THE TEHRAN DECLARATION

Second Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCHUD)

We, the Asia-Pacific Ministers responsible for housing and urban development, meeting in Tehran, Iran, on 12 –14 May 2008, to consider the challenges of housing and urbanization in Asia and the Pacific;

Expressing our appreciation and gratitude to the government of India, and especially the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, for the great effort and work by the APMCHUD Permanent Secretariat and as the first chair of the Bureau and on the progress made in implementing the New Delhi declaration, and to UN-HABITAT for its continued support to the Conference and its work in the region;

Also expressing our sincere gratitude to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting the second Asia-Pacific Ministers Conference on Housing and Urban Development and our appreciation to the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran for their warm hospitality;

Recognizing the challenges of sustainable urban development and growth in the region namely, continued slum formation, rapid and massive urbanization, inequity and social exclusion and the need to maintain the cultural, historical and religious identity of the region;

Further recognizing the role of cities and other human settlements in the development of the region and the pressures that they face as they will absorb all population growth over the next decades;

Acknowledging the uniqueness of the region as one of the cradles of civilization, its rich metropolitan history and tradition in urban planning and architecture, its strategic and growing economic role, and its vast technical and intellectual resources and expertise, all of which should be mobilized to address the challenges of sustainable urbanization;

Further acknowledging the need for increasing regional cooperation, exchange of information and national experiences, dissemination of best practices and for developing joint activities and programmes for implementing the action plan annexed to this declaration;

Cognizant of the current trends and opportunities in the region including the numerous innovative urban development programmes, the massive investments in infrastructure and the growing prominence of cities as engines of growth;

1. Invite our leaders attending the forthcoming high-level segment of ECOSOC to adopt, as a standing item of the annual ministerial review (AMR) the cross-cutting issue of sustainable urbanisation;
2. Call upon the next session of the World Urban Forum to advance actions to promote sustainable and harmonious urbanization, with an emphasis on the reduction of urban poverty and the preservation of architectural heritage.
3. Agree to reinforce APMCHUD’s structure and to promote more vigorously regional cooperation among its members building on the foundations laid by its first two sessions;
4. Request the current chair of APMCHUD to ensure the implementation of this declaration and the related action plan in collaboration with the other members of the Bureau and the Secretariat and look forward to receiving regular updates on the same;
5. Call upon all co-operating partners and international agencies to support APMCHUD’s efforts in the implementation of the initiatives outlined in the action plan annexed to this declaration;
6. Specifically invite all governments of the region to express their solidarity vis-à-vis countries facing post-disaster situations through adequate support to the building of national reconstruction capacities;
7. Endorse the composition of the second Bureau of APMCHUD with its members being Ministers representing:
   • Armenia
   • Peoples Republic of China
   • Republic of India
   • Indonesia
   • The Islamic Republic of Iran
   • Islamic Republic of Pakistan
   • Qatar
8. Agree that the Chairperson of the previous Bureau will remain a member of the Bureau in order to ensure continuity of its work;
9. Welcome the offer by the Government of Indonesia to host the next Asia-Pacific Ministers Conference on Housing and Urban Development in 2010;
10. Commit ourselves to apprise our respective Heads of States and Governments on the outcome of this conference and to take appropriate action to implement the initiatives outlined in the action plan annexed to this declaration. Adopted in Tehran on 14 May 2008