Fifty-four percent of the world's population lives in our cities. In developing countries, one third of that population is living in slums. Seventy-five percent of global energy consumption occurs in our cities, and 80 percent of gas emissions that cause global warming come from our cities. So things that you and I might think about as global problems, like climate change, the energy crisis or poverty, are really, in many ways, city problems. They will not be solved unless people who live in cities, like most of us, actually start doing a better job, because right now, we are not doing a very good one. And that becomes very clear when we look into three aspects of city life: first, our citizens' willingness to engage with democratic institutions; second, our cities' ability to really include all of their residents; and lastly, our own ability to live fulfilling and happy lives.
54 procenta svetske populacije živi u našim gradovima. U državama u razvoju, jedna trećina te populacije živi u straćarama. 75 procenata korišćenja globalne energije dešava se u našim gradovima, i 80 procenata emisije gasova koji izazivaju globalno zagrevanje potiče iz naših gradova. Stvari koje vi i ja možda vidimo kao globalne probleme, poput klimatskih promena, energetske krize ili siromaštva, su u mnogim slučajevima gradski problemi. Neće biti rešeni dok ljudi koji žive u gradovima, poput većine nas, zapravo ne počnu da rade bolje, jer upravo sada, ne obavljamo dobar posao. To postaje prilično jasno kada pogledamo tri aspekta gradskog života: prvi, volja naših građana da se angažuju sa demokratskim institucijama; drugo, mogućnost naših gradova da zapravo uključe sve svoje stanovnike; i poslednji, naša sopstvena mogućnost da živimo ispunjujuće i srećne živote.
When it comes to engagement, the data is very clear. Voter turnout around the world peaked in the late '80s, and it has been declining at a pace that we have never seen before, and if those numbers are bad at the national level, at the level of our cities, they are just dismal. In the last two years, two of the world's most consolidated, oldest democracies, the U.S. and France, held nationwide municipal elections. In France, voter turnout hit a record low. Almost 40 percent of voters decided not to show up. In the U.S., the numbers were even scarier. In some American cities, voter turnout was close to five percent. I'll let that sink in for a second. We're talking about democratic cities in which 95 percent of people decided that it was not important to elect their leaders. The city of L.A., a city of four million people, elected its mayor with just a bit over 200,000 votes. That was the lowest turnout the city had seen in 100 years. Right here, in my city of Rio, in spite of mandatory voting, almost 30 percent of the voting population chose to either annul their votes or stay home and pay a fine in the last mayoral elections.
Kada se radi u angažovanju, podaci su veoma jasni. Ishod glasanja širom sveta dostigao je vrh u kasnim 80-im i opada brzinom koju nikada ranije nismo videli, i ako su ti brojevi loši na nacionalnom nivou, na nivou naših gradova, žalosni su. U poslednje dve godine, dve od svetski najčvršće, najstarije demokratije, Amerika i Francuska, održale su opštinske izbore širom država. U Francuskoj, ishod glasanja dostigao je rekordno nizak nivo. Skoro 40 procenata glasača je odlučilo da ne izađe. U Sjedinjenim Državama, brojevi su još strašniji. U nekim američkim gradovima, ishod glasanja je bio blizu 5 procenata. Daću vam trenutak da shvatite to. Govorimo o demokratskim gradovima u kojima je 95 procenata ljudi odlučilo da nije važno izabrati svoje vođe. Los Anđeles, grad od četiri miliona ljudi izabrao je svog gradonačelnika sa malo iznad 200 000 glasova. To je bio najniži ishod glasanja koji je taj grad imao u 100 godina. Upravo ovde, u mom gradu Riu, uprkos obaveznom glasanju, skoro 30 procenata glasačke populacije izabralo je da poništi glasove ili ostane kod kuće i plati kaznu, na poslednjim opštinskim izborima.
When it comes to inclusiveness, our cities are not the best cases of success either, and again, you don't need to look very far in order to find proof of that. The city of Rio is incredibly unequal. This is Leblon. Leblon is the city's richest neighborhood. And this is Complexo do Alemão. This is where over 70,000 of the city's poorest residents live. Leblon has an HDI, a Human Development Index, of .967. That is higher than Norway, Switzerland or Sweden. Complexo do Alemão has an HDI of .711. It sits somewhere in between the HDI of Algeria and Gabon. So Rio, like so many cities across the global South, is a place where you can go from northern Europe to sub-Saharan Africa in the space of 30 minutes. If you drive, that is. If you take public transit, it's about two hours.
Kada se radi u inkluziji, ni naši gradovi nisu najbolji primeri uspeha i opet, ne treba da tražite toliko daleko kako biste našli dokaz toga. Grad Rio je neverovatno nejednak. Ovo je Leblon. Leblon je najbogatije gradsko naselje. A ovo je Komplekso do Alemao. Ovde živi preko 70 000 najsiromašnijih gradskih stanovnika. Leblon ima ILJR, indeks ljudskog razvoja, 0,967. To je više od Norveške, Švajcarske ili Švedske. Komplekso do Alemao ima ILJR 0,711. Nalazi se negde između ILJR-a Alžira i Gabona. Dakle Rio je, poput mnogih gradova širom juga planete, mesto gde možete da idete od severne Evrope do podsaharske Afrike za vreme od 30 minuta. Ako vozite, naravno. Ako koristite javni prevoz, treba vam oko dva sata.
And lastly, perhaps most importantly, cities, with the incredible wealth of relations that they enable, could be the ideal places for human happiness to flourish. We like being around people. We are social animals. Instead, countries where urbanization has already peaked seem to be the very countries in which cities have stopped making us happy. The United States population has suffered from a general decrease in happiness for the past three decades, and the main reason is this. The American way of building cities has caused good quality public spaces to virtually disappear in many, many American cities, and as a result, they have seen a decline of relations, of the things that make us happy. Many studies show an increase in solitude and a decrease in solidarity, honesty, and social and civic participation.
I na kraju, iako najvažnije, gradovi sa neverovatnim bogatstvom veza koje omogućavaju, mogli bi da budu idealna mesta za cvetanje ljudske sreće. Volimo da budemo okruženi ljudima. Mi smo društvene životinje. Umesto toga, države gde je urbanizacija uveliko dostigla vrh su izgleda one države u kojma su gradovi prestali da nas usrećuju. Stanovništvo Sjedinjenih Država je patilo od opšteg pada sreće u poslednje tri decenije i ovo je glavni razlog. Američki način građenja gradova je doveo do toga da kvalitetni javni prostori bukvalno nestanu u mnogim, mnogim američkim gradovima, i kao ishod, susreli su se sa smanjenjem veza, stvari koje nas čine srećnima. Mnoga istraživanja pokazuju porast samoće i pad solidarnosti, iskrenosti i društvenog i građanskog učešća.
So how do we start building cities that make us care? Cities that value their most important asset: the incredible diversity of the people who live in them? Cities that make us happy? Well, I believe that if we want to change what our cities look like, then we really have to change the decision-making processes that have given us the results that we have right now. We need a participation revolution, and we need it fast. The idea of voting as our only exercise in citizenship does not make sense anymore. People are tired of only being treated as empowered individuals every few years when it's time to delegate that power to someone else. If the protests that swept Brazil in June 2013 have taught us anything, it's that every time we try to exercise our power outside of an electoral context, we are beaten up, humiliated or arrested. And this needs to change, because when it does, not only will people re-engage with the structures of representation, but also complement these structures with direct, effective, and collective decision making, decision making of the kind that attacks inequality by its very inclusive nature, decision making of the kind that can change our cities into better places for us to live.
Kako da počnemo da gradimo gradove koji će učiniti da brinemo? Gradovi koji vrednuju svoj najvažniji resurs: neverovatnu raznolikost ljudi koji žive u njima? Gradovi koji nas čine srećnim? Verujem da ako želimo da promenimo izgled svojh gradova, onda zaista treba da promenimo procese donošenja odluka koji su nam kao posledicu dali ovo što sada imamo. Treba nam revolucija u učešću, i to brzo. Ideja glasanja kao naše jedine prakse u građanstvu nema više smisla. Ljudi su umorni od toga da se prema njima ophode kao pojedincima s moći u svojim rukama svakih nekoliko godina, kada je vreme da se delegira ta snaga nekom drugom. Ako su nas protesti koji su preokrenuli Brazil u junu 2013. godine naučili nečemu, onda je to da svaki put kad pokušamo da iskušamo svoju snagu van glasačkog konteksta, budemo pretučeni, poniženi i zatočeni. Ovo mora da se promeni, jer kad se to uradi neće se samo ljudi iznova angažovati sa predstavničkim telima, već će nadopuniti ta tela sa direktnim, efektnim i zajedničkim odlukama, odlukama koje napadaju nejednakost svojom inkluzivnom prirodom, odlukama koje mogu da promene naše gradove u bolja mesta za život.
But there is a catch, obviously: Enabling widespread participation and redistributing power can be a logistical nightmare, and there's where technology can play an incredibly helpful role, by making it easier for people to organize, communicate and make decisions without having to be in the same room at the same time.
Ali tu postoji caka, očigledno: omogućavanje širokog učešća i redistribucija snage mogu biti logistička noćna mora, i ovde tehnologija može da igra neverovatno korisnu ulogu, olakšavajući ljudima da se organizuju, komuniciraju i donose odluke a da ne budu prisutni u istoj sobi u isto vreme.
Unfortunately for us, when it comes to fostering democratic processes, our city governments have not used technology to its full potential. So far, most city governments have been effective at using tech to turn citizens into human sensors who serve authorities with data on the city: potholes, fallen trees or broken lamps. They have also, to a lesser extent, invited people to participate in improving the outcome of decisions that were already made for them, just like my mom when I was eight and she told me that I had a choice: I had to be in bed by 8 p.m., but I could choose my pink pajamas or my blue pajamas. That's not participation, and in fact, governments have not been very good at using technology to enable participation on what matters — the way we allocate our budget, the way we occupy our land, and the way we manage our natural resources. Those are the kinds of decisions that can actually impact global problems that manifest themselves in our cities.
Nažalost po nas, kada se radi o uspostavljanju demokratskih procesa, naše gradske vlasti nisu iskoristile tehnologiju u svom punom potencijalu. Do sada, mnoge gradske vlade bile su efikasne u korišćenju tehnologije kako bi pretvorili građane u ljudske senzore koji služe vlastima za podatke o gradu: rupe na putu, palo drveće ili polomljena rasveta. Takođe su, u manjoj meri, pozivali ljude da učestvuju u poboljšanju ishoda odluka koje su već doneli za njih, poput moje majke koja mi je kada sam imala 8 godina rekla da imam izbor: morala sam u 8 sati da budem u krevetu, ali sam mogla da biram svoju roze ili plavu pidžamu. To nije učestvovanje, i vlasti zapravo nisu bile baš uspešne u korišćenju tehnologije kako bi omogućili učešće u onome što je značajno - način na koji mi koristimo svoj budžet, zaposedamo svoju zemlju i način na koji koristimo svoje prirodne izvore. To su odluke koje mogu uticati na globalne probleme koji se manifestuju u našim gradovima.
The good news is, and I do have good news to share with you, we don't need to wait for governments to do this. I have reason to believe that it's possible for citizens to build their own structures of participation. Three years ago, I cofounded an organization called Meu Rio, and we make it easier for people in the city of Rio to organize around causes and places that they care about in their own city, and have an impact on those causes and places every day. In these past three years, Meu Rio grew to a network of 160,000 citizens of Rio. About 40 percent of those members are young people aged 20 to 29. That is one in every 15 young people of that age in Rio today.
Dobre vesti su, a imam dobre vesti da podelim sa vama, da ne treba da čekamo vlasti da to učine. Imam razlog da verujem da je moguće da građani grade sopstveni princip učešća. Pre tri godine, suosnovala sam organizaciju pod imenom: "Meu Rio" i mi olakšavamo ljudima u Riu da se organizuju oko uzroka i mesta do kojih im je stalo u njihovom gradu, i imaju uticaj na te uzroke i mesta svaki dan. U ove poslednje tri godine, Meu Rio je izrastao u mrežu od 160 000 građana Ria. Oko 40 procenata tih članova su mladi ljudi od 20 do 29 godina starosti. To je jedna na svakih 15 mladih osoba tih godina danas u Riu.
Amongst our members is this adorable little girl, Bia, to your right, and Bia was just 11 years old when she started a campaign using one of our tools to save her model public school from demolition. Her school actually ranks among the best public schools in the country, and it was going to be demolished by the Rio de Janeiro state government to build, I kid you not, a parking lot for the World Cup right before the event happened. Bia started a campaign, and we even watched her school 24/7 through webcam monitoring, and many months afterwards, the government changed their minds. Bia's school stayed in place.
Među mašim članovima je ova predivna devojčica Bia, sa vaše desne strane, i Bia je imala samo 11 godina kada je započela kampanju koristeći jedan od naših alata za očuvanje svoje škole od uništenja. Njena škola je rangirana među najboljim javnim školama u zemlji, i trebalo je da je sruši državna vlast Rio de Žaneira da bi izgradila, ne šalim se, parking mesta za Svetsko prvenstvo baš pred početak događaja. Bia je počela kampanju, a mi smo čak posmatrali njenu školu kroz neprekidni video nadzor, i mnogo meseci kasnije, vlast se ipak predomislila. Bijina škola je ostala na mestu.
There's also Jovita. She's an amazing woman whose daughter went missing about 10 years ago, and since then, she has been looking for her daughter. In that process, she found out that first, she was not alone. In the last year alone, 2013, 6,000 people disappeared in the state of Rio. But she also found out that in spite of that, Rio had no centralized intelligence system for solving missing persons cases. In other Brazilian cities, those systems have helped solve up to 80 percent of missing persons cases. She started a campaign, and after the secretary of security got 16,000 emails from people asking him to do this, he responded, and started to build a police unit specializing in those cases. It was open to the public at the end of last month, and Jovita was there giving interviews and being very fancy.
Ovo je Žovita. Ona je čudesna žena čija je ćerka nestala pre oko 10 godina, i od tada traži svoju ćerku. U tom procesu, otkrila je da od početka nije bila sama. Samo u poslednjoj, 2013. godini, 6000 ljudi je nestalo u državi Rio. Otkrila je da uprkos tome, Rio nema centralizovan sistem informacija za rešavanje slučajeva nestalih lica. U drugim brazilskim gradovima, ti sistemi su pomogli rešavanje do 80% slučajeva nestalih lica. Počela je kampanju, i nakon što je sekretar obezbeđenja dobio 16 000 imejlova od ljudi sa zahtevom da ovo uradi, odgovorio je i počeo da gradi policijsku stanicu koja je specijalizovana za takve slučajeve. Otvorena je za javnost krajem prošlog meseca i Žovita je bila tamo i davala intervjue i bila je veoma prefinjena.
And then, there is Leandro. Leandro is an amazing guy in a slum in Rio, and he created a recycling project in the slum. At the end of last year, December 16, he received an eviction order by the Rio de Janeiro state government giving him two weeks to leave the space that he had been using for two years. The plan was to hand it over to a developer, who planned to turn it into a construction site. Leandro started a campaign using one of our tools, the Pressure Cooker, the same one that Bia and Jovita used, and the state government changed their minds before Christmas Eve.
Zatim, tu je Leandro. Leandro je sjajan momak iz straćara Rija, i napravio je projekat recikliranja u straćarama. Krajem prošle godine, 16. decembra, primio je naredbu za iseljenje od vlade Rio de Žaneira, koja mu je dala dve nedelje da napusti mesto koje je koristio dve godine. Plan je bio da se uruči graditelju stambenih naselja koji je planirao da se to mesto pretvori u gradillište. Leandro je započeo kampanju koristeći jedan od naših alata, "Ekspres lonac" isti onaj koji su Bia i Žovita koristili, i vlasti su promenile mišljenje pre Božića.
These stories make me happy, but not just because they have happy endings. They make me happy because they are happy beginnings. The teacher and parent community at Bia's school is looking for other ways they could improve that space even further. Leandro has ambitious plans to take his model to other low-income communities in Rio, and Jovita is volunteering at the police unit that she helped created. Bia, Jovita and Leandro are living examples of something that citizens and city governments around the world need to know: We are ready. As citizens, we are ready to decide on our common destinies, because we know that the way we distribute power says a lot about how we actually value everyone, and because we know that enabling and participating in local politics is a sign that we truly care about our relations to one another, and we are ready to do this in cities around the world right now. With the Our Cities network, the Meu Rio team hopes to share what we have learned with other people who want to create similar initiatives in their own cities. We have already started doing it in São Paulo with incredible results, and want to take it to cities around the world through a network of citizen-centric, citizen-led organizations that can inspire us, challenge us, and remind us to demand real participation in our city lives.
Ove priče me čine srećnom, ali ne zato što imaju srećne krajeve. Čine me srećnom jer su srećni počeci. Zajednica profesora i roditelja u Bijinoj školi traži ostale načine na koje mogu da unaprede prostor još više. Leandro ima ambiciozne planove da odnese svoj model do drugih siromašnih zajednica u Riu, a Žovita volontira u policijskoj stanici koju je pomogla da se stvori. Bia, Žovita i Leandro su živi primeri nečega što građani i gradske vlasti širom sveta treba da znaju: Spremni smo. Kao građani smo spremni da odlučimo za svoje zajedničke sudbine jer znamo da način na koji distribuiramo snagu govori mnogo više o tome kako zapravo vrednujemo sve ljude, i zato što znamo da je omogućavanje i učešće u lokalnim politikama znak da istinski brinemo o vezama jednih sa drugima, i spremni smo da uradimo ovo u gradovima širom sveta upravo sada. Sa mrežom naših gradova, tim "Meu Rio" se nada da će podeliti ono što smo naučili sa ostalim ljudima koji žele da stvore slične inicijative u sopstvenim gradovima. Uveliko su počeli da deluju u Sao Paolu sa neverovatnim rezultatima, i žele da ih nastave u gradovima širom sveta kroz mreže organizacija sa akcentom na građane i vođene građanima koje nas inspirišu, izazivaju i podsećaju da zahtevamo pravo učešće u svojim gradskim životima.
It is up to us to decide whether we want schools or parking lots, community-driven recycling projects or construction sites, loneliness or solidarity, cars or buses, and it is our responsibility to do that now, for ourselves, for our families, for the people who make our lives worth living, and for the incredible creativity, beauty, and wonder that make our cities, in spite of all of their problems, the greatest invention of our time.
Na nama je da odlučimo da li želimo škole ili parking mesta, projekte za recikliranje vođene zajednicom ili gradilišta, samoću ili solidarnost, kola ili autobuse, i naša odgovornost je da uradimo to sada, za sebe, za svoje porodice, za ljude koji čine naše živote vredne življenja, i za neverovatnu kreativnost, lepotu i čuda koja čine naše gradove, uprkos svim ovim problemima, najvećem izumom našeg vremena.
Obrigado. Thank you.
Obrigado. Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)