31st October World Cities Day

World Cities Day is observed on October 31st every year.  The general theme of World Cities Day is Better City, Better Life. 

The aim of the day is to raise awareness about global urbanisation and push for global cooperation in sustainable urban development. World Cities Day aligns with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities — which deals with urban development sustainably and Goal 17 Partnerships for the Goals. World Cities Day was announced by the U.N. in 2013 and has been observed every year since. The day brings to light the inequalities within the biggest cities in the world and pushes for greater social inclusion, including equality and access to services and opportunities.

Cities have been centres of trade, religion, culture, and education throughout history. However, the sheer scale of urban settlements today only became possible after the Industrial Revolution. The revolution drove people to cities in search of job opportunities in factories. Urban population growth has also been supported by technological advancements — these include the invention of steel, electricity conduction, elevators, etc. Over half the world’s population lives in cities now, and it’s more important than ever to make these people aware of how to sustainably co-exist within cities.

By 2050, 70% of the world’s population is expected to live in cities, compared to 55% currently, according to the United Nations. Cities currently take up 2% of the world’s total landmass and while they produce 80% of global GDP, they also produce 70% of carbon emissions.

The children I teach travel. They have been to many of the world's great cities. A parent will often say we are going to ______ , do you have any books about there? It is usually London, New York, Tokyo, Paris or Rome, but there are other cities of interest.

We have books that look at cities in general terms:

• Great Cities of the World by Russell  Ferrett

• Cities of the World by Piero Ventura

• In Focus: Cities by Libby Walden

• Capital: Explore the World's Capital Cities by Taraneh GhajarJerven

• See Inside Great Cities by Rob Lloyd Jones

• How to Build a City  by Isabel Otter

• Engineering the City: How Infrastructure Works  by Matthys Levy

• In the City by Carron Brown

• Cityscape  by April Pulley Sayre

We have books that look at specific cities: 

• Hello Sydney by Megan McKean

• All the Buildings in Sydney by James Gulliver Hancock

• Hello Melbourne by Megan McKean

• Hello London by Megan McKean

• Maisy Goes to London  by Lucy Cousins

• Katie in London by James Mayhew

• A Walk in London by Salvatore Rubbino

• Mr Chicken Lands on London by Leigh Hobbs

• A Walk in Paris by Salvatore Rubbino

• Mr Chicken Goes to Paris  by Leigh Hobbs

• Mr Chicken Arriva a Roma  by Leigh Hobbs

• A Walk in New York by Salvatore Rubbino

• New York New York  by Laura Krauss Melmed and Frane Lessac

• I Live in Tokyo by Mari Takabayashi

And Lonely Planet Kids has City Trails  for London, Paris, Tokyo, Rome, Sydney, Singapore, Barcelona and Washington DC.

We have books that are set in cities:

• Maisy Goes to the City by Lucy Cousins

• Nana in the City  by Lauren Castillo

• Little Elliot, Big City by Mike Curato

• Otto in the City  by Tom Schamp

• Small in the City by Sydney Smith

• Claude in the City  by Alex T. Smith

• A Lion in Paris  by Beatrice Alemagna

• In the City  by Roland Harvey

• Walking in the City with Jane: A Story of Jane Jacobs by Susan Hughes 

• My City Speaks  by Darren LeBeuf

• Somewhere in the City by J.B. Frank

• Florette  by Anna Walker

• Windows by Julia Denos and E.B. Goodale

And of course, there's some wonderful stories about visiting the city, but being happy to go home again:

• Any version of Town Mouse and Country Mouse. These two are beautifully illustrated:

Town Mouse, Country Mouse  by Libby Walden and Richard Jones

Town Mouse and Country Mouse  by Helen Ward

• Peggy  by Anna Walker

• The Cow Who Fell in the Canal by Phyllis Krasilovsky and Peter Spier