Al-Rasheed: Leaders not fully prepared to manage cities

Leaders are not sufficiently prepared to manage cities, Fahd Abdulmohsan Al-Rasheed, Chair of Urban 20 (2020), who represents the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a lead on the Urban 20 (since 2020), said during an event held within the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Report informs.

He clarified that this does not mean leaders lack technical training: "We teach them urban planning, transport system management, and systems engineering. But we do not prepare them for the final compromises and decisions they must make, because those decisions are not easy. They are difficult, and the choices they will face will be extremely challenging."

According to Al-Rasheed, leaders must often balance economic development with sustainability: "Sometimes you may need to build another road, even though all urban education tells you not to build roads for cars but to build metros. Yet in some cities, that does not make sense. How will our city leaders make these decisions? They must understand all aspects of the situation. More importantly, they must ask the right questions."