Governments and policymakers can no longer afford to ignore the fact that informality is a dominant form of urbanisation. The growth of informal settlements is far from a surpassed trend: one in four urban dwellers today lives in informal settlements. At the same time, urban transformation processes are oftentimes locally-led. Informal settlements and their residents hold many of the keys to changing places for the better themselves.
This collection features 14 case studies on community-led urban innovations, showcasing existing scalable solutions to create more just and sustainable cities. It draws on experiences shared during the ‘Global Peer Learning Series: Urban Innovation for Just and Sustainable Cities’, convened and hosted by GIZ and Cities Alliance in 2024, as well as the wealth of grounded cases in which Slum Dwellers International (SDI), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and other partner civil society groups have been involved over the last few years.
Year of publication: 2025
Language: English
