Cities and urbanisation
In 2014, 54% of the global population was living in urban areas and this is predicted to rise to 66% by 2050. The characteristics of cities differ greatly across countries and regions of the Commonwealth and some issues facing large and megacities will differ from those faced by secondary cities and towns and across the Commonwealth, the degree of urbanisation varies significantly. Whilst 38.1% of the population of the Commonwealth lived in urban settlements in 2014, Commonwealth Europe is 82% urban and Commonwealth South-East Asia 78% with Commonwealth Africa 41%, Commonwealth South Asia 33% and the Commonwealth Pacific Islands 18% urban. Achievement of SDG 11 will require cities to actively address the key dimensions of sustainable development – the economy, the society and the environment and to be inclusive, and proactive to ensure safety of all citizens. Subthemes includes urbanisation and migration, urban planning, informal settlements, formal and informal urban economy, disaster risk reduction and emergency planning, safety and security in cities, and smart cities and ICT.
Featured
World Cities report 2015 - Urbanisation and Development: Emerging Futures ∗
The analysis of urban development of the past twenty years presented in this maiden edition of the World Cities Report shows, with compelling evidence, that there are new forms of collaboration and cooperation, planning, governance, finance and learning that can sustain positive change. The Report unequivocally demonstrates that the current urbanization model is unsustainable in many respects. It conveys a clear message that the pattern of urbanization needs to change in order to better respond to the challenges of our time, to address issues such as inequality, climate change, informality, insecurity, and the unsustainable forms of urban expansion.
Author: UN-Habitat Publisher: UN-Habitat Publication year: 2016
The City We Need 2.0 Towards a New Urban Paradigm ∗
How we plan, build, and manage our cities today will determine the outcome of our efforts to achieve a sustainable and harmonious development tomorrow. Well-planned cities allow all residents the opportunity to have safe, healthy, and productive lives. Well-designed cities present nations with major opportunities to promote social inclusion, resilience, and prosperity
Author: UN-Habitat Publisher: UN-Habitat Publication year: 2016
First Ramphal Institute Conference on Megacities and Air Pollution: Report of Proceedings
The Ramphal Institute conference on megacities and air pollution, on 27-28 September 2018, was a pioneering exercise to bring together experts from Dhaka, New Delhi, Gauteng, Lagosand London to exchange ideas on how to reduce toxicity in the air we breathe. The RamphalInstitute, with its vocation for the Commonwealth, organised an interactive event with the invaluable sponsorship support of Elsevier, the global data and analytics company specialising in science and health. The Institute has been working on megacity issues with the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, Dhaka, theNational Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, the Gauteng City Region Observatory, Johannesburg,and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Lagos. Our aim in this conference wasto focus on improving air quality, looking not only at the science, but at policy and public relations aspects as they affect what city leaders can do.
Author: Ramphal Institute Publisher: Ramphal Institute Publication year: 2019
Capital cities and urban sustainability
Capital Cities and Urban Sustainability examines how capital cities use their unique hub resources to develop and disseminate innovative policy solutions to promote sustainability. Cities are taking a leading role in defining a sustainable future at a time when national, state, and regional governments in several countries do not provide sufficient leadership. Capital cities stand out among cities as likely leading drivers in the effort to empower sustainable innovation as they provide a hub for connecting a variety of key constituencies. While acknowledging the successes capital cities have achieved, the international, multi-disciplinary contributors to this work discuss how there is room to do more and improve. The promotion of specific sustainability policies in crucial areas such as clean water provision, high tech innovation, public procurement contracting, and improving flood control in capital cities is examined through various global case studies. The examples range from relatively rich capital cities, such as Copenhagen, where the well-financed hub would be expected to succeed in generating sustainable policies, to poorer cities such as Phnom Penh, where such an optimistic outcome can seem less likely.
Author: Robert W Orttung Publisher: Routledge Publication year: 2019
The Role of Local Authorities in Addressing Human Trafficking
Worldwide, it is estimated that nearly 4 million people fall victim to people traffickers every year. Trafficking is carried out mainly by Organised Criminal Networks and the victims are forced into prostitution, illegal labour, domestic slavery and petty crime. On 1 April 2009, the United Kingdom signed up to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The Convention, which has to date been ratified by 20 European countries, is legally binding and aims to promote and protect the rights of victims who have been tricked or forced into leaving their homes, moved to another country, or within their own country, and then exploited. Whilst it is national governments who are signatories to the Council of Europe Convention, local authorities have a key role to play in its successful implementation.
Author: Kathryn Rossiter, Jo Benfield Publisher: Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance Publication year: 2009
