Re-Thinking the global cosmopolis: an analysis of the un-habitat “city we need” policies in Helsinki And Sydney

Abstract

This paper contributes to the sustainability debates concerning the UN Habitat III agenda for 2030 of “leaving no one behind.” I mainly focus on how the ideas of the classical cosmopolis are manifested in contemporary urban policies and strategies. I seek to discuss the similarities between the ancient Greek Cynics’ and Stoics’ concept of cosmopolis and the one more or less explicitly expressed in the UN-Habitat manifesto The City We Need 2.0: Towards a New Urban Paradigm, for explaining/showing/understanding. I do so by examining specific case examples based on the UN-Habitat manifesto: the City of Sydney (A City for All: Towards a Socially Just and Resilient Sydney) and the City of Helsinki. Finally, by using the close reading method, I analyze how these local level goals are related to the broader Habitat III goals and, on the other hand, to the classical definitions of cosmopolitan political practices.