Urban

Addressing urban environmental issues for cities that work for people and planet

Also related to

Urban development

Urban Matters blog

Informal settlements (slums)

An illustration showing people and flowers in front of tall buildings.

Building better cities: responding to the twin challenge of inequality and climate change

23 June 2022

People building informal houses on stilts behind rising water.

IIED at WUF11

Event on 26 June 2022

A man sitting on a bench surrounded by large trees.

The role of urban green space: how London got its parks

David Satterthwaite
16 June 2022

Shack housing on the side of a hill.

No climate justice without housing justice

23 June 2022

A busy African street scene, with industrial buildings in the background.

Tackling air pollution in informal settlements in Kenya

Began 2017

A young woman sits working at a sewing machine in a corner of a room.

Stitching with determination: stories of women garment workers in Indore, India

07 June 2022

Two women wearing masks hand over a bag to another woman wearing a mask

Q&A: Two years on, blog series maintains its focus – in changing and challenging times

09 May 2022

Related collections

Learn more about focused areas of IIED's urban work

Better cities are possible: achieving resilient, low-carbon and inclusive urban development

A series of articles looking at ways to achieve resilient, low-carbon and inclusive urban development

The transition to a predominantly urban world

A series of blogs and interviews exploring what social, political and environmental factors cause cities to thrive or decline

Urban crises and forced displacement

A programme of work bringing together diverse perspectives on humanitarian emergencies and forced displacement, to inform new directions in urban crisis response

Housing justice

A programme of work producing knowledge and methodologies for housing policy and initiatives that promote wellbeing and sustainability in cities of the global South

Publications

View more Urban publications

21271iied.pdf

City planning with displaced communities: the benefits of inclusion

21151iied.pdf

From risks to resilience: action research into informal workers' health and wellbeing in Indore, India

21036iied.pdf

Prioritising action on health and climate resilience for informal workers

21006iied.pdf

Better cities are possible: responding to the twin crises of climate change and inequality

20961iied.pdf

The Urban Crises Learning Fund evaluation final report

74366iied.pdf

Doing more with less: COVID-19 relief by community networks in Southeast Asia

20951iied.pdf

Scaling up community-led COVID-19 responses: five key lessons

20946_cover.pdf

The contribution of cities to local and planetary health - equity, ecosystem services and nature

20846iied.pdf

Amplifying grassroots COVID-19 responses in Kenya

20571Xcover.pdf

Citizen participation in planning: from the neighbourhood to the city

A series of rainbow flags outside a building.

Heteronormativity in the development sector: where are we now?

Event on 08 December 2022

Five people posing with signs that read "gentrificado"

What does queer have to do with it?

Active Project

People gathering around a table with a laptop

Civic media for housing rights: lessons from struggles against evictions in São Paulo and Lagos

Active Project

A group of people gather around a man seated with a laptop computer and look and point at the screen

Data tales – part three: the technological prowess of the urban poor

Blog, 07 November 2022

Map of Cuttack, India

Data tales – part two: the challenge of technology

Blog, 27 October 2022

Man walking next to rail tracks covered by weeds

How can local urban priorities connect with responses at global level to the climate crisis?

Blog, 26 October 2022

A view from high up of a city with tower blocks, framed by the sky.

Can global reporting bring about transformation?

Blog, 12 October 2022

A man bends over and rummages through piles of garbage that surround him.

Local and regional governments hold key to tackling rising global inequalities

Press release, 11 October 2022

People walking on a street with closed shops on the right side

Data tales – part one (or Ibn Battuta looks for data)

Blog, 11 October 2022

A view from on high of buildings on the foreground, with water and mountains in the distance.

Co-creating pathways to urban equality in a time of crisis

Event on 26 October 2022