Ethical Business – Planning Vision, Designing “Ethical Cities: Locking in Liveability”
How can ethics guide cities towards just, sustainable, resilient and well-governed futures? How can we create shared value for all city dwellers to contribute to inclusive cities, especially for the most vulnerable?
1. Ethical Urban Development – Can be defined as the recognition of the importance of human rights and environmental principles in Urban Development. At Planning Vision we endeavour to tackle the key challenge areas in city development and living, to draw out new thinking, approaches and partnerships for urban development. We need to elaborate on what ethical leadership looks like at the city level, how city planning can take ethical principles into consideration, what an ethically oriented local business environment looks like, and what it means to be an ethical and engaged citizen.
2. Urban Resilience – Ethical cities use trust as a currency to create community cohesion, interdependence and empowerment to act and respond positively to shocks and stresses. Planning Vision calls upon all readers to recognise that while community resilience is crucial when disasters occur, trust and connections that underpin resilience are formed over time at the neighbourhood level. Additionally, we need to consider what success looks like when we promote urban resilience and the kind of ethical framework that supports it. It will also explore what ingredients are required to accelerate the application of innovative programs and projects that enhance community resilience.
3. Inclusion and Right to the City – Cities are collective, diversified and culturally vibrant spaces that belong to all citizens. Children and youth must be included in city planning and key decision making processes. The right to the city for children and youth needs to translate into ethical, democratic and sustainable distribution of wealth, opportunities, services and goods. This includes balancing economic growth with ethical sourcing and labour rights as an integral part of corporate social responsibility. In all conversations we need to integrate and discuss children’s right to education, addressing the issue of child labour and supporting youth into dignified employment. Recommendations from this session will outline approaches to creating shared value in the city for all its citizens.
In Summary, all stakeholders of the city need to contribute to an environment that promotes shared value where children are youth are the rightful owners of the wealth and opportunities in the city.
(adapted from an article for the World Urban Campaign Organisation)