Europe, Urbanization Watch Now: Bristol and Beyond: A Mayor on the World Stage

As Black Lives Matter protests spread around the world this summer, Bristol emerged as a focal point for the movement in the United Kingdom, with activists removing the city's statue of a slave trader.

This collision of the local with the global is nothing new to Bristol’s Marvin Rees, the first elected mayor of Black African heritage in Europe and a strong champion of cities’ role on the global stage. During his term, Mayor Rees developed a One City Plan for Bristol, which incorporated the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into plans for a fair, healthy, and sustainable city by 2050. Bristol is not alone; cities are playing an increasing role in policy debates about climate change, migration and other issues.

In this edition of The World Today, Mayor Rees discussed how and why city leaders must be included in the international negotiations that directly impact cities, in conversation with the University of Pennsylvania's Eugenie Birch. He also tocuhed on on Bristol’s approach to supporting migrants in becoming active members of the local community, outline how migrants’ links to other urban centers around the world can support the city’s international connectivity and outlook as part of #BristolGlobalCity, and drew on his experiences with global networks like the Mayors’ Migration Council and C40.

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