The Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) is an initiative of the UN-Habitat World Urban Campaign that serves as a knowledge-sharing platform that brings together diverse professionals, researchers, experts, academics, community leaders, and other stakeholders to discuss and address the contemporary urban challenges in the face of climate change.

This Urban Thinkers Campus seeks to foster collaboration and co-creation of solutions related to sustainable urban development following the New Urban Agenda. In that sense, the manifesto "The City We Need" advocates the construction of inclusive, equitable, safe, and sustainable cities. It seeks to raise awareness and promote positive changes to obtain green, healthy, well-planned projects to achieve SDG 11. Urban Thinkers Campus is integral to this process, providing a space for reflection and collective action around critical urban issues.

This UTC discusses how land-based finance can assist governments in financing projects and meeting public needs like transit systems, environmental resilience and affordable housing. Experience has shown the potential and increasing adoption of those policies and instruments to address the challenges of the accumulated backlog of infrastructure investments and of the generation of more inclusive cities.

Agenda

12 pm to 3 pm GMT (9 am – 12 pm Buenos Aires time)

12 pm to 12.15 pm GMT (9 am to 9.15 am Buenos Aires time). Opening Session: Introduction to Urban Thinkers Campus and Its Goals. 

Overview of the event’s alignment with the New Urban Agenda (NUA)

• Cynthia Goytia (Director of the Master's Degree in Urban Economics and Director of the Urban and Housing Policy Research Center (CIPUV), Di Tella University)
• Sri Husnaini Sofjan (Co-chair of the World Urban Campaign, UN-Habitat Secretariat)
  
• Analia Pastran (Co-Chair of the World Urban Campaign-UN Habitat and Founder of Smartly Social Enterprise on the SDGs)
• Dario Judzik (Executive Dean of the School of Government, Di Tella University)
  

12.15 pm to 1.30 pm GMT (9.15 am to 10.30 am Buenos Aires time). Global Innovations in Land-Based Finance.

Presenting international examples and learning opportunities.

• Andrés Fuentes Hutfilter (Head of Unit, Environmental and Land Use Economics, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Regions and Cities, OECD)
• Enrique Silva (Chief Program Officer at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Professor at Harvard University)
• Jane Katz (Vice Chair and Washington Office Representative, Global Urban Development (USA) and CSO Co-chair UN-Habitat World Urban Campaign Steering Committee and General Assembly of Partners)
• Moderator: Cynthia Goytia  (Director of the Master's Degree in Urban Economics and Director of the Urban and Housing Policy Research Center (CIPUV), Di Tella University)

1.30 pm to 3 pm GMT (10.30 am to 12 pm Buenos Aires time). Roundtable: Addressing Climate Change through Land-Based Finance. 

A focused discussion on the role of land-based finance in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

• Cynthia Goytia (Director of the Master's Degree in Urban Economics and Director of the Urban and Housing Policy Research Center (CIPUV), Di Tella University)
• Anthony Boanada-Fuchs (Professor of St Gallen University -Switzerland, Brazil, Colombia-)
• Daniel Kozak (Director of the Research Centre Habitat and Energy and Professor, University of Buenos Aires)
• Alex Lord (Lever Chair of Urban and Regional Planning,the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Liverpool, UK)
• Moderator: Eric Heikkila (Professor, USC Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California)

3 pm to 4.30 pm GMT: Break (12 pm to 1.30 pm Buenos Aires time)

4.30 pm to 7.30 pm GMT (1.30 pm to 4.30 pm Buenos Aires time)

4.30 pm to 6 pm GMT (1.30 pm to 3 pm Buenos Aires time). Panel: Land-Based Finance into Urban Policy for New Urban Agenda. 

Debating the integration of land-based finance strategies in urban planning, and the provision of affordable housing.

• Helen Rourke (Programme director, Development Action Group)
• Carlos Zeballos Velarde (Co-director of the Sustainability Commission of the UIA, National Director of Technological Affairs of the College of Architects of Peru)
  
• Geoffrey Payne (Housing and urban development consultant focusing on developing countries, UK)
• Moderator: Robin King (Director of Knowledge Capture & Collaboration, World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities)

6 pm to 7.30 pm GMT (3 pm to 4.30 pm Buenos Aires time). Roundtable: Land-Based Financial Models: Opportunities and Challenges. 

A focused discussion on lessons and recommendations towards the implementation of land-based finance in cities worldwide.

• Bautista Pino (Chief of Cabinet, Municipality of Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
  
• David Amborski (Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning, Canada)
• Martim Smolka (Former Director of the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy)
• Andres Blanco (International Development Expert, Inter-American Development Bank)
• Moderator: Claudio Acioly (International Consultant)

7.30 pm to 7.45 pm GMT (4.30 pm to 4.45 pm Buenos Aires time). Closing Session: Action Plans and Future Directions. 

Summarizing key takeaways and developing actionable plans for future implementation.