Add us as your preferred source on Google to see more of our content in Search.
Add to Preferred SourcesCities will be critical for the world to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst recession for decades, according to the latest report published by UN-Habitat, the UN agency working on urban issues.
The World Cities Report 2020, showcases the value of sustainable urbanization and how it can contribute to global efforts to build back better after the crisis.
“The World Cities Report 2020 convincingly affirms that well-planned, managed, and financed cities and towns create economic, social, environmental, and other unquantifiable value that can vastly improve the quality of life of all”, said Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the UN-Habitat Executive Director.
“Urbanization can be leveraged for the fight against poverty, inequality, unemployment, climate change and other pressing global challenges”
Globally, around 55 percent of all people live in urban areas: a figure that is expected to rise to nearly 70 percent by 2050, according to the United Nations.
Cities have been at the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, UN-Habitat said, with 95 percent of cases found in urban areas.
The report emphasizes the role of the New Urban Agenda, the UN’s 20-year plan for sustainable urbanization, as a road map to achieving sustainable development and combating climate change.
It analyzes the value of urbanization from an economic, social, and environmental perspective, as well as what the authors called “the unquantifiable value” that gives cities their unique character. When combined, they can drive transformative change, the report argues.
UN-Habitat explained that cities generate economic value when they function efficiently, for example by providing transport options that reduce traffic congestion and shorten travel times, thus allowing for more productive employment.
Environmental value is generated in the case of compact cities that have walkable urban centres, thus leading to a reduction in their overall carbon footprint, the agency added.
Meanwhile, urban policies can reduce social inequalities. Providing housing for low-income residents, or creating safe spaces for marginalized groups such as migrants and LGBTQ+ individuals (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer), are just two examples.
Furthermore, when cities are well-planned and managed, they also create intangible value by instilling civic pride and serving as centres of cultural traditions, the report added.
Read the World Cities Report 2020.
Original source: UN News