SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Cities today occupy only 2% of the total land, however they:

• represent 54.5% of the world population
• contribute 70% to the global GDP
• consume over 60% of the global energy
• are responsible for 70% of the global greenhouse gas emissions
• generate 70% of the global waste.

By the middle of this century, four of every five people will be living in towns and cities as the world urban population is expected to nearly double by 2050. Urbanization therefore represents an unprecedented challenge making it necessary to ensure the sustainability of urban growth.
 

But urbanization is also a major driver of development and poverty reduction, with the power to change and improve lives.

In October 2016, Governments took up this key development opportunities and challenges through Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development.

The Habitat III Conference lead to the adoption of a New Urban Agenda - an action-oriented document which will set global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development, rethinking the way we build, manage, and live in cities through drawing together cooperation with committed partners, relevant stakeholders, and urban actors at all levels of government as well as the private sector.

Global21 works on a number of solutions which are strongly related to sustainable urban development.

Projects

Product development for municipal services

Environmentally sound and socially inclusive treatment of e-waste in Ghana

Modernization of municipal services in South-East Europe

Mainstreaming of adaptation into planning and legal processes in Burundi

E-waste in the MENA region

Promotion of French environmental technologies at international level