ANNOUNCEMENT: HLPF SIDE-EVENT "Sustainable Urban Transportation: Towards the UNGA High-level Meeting on Sustainable Transport and Arkadag City's Model for SDG 11"

Arkadag City's Model for the SDG 11: Paving the way towards the UNGA High-level Meeting on Sustainable Transport

Side Event at the 2023 High-Level Political Forum

Date: Monday, 17 July 13:15 – 14:30

Venue: Conference Room B

Organizers:     Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the UN and
the UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan

Background

The 2030 Agenda calls for multistakeholder efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The High-Level Political Forums provide a great opportunity to share experiences worth scaling up and mobilizing support for joint efforts to accelerate SDG implementation.

Sustainable urbanization and SDG 11 serve as the primary catalysts for achieving the broader Sustainable Development Goals. In this pursuit, urban transport sustainability assumes a pivotal role, influencing the overall success of our efforts. To facilitate the attainment of urban transport sustainability targets and in accordance with the UN GA Resolution 77/286 of 16 May 2023 the General Assembly by the initiative of Turkmenistan will convene the UNGA High-level Meeting on Sustainable Transport in November this year.

At the national level, Turkmenistan's second Voluntary National Review (VNR) highlights the country's accomplishments in various areas, including significant progress towards SDG 11 and urban development.

A recent project that the Government of Turkmenistan has undertaken, the creation from scratch of a new smart city of Arkadag is a step towards fulfilling SDG 11.  At the request of the Government, a joint UN mission visited the city Arkadag and assessed its smart technologies advancing people-centered governance and high-quality living standards. The Arkadag smart city initiative has great potential to improve the lives of residents and decrease environmental impacts, while also serving as a model for other cities in Turkmenistan and around the world. It also represents an opportunity for the UN system to work with the Government of Turkmenistan on this exciting project.

Scope and guiding questions

This event will focus on discovering the innovative model implemented by Arkadag City to achieve SDG 11 using environmentally smart, economically viable, and disaster-resilient solutions. Arkadag City prides itself on low-carbon transportation solutions, including investments in intellectual transport regulation systems and electric transport and can serve as a good model to prepare for the upcoming UNGA High-level Meeting on Sustainable Transport in accordance with the UNGA Resolution 77/286.

 

 

With insights from the Government and UN agencies, the participants will discuss:

• What are the success factors of multi-stakeholder engagement to develop socially inclusive transport infrastructure?
• What lessons can be learned from effective Public-Private Partnerships in infrastructure and the delivery of efficient public services, including through digital technologies/public services for smart cities (smart transport, electric car charging stations etc).
• What are the best practices that can be scaled up to promote environmentally friendly transport broader initiatives and accelerate SDG progress?
• What support can the UN system provide to facilitate and enhance intermodal transport connectivity?
• How to encourage better coordination and collaboration in mobilizing financial and technical assistance to countries? How the UN-Joint-Arkadag City partnership can be expanded?
• What innovative financing mechanisms (green bonds, blended finance, Multi-Partner Trust Funds, etc) can combine the best public and private finance to focus on development impact?

Target audience: Representatives of the UN Member States participating or willing to join the Group of Friends of UN-Habitat and the Group of Friends of Sustainable Transport; UN staff; delegates etc