Addressing the Housing Affordability Challenge: A Shared Responsibility
On World Cities Day, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, presents some recommendations on how to ensure affordable, accessible, and adequate housing for all.
Global Urban Debates
Bottom-Up Movements Revitalised – What is Different This Time?
Concluding our insight series on the event "Inclusive Cities – The Next Generation", Celine D'Cruz (Urban Development Practitioner), Franziska Schreiber (University of Stuttgart), and Nancy Naser Al Deen (TU Berlin) discuss ways of transformative change in cities based on the needs of its communities and protest culture structures.
“Leadership and Project Finance is All You Need” – Whatever Happened to the Notion of Urban Transformation?
Round 2 of our special focus week on ICLEI’s Daring Cities Conference includes highly critical and promising insights from Max Lohmann (C40 / GIZ), Hilmar von Lojewski (Association of German Cities), and Sarah Colenbrander (Overseas Development Institute).
Global Agendas, National Urban Policies – Does Anybody Care?
We are delighted to kick off our special focus week on Inclusive Cities with inputs by Billy Cobbett (Cities Alliance), Tobias Kettner (World Food Programme), and Tina Silbernagl (GIZ) on the question if and how global agendas, supra-national conventions, national urban policies and multilateral organisations and partnerships are critical instruments to promote value-based urban development.
Why Housing Matters: The Impact of Affordable Housing for People on Low Incomes
Good and affordable housing is key to people’s well-being. Andrew Jones presents the latest research from social enterprise Reall and unpacks what impact it has on the bottom 40 per cent of the income pyramid.
Sustainable Africa: Why Cities of the Future Must Consider Health in Urban Planning
In a rapidly urbanising world, cities must consider the health impacts of urban policies and projects. Meelan Thondoo and Mark Nieuwenhuijsen highlight the situation in Mauritius’ capital Port Louis and make a strong case for participatory quantitative Health Impact Assessments, a promising and practical tool to ensure healthy, equity-driven and sustainable cities.
An Epidemic Might Cure Venice
Researchers from MIT Civic Data Design Lab investigate Venice's tourism dynamics by employing spatial data on urban form and tourist facilities. Their goal is to envision what Venice's post-pandemic urban life could look like.
I (don’t) want to live here! Exploring perceptions of liveability in Bangladesh
What makes people prefer one place over another? Liveability is a popular topic, but smaller cities are still left unexplored. Istiakh Ahmed from the International Centre for Climate Change and Development wonders what residents in coastal Bangladesh consider a liveable, even loveable city.
Global Partnerships for City-Scale Challenges: the Karlsruhe-Kampala Climate Partnership
Evolving cross-border cooperation shows that trans-boundary action can help individual cities address local challenges. Emana Nsikan-George from Climate Alliance highlights the development of decentralised municipal cooperation and provides a promising example from Uganda and Germany.
Infographics: Urbanisation in Indonesia
URBANET's latest infographic series on urban Indonesia invites our readers to explore facts and figures about urbanisation in this fascinating island state.
Equitable Public Spaces in Latin America: A How-To
Public spaces and public life in South American cities are dominated by car-oriented planning. Organisations like Chile-based Ciudad Emergente aim to change this through tactical urbanism.
What will be the Post-Pandemic Urban Path?
Urban planners have been quick to imagine the historic changes in urban development the COVID-19 pandemic will bring about. Alexander Jachnow shares his view on the issue, suggesting we look at how much urban planning has changed after previous pandemics.
National Climate Action: Why Cities Matter
Cities around the world want to ensure the placements of urban content in national climate actions. Responding to this demand, UN-Habitat presents their new guide "Enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) through urban climate action".
Healthy Cities? The Coronavirus Has Burst The Bubble
Urban planning for healthier cities has existed for millennia. Yet the current pandemic lays bare the truth: a billion people cannot comply with even the most basic containment strategies. Julian Baskin, expert in participatory urban planning, explains what is going on and how to move forward.
An Opportunity to Reshape the World in the Aftermath of the Pandemic – The UCLG Dialogue for the Post-COVID Era
Acknowledging that the international system needs to change substantially, United Cities and Local Governments Secretary General presents the organisation's political charter for a world after the pandemic.