The Mayor’s Office of Bogota (Colombia) and the Mayor’s Office of New York City, (USA), jointly announced the launch of the 24-hour city network in collaboration with City Possible, an initiative of Mastercard. The global network will enable city leaders, and anyone interested to come together and share their experiences to promote innovative solutions that address the challenges cities face at night, and ensure that the economies of the world’s cities aim for 24-hour operation.
Alfredo Bateman, Secretary of Economic Development of Bogota, indicated that “Bogota’s participation represents an opportunity to strengthen strategies and actions aimed at the internationalization, positioning, promotion and cooperation of the city”. He also pointed out that “the fact that a city has economic activity 24 hours a day translates into an increase in productivity that boosts the economy and, in the long term, will generate enormous benefits for everyone”.
“There is no a single solution that addresses the economic, security and community challenges in New York City’s diverse boroughs. Every district requires innovative, responsive and culturally competent policies to thrive,” said Oscar J. Romero Jr. Director of Inclusive Innovation and International Cooperation for the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation. He added that “the 24-hour cities network will create opportunities for local, state and federal government officials from around the world to collaborate, share their practical experience and ultimately create the conditions for our most vulnerable communities to enjoy their neighborhoods fairly and safely at night.”
City Possible has grown from 16 founding members since its launch in 2018, to more than 330 global cities and continues to grow. Recently has welcomed new members such as Prague, Czech Republic; Birmingham, United States; and Londrina in Brazil; as well as several industry partners and multilateral players, including Honeywell and Motorola, among others.
How will the 24-hour City Network work?
It is important to integrate all stages of urban life for successful 24-hour city development. the network (led by Bogota and New York City) will focus on aspects such as transit, infrastructure, safety, mobility, racial equity, nightlife and economic activity.
The Network, which is comprised of more than 35 cities from around the world such as New York, London, Sydney, Sydney, New York City, New York City London, Sydney, Mexico City, Mexico City, Tegucigalpa, Singapore, will meet quarterly through a series of virtual meetings and workshops organized by City Possible.
The results of these meetings will be published in the form of guidelines, recommendations and a series of studies that will focus on improving the city’s 24-hour operation, which will be available through a full report to be published by the end of 2022.
In its leadership role, Bogota has been a key player in the formation of the international working group, defining not only the topics to be addressed at each of the roundtables, but also in the guests that accompany each of the activities.