Urban

Cities that work for people and planet: we focus on urban poverty and urban environmental issues, including rural-urban linkages, urban risk and urban crises, health, water and sanitation, inclusion, gender and disability, and shelter and basic services. We work with in-country partners to promote equitable, inclusive, sustainable and resilient urban development.

Urban crises and forced displacement

How IIED is bringing together diverse perspectives on humanitarian emergencies and forced displacement, to inform new directions in urban crisis response More in this collection

A number of informal tents forming a village
Overview
The April 2105 Nepal earthquake destroyed more than 500,000 buildings in Kathmandu. There was a huge international aid effort, but reconstruction has been slow (Photo: SIM Central and South East Asia, Creative Commons via Flickr)
Project
A woman sitting on steps, with colourful handkerchiefs arranged in front of her
Project

Urban poverty

How IIED is working to reduce urban poverty and to change misleading views about urbanisation. More in this collection

Geographic patterns are seen out the window of an airplane traveling between Mwanza and Dar Es Salam, Tanzania on March 20, 2015 (Photo: Brian Sokol/Panos Pictures)
Long read
Air balloon photograph of children while mapping Mathare informal settlement, Nairobi.
Long read
About the architecture of aid
Article

Urbanisation and rural-urban linkages

Projects and articles about urbanisation and the links between rural and urban areas More in this collection

A soup stall in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Many of the urban poor rely on frequent food purchases, often cooked food prepared by street vendors (stefans_box, Creative Commons via Flickr)
Project
Informal food vendors in Mathare, Nairobi. Understanding food consumption and how food systems work is essential to support food security (Photo: Cecilia Tacoli/IIED)
Project
A view of Karachi from the film Karachi Rising (Image: Arif Hasan)
Project