INFRASTRUCTURE 2013

COMMUNICATION

seminar series by Habitat Norway

Electricity

access, work, sustainability, effi ciency, inclusion

health security, costs, social relations, phosphorous

safety, light, cooling, wood stoves, production

transparency, possibilities, digital gap, mobile banking

dignity, women’s safety, fertilizer, bioenergy

cancer, resource, recycling, contamination, income

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INFRASTRUCTURE 2013seminar series by Habitat Norway

partners:

sPONSORS:

program:

Today, cities account for more than half of the global population. Over the last decades the world has urbanized rapidly, with an unprecedented pace in some areas. Highest is the urbanization rate in developing countries. With this growth cities face increasingly greater demands for services together with strained infrastructural systems.

Of more than 3,5 billions living in cities today, as many as a billion live in informal areas and slums. In the three years to come it is expected that 200.000 on average will be added to the world’s urban population each day. 91 percent of this increase will happen in developing countries, a great infl ux to informal settlements. Many migrate to cities in search of a more prosperous life and settle where there is available land. Others are born in informal settlements that over time have taken a more permanent look. Informal settlements are very different from one place to another. Though, what many of the inhabitants have in common is that they will use their skills and creativity to build a home of whatever building material available for them, and continue to modify and improve their home according to ability. Hence, what constitutes some of the major challenges regarding the physical environment for dwellers in poor urban communities, are not always poor constructions of their homes, but lack of access to or inadequate infrastructural systems vital for urban living. Lack of infrastructure, such as access to clean water, sanitary systems, waste handling and electricity, poses serious health and security risks. However, lack of infrastructure is also a major hinder to development and poverty reduction.

Throughout 2013 Habitat Norway will host a seminar series focusing on infrastructure and the following matters: water, sanitation, electricity, public transportation, waste management and information and communication technology. Furthermore, the seminars will discuss how infrastructural systems relate to planning, economy, informality, livelihoods and environmental degradation. What are good ways to respond to these challenges? The seminar series will consist of presentations from professionals from various fi elds, and screenings of short fi lms and documentaries.

Infrastructure 2013: Water. Wednesday 20 March, 19.00. Internasjonalen, Oslo.Infrastructure 2013: Public Transport. Wednesday 24 April, 19.00. Gallery 0047, Oslo.Infrastructure 2013: Electricity. Wednesday 12 June, 19.00. Kulturhuset, Oslo.Infrastructure 2013: Waste. Wednesday 28 August, 19.00. Kulturhuset, Oslo.Infrastructure 2013: Communication. World Habitat Day Conference. Monday 7 October, House of Literature, Oslo.Infrastructure 2013: Gran Horizonte. World Habitat Day evening event, screening of Gran Horizonte by Urban-Think Tank. Wednesday 9 October, Kulturhuset, Oslo. Infrastructure 2013: Sanitation. Wednesday 20 November, 19.00. Kulturhuset, Oslo.

www.habitat-norge.org

HABITATN O R WAY