Thirty-nine mayors from across the globe will gather in Seoul for a forum to discuss sustainable city development plans on Thursday.

The OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth conference will also have Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Angel Gurria announce the Seoul Implementation Agenda for sustainable city development, vowing to create and support policies toward sustainable development.

“Seoul is the first Asian city to host the OECD‘s inclusive development conference for mayors,” Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Seoul Implementation Agenda for Inclusive Growth in Cities is focused on how cities can best bridge strategies to address inclusive growth and climate change, as well as how it can support small businesses and entrepreneurs in view of a more inclusive local economy.

“With these actions, we commit to support global efforts to build more inclusive, sustainable societies, namely the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. We will continue to make every effort to ensure that our cities and societies are more inclusive and sustainable for current and future generations,” the agenda read.

The agenda was written based on the mayors’ agreement on working together to create more inclusive cities through four policy domains, which include education, labor markets, housing and urban environment and infrastructure and public services.

The Paris Action Plan for Inclusive Growth in Cities, which was drafted in November last year, urged cities to promote policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises and expand opportunities for entrepreneurship.

The inclusive development conference will also see two sideline discussions on topics such as gentrification, social enterprises, public procurement for inclusive development and women‘s and children’s issues.

Since March 2016, more than 50 mayors from around the world have joined forces to address rising inequalities in various sectors through the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth initiative.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)