A/HRC/27/59 (c) changes in global demographics: in 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of the world lived in towns and cities, and the number is expected to rise to almost 5 billion people in 2030. Cities hold a unique potential for human empowerment and for solving social and environmental problems. At the same time, they face important challenges in the field of social cohesion. With people from many different areas and backgrounds grouped together who have often moved to the city in search of individual autonomy, citizens and governments alike seek to identify a discourse that unites urban residents and forms a common frame of reference in setting out the mutual expectations of the city and its inhabitants.28 41. The Gwangju Guiding Principles for a Human Rights City adopted on 17 May 201429 at the Fourth World Human Rights Cities Forum contains the following principles for a human rights city: the right to the city; non-discrimination and affirmative action; social inclusion and cultural diversity; participatory democracy and accountable governance; social justice, solidarity and sustainability; political leadership and institutionalization; human rights mainstreaming; effective institutions and policy coordination; human rights education and training; and right to remedy. 42. A number of cities throughout the world have officially declared themselves “human rights cities”,30 and several international networks of cities have developed. 43. Other concepts have been developed, both in doctrine and practice, that essentially pursue the same objective. One of them is “the right to the city” first articulated by the French philosopher Henri Lefebvre;31 it refers mainly to the right of the inhabitants and “users” of the city to participate in local public affairs and define the space of the city. 32 So far the concept of “the right to the city” has been limitedly institutionalized, examples being the City Statute of Brazil (2001),33 the Montreal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities (2006)34 and the Mexico City Charter for the Right to the City (2010).35 The latter identifies six fundamental principles that are indispensable to promoting the right to the city: (a) the full exercise of human rights in the city; (b) the social function of the city, of land and of property; (c) the democratic management of the city; (d) democratic production of the city and in the city; (e) the sustainable and responsible management of the commons (natural, cultural heritage and energetic resources) of the city and its surroundings; and (f) the democratic and equitable enjoyment of the city. 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 12 B. Oomen and M. Baumgärtel, “Human Rights Cities”, p. 4. Available from http://mensenrechten.verdus.nl/upload/ documents/Oomen%20Baumgartel%20Human%20Rights%20Cities%20v2%20March%202013.pdf. Available from www.uclg-aspac.org/uploads/Gwangju_Guiding_Principles_for_Human_Rights_ City_adopted_on_17_May_2014.pdf. Among them: Rosario (Argentina), which was the first human rights city initiated in 1997; Bandung (Indonesia); Barcelona (Spain); Bihac (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Bogota (Colombia); Bongo (Ghana); Copenhagen (Denmark); Graz (Austria); Gwangju (Republic of Korea); Kaohsiung (Taiwan Province of China); Kati (Mali); Korogocho (Kenya); Mexico city (Mexico); Mogale (South Africa); Montreal (Canada); Nagpur (India); Porto Alegre (Brazil); Prince George County (United States); Saint-Denis (France); Sakai (Japan); Thies (Senegal); Utrecht (the Netherlands); Victoria (Australia). Henri Lefebvre, Le Droit à la ville (Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1968). The Habitat International Coalition and its Housing and Land Rights Network have worked over the past decade to promote and develop the definition of “the right to the city”. Available from www.ifrc.org/docs/idrl/945EN.pdf. Available from http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=3036,3377687&_dad=portal&_ schema=PORTAL. Available at: www.hic-net.org/articles.php?pid=3717.