from Mediterranean countries at the occasion of its General Assembly meeting in October.

Representatives of the European Commission, EU Committee of the Regions, UNDP, World Bank, United Cities and Local Governments UCLG, the Mediterranean Union of Architects and other organisation s also made their presentations on urban development challenges.

Source: http://www.marmara.gov.tr/newsdetail.aspx?newsId=387