The World Urban Pavilion in Regent Park

The World Urban Pavilion in Regent Park is a global platform to inspire action and advocate for sustainable urban development. A physical and virtual hub, it will provide space to establish partnerships and work with people from many sectors. Its vision is of sustainable, people-centered cities planned through data analysis, driven by innovation and informed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Housing is a key component of sustainable development, and it will directly and indirectly contribute to many of the SDGs. The Pavilion will showcase innovative solutions from across Canada and around the world in its housing knowledge hub. These include solutions related to housing affordability and NHS priorities.

Project scope and expected outcomes

Advancing and sharing global knowledge about urban development

The World Urban Pavilion in Regent Park (the Pavilion) is a collaboration between the Urban Economy Forum Association and UN-Habitat. It is supported by its founding partners: CMHC, the Daniels Corporation and the Regent Park Community.

Urbanization, or the movement of people from rural areas to cities, is happening all over the world. The Pavilion aims to create new multi-sector partnerships for sustainable urbanization through its work and programming.

The Pavilion will create a physical and virtual hub to advance and share global knowledge about urban development. It will provide resources and guidance on urban development and implementation for cities around the world. It will also help start discussion, collaboration and collective action on topics related to urbanism, including affordable and sustainable housing.

Goals of the Pavilion

The Pavilion has 6 primary goals:

• Support cities in Canada and globally by mobilizing and sharing knowledge, innovation and applied research. The goal is to accelerate the realization of sustainable development and to future proof cities to better recover from crises.
• Design and implement innovative pilot initiatives that can be replicated and scaled as alternative models for sustainable urbanization. This will be done in collaboration with national and local authorities, international organizations, academia, the private sector and local stakeholders.
• Evaluate cities through comprehensive urban assessments to define priorities and actions to realize the SDGs. It will do this by improving the use of urban data, knowledge and innovation.
• Establish a global network of stakeholders to identify and exhibit urban practices. It will contribute to ongoing dialogue through interactive campaigns related to sustainable urbanization.
• Improve civil society participation through new opportunities for the public, including youth, women and Indigenous Communities. This will allow for maximum civic engagement at the local, national and global levels to realize the urban SDGs.
• Establish UN-Habitat's SDG Cities Program as a global hub in Canada. This will be done by improving investment opportunities with high impact and long-term results.

Addressing National Housing Strategy priority areas

A number of Pavilion’s program areas of focus relate to NHS priority areas. This includes housing for those in greatest need, community housing sustainability, and sustainable housing and communities.

• Housing for those in greatest need. The Pavilion will highlight and empower women, youth and marginalized communities. It will advocate for equitable policies and opportunities through case studies and examples from around the world.
• Community housing sustainability. The Pavilion will have programing related to Regent Park and its urban revitalization. This ongoing community-centric process is an excellent example to be shared within Canada and around the world.
• Sustainable housing and communities. Pavilion will encourage dialogue and share lessons and innovations from across Canada and around the world. This will showcase innovative ways of achieving new levels of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

This emphasis on showcasing innovation will help communities in Canada and globally become more resilient to current and future crises.