Human Rights City
[1] This sociological definition emphasises the Human Rights City as a process to which to a varying degree a variety of agents contribute: from activists, experts and academics to international organisations, state governments, and local authorities and officials.
The widespread nature of urban problems affecting people's everyday lives and survival have generated similar types of responses in places around the world, helping account for the simultaneous emergence and consolidation of popular claims to the "right to the city".
"[11] Ideas inspiring this movement first emerged in the 1970s, with many influenced by Henri Lefebvre's 1968 book, Le Droit à la ville.
[10] The proliferation of global financial crises, urban austerity, and environmental damage has contributed to the rise of a growing number of cities around the world that are referring more explicitly to international human rights in their policies, statements, and programs.
The initiative aims to mobilize people in communities to “pursue a community-wide dialogue and to launch actions to improve the life and security of women, men and children based on human rights norms and standards.”[13] This approach is different from the traditional way that human rights are enforced and applied because of its emphasis on popular education, engagement, and culture as a necessary complement to government enforcement.
As a result of globalized economic development processes, cities around the world are facing a similar host of urban problems, including a lack of affordable housing, traffic congestion and insufficient public services.
In South Korea, Gwangju pioneered the establishment of a human rights municipal system (2009)[25] that was quickly followed by cities such as Seoul (2012)[26] and Busan.
The initiative is under the guidance of the US National Human Rights Cities Alliance, an organization comprising a network of community leaders and advocates across the United States.
However, critics and activists argue the city still falls short in areas like economic inequality, discriminatory policing, and civil liberties protections for marginalized communities even after the official resolution.
Moving forward, advocates and grassroots organizations like the Southern Center for Human Rights emphasize the importance of more community engagement, securing adequate funding for initiatives, pushing for greater police accountability and oversight, and prioritizing accessibility and resilience in urban planning and infrastructure.
This document outlines the inalienable and fundamental rights of humankind that are protected regardless of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, religion, or any other social, economic, or political factor.
Local and regional authorities are often directly responsible for services related to health care, education, housing, water supply, environment, policing and also, in many cases, taxation.
Formally designated “Human Rights Cities” typically create a leadership body made up of community activists, residents, and public officials (or their appointees) working in partnership.
[38] San Francisco is another such example, since its 1998 adoption of a city ordinance[39] reflecting the principles of the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women.
As the world representative of local and regional governments, the UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights has for instance presented various statements to the Council and shared the Report's recommendations among its constituency.
The European Coalition of Cities against Racism (ECCAR)[47] grew out of that effort, and it now has more than 104 municipalities in its membership and has adopted a ten-point action plan.
The Committee represents and facilitates the exchange between worldwide local authorities having a strong agenda on human rights (Mexico City and Gwangju were for instance two of its co-chairs in 2018).
Another relevant example in regards to concrete partnerships for advancing the human rights cities agenda are the so-called “action-research centers”.
One of the most advanced examples on how can a local research center scale up and become a global actor in the promotion of the human rights agenda is the Raoul Wallenberg Institute.
Although being affiliated to Lund University since 1984, the Institute's outreach has nonetheless gone beyond its local or even national level, as it now carries out projects in different regions of the world.
