“It is remarkable to see the two cities working to building operation centers, this a good experience of cooperation between Rio and Johannesburg. We hope to share our knowledge on the core collaboration area and commit to the MOU as well as helping other countries.
“Going forth, collaboration with City of Johannesburg will in help us to develop encouraged problem solving to common key areas. We look forward to continue our collaboration with Joburg to expand on ongoing programmes and policies to provide residents with a buffet of solutions and a better life.”
This is how Henrique Silveira de Souza, the Undersecretary for Metropolitan Integration of the Brazilian City of Rio de Janeiro, summed up his recent visit to the City of Johannesburg.
The City of Johannesburg hosted de Souza to exchange knowledge on ongoing programmes and policies on urban agriculture and water resilience in the metropolitan area. The Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance, Cllr Dada Morero, led the international dialogue session at the Metro Centre in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. He highlighted the long-standing relationship between the cities of Joburg and Rio de Janeiro.
“Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg City have a memorandum of understanding since 2014 and the mutual relationship has only grown stronger over the years. The two cities have shared political; arts exchange, youth development and political collaboration in C40 initiatives,” said MMC Morero.
“The City of Johannesburg has had constantly relationship with the City of Rio de Janeiro with implementation of human settlement in housing, the BRT system and other strategical practices. The commitment shared between two cities remains in place and it is up to us to revisit the MoU and strengthen the commitment.”
De Souza said Rio de Janeiro was faced with water pollution and climate change that need collaborative efforts and solutions to guarantee adequate service delivery. He said there are “numerous common issues between Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg that should be addressed going forth”.
At the conclusion of the discussions, the Rio de Janeiro delegation was taken on sight visit to an urban agricultural site, Newton rooftop urban farm, and the City’s extensive camera surveillance system, the Integrated Intelligence Operations Centre (IIOC) site in Martindale.
Speaking on urban farming, De Souza said “this is equitable and creative strategy, I hope that Rio de Janeiro will consider this initiative to solve larger issues faced by the City”.