- Over 68% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas in 2050 up from the current 55%.
- However, poor living conditions are worsening with about 1.1 billion people worldwide residing in informal settlements or slums.
- Furthermore, another 318 million people are either homeless or at risk of homelessness globally.
As the world grapples with the unprecedented pace of urbanization, the role of city planning has never been more critical. As populations surge, housing shortages bite harder, and the impacts of climate change manifest in increasingly severe ways, the traditional paradigms of city planning are being challenged like never before.
As projections indicate that over 68 percent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050, the imperative need for visionary city planning has never been clearer, Dr. Erfan Ali, Chief of Staff at UN-Habitat, Nairobi, told delegates at a forum on Future Cities at AIM Congress 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
During the 13th edition of the annual AIM Congress, discussions at future cities explored leveraging technology and sustainable infrastructure for development, addressing climate change challenges, and examining urbanization’s impact on global business.
“We know that currently, we have almost 55 percent of the world’s population living in urban areas. Also, we can see that over 68 percent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas in 2050. Thus, our present and our future, are in urban areas. The future of humanity will be in urban areas,” Dr. Ali noted.
Additionally, poor living conditions are worsening, as Dr. Ali points out that approximately 1.1 billion people (nearly the entire population of Africa) worldwide reside in informal settlements or slums. Furthermore, another 318 million people are either homeless or at risk of homelessness, a disturbing reality that significantly hampers development progress in these regions.
Amidst these challenges, however, there are several strategies that all stakeholders involved in city planning can adopt to come up with more resilient cities that are fit for purpose for future generations. According to Dr. Ali, incorporating these recommendations into the design of future cities requires a fundamental shift in mindset for governments and all stakeholders involved in building resilient cities.
In particular, it requires moving away from top-down, one-size-fits-all approaches to planning and governance, and towards a more inclusive and participatory model that empowers local communities to shape their futures.
Furthermore, it requires embracing innovation, and technology, not as ends in themselves, but as tools for building more resilient, sustainable, and equitable urban environments.
City planning must embrace tailored innovation practices
One of the cornerstones of the visionary approach to city planning is the recognition that innovation must be tailored to local contexts. While major cities in developed regions may have access to abundant resources and cutting-edge technologies, smaller cities and those in developing countries face unique challenges that demand alternative approaches to innovation.
In these contexts, innovation must be inclusive, collaborative, and empowering, drawing on the creativity and ingenuity of local communities to address the specific needs of their urban environments.
“We need to localize the solutions based on the context of the challenges being experienced across cities. Therefore, there are principles, and standards we need to apply but we need to contextualize, localize our practices and we need to involve everyone in order to leave no one and no place behind,” Dr. Ali told The Exchange Africa.
“Cities are the engines of our growth. Youth are the fuel of this engine, so we must rely on youth-led initiatives and their thinking in shaping the solutions of our future. But also not only youth, women, elderly, private/public sector… everyone should be engaged in our development.”
For instance, issues related wastewater management, drainage, mobility, and enhancing nature-based solutions will be critical for cities such as Nairobi and others across the world. Planners should be cautious not to import solutions that may not fit in the context of their cities, the UN-Habitat chief explained.
We need to look at our practices, try to formulate good solutions in order to improve the current practices, shape the future of our cities, and help minimize the impact of climate change and other challenges we are facing in our current cities.
Embracing low-carbon technologies
In the face of mounting environmental challenges, Dr. Ali advises that cities’ governance structures must embrace low-carbon technologies to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.
By investing in sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy sources, for instance, cities can not only reduce their carbon footprint but also create new opportunities for stakeholders. Such a combination of technologies holds the potential to transform urban environments, making them more resilient, sustainable, and equitable for all.
“We need to plan for what’s coming. Building capacities of the staff – architects, planners, and civil servants offering services – is also critical. We also need to build the requisite data repository at the local level that would help us to develop our strategies to fine-tune the plans that we are implementing to serve our citizens.”
Harnessing the power of digital tools for inclusive decision–making
In city planning, digital tools have the power to revolutionize the way cities are planned and governed, offering new opportunities for public engagement and local decision-making. For cities to fully tap into this, however, these tools must be inclusive, collaborative, and empowering, Dr. Ali counsels.
Such tools must enable meaningful participation from a diverse range of stakeholders, ensuring that the voices of the marginalized communities are heard, and respected in city planning.
By embracing digital innovation, cities can accelerate the democratization of the planning process, fostering a more transparent and accountable approach to the governance of cities.
According to Dr. Ali, digital technology offers the most effective and efficient solutions, including through data analysis, and access to service delivery, and can make changes at the required scale and speed in city planning initiatives.
“For instance, it’s crucial to make our cities more resilient to the effect of climate change. We know that geospatial intelligence is crucial to enable cities to deploy nature-based solutions that could help us increase green spaces, tree coverage, etc at UN-Habitat, we are partnering with cities to implement these solutions, to improve the cities’ capacities and resilience.”
Read also: Sustainable solutions: AIM Congress 2024 focuses on agriculture, health and investment
Smart solutions
Additionally, smart solutions can be introduced to inform the collection, transfer, and treatment of waste. Currently, UN-Habitat is working with authorities across different cities from Brazil to Kenya to enhance the processes of waste management through the application of smart solutions.
What’s more, the digitalization of supply chains, and the application of AI in urban areas “carry the potential to ease housing, make public transport less emissive, and waste collection more systematic,” said Dr. Ali, adding that technology can also enable inclusive governance and improve the ways of citizens’ participation in decision-making processes at the local level.
The challenges facing cities in Africa and around the world are daunting, but they are not insurmountable. By adopting a visionary approach to city planning—one that is rooted in inclusivity, sustainability, and innovation—countries can set up cities that offer safe dwelling places and mobility for all, even in the face of unprecedented urbanization.
