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.
51 - 75 of 137 blog posts
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Ward diaries: crucial evidence for planning in Mumbai's slums
28 November 2016Jockin Arputham, the president of Slum/Shack Dwellers International and founder of the National Slum Dwellers Federation in India, explains how data from slums, gathered by slum dwellers themselves, is helping to provide vital services where they are needed most
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Towards a humanitarian's handbook for cities in crisis
16 November 2016New research from the Urban Crises Learning Fund's Stronger Cities Initiative explores the tools available to humanitarians responding to urban crises, and asks whether they are fit for purpose
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Climate responsive cities: a road towards the 'New Urban Agenda'?
15 November 2016A new book, written by local practitioners and edited by IIED, shows how cities across Asia are applying their own approaches to managing climate change risks, and finds that good governance underpins an effective response
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Urban planning after crisis: lessons from Southeast Asia
10 November 2016If humanitarian agencies are to help cities recover and rebuild after a crisis, they must work closely with local governments. A new IIED-supported research project will travel to Indonesia and the Philippines to see how it's done
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Local funds allow informal-settlement residents to shape development
1 November 2016An event at Habitat III explored how innovative forms of community finance could be used to improve informal settlements and provide much needed adaptation to climate change
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Is this too easy?
26 October 2016Voices from grassroots communities are being heard at Habitat III, but will this make a difference where it counts? Diana Mitlin writes from Quito
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Show me the money!
18 October 2016Ahead of a side event at Habitat III, Anna Walnycki highlights how funding is needed for grassroots upgrading of informal settlements in the face of evictions
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Will Africa have the world's largest cities in 2100?
7 October 2016A new report suggests that most of the world's largest cities in 2100 will be in Africa – including many with over 40 million inhabitants. This blog suggests growth in numbers will hinge more on the extent of economic development
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The shifting power of cities
5 October 2016Population predictions for the world's largest cities in the 21st century (part 2): New figures show the population of the world's largest cities set to soar. This rapid growth calls for better, more sustainable cities
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Cities on the twenty-ninth day
3 October 2016Population predictions for the world's largest cities in the 21st century (part 1): rapid urbanisation, if managed sustainably, could ease the pressure of exponential growth set for urban areas
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Data that supports local development
22 September 2016Global goals and targets often rely on national data, but local data are needed to inform action on the ground and to monitor progress on the goals
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Connecting settlements, cities and basins: realising SDG 6 at scale
25 August 2016World Water Week is an important opportunity to tackle the gap between global ambitions to achieve fair access to water and sanitation – and realities on the ground
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Responding to transit refugees in Croatia
19 August 2016How do local authorities and humanitarian agencies collaborate when refugees are in transit? An IIED-supported research project is looking at the transit refugee response in Croatia
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Why do we ignore the local processes that deliver global goals in urban areas?
16 August 2016International agencies must support local processes if we are to achieve ambitious global goals – so benefits reach urban communities on the ground whose needs these goals are set up to meet
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Can global funds be accountable at the local level?
9 August 2016Is it possible for global funds to be accountable to local communities – especially those whose needs the funds should address?
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Fieldnotes from two cities in India: learning about social learning and climate uncertainty
21 July 2016How can urban planners deal with the unpredictable future impacts of climate change? IIED researchers visited two Indian cities to see how a learning-based approach can help
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Ten essentials for the New Urban Agenda in one page
19 July 2016Ten concise points respond to the current draft of Habitat III's New Urban Agenda which is lengthy, dense and gives too little attention to the key roles of local government and civil society
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In the world's poorest countries, cities could be the Sustainable Development Goals test
7 June 2016Ahead of next week's dialogue event on the challenges and opportunities posed to Least Developed Countries by the Sustainable Development Goals, Gordon McGranahan examines how cities and urbanisation can contribute to attaining development goals.
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An urban approach to 'leaving no one behind'
2 June 2016Taking an urban approach can help identify who is at risk of 'being left behind' and how this can be avoided
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Collaborations in urban humanitarian response – introducing the Global Alliance for Urban Crises
31 May 2016The way we prepare for and react to humanitarian crises in towns and cities will be enhanced by a more collaborative approach
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Recognising urban rights: global debates and local struggles
26 May 2016Global debates can help frame how human rights in the city are recognised but are often far removed from processes that affirm rights at local level
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Facing an increasingly urban world
13 May 2016An estimated 54.5 per cent of the world's population live in urban areas, compared with 37.9 per cent 40 years ago. In this context, can Habitat III deliver the 'new urban agenda' we need?
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Revealing the hidden refugees in African cities
6 May 2016A growing number of refugees and displaced people are living in cities in East Africa and the Horn of Africa – but governments are slow to recognise and meet their needs
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Is community-based adaptation suited to cities?
26 April 2016In the week of the urban-themed 10th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation, we ask what is needed for this approach to succeed in urban spaces
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Responding to cities under siege
21 April 2016How can humanitarian programmes improve civilian protection in war besieged cities?