In cities around the world, many people come together daily to use public transport – a risky endeavor in times of a pandemic. The Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative TUMI takes a look at protective measures of urban public transport systems around the world.
URBANET's latest infographic series takes our readers to South Africa, offering interesting facts and figures about urbanisation in a country with a turbulent history.
In times of rapid urbanisation, increasing population, resource depletion, degradation of ecosystems, growing pressures on urban land use and climate change, nature-based solutions (NBS) provide opportunities for both society and nature. The UrbanByNature programme supports cities and practitioners in applying NBS that are cost-effective and mutually beneficial.
Water as a common resource that no one should derive profit from – an idea that stands in crass contrast to privatising urban water management. Kostas Nikolaou, professor and activist with the Greek water movement K136, portrays their successful fight against privatisation.
In February 2020, one of the most important events for urban planners took place: The 10th World Urban Forum. This year, it was Abu Dhabi’s turn to host the conference with an attendance of about 13,000 international guests and the theme “Cities of Opportunity: Connecting Culture and Innovation”. While one might argue that cities have more pressing issues to tackle these days, such as climate change, inequality, or immigration, there were some interesting lessons to be learned, Laura von Puttkamer reports from Abu Dhabi.
Rebuilding cultural sites that were destroyed in armed conflict needs to be an essential part of urban reconstruction policies. However, as Shadia Touqan argues, rebuilding these sites cannot be addressed in isolation from what should be any policy's priority: protecting the lives of the people who live there.
At COP25, the Desk Officer for Sustainable Urban Development at MISEREOR, Clara-Luisa Weichelt, talked to Emanuela Barbiroglio about the challenges of addressing climate change in informal settlements and human-rights based solutions.
The climate summit in Madrid represents a unique opportunity for urban communities to take inspiration from each other, to build cities that are better prepared to tackle climate change, and to obtain investments. National delegates will need to increasingly confide in local authorities and provide them with more resources if they want to develop prompt and effective responses to the climate crisis.
How does the preservation of cultural heritage link to a city's well-being? May al-Ibrashy, coordinator of Cairo-based initiative Athar Lina, describes how urban conservation can become a tool for urban development.
In the spirit of equality, Durban will be the theatre of the largest gathering and most important triennial event for cities and local and regional governments across the world: the 2019 UCLG World Congress and World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders. Responding to the current main challenges that are facing local or regional governments from around the world, the summit will put equality, and in particular, gender equality, at the heart of its ambitious programme.
“Queer cities” and queer urban spaces can accelerate inclusivity and safety for all. This article by Katie Cashman and Waldo Soto relates queer expression to urban life by way of the impressions of queer* citizens in three cities: Santiago, Berlin, and Nairobi.
URBANET's latest infographic series takes you to Egypt, offers interesting facts and figures about urbanisation and urban development – in a country that already saw cities and urban life 5,500 years ago. Urban and Rural Population The graphic displays the growth of Egypt's rural and urban population. Today, more Egyptians are living in rural
A large share of the world's population lives in urban areas, making cities a major cause of climate change. Food is especially relevant in this regard, calling for strategies that make food systems contribute to urban resilience. How this may look like can be seen when looking at the City Regions Food System presented by Michela Carucci, Roman Malec, and Guido Santini.
The 2019 SDG Summit will mark the first quadrennial review of the 2030 Agenda. It assesses where we are, how far we have come since its adoption – and what needs to be done, as we enter the next decade, to achieve the ambitious global goals to leave no one and no place behind.
With the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit up ahead next week, UN-Habitat's Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif explains why ambitious climate action depends on cities and presents four new initiatives, which will be launched at the Summit.
