From June 19 to 23, 2006, Vancouver, British Columbia, is the centre of the world -- at least the centre of the urban world. More than 15,000 from around the globe are attending the Third Session of the World Urban Forum , UN-HABITAT 's "premier international meeting on the state of the world's growing cities."

Canadians living in cities or planning a move to or from an urban area may want to monitor the proceedings to discover relevant perspectives and useful insights. Every two years, this United Nation (UN) agency, under its human settlement mandate, hosts discussions that include governments, local authorities, civil society groups, nongovernmental organizations, and experts in every aspect of urban life.

Around the world, societies and cultures are transforming from rural to urban -- and the shift can be problematic:

• Thirty years ago, 1/3 of the world's population lived in cities.

• Today, "cities are now home to half of humankind."

• In many cities, particularly in developing countries, slum dwellers represent more than 1/2 of the population -- a total of 1 billion people -- who have little or no access to shelter, water, sanitation, education or health services.

• By 2050, 2/3 of the world, or 6 billion people, will be urbanites.

The challenge lies in nurturing sustainable cities that exist in harmony with their environments and the rural communities that support them.

In 1976, Vancouver hosted HABITAT I in response to growing concern over the impacts of rapid urbanization voiced at the United Nations' Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. The Second Session of the World Urban Forum was held in Barcelona. (For more background, see PJ's article "Canada To Host World Urban Forum 2006 .")

According to the UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Anna Tibaijuka, "It is therefore auspicious that the Third Session of the World Urban Forum meets in Vancouver to examine the theme, turning new ideas into action for a sustainable urban environment. The Vancouver session of the World Urban Forum brings together many strands of global cooperation and bridge-building by providing a forum for dialogue that promotes universal values, such as tolerance, freedom, justice and equal rights."

The World Urban Forum explores "the good, the bad and the ugly" of cities -- at the present and as they may evolve. The common theme? Problems visible now will be amplified in the future unless they are counteracted by constructive interventions. Vancouver sessions will delve into many aspects of urban development:

• Cities as hubs of national production and consumption, of wealth and opportunity, of poverty and unemployment.

• Urban environments as centres of art and culture, and of disease, crime, pollution, poverty and social unrest.

• Mega cities as encroachments on natural environments and rural communities, and as continually-evolving artificial environments.

Thorough discussions, roundtables, networking and special sessions such as "The Wealth of Cities: Towards an Assets-Based Development of Urbanizing Regions" and "Accessible Urban Space: A Facilitated Discussion on Inclusive Cities and Communities," the goal is to develop recommendations for strategies and approaches that will effectively manage urban growth.

Of possible interest to Canadians considering a move or extended stay outside the country is a new UN-HABITAT Report, State of the World's Cities Report 2006/7 , released concurrently with the Forum. This study reveals that in cities, the poor suffer an "urban penalty," particularly in developing countries.

"For a long time, we suspected that the optimistic picture of cities did not reflect the reality on the ground," said Tibaijuka. "This report provides concrete evidence that there are two cities within one city -- one part of the urban population that has all the benefits of urban living, and the other part, the slums and squatter settlements, where the poor often live under worse conditions than their rural relatives."

According to UN statistics, 2007 will represent the first year in history that the world's urban population will exceed the rural population, a trend that Canada appears to be following.