Shanghai hosts global observance of World Cities Day

SHANGHAI, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai hosted the Global Observance of World Cities Day 2022 on Monday, along with the Second Sustainable Development Goals Cities Global Conference.

Shanghai held the World Cities Day event eight years after it was first launched in the city in 2014. This year's event is themed "Act Local to Go Global."

The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Shanghai municipal government and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, addressed the event via video and released this year's edition of the Shanghai Manual: A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century.

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Shanghai municipal government have jointly set up a reward for cities that have made outstanding progress in sustainable development. The reward will be first presented in 2023.

The idea of World Cities Day was proposed by the Shanghai Declaration issued at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, to advocate the idea of "Better City, Better Life." The Day is celebrated annually on Oct. 31.