Cities are shaping today's social, cultural, technological and economic agendas. They compete, learn from each other and act together. SiteSearch About us Directories Events City Mayors reports news from towns and cities around the world. Worldwide | Elections | North America | Latin America | Europe | Asia | Africa | Mayors from The Americas, Europe. Asia, Australia and Africa are competing for the annual World Mayor Award. More City Mayors ranks the world's largest as well as richest cities and urban areas. It also ranks the cities in individual countries, and provides a list of the capital cities of some 200 sovereign countries. More City Mayors reports political events, analyses the issues and depicts the main players. More City Mayors describes and explains the structures and workings of local government in Europe, The Americas, Asia, Australia and Africa. More City Mayors profiles city leaders from around the world and questions them about their achievements, policies and aims. More City Mayors deals with economic and investment issues affecting towns and cities. More City Mayors reports on how business developments impact on cities and examines cooperation between cities and the private sector. More City Mayors describes and explains financial issues affecting local government. More City Mayors lists and features urban events, conferences and conventions aimed at urban decision makers and those with an interst in cities worldwide. More City Mayors reports urban environmental developments and examines the challenges faced by cities worldwide. More City Mayors reports on and discusses urban development issues in developed and developing countries. More City Mayors reports on developments in urban society and behaviour and reviews relevant research. More City Mayors deals with urban transport issues in developed and developing countries and features the world's greatest metro systems. More City Mayors examines education issues and policies affecting children and adults in urban areas. More City Mayors investigates health issues affecting urban areas with an emphasis on health in cities in developing countries. More City Mayors examines the contributions history and culture make to urban society and environment. More City Mayors examines the importance of urban tourism to city economies. More City Mayors describes the history, architecture and politics of the greatest city halls in the world. More City Mayors invites readers to write short stories about people in cities around the world. More City Mayors questions those who govern the world's cities and talks to men and women who contribute to urban society and environment. More City Mayors profiles national and international organisations representing cities as well as those dealing with urban issues. More City Mayors reports on major national and international sporting events and their impact on cities. More City Mayors lists cities and city organisations, profiles individual mayors and provides information on hundreds of urban events. More |
Boris Johnson will want to show new gravitas as London Mayor Mayors (Europe): Boris. Bozza. BoJo, even. These are all names by which Boris Johnson, London's new mayor is known in his more familiar public guise of an amiable toffish buffoon who happens to hold elected office. While Johnson already enjoyed enviable levels of public recognition in the UK, elsewhere his rise has proven puzzling. Pledging to make Greater London greater, the pro-hunting, right-leaning politician replaced the city's first-ever mayor, Ken Livingstone, in May 2008. More Pittsburgh and Los Angeles the most polluted US cities Environment (USA): Pittsburgh has replaced Los Angeles as the most polluted city in the US. The Pennsylvanian city with a population of some 335,000 heads the list of cities most polluted by particle pollution, a deadly cocktail of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. Pittsburgh also ranks second on the list of cities with the most year-round particle pollution while Los Angeles again claims the first spot this year. More Continental cities provide lessons for urban Britain Development (Europe): Many towns and cities in Britain have had to cope with the decline of their principal industries, as have their counterparts in northern Europe. European cities can provide valuable insights into how to tackle deep-seated urban problems, such as the regeneration of run-down industrial areas. Successful city development requires long-term commitment and genuine collaboration between many agencies and interests. More London is the most expensive city in the world while Zurich is home to highest wage earners Economics: London, Oslo, Dublin, Copenhagen and New York are the world's five most expensive cities. A study by Swiss bank UBS shows that life is particularly expensive in these cities if the cost of housing is included. The basket of goods and services costs the least in Kuala Lumpur, Buenos Aires and Lima. European cities dominate the earnings tables, with the highest net incomes are enjoyed in Zurich, Dublin, Oslo, Geneva and Luxembourg. New York is the city with the highest earners outside Europe. Workers in Manila, Delhi and Jakarta have the lowest income. More Mayors from 50 cities compete for the 2008 World Mayor Award World Mayor 2008: Citizens from all over the world took part in record numbers in the first round of the 2008 World Mayor contest, which was carried out in 2007. More than 100,000 voters nominated a total of 820 mayors for this year's World Mayor Award. Some mayors received thousands of nominations while others collected only a handful. From a shortlist of 50 mayors, voters will now choose the winner of the 2008 Award. More French municipal elections offer Sarkozy some crumbs of comfort Politics (Europe): In 2005 the French legislature extended the mandates of the country's 36,783 mayors by one year, arguing that it would be unfair to hold local elections as scheduled alongside the 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections. Unfair on whom, it could be asked. Certainly not Nicolas Sarkozy, who would have been viewing a very different map of town hall control had the poll been held in 2007, the year of his party's dual electoral triumph and the beginning of splits within the opposition Socialist Party (PS), still recoiling at losing three presidential elections on the trot and watching from the sidelines. More US presidential candidates largely ignore urban issues Politics (USA): US cities are struggling with unemployment, housing, underperforming schools, aging infrastructure, and poverty, while devoting more resources than ever to energy costs and homeland security. Mayors of the nation's cities say that such concerns have been largely ignored in the presidential campaigns. The US Conference of Mayors has urged the presidential candidates to adopt their 10-point plan Strong Cities for a Strong America '08. It asks candidates to commit to strengthening the economies of metropolitan areas. More Progress in the world's cities will decide the future of Planet Earth Society (World): If global development priorities are not reassessed to account for massive urban poverty, well over half of the 1.1 billion people projected to join the world's population between now and 2030 may live in under-serviced slums, says a report published in January 2007. Additionally, while cities cover only 0.4 per cent of the Earth's surface, they generate the bulk of the world's carbon emissions, making cities key to alleviating the climate crisis, notes the report. More American Catholic Church struggles to maintain presence in inner cities Society (USA): Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States demonstrated his support for the 67 million Roman Catholics in America, about 25 per cent of the total population. It also provided an opportunity to examine the changing role of the Catholic Church in US cities. More For humanity's sake, developing world must prepare for soaring urbanisation Society (World): In 2008, the world reaches an invisible but momentous milestone: For the first time in history, more than half its human population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas. By 2030, this is expected to swell to almost five billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of cities in developing countries, the future of humanity itself, all depend very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth. More With good government, urbanisation will produce higher living standards Society (World): Almost every part of the inhabited world has been urbanising. Today, half the world's population lives in urban areas and most of the world's growth in population is likely to be in urban areas. In addition, there is a profound long-term shift in the distribution of the world's urban population. Neither Europe nor North America have most of the world's urban population or most of its largest cities. Europe now has none of the world's 100 fastest-growing cities -- but most of its declining ones. More Urban population is growing by one million people a week Society (World): The world's urban population will grow from 2.86 billion in 2000 to 4.98 billion by 2030, of which high-income countries will account for only 28 million out of the expected increase of 2.12 billion. The world's annual urban growth rate is projected at 1.8 per cent in contrast to the rural growth rate of 0.1 per cent and about 60 per cent of the world's population will live in cities. More The world's urban poor suffer most from crime, violence and disasters Society (World): The world's poor are the worst affected by urban crime and violence, insecurity of tenure and forced eviction, and natural and human-made disasters, regardless of their geographical location. "Over the past decade the world has witnessed growing threats to the safety and security of cities and towns. Some have come in the form of catastrophic events, while others have been manifestations of poverty and inequality or of rapid and chaotic urbanization processes," said the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. More London is the most expensive city in the world while Zurich is home to highest wage earners Economics: London, Oslo, Dublin, Copenhagen and New York are the world's five most expensive cities. A study by Swiss bank UBS shows that life is particularly expensive in these cities if the cost of housing is included. The basket of goods and services costs the least in Kuala Lumpur, Buenos Aires and Lima. European cities dominate the earnings tables, with the highest net incomes are enjoyed in Zurich, Dublin, Oslo, Geneva and Luxembourg. New York is the city with the highest earners outside Europe. Workers in Manila, Delhi and Jakarta have the lowest income. More Pittsburgh and Los Angeles the most polluted US cities Environment (USA): Pittsburgh has replaced Los Angeles as the most polluted city in the US. The Pennsylvanian city with a population of some 335,000 heads the list of cities most polluted by particle pollution, a deadly cocktail of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. Pittsburgh also ranks second on the list of cities with the most year-round particle pollution while Los Angeles again claims the first spot this year. More Green policies are good for the environment and public purses Environment: Local governments around the world are working to protect the environment. These green cities are aiming to reduce energy use and pollution in new and creative ways. Such efforts by city governments not only help reverse the effects of climate change. They also help governments save large amounts of money on energy costs. And, cities that are leaders in this green movement set a good example to their citizens about the importance of environmental issues. More The world's best cities are still in Switzerland Environment (World): Zurich and Geneva are the best cities in the world as far as quality of live is concerned, says a new survey. Vancouver (Canada) is placed third, followed by Vienna (Austria), Auckland (New Zealand), Dusseldorf (Germany) and Frankfurt (Germany). Paris, London and Madrid are in the lower half of the top-50 table. Overall, Baghdad is not surprisingly the lowest ranking city in the survey. More Denver's pre-kindergarten programme set up to benefit the whole community Education (USA): Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver launched in 2007 a pre-k (pre-kindergarten) stipend programme aimed not only at improving Denver's education system but also at benefiting the city as a whole. In 2003, Hickenlooper campaigned with the rallying cry: "Because all kids deserve an equal start in life." Once elected, he delivered on the promise by applying his leadership talents and political capital to improving childhood education. More US state schools still censor educational reading material Education (USA): In September 2007, Anchorage (Alaska) Mayor Mark Begich read aloud at a public forum from The Chocolate War, a novel for young adults about a boy who is bullied and beaten in school. Since its publication in 1974, The Chocolate War has been banned by public school systems in dozens of US cities because it contains obscenities. It is one of many books that have been prohibited from classroom use because of objections over their content. More Mayors from 50 cities compete for the 2008 World Mayor Award World Mayor 2008: Citizens from all over the world took part in record numbers in the first round of the 2008 World Mayor contest, which was carried out in 2007. More than 100,000 voters nominated a total of 820 mayors for this year's World Mayor Award. Some mayors received thousands of nominations while others collected only a handful. From a shortlist of 50 mayors, voters will now choose the winner of the 2008 Award. More Local as well as state government must address the issues facing large US cities Government (USA): The state of Massachusetts is rapidly losing its labor force through migration. The problem, which peaked last year, is a lack of affordable homes - with Boston being the primary engine in this human 'hemorrhage'. Similar population shifts, with Massachusetts representing the most extreme example, are driven by a continuing need for suitable housing. More English council leaders strengthened by new local government legislation Government (Europe): In October 2007 the UK government's Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act was finally approved by Parliament and overhauled the system of governance in most English councils, seven years after the landmark Local Government Act, which introduced the elected mayor model for the first time. The new Act requires council leaders to be installed for four years, thus almost creating a Swedish-style indirectly elected mayor. More Local government in Germany shaped by regional differences Government (Europe): 12 September 2006: Germany is a federal parliamentary democracy, made up of 16 states. Within the federal system an array of different state and local government systems exist. Largely for historical reasons, there is no common system across Germany. More Boris Johnson will want to show new gravitas as London Mayor Mayors (Europe): Boris. Bozza. BoJo, even. These are all names by which Boris Johnson, London's new mayor is known in his more familiar public guise of an amiable toffish buffoon who happens to hold elected office. While Johnson already enjoyed enviable levels of public recognition in the UK, elsewhere his rise has proven puzzling. Pledging to make Greater London greater, the pro-hunting, right-leaning politician replaced the city's first-ever mayor, Ken Livingstone, in May 2008. More Gianni Alemanno Rome's new mayor Mayors (Europe): Born 1958 in the southern city of Bari, Gianni Alemanno, Rome's new mayor has undergone an ideological journey from the extreme right to the political centre, serving as a minister in the second government of Silvio Berlusconi. Elected in a shock defeat for the capital's left forces following Berlusconi's earlier victory in the April 2008 national polls, observers will no doubt closely scrutinise the new right-wing administration for any signs of throwbacks to the more sinister era of Italy's dark past. More Buenos Aires City Hall - dating back to Spanish colonial times City Halls (South America): Buenos Aires' historic city hall, dating back to Spanish colonial times, is known as 'El Cabildo' - Spanish for 'the city council'. In 1608 the then Mayor Manuel de Frias proposed the building of the Cabildo in Plaza de Mayo since the city government lacked such a building. The construction of City Hall was financed with tax money made by the port of Buenos Aires and was finished in 1610 but was soon found to be too small and had to be expanded. More Global urbanisation: Threats and benefits Development (World): The population of cities around the world is growing at the rate of about 180,000 a day, delegates at the 8th World Congress of Metropolis were told in Berlin. Many regard this massive drift from rural to urban areas as a threat with disastrous consequences for developing countries. However others attending the Congress described global urbanisation as inevitable and on the whole beneficial to society. More Continental cities provide lessons for urban Britain Development (Europe): Many towns and cities in Britain have had to cope with the decline of their principal industries, as have their counterparts in northern Europe. European cities can provide valuable insights into how to tackle deep-seated urban problems, such as the regeneration of run-down industrial areas. Successful city development requires long-term commitment and genuine collaboration between many agencies and interests. More India will need new cities and they will require new powers Development (India): India is on a high growth path and rapidly urbanising. If it mismanages the latter, it will have difficulty in ensuring the former. But there is currently little public awareness of the scale of the challenges ahead. Consequently grossly inadequate systems remain in place to handle the task. More Dubai and Shanghai examples of wasteful urban development Development (World): The danger of treating climate change only as a man-made phenomenon that impacts nature's systems is that it posits the problem in some distant remoteness and absolves all of us of immediate responsibility. The facts tell us that three-quarters of the carbon dioxide in the world, which is the biggest greenhouse gas, is emitted by cities. Dubai and Shanghai are models that ought to be avoided, as they are examples of environmentally wasteful urban development. More Solving transport issues has highest priority for megacities Transport (World): Environmental issues play a central role in urban planning. However, in emerging megacities, infrastructure growth often takes precedence over the environment. This is just one of the key findings of a survey of 522 decision makers from 25 megacities. Solving transportation issues has the highest priority in the cities surveyed, and air pollution is seen as the main environmental issue. More Toll bridges a simpler alternative to Bloomberg's road pricing idea Transport (USA): New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal for 'congestion pricing' - a fee imposed on driving in Manhattan's central business district during prime hours - has made it safe at last to discuss traffic solutions that were previously off limits. Just last week, New York City Hall announced a crackdown on the official placards that allow tens of thousands of public employees to park free on the street - a topic long avoided by those in charge. More US cities realise that cycling makes sense Transport (USA): With more motor vehicles, roads, and parking lots than any nation on earth, the United States is renowned as the land of the automobile. Many cities have more registered automobiles than residents. The monthly car payment for American families often exceeds its mortgage payment. But in spite of America's love affair with the car, many US mayors are now striving to make their cities more bicycle-friendly. More The largest cities in the world by land area, population and density Statistics (World): With the merger of core cities, suburbs and satellite towns into large metropolitan areas, the very largest cities in the world have in fact become megacities, i.e. cities with more than 10 million people. The area comprising Tokyo and Yokohama is, with a population of between 33 and 35 million, the world's largest megacity. Other cities among the world's top five megacities are Mexico City, New York Metro, Sao Paulo and Mumbai. More Tokyo is number one among the richest cities in the world Statistics (World): Greater Tokyo stands unrivalled in the world. For many years to come, the Japanese capital together with its surrounding urban areas will remain the richest and largest city in the world. Research published by PricewaterhouseCopper (PWC) in March 2007 places the Japanese capital at the top of the world's richest cities between 2005 and 2020. In its own research on the world's largest cities between 2006 and 2020, City Mayors also ranks Tokyo number one in the world. More Seven out of ten of America's largest cities are in states bordering Mexico Statistics (USA): Phoenix has become the America's fifth largest city. New York continues to be the nation's most populous city, with 8.2 million residents. This was more than twice the population of Los Angeles, which ranked second at 3.8 million. Nearly a century ago, in 1910, each of the 10 largest US cities was within roughly 500 miles of the Canadian border. The 2006 estimates show that seven of the top 10 - and three of the top five - are in states that border Mexico. More Urban events, conferences seminars and conventions Events (International): City Mayors' directory of urban events, conferences, seminars and conventions is aimed at city leaders, urban decision makers and those with an interest in cities worldwide. The directory provides specialists with comprehensive lists of events tailored to their areas of interest. More Metro Mensch in Baghdad Dear Mom: Do you remember Carl? His dad fixed our roof some years ago. He always messed about with cars, stole a couple too. But was a real nice guy, even in high school. His folks thought the army would sort him out. Did too. He can repair anything, never had a scratch on any of the trucks he drives. Well, until last week that is. But he was lucky. Only lost a leg when a grenade hit his jeep. The guy next to him took the full blast. The medics put him straight into a bag. More |
City Mayors supports mayors who have the vision, the passion and the skills to make their cities amazing places to live, to work and to visit. Catholic mayor linked to gay brothel scandal Former Athens mayor wins European prize Rome's new mayor considers tearing down modern museum Brazilian parties discuss local election coalitions Boris Johnson elected new mayor of London Labour Party humiliated in British local elections Australian cities to receive fast access to government Asian cities to develop commercial aeroplane Berlusconi's man captures Rome Berlin mayor relieved as airport referendum fails Chicago hosts US-Arab conference of mayors London mayor recruits Tony Blair to his team Blue is the new green Gay socialist student elected Germany's youngest mayor Dalai Lama to become honorary citizen of Paris Rome mayoral candidate rejects right-wing alliance All bets off in race for London mayor Indian cities encouraged to switch to solar power Lille mayor to take charge of metro area Dredging to prevent Jakarta from flooding Blacks and Greens agree to share power in Hamburg Jefferson County gains reprieve from bankruptcy Serbia insists on holding local elections in Kosovo Barcelona's urban model could become an export hit Rome's electoral battle to go to a second round Opposition parties boycott Ethiopia's local elections Former Rome mayor loses Italian elections City mayors vote for sustainable tourism South African cities face difficult times St Petersburg and Japan agree on direct investment London candidates hire foreign media advisers London mayor again ahead of his electoral challengers Brazilian police arrest 16 mayors Olympic torch relay hidden from San Francisco public Egyptian voters stay away from farcical local elections Bloomberg vows to keep on fighting for a greener New York San Francisco mayor urges calm ahead of arrival of Olympic torch Paris mayor joins pro-Tibet protests US government selects twelve more solar cities Pittsburgh and Allegheny County consider merger Mexican mayor on drug charges in New York City Symbolic Nicosia crossing reopens Australia's state capitals experience record growth European cities failed to switch off their lights US cities join forces to fight urban poverty The largest cities in the world by land area, population and density The world's largest urban areas in 2006 and 2020 Local government Mayors of the world World Mayor 2008 The world's city halls For humanity's sake, developing world must prepare for soaring urbanisation Green policies are good for the environment and public purses With good government, urbanisation will produce higher living standards A city's ecological footprint bears no comparison to its actual area Calcutta and Miami most at risk from coastal flooding by 2070 Asia has become home to world's fastest growing cities Tokyo is numbr one among the richest cities in the world The world's best cities are still in Switzerland Solving transport issues has highest priority for megacities Cities are not the problem, but the solution in the battle for biodiversity City mayors must innovate where governments dither London is the most expensive city in the world 21st century cities: Home to new riches and great misery Progress in the world's cities will decide the future of Planet Earth Urban events, conferences, seminars and conventions Global urbanisation: Threats and benefits Historic Cities - Living Cities Mayors from The Americas Local government in The Americas City Halls in The Americas North American cities on the internet Pittsburgh and Los Angeles - the most polluted US cities US presidential candidates largely ignore urban issues American Catholic Church struggles to maintain presence in inner cities America prefers to punish rather than to provide care Hunger and homelessness persists in American cities Cities are the most neglected layer of American government Seven out of ten of America's largest cities are in states bordering Mexico America's fastest growing / shrinking cities Blacks increasingly wary as Latinos become fastest-growing US minority Denver's pre-kindergarten programme set up to benefit the whole community Racially diverse schools harder to attain after US court decision US debates the preservation of recent modernist buildings US cities offer very different ways of dealing with illegal immigrants TransMetro set to end chaotic commuting in Guatemala City The world's largest wholesale market feeds 20 million people Sao Paulo's Alphaville gated community - an early answer to middle-class insecurity Metro Mensch story from Sao Paulo: Maria and Luis Mayors from Europe City Halls in Europe Local government in Europe Continental cities provide lessons for urban Britain London's transport network suffers from under-investment and muddled strategy 2012 London Olympics to regenerate one of the poorest areas of the capital Britain's 'irregular' immigrants demand integration in society EU carbon emission agreement will strengthen concept of liveable cities European Cities of Culture 1985 to 2019 London, Paris and Frankfurt remain Europe's favourite business cities Mayors from Asia Local government in Asia City Halls in Asia Changes in Asia's fast growing cities are closely watched across the world China is at the forefront of the greatest urban-industrial revolution of all time Fukuoka - one of Japan's doors to the world for more than 1000 years Megacities must urgently address the needs of slum dwellers Indian will need new cities Time bomb is ticking away for India's cities Dubai and Shanghai examples of wasteful urban development Fought over for many centuries, Madurai is one of India's most remarkable cities Metro Mensch in Baghdad Tokyo Metro: The world's cleanest and most extensive subway system Afghan cities offer few opportunities for rising numbers of rural migrants Mayors from Australia City Halls in Australia Local government in Australia John So elected World Mayor 2006 Australia's logal government association Melbourne Mayor calls for bold ideas to manage the city's transport system Australian local government needs more resources Mayors from Africa Local government in Africa By 2030 Africa will change from rural to urban society Success of future megacities will depend on cooperation between citizens and authorities Harare's middle-class residents take up urban farming to counter food shortages Amnesty International calls on African governments to stop forced evictions Canary Islands: Refugee crisis on the Afro-European fault line Mauritania's urban slums offer no support to rural newcomers African cities demand access to basic services |