inclusion and viable urban economies

violent forced evictions. This involves a gradual phased lifting of moratoria on evictions with the introduction of rental assistance, durable mediation mechanisms for landlords and tenants and, in the case of informal settlements, transparent, participatory solutions. It also includes ensuring availability of the conditions that make housing adequate, notably land tenure security, water and sanitation, electricity and digital connectivity, as well as proximity to livelihoods and basic services.

ƒ Income: Basic income for all is perhaps the most ambitious element of the new social contract. Universal basic incomes halt extreme poverty and offer low-income households the ability to stabilize, meet their basic needs and establish viable livelihoods.

Once again, the pandemic has proved to be a testing ground, particularly with the application of temporary basic incomes.

These and other social protection floors set precedents and demonstrate the potential for a new social contract.

Advancing these elements begins with their recognition as human rights, with duty-bearers and rights-holders achieving a common understanding of their shared responsibility for the gradual realization of these rights through agreed actions. These include strengthening the capacities of public sector duty-bearers to collect and analyze data, formulate policy and monitor implementation, and empowering individual rights-holders to organize and participate effectively.

Cities are key to achieving this change. Places where alliances are woven, consensus is built, conflicts settled, dreams made and realities are achieved. They were where the old normal was generated, but also where a new normal can emerge — one where health, housing and security are prioritized for the most vulnerable not only out of social necessity, but also from a profound commitment to human rights for all. Large, dense and heterogeneous, cities are the ideal space to apply a new concept of solidarity that replaces walls with bridges, borders with connections.

5.3.5. Invest in sustainable infrastructure, digital inclusion and viable urban economies

The consequences of COVID-19 have led governments to mobilize unprecedented levels of public financing to respond to the health, social and economic hardships of the pandemic. While there are huge disparities among nations, the fiscal stimulus in each country as a proportion of national income is massive. Large public investment is essential for recovery and it demonstrates the crucial role of government in times of crisis. Yet how can governments direct these and future investments toward the longterm challenges made visible and exacerbated by the pandemic? How might they be used to stimulate local economies and increase endogenous sources of revenue? Two important areas of investment highlighted in this report are sustainable infrastructure and digital inclusion.

Whether the objective is revitalizing or building new infrastructures, such as roads, energy grids, bridges, power plants, rail, ports, storm drainage systems and waste treatment plants, the operative word is sustainable. Investments in infrastructure can save energy, reduce methane emissions and enable low-carbon mobility planning to promote a green transition. They can also ensure inclusive growth by creating jobs for historically marginalized populations as well as those forced into unemployment by the pandemic. Regarding digital inclusion, the objective is not only to mobilize capital for broadband, high-speed internet access. It is also to invest in quality electricity connections to enable the smooth transition to digitally enabled processes, and in the human capital needed to sustain them — especially data literacy, digital systems and technological skills that will attract productive companies and foster local economic development and entrepreneurship.

In addition to channelling resources towards sustainable infrastructure and digital inclusion,