With reform we in the United Nations and in our organization will become a born again institution. Today our governing bodies, our institutions of governance are run only by governments. Tomorrow we hope and we pray that local authorities, the private sector and NGOs will find the rightful place in the programmes, the agendas and the philosophies of these institutions, turning them really into hybrid bodies. But there is another dimension to all of this, another dimension to your role as we head to the 21st century. It has to do with globalization as it affects the cities, the urban centers.
Economic globalization means that cities are so inter-linked as to be almost mutually inseparable.
If the cities don't work particularly in the developing countries the regions will not work. In many countries today, if the capital city does not work, the country will fail, if the city does not work because of crime, intolerance, inadequate infrastructures, and poor communications, it will not be a party to the globalization process, it will be left out, investment will rise up and fly like a bird and go to places where it can better function. This is particularly important for local authorities in developing countries. When the cities don't work the infrastructure doesn't work, the communication doesn't work, the airlines don't work, the banking doesn't work, the insurance sector doesn't work, there will be no investment and if there is no investment not only the city but the country will suffer. Some people have called this process globalization and transnationalization of the world, yet others call it the urbanization of capital, whatever we call it, the reality remains, that cities are deeply linked with the global economy.