About us

More than two billion people in cities currently live below the poverty line, with one in seven people in the world – more than one billion people – living in informal urban settlements with insecure tenure. The expansion of public services and housing in fast growing cities often fails to keep pace with the increasing number of people who need to be served, leading to precarious living and working conditions. Women and girls who already tend to be overlooked in society and are most vulnerable to poverty due to gender-based discrimination and violence are most affected by these conditions.

For a successful “Just Transition”, we cannot only make the decarbonisation of cities’ economies socially acceptable but need to combine it with the reduction of inequalities.

Cities must offer secure basic services, good employment, and liveable housing, especially for the most vulnerable groups.

Sustainable construction and mobility, waste and circular economy, renewable and demand-driven energy supply, as well as development and maintenance of nature-based solutions, green-blue and green infrastructure and agro-ecological urban agriculture create new, secure, and sustainable employment opportunities.

Local governments and administrations must work closely with the population to reach vulnerable groups directly through services of general interest and social programmes and shape the transformation in a locally equitable way so that no one is left behind

Did you know that cities produce 80 percent of global carbon emissions and consume approximately three quarters of all natural resources?

Thus, cities hold an enormous climate and environmental protection potential, especially in the areas of basic supply, mobility, construction, water, and waste management.

Cities are particularly affected by climate change. Their typical urban characteristics such as high population and building density, land sealing and lack of green spaces, as well as their frequent exposure to rivers and coasts make cities vulnerable to heat events, floods and landslides, disease outbreaks.

Residents of informal settlements and other vulnerable groups are disproportionately more affected by the impacts of climate change, as they have fewer social safety nets and reserves and live in more exposed neighbourhoods with poorer infrastructure. Increasing natural disasters worldwide underlines the need for resilient urban development.

To control growth and develop in line with the needs of their inhabitants, cities need the right framework conditions at all levels of government as well as local know-how. However, these conditions are often insufficient.

Frequently, decentralisation is not accompanied by the transfer of responsibility and resources to city administrations. Therefore, cities often lack adequate financial resources to fulfil their mandates, while municipalities often lack efficient financial management as well as human and organisational administrative capacities.

Municipal decision-making processes often lack transparency and sufficient participation of the population. Women, people living in poverty and other structurally disadvantaged persons and groups are significantly underrepresented in urban and transport planning.

Missing or weak national urban development policies do not provide an adequate framework and mere sectoral policies often fall short.

Cities require 70 percent of the world’s infrastructure investments. However, investments fall short by about 1 trillion USD annually, with only a fraction of the investments going to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Thus, regions where the greatest urban growth is taking place receive the least investment. Weak capacity and lack of resources in city administrations mean that infrastructure investments are not prepared in sufficient numbers and with the necessary quality and sustainability.

The solution: Robust finances and access to reliable sources of funding are the foundation for sustainable urban development. Balanced financing provides cities with the leeway to make investments that enable adequate basic services for residents, reduce inequalities and address climate and disaster risks. This is the only way to save costs in the long term and to adequately respond to crises and external shocks, such as the COVID 19 pandemic, and to promote a just transition.