The theme offers the world an opportunity to assess whether women, who make up a large proportion of the urban population and especially of the urban poor, are included in the process of urban governance. The occasion provides the opportunity to explore new ways to include women s concerns in the design and development of our cities. In this year s World Habitat Day message, Dr. Klaus Toepfer, Ag. In our urbanizing world, women s needs are different from those of men. For example, women and men use public transport at different times and for different purposes, while zoning regulations often do not take into account women s commercial activities.
Insecurity also affects women and men differently.
Besides regional and country celebrations, other examples of events planned to mark World Habitat Day include a special Regional Seminar in Kingston focusing on innovative approaches to local development in the Caribbean. On the same day, in Dubai, the Municipality of Dubai will host the presentation of the third Dubai International Awards for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment, a biennial award to raise awareness, by learning from initiatives which have made outstanding contributions to addressing the challenges of an urbanizing world.