Section IV C. Sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world
9. Improving urban economies

155. Urban economies are integral to the process of economic transformation and development. They are a prerequisite for the creation of a diversified economic base capable of generating employment opportunities. Many new jobs will need to be created in urban areas. Cities currently generate more than half of national economic activities worldwide. If other factors, such as growth of the population of cities and migration to cities, are addressed effectively through, inter alia, urban planning and control of the negative impacts of urbanization, cities could develop the capacity to maintain their productivity, to improve the living conditions of their residents and to manage natural resources in an ecologically sustainable way. Industry, together with trade and services, provides the main impetus to this process.

156. Cities have traditionally served as economic centres and have become the primary providers of services. As engines of economic growth and development they function within a network of supporting economic activities located in their peri-urban and surrounding rural areas. For this reason, specific actions also need to be taken to develop and maintain efficient and affordable transport, information and communications systems and linkages with other urban centres and with rural areas and to seek reasonably balanced patterns of development, both geographically and economically. Rapid changes in production technologies and in trade and consumption patterns will lead to changes in urban spatial structures that, notwithstanding their nature, need to be addressed.

157. Economic development and the provision of services can be enhanced through improved human settlements activities, such as urban revitalization, construction, upgrading and maintenance of infrastructural facilities, and building and civil works. These activities are also important growth factors in the generation of employment, income and efficiency in other sectors of the economy. In turn, in combination with appropriate environmental protection policies, they result in the sustainable improvement of the living conditions of city residents as well as of the efficiency and productivity of countries.

Actions

158. To establish an effective financial base for urban development, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, in cooperation with trade unions, consumer organizations, business, industry, trade organizations and the financial sector, including the cooperatively organized business sector and non-governmental organizations, as appropriate, should:

159. To provide opportunities for productive employment and private investment, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, in consultation with workers' and employers' organizations, chambers of commerce, industry, trade and consumer organizations, professional associations and the financial sector, including the cooperative sector, and in the context of comprehensive urban planning, should: 160. To provide opportunities for small businesses and for the micro-enterprise and cooperative sectors, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, in consultation with non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, and financial and vocational training institutions, should, as appropriate: 161. To strengthen urban economies so that they may be competitive in a globalizing economy, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, in consultation with all interested parties, should, inter alia: 162. To alleviate the adverse impacts of measures for structural and economic transition, Governments at the appropriate levels, including, where appropriate, local authorities, should:  
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