De Blasio kicks off World Cities Summit Forum
With much of the world’s population and its poverty shifting to cities, leaders of urban centers are at the forefront of battling inequality and creating sustainability, attendees at a global mayors conference argued on Tuesday.
The World Cities Summit Mayors Forum came to New York for the first time, granting Mayor Bill de Blasio a giant stage to outline his liberal vision for a 21st-century city, one that he says must not forget about those at society’s margins and is increasingly without help from national governments.
“We innovate and we create because we must,” de Blasio, who’s serving his first term as mayor, said in his opening remarks to the conference. “We see too many times when national governments look away rather than taking them on directly.”