The seventh Annual Conference for the Aspen Junior Fellows was dedicated to the topic of the city, in the year in which, for the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, as indicated in the United Nations Population Fund Report. The timeliness of this issue is confirmed by the theme of the 2010 Shanghai Expo: Better City, Better Life. By holding the conference in Milan, the challenges faced by the experimental city in its preparations for the 2015 Milan Expo were highlighted.
Innovation, whose major promoters are young people, is one of the prime factors in improving cities. For this reason, the conference engaged the Aspen Junior Fellows in a proposal-making debate divided into four separate themes:
1. “City Government” – This debate covered the links between the national and local aspects of politics and government, in a phase where the challenges of Italy’s cities reflect and become those of the country as a whole. The discussions with local government officials centered on the balance between economic resources, goals and consensus on one hand and security, solidarity and well-being on the other, inasmuch as the city is a meeting point for individual values and a new sense of civic responsibility.
2. “City Economy” – Here, the urban component in the prospect of globalization was reconsidered. Today’s city is a hub of exchange, defining how to relate to the territory and the push for internationalization, how to implement information and communication networks at the service of Italian families and businesses, and what factors can attract talent and capital from abroad.
3. “City Planning” – Here the discussion covered scenarios of urban planning, from the point of view of both aesthetics and technological innovation, with the goal of assuring the livability of metropolitan areas.
4. “The City for Youth” – Projecting a city of limitations to one of opportunity. A place where working and living are easier and the new paths of mobility work better for the family and all of Italy’s citizens.