Urban

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

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Urban development

Urban Matters blog

Informal settlements (slums)

Informal settlement in Manila, Philippines on the water.

CBA20: Local solutions inspiring global action

Event on 11 May 2026

Drawing of a group of people standing and watching one person fix a sign on a building.

Socio-technical practices for just cities: E&U special issue celebration

Event on 23 February 2026

Woman pumping water into a plastic canister. She is wearing a traditional saree.

Strengthening urban resilience through collaboration: lessons from India, Kenya, Myanmar and the Philippines

08 December 2025

Woman sitting on a balcony wearing a face mask. Behind here, an informal neighbourhood of houses can be seen.

Five years on: how Brazil’s Zero Eviction Campaign is driving policy change for housing justice

Camila Cociña and Fernanda Moreira
06 November 2025

Group of men standing and talking in front of a building.

Bridging the gap between local, organised communities and city government

Sheela Patel and Celine d’Cruz
10 December 2025

A bearded man stands at a podium with a screen behind him.

Urban legend: one man, 50 years, countless seeds of hope

Long read 13 May 2024

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 exploring the critical shifts in governance, policy and action needed to transform informal settlements on a warming planet

The transition to a predominantly urban world

A series of insights and interviews designed to share the experiences of community leaders, professionals, researchers and government from the global South

Urban crises and forced displacement

A programme of work on urban refugees and internally displaced peoples that also supports municipal authorities to respond to crisis and protracted displacement

Housing justice

A programme of work involving research, capacity development, policy advisory and advocacy initiatives that advance housing justice

Publications

View more Urban publications

Preview of Cover image: Youth-led civic media for urban governance Case studies from India and Nepal

Youth-led civic media for urban governance

Preview of 22732iied.pdf

Unlocking urban climate finance: barriers and progress in African cities

Preview of 22731iied.pdf

Drought’s inequalities: towards inclusive climate adaptation in Zambia

Preview of 22726iied.pdf

Engaging young people from informal settlements in housing and urban governance

Preview of 22715iied.pdf

From nature-based solutions to naturing infrastructure: towards a care-centred approach

Preview of 22714iied.pdf

From capacity to capability: urban living labs as a route to gain influence

Preview of 22713iied.pdf

From power to influence: counter-mapping for urban living labs

Preview of 22706iied.pdf

Connecting tenure security and climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa

Preview of 22697iied.pdf

Heat impacts on informal settlements

Preview of 22693iied.pdf

Why collective organisations matter for resilience

614 entries

Volunteer wearing blue t-shirt walks through neighbourhood in Lagos that houses displaced people.

Slum clearances ‘to protect from climate change’ are major source of CO2, study finds

Press release, 21 October 2025

Family carrying goods and a door into a refugee camp in South Sudan.

Children on the move, new ways of being

Event on 16 October 2025

Group of people gathered in a outside sitting spot in the evening, talking and laughing.

Mobilisation of living heritage for community-led recovery

Insight, 13 October 2025

Aerial view of the Kibera neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya.

If cities could speak: vulnerability, climate and health in the city

Active Project

Display on building showing 36 degrees Celsius in São Paulo, Brazil.

World’s major cities hit by a quarter more hot days than in the 1990s

Press release, 30 September 2025

People stand and sit around a table strewn with notes as they have a discussion.

Urban Resilience Strategic Exchange: Climate Week NYC 2025

Event on 24 September 2025

A horizon photo of a city, showing slums in the foreground conflicting with skyscrapers behind in the distance.

Urban living labs for resilience: scaling impact through the SECURe framework

Active Project

Image of Low-gauge tin roofs in Kenya.

Reflections from frontline settlements: connecting urban communities with climate scientists

Insight, 28 August 2025

Graphic card including text, an image of a city and organisation logos.

Drought in displacement: humanitarian and city responses for water security

Event on 27 August 2025

Aerial view of the Zaatari refugee camp showing informal housing set up and spread over a large space.

UN’s opaque spending on Syrian refugee camp: did aid donors get value for money?

Press release, 15 August 2025