Tehran Mayor Pirouz Hanachi flew to Vienna, Austria, on Tuesday to participate in Bridge for Cities 4.0, a two-day event jointly organized by UNIDO and Finance Center for South-South Cooperation.
The mayor was invited by UNIDO Director General LI Yong. His visit was welcomed by his Viennese and Berliner counterparts.
On the sidelines of the event, Tehran’s mayor and the UNIDO chief signed a memorandum of understanding for the application of new technologies in urban management, the municipality’s website reported.
Bridge for Cities is an annual event that aims to promote sustainable development and eco-friendly urban growth by forging collaborations between municipalities from different countries.
The event’s website states that the Bridge for Cities aims to advance the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda put forward by the United Nations.
It also encourages municipal officials and development stakeholders to scale up their engagement in inclusive and sustainable urban-industrial development initiatives.
Hanachi delivered a speech at the event, outlining the ongoing efforts for transforming the Iranian capital into a smart city.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Bridge for Cities 4.0 explored the role of fourth industrial revolution in fostering urban innovation in cities.
“4.0” in the title symbolizes both the fourth industrial revolution and the fourth edition of the event. It will aim at providing a wide and multidisciplinary perspective on how cities can tap into advanced technologies and new industrial solutions to enhance the quality of life for their citizens by reducing their carbon footprint, improving public services, creating new jobs and attracting skilled labor.
This round of the event is also backed by Eurocities, a network of large cities in Europe, established in 1986 to further economic, political and social development in its member cities.
In a world which is disturbed by violence, we hope to be able to expand peaceful social relations by increasing cultural and people-to-people exchanges, Hanachi saidIn a world which is disturbed by violence, we hope to be able to expand peaceful social relations by increasing cultural and people-to-people exchanges, Hanachi said
On the sidelines of the event, Tehran Mayor met with Eurocities Secretary-General Anna Lisa Boni and both agreed to expand collaborations between Tehran and European capitals.
The event published a paper investigating how bilateral and multilateral partnerships among cities could have a positive impact on cities’ efforts to achieve their development goals, as well as those set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The paper is expected to be used as a guide for urban stakeholders to understand the benefits of cooperation among cities, providing successful examples and suggestions useful to overcome some of the common bottlenecks hindering city-to-city dialogue.
“[Hanachi’s] visit to the cities of Vienna and Berlin is a turning point in the development of bilateral relations between the Iranian capital and Western European capitals,” the semi-official news agency Tasnim wrote about the trip.
Tehran’s Message for Vienna
Vienna has emerged as a green paradise in the heart of the industrialized Europe, with a per capita green space of 120 square meters, Hanachi wrote in an opinion piece for Iran Daily titled “Tehran’s human message for Vienna”.
In 2013, Tehran Municipality had announced that per capita green space in Tehran was 15 square meters.
“The Iranian capital of Tehran … shares many common features with Vienna, based on which a four-year MoU has been signed between the two cities’ mayors,” he said.
“We hope scientific and technical cooperation between the two metropolises would further deepen and become more strategic. We are attempting to turn Tehran into a more habitable megacity proportional to successful urban management indices in the heart of the Middle East.”
Hanachi also said Tehran’s officials are willing to cooperate with Vienna’s startups in the field of urban management.
Pointing to his recent endeavors for promoting green transportation services in the Iranian capital, he noted that Tehran Municipality is pursuing plans to promote cycling culture.
“However, in a significant part of the city, electric bicycles are required due to steep streets. We are interested in cooperating with industrialists and manufacturers in Vienna to transfer the technology of producing electric bicycles to Iran,” he said.
“Our urban management approach is human-oriented. We are making endeavors to reduce the number of streets and cars in Tehran and increase that of the city’s sidewalks and bicycles. “
Tehran’s mayor concluded by writing, “In a world which is disturbed by violence, we hope to be able to expand peaceful social relations by increasing cultural and people-to-people exchanges and help prepare the ground for the people, across the world, to gain greater knowledge of each other. This is an aspiration, the achievement of which is in need of participation by all citizens across the globe.”
Hanachi is to later visit Berlin this week.
