Urban Matters
Urban environments will see the greatest growth and change in coming years. IIED's Urban Matters blog focuses on urban poverty, climate change in cities and rural-urban linkages. It is part of IIED’s hub for research and action to influence policy and practice. Building on our longstanding work on equitable, inclusive, sustainable and resilient urban development, it represents the voices of our staff and partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
1 - 25 of 156 blog posts
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How Dhaka's urban poor are dealing with COVID-19
1 July 2020COVID-19 presents not only a health crisis, but a food crisis for Dhaka’s poorest. Guest blogger John Taylor describes how urban poor communities have risen to the challenge
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Cities’ development trajectories
16 June 2020David Satterthwaite examines the factors driving the development of cities
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Community-led COVID-19 response: the work of the Philippines Homeless People’s Federation
9 June 2020Based on member interviews and accounts, the Philippines Homeless People’s Federation describes how community organisations have rallied to support vulnerable groups, hit hardest by the pandemic
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COVID-19, JAGA Mission and the value of already existing solutions
4 June 2020Guest blogger Antarin Chakrabarty reflects on one Indian state’s successful programme to provide work and incomes to migrants, enabling a rapid and efficient government response when crises such as COVID-19 hit
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Internal and international influences on urban change
27 May 2020David Satterthwaite takes a closer look at drivers and influences of urban change
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COVID-19 in Guayaquil: from global notoriety to family responses
20 May 2020From the virus-ravaged Ecuadorian city come personal accounts of struggles to survive
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Responding to COVID-19 in a high-density low-income district in Mumbai
13 May 2020A representative from a grassroots federation in Mumbai describes how the community is self-organising for an effective COVID-19 response
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Karachi, informal settlements and COVID-19
6 May 2020How our Karachi's informal settlements managing the COVID-19 lockdown and how can existing government structures support the city’s settlements during the COVID-19 recovery, and beyond
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What drives the world’s changing urban geographies?
23 April 2020David Satterthwaite discusses how evolving economies and new technologies have changed the shape of urban centres
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Transitioning to a better global ‘new normal’
22 April 2020COVID-19 has changed our world. To mark Earth Day 2020, and the global call to act on climate change, we ask: what lessons can we apply from the pandemic response to help tackle other global crises, including the climate emergency?
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An urbanising world
9 April 2020David Satterthwaite examines global trends in the size, growth and distribution of the world’s urban population. He also considers climate change and COVID-19
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The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the diets of Hanoi’s urban poor
8 April 2020The urban poor in Vietnam depend heavily on informal food systems. How will COVID-19 lockdown measures impact their food security and what will be the knock-on effects for daily life?
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A world without refugee camps? IIED launches research on urban refugees
6 April 2020Most refugees and displaced people live in towns and cities – not camps. New research from IIED will build understanding of how urban areas could be the best place to meet the needs and aspirations of these groups
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Dealing with COVID-19 in the towns and cities of the global South
27 March 2020Diana Mitlin looks at the particular challenges the COVID-19 outbreak will pose to people living in informal settlements, what steps can be taken to reach the populations in need, and how community organisation networks can be supported to scale up their efforts
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The world’s fastest growing cities
24 March 2020Which factors determine whether a city makes it onto the list of the world’s fastest growing cities? In the latest in a series focusing on the transition to a predominantly urban world, David Satterthwaite takes a closer look
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Alternative data sources for cities and communities
12 March 2020In the latest in our series of blogs and interviews focusing on the transition to a predominantly urban world, David Satterthwaite looks at community-driven data collection and mapping
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Cartel or chemist?
27 February 2020Could tapping into the informal services in Nairobi’s Mukuru slum be the answer to better health, schools and water provision?
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Coronavirus threat looms large for low-income cities
26 February 2020Weak infrastructure would leave urban settlements in low-income countries highly vulnerable, should the rapid spread of COVID-19 continue
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Invisiblising cities: the obsession with national statistics and international comparisons
25 February 2020David Satterthwaite discusses the vast gaps in city data, and explains why planning, governing and servicing cities calls for data that is broken down into city and sub-city level
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Urban poor community voices take to the stage at the World Urban Forum
19 February 2020Stories from urban poor communities inspired international audiences at the 10th World Urban Forum
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Which cities went up or down the ranking of the world’s largest cities?
12 February 2020IIED senior fellow David Satterthwaite is curating a series of blogs and interviews on global urban change. In this blog he looks at rapidly growing cities that moved into the list of the top 100 cities, and those that fell off the bottom of the list
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City leaders need to rise to the climate change challenge
8 February 2020City leaders from around the world are meeting in Abu Dhabi for the 10th World Urban Forum on sustainable urbanisation (8-13 February). IIED director Andrew Norton and Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of UN-Habitat, highlight the need for leaders to work with residents of informal settlements in order to prepare for the impacts of climate change
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Climate activism and cities: a shared agenda
7 February 2020In the second blog in our series considering the role social movements play in promoting climate action, Anna Walnycki reflects on where the climate movement and inclusive cities agenda meet, and why climate activists should look South to learn from long-standing urban community actors
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Continuity and change in the world’s 20 largest cities
31 January 2020David Satterthwaite looks at changes in the rankings for the world's largest cities, revealing which cities have surged up the top 20, and which have fallen
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The world's 100 largest cities from 1800 to 2020, and beyond
16 January 2020In the first of a new blog series, IIED senior fellow David Satterthwaite looks at the world’s 100 largest cities, and how their changing distribution reflects social, political and economic shifts across the globe