This April, the second Nexus Conference will focus on the links and trade-offs between water, energy, and food—the “nexus”—in urban areas. Cities are at the forefront of the climate challenge and the heart of the global economy, so they are critical to implementing an integrated approach to meeting the SDGs and building climate resilience.
How can vulnerable groups and their needs be integrated into resilience building? URBANET talked to Vera Bukachi from the Kounkuey Design Initiative, who strongly believes that participatory planning and design are key to sustainable urban development.
How Africa as a continent makes cities work for all while realising a low carbon and climate resilient economy, will determine the success of the Paris Agreement, says Sadiq Okoh. In his article, he outlines possible paths to green development.
What does a sustainable urban future look like? In a new video, municipal officials, urban experts and local residents from around the world talk about urban challenges, solutions for climate-friendly cities and future needs for low-carbon urban development.
How does climate change impact cities and urban citizens around the world, and what can cities do to not further contribute to global warming? URBANET's infographics show current trends regarding issues such as water and energy supply, solid waste management, and urban green.
"Building cities able to accommodate half a billion people over the next 30 years is one of the biggest transformations of our planet and we have to get it right", Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General stated at the Langenburg Forum for Sustainability. Read the full speech here on URBANET
In the process of developing an urban resilience strategy – one that answers these questions, one that addresses the concerns of planners, developers, mayors, local government personnel, investors and concerned citizens – inevitably more questions arise. The most important one is arguably the question of 'resilience to what and why?' This was also discussed during the recent Resilient Cities Conference 2017 in Bonn.
In these days, climate and Bonn are thought together. As a matter of fact, adaptation to climate change, building resilience and dealing with loss and damages will challenge the world just as much as the necessity of mitigating global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius or less. Bonn is a hotspot for the joint efforts to get there. Already this 8 May, the Bonn Climate Talks will bring parties, observers and stakeholders together in the city at the Rhine.
Urban populations face risks, not only in regard to natural disasters and climate change, but also in terms of social problems such as unsafe public spaces. In an interview with URBANET, Ebru Gencer from CUDRR+R explains how cities and local governments can make cities more resilient and manage risks effectively.
In recent years there have been great advancements in solid waste management and people are becoming more and more aware of its importance. However especially in developing countries there is still a need for more sustainable solutions. We spoke to Jiao Tang and Luis Marinheiro about the current situation in waste management and what still needs to be done to make it more sustainable and innovative.
Asia is one of the regions of the world that is experiencing extremely rapid urbanisation. The Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) has recently launched a photobook in which case studies of four cities in Asia illustrate innovative ways to tackle issues in key sectors such as flood and drainage management, water supply, transport and waste management.
Bangladeshi cities do not only have to face difficult climate conditions, but also increasing waves of urban migration and the problems associated with that. URBANET spoke to ANM Safiqul Alam, managing director of the software and planning company Geomark, about how Bangladesh is facing these challenges and why he is hopeful for the future of the country.
John Bongat is the mayor of Naga City in the Philippines, one of the most disaster-prone cities in the world. URBANET talked to him about how he attempts to make Naga City more livable.
In a four-part series, URBANET takes a closer look at specific projects that contribute to making cities more liveable. This second part describes how the coastal city of Beira in Mozambique mitigates floods and other climate change-related natural disasters, which usually effect the poorest communities the most severely. By rehabilitating the Chiveve River, the situation has improved significantly.
The "Urban Nexus" is a theoretical and technical approach to integrated urban development. It introduces innovative and environmentally-friendly engineering solutions to improve the physical infrastructure of cities, and also promotes people-centered development. Our authors Ruth Erlbeck and Ralph Trosse describe how a low-cost, climate change resilient pilot house was built in the Philippines as part of the Nexus project.
