Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

The Challenge

More than half of humanity – 4.2 billion people – lives in cities today and by 2050, it is estimated that more than six out of ten people will be city dwellers. By 2030, the world is projected to have 43 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants each, most of them in developing regions. However, some of the fastest-growing urban agglomerations are cities with fewer than 1 million inhabitants, many of them located in Asia and Africa. While one in eight people live in 33 megacities worldwide, close to half of the world’s urban dwellers reside in much smaller settlements with fewer than 500,000 inhabitants. The world’s cities occupy just 3% of the planet’s land but account for 60-80% of all energy consumption and 75% of the planet’s carbon emissions. Rapid urbanisation is exerting pressure on fresh water supplies, sewage, the living environment and public health. Our rapidly growing urban world is experiencing congestion, a lack of basic services, a shortage of adequate housing, and declining infrastructure. More than thirty percent of the world’s urban population lives in slums, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, over half of all city dwellers are slum dwellers.

Why is this important?

Cities are engines for sustainable development. It is where ideas, commerce, culture, science, and productivity thrives. Urban spaces offer opportunities for people to prosper economically and socially, but this is only possible in prosperous cities that can accommodate people in decent jobs and where land resources are not overwhelmed by growth. Unplanned urban sprawl, as cities spill beyond their formal boundaries, can be detrimental to national developmental planning and to the global goals for sustainable development. Our urban areas are also emitters of greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change. Half of the global urban population breathes air that is 2.5 times more polluted than standards deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization.

What can we do to address this?

These challenges to urban spaces can be overcome by improving resource use and focusing on reducing pollution and poverty. The future we want includes cities that offer opportunities for all, and which provide access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more. Cities can either dissipate energy or optimise efficiency by reducing energy consumption and adopting green energy systems. For instance, Rizhao, China has become a solar-powered city; in its central districts, 99% of households already use solar water heaters.