A City in Transition: The Future of Transportation in Ho Chi Minh City
With a growing population and economy, Ho Chi Minh City faces important decisions regarding transportation infrastructure. Robert Marshall calls for a contextual approach.
Infrastructure and SDGs in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, commits to implementation of the SDGs. To this end, the city focusses on sustainable construction, always ensuring to align the SDGs with national policies.
Waste Prevention Strategies for Sustainable Urban Development
In order to save energy and resources, and to prevent waste from harming the environment, recycling is not enough. Cities should try to avoid waste production altogether, argue URBANET authors Carina Koop, Jennifer Schinkel, and Henning Wilts.
The Forgotten Water – The Role of Decentralised Wastewater Management in Jakarta’s Socio-Ecological System
Jakarta has responded to regular flooding by proposing gigantic infrastructure projects such as sea walls to keep the water at bay. But the main problem is that the city does not consider the land-water ecosystem as a whole, says Prathiwi W. Putri.
COP24: Outcomes Strengthen Multilevel Governance for Raising Ambition
Multilevel governance is essential to the implementation of resilient infrastructure in cities around the world. For our spotlight on urban infrastructure, Jisun Hwang, Senior Climate Advocacy and Policy Officer at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, sums up what COP24 holds for local governments' resilience strategies.
Cape Town’s Future is Renewable
Cape Town is committed to providing clean, affordable and accessible energy to all its residents. Increasing the use of renewable energy, implementing innovative financing options, and challenging national energy legislation are some of the ways the city hopes to shift away from a history of inequality, writes Mary Haw.
Using Forests for Water Treatment: An Example from Rio de Janeiro
Ecosystem loss and degradation contributes to water insecurity worldwide – natural infrastructure strategies that protect and restore natural systems aim to halt and reverse this trend. Suzanne Ozment and Rafael Feltran-Barbieri discuss how water utilities can profit from restoring ecosystems.
What Hides Behind the Concept of Digital Water?
How can digitalisation of urban services increase sustainable urbanisation? What different approaches and innovations already exist and have proven successful? Kala Vairavamoorthy, director of the International Water Association addresses these questions.
Promoting Innovative Financing Solutions for Cities
About 75 per cent of the infrastructure that needs to be in place by 2050 does not exist today. Getting such an immense scale of infrastructure development right will be critical to whether or not the world locks into a high- or low-carbon growth path. The newly established City Finance Lab tries to contribute innovative, replicable and scalable solutions to reach this ambitious goal.
A Place Like Too Many Others: Gender Inequality in Bawana, Delhi
In urban settlements around the world, city administrations struggle, and often fail, to provide essential services, safe spaces, and socio-economic securities to residents. While this poses difficulties and dangers to all inhabitants, the consequences of such neglect are especially severe for low-income women and girls.
Escalating to Peace: How a Simple Investment Helped Change the Face of Colombia’s Most Dangerous Neighbourhood
Comuna 13, also known as San Javier, used to be the most dangerous part of Medellín, cut off from the rest of the city and a place to avoid by all means. An ambitious infrastructure project has changed that, turning the district in a tourist destination.
The (Un)walkable City: The Pedestrian Crisis in Kyiv
Street design in Kyiv, Ukraine leaves something to be desired: walkability. Oleksandr Anisimov analyses how it needs to change so that everyone can use public space.
Can Urban Planning Serve Local Economic Development?
In Kampala, Uganda, the immensely fast rate of urbanisation makes it hard for urban planners to keep up with developments. Madina Guloba argues that this makes it more important than ever for sustainable urban planning to keep local economic development (LED) approaches in mind.
Green Infrastructure in Mexico: A Booster for Healthier Cities
Citizens of Mexico City face serious health issues – due to failures in urban planning, says Auribel Villa. Green infrastructure development significantly supports cities' ways towards becoming healthier and thus more liveable.
The Lagos Water Crisis: Any Role for the Private Sector?
Lagos is suffering from severe water shortage due to profit-oriented politics. Akinbode Oluwafemi points out the conflicts and problems around the privatisation of the water sector and offers alternative solutions for one of the world’s most populous cities.