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 191 blog posts
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Taking stock: community responses to COVID-19 in cities
19 October 2021A reflection on the successes, priorities and problems facing community organisations during the pandemic – with implications for their future funding and even survival
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Upgrading informal settlements in the global South: transforming relations with government, transforming lives
5 October 2021Upgrading rather than bulldozing is becoming the mainstream government response to deal with informal settlements in many nations – done well, this can be transformative for residents and their communities but the opportunity is often missed
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Street vendors and garbage pickers need protection from climate extremes
5 October 2021Around two billion people globally are considered informal workers, in jobs like street vending, agriculture or collecting and recycling plastic rubbish. Many earn on a daily basis and lack savings, healthcare or other social protections. So they typically can’t afford to stop working in the face of COVID-19 and other emergencies
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Can we reduce urban poverty and inequality and achieve net zero cities?
4 October 2021This year, World Habitat Day focuses on how cities can develop practical, workable plans for a carbon-free world. Over half the world’s population live in urban areas, so it’s unsurprising that cities are responsible for 75% of carbon emissions. Anna Walnycki and Tucker Landesman explain why efforts to achieve zero carbon cities will only be successful if they simultaneously address pervasive urban poverty and inequalities
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Do urban populations benefit from urban bias?
1 September 2021Conventional wisdom suggests that most poverty is in rural areas. But as there is so little research, how can we know if this is true?
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Making strides to improve health and climate resilience in Zimbabwe’s cities
25 August 2021Guest blogger Artwell Kadungure and Alice Sverdlik report on how real progress is being made to improve the lives and livelihoods of informal workers as a result of collaboration with key policymakers
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Reducing urban poverty – lessons not learnt?
11 August 2021What have we learned from over five decades of initiatives meant to reduce urban poverty? And what, if any, benefits have been felt by the estimated one billion, and counting, residents of informal settlements and tenements in urban areas in the global South?
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We also want greens in our meals: community gardens in the Philippines
27 July 2021One of the founding mothers of the Homeless People’s Federation of the Philippines, Ofelia Bagotlo, describes how community gardens on vacant city plots are providing vital nutrition for the urban poor
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Rethinking urban climate resilience: time for a reset?
19 July 2021Aditya Bahadur and guest blogger Thomas Tanner discuss their new book which explores the changing nature of climate risk in towns and cities and explains why existing approaches for tackling this risk need a shake-up
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Community-led COVID-19 response: an update from the Philippines
14 July 2021One year on, Ruby Papeleras and Migo Gaddi provide an update on the action of the Homeless People’s Federation of the Philippines in its fight against COVID-19, including case studies of what has been done in the cities of Davao and Talisay
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How India’s civil society rose up in the face of COVID-19
12 July 2021As the pandemic overwhelmed India’s public systems and cut off the livelihoods of millions, civil society organisations offered a lifeline to the cities’ poorest and most vulnerable residents
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Feeding all city inhabitants
28 June 2021Cecilia Tacoli explores how food and nutrition security in urban areas is often overlooked by policymakers and city governments
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COVID-19 in cities: pathways towards a transformative urban recovery
16 June 2021COVID19-is asymmetrical and will impact differently as poorer countries battle to gain access to vaccines. At a time of diminished budgets and resources, their needs are the highest. We can only respond if we do our work more inclusively and strategically
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What women want – part two: to map vulnerability to climate change
11 June 2021Guest blogger Sheela Patel continues her discussion of the priorities and needs of women living in informal settlements and tenements, highlighted by COVID-19. In this blog, she explains why women are ideally placed to map vulnerability to climate change in their community and city
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Tricky questions and frank discussions: a participatory forum on protracted displacement in Afghanistan
10 June 2021Guest blogger Nassim Majidi draws together three key points emerging from a recent multi-stakeholder forum aimed at developing innovative and inclusive solutions to manage forced displacement in Afghanistan
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What women want – part one
18 May 2021Guest blogger Sheela Patel discusses how COVID-19 has highlighted the priorities and most pressing needs of women living in informal settlements and tenements
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Broadening the understanding and measurement of urban poverty
6 May 2021With the pandemic shining a spotlight on inequality and deprivation in cities across the global North and South, now is the time to try and understand what actually constitutes urban poverty so that funding and public services can reach those who need it most
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Getting attention to a much-neglected health agenda: occupational health and safety
28 April 2021Guest blogger Rangarirai Machemedze and David Satterthwaite report on the findings of their research on the occupational health and climate change risks facing informal residents and workers in Zimbabwe
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Researching displacement: how do we know we are asking the right questions?
19 April 2021Inclusivity and co-design were key in creating a survey to examine the wellbeing, self-reliance and livelihoods of displaced people in urban areas and camps across four countries
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Fire disaster makes more than 1,000 homeless in Freetown
29 March 2021A fierce fire in Susan’s Bay, Freetown, highlights the insecurity and lack of access to basic services faced by residents of Sierra Leone’s informal settlements
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How community mapping of storm water drains is fighting evictions in Karachi’s informal settlements
24 March 2021Urban poor communities are generating their own evidence to uncover the reasons – overlooked by authorities – that Karachi floods
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The often forgotten role of small and intermediate urban centres
3 February 2021Much of the world’s urban population lives and works outside large cities, yet often the economic, political and social importance of these urban centres, including their support to rural development and policy innovation, is given too little attention
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Bridging the gap: how women-led federations are strengthening communities in Patna's informal settlements
23 December 2020Following devastation from COVID-19 and monsoon rains, women collectives have been instrumental in securing crucial infrastructure provisions and service delivery
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City residents and urban refugees: from shared living to shared futures
7 December 2020Tools used to document the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in one of Nairobi's largest informal settlements are also being used to chart how the lockdowns disproportionately affected displaced people
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Rubbish dump turned lush urban farm
3 December 2020A new urban farm, springing up on a former garbage dump in Chiang Mai, Thailand has become a lifeline for the area’s urban poor communities