SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Dynamic Briefing Generated 09 October 2020 for Marco Antonio Gonzalez
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Last review on Tue 03 September 2019
About This dynamic briefing draws on the collective intelligence of the Forum network to explore the key trends, interconnections and interdependencies between industry, regional and global issues. In the briefing, you will find a visual representation of this topic (Transformation Map – interactive version available online via intelligence.weforum.org ), an overview and the key trends affecting it, along with summaries and links to the latest research and analysis on each of the trends. Briefings for countries also include the relevant data from the Forum’s benchmarking indices. The content is continuously updated with the latest thinking of leaders and experts from across the Forum network, and with insights from Forum meetings, projects communities and activities.
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Executive summary This Transformation Map provides a contextual briefing for one of the Sustainable Development Goals the United Nations’ framework for making real progress towards a more sustainable future by the year 2030 - by mapping related strategic issues and interdependencies. The content, including attached key issue headings and texts, is drawn from expert- and machine-curated knowledge on the World Economic Forum’s Strategic Intelligence platform; it is not a reproduction of the official text of the SDG. The UN introduces this Goal as follows: 'Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social development and much more. At their best, cities have enabled people to advance socially and economically. With the number of people living within cities projected to rise to 5 billion people by 2030, it’s important that efficient urban planning and management practices are in place to deal with the challenges brought by urbanization. Many challenges exist to maintaining cities in a way that continues to create jobs and prosperity without straining land and resources. Common urban challenges include congestion, lack of funds to provide basic services, a shortage of adequate housing, declining infrastructure and rising air pollution within cities. Rapid urbanization challenges, such as the safe removal and management of solid waste within cities, can be overcome in ways that allow them to continue to thrive and grow, while improving resource use and reducing pollution and poverty. One such example is an increase in municipal waste collection. There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.'
1. Environmental Health and Climate Change
7. Urban Resilience The issues that plague cities are often chronic, and must be addressed proactively.
Air pollution and climate change are having a serious impact on global health.
8. Urban Infrastructure and Services
2. Housing, Wealth and Affordability
Many cities faced serious obstacles to providing basic services even before the advent of COVID-19.
Rising home prices have contributed to increased wealth inequality.
3. Inclusive Cities Cities that are inclusive are more creative, innovative, and sustainable.
4. 3D Printing for Construction The technology could help address the global shortage of affordable housing.
5. Strained Health Systems Systems around the world were rendered unfit for purpose prior to the pandemic.
6. Urban Society Billions of additional people will be flooding into cities, creating a need for responsible policy-making.
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Environmental Health and Climate Change Air pollution and climate change are having a serious impact on global health Nearly one quarter of all global deaths are a result of the environment, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2016 report Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments: A Global Assessment of the Burden of Disease from Environmental Risks. One of the greatest environmental threats to human health is air pollution. Many low- and middle-income countries do not monitor air quality, and either lack effective emission control legislation or simply fail to enforce legislation. As a result, their populations face a disproportionate disease burden. In addition to outdoor exposure to air pollution, WHO estimated in 2016 that almost 3 billion people around the world were still burning biomass fuel and coal indoors, in order to cook or to heat their homes, which resulted in more than 4 million deaths annually. In 2018, WHO estimated that more than 80% of people living in urban areas (that monitor air pollution) are exposed to air quality levels that exceed the organization’s limits - and that 97% of cities in low- and middle-income countries with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines (the figure falls to 49% for high-income countries). Air pollution is also a primary contributor to climate change, which has generated global health risks including changes in vector-borne disease patterns, water scarcity, food insecurity, and violence. These threats are most severe for vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and the poor. Additional measures are needed in order to reduce exposure to air pollution and mitigate the effects of climate change, and decrease disease rates and mortality. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement on climate change, have recognized this need and provide goals and targets in order to prioritize action (though one of the world’s biggest sources of carbon emissions and pollution, the US, has announced plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement). New and expanding research disciplines, including Planetary Health (which takes into consideration all the natural systems that human health depends upon) and the collaborative approach known as One Health, have drawn increased focus to the complex, interconnected relationships between the earth’s natural systems and species. These approaches recognize that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are closely interrelated, and promise to broadly advance our understanding of environmental impacts. Related insight areas: The Ocean, Global Risks, Forests, Air Pollution, Agriculture, Food and Beverage, Cities and Urbanization, Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Water, Environment and Natural Resource Security
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Latest knowledge World Economic Forum
Project Syndicate
As a chest surgeon, I see the effects of air pollution inside every patient
The COVID-Climate Nexus 30 September 2020
05 October 2020 America’s upcoming election will take place against the backdrop of a dreadful pandemic and mounting climate threats. On both counts, US voters must choose whether to bring back respect for science and sensible public policy, and an awareness that we live in an interconnected world.
Healthy lungs have become a rarity in India - even among children and non-smokers. Can a new air pollution campaign by Indian doctors make a difference?. The New Humanitarian
Opioid abuse in Syria seeps into Turkish borderlands
United Nations Environment
Halving food waste and raising climate ambition: SDG 12.3 and the Paris Agreement
01 October 2020 Without adequate mental health support or addiction treatment, years of neglected trauma are contributing to a growing drug problem.
30 September 2020 Food loss and waste generate an estimated 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions while using land and water resources needlessly and increasing pressure on biodiversity. Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 calls for a halving of food waste at retail and household level, and a reduction of food loss across the supply chain. Champions 12.3, a high-level coalition formed to deliver this strategic target, counts….
Wired
What Does It Mean If a Vaccine Is ‘Successful’? 01 October 2020 According to the guidelines laid out by the Food and Drug Administration, that would be an “effective” vaccine: 50 percent efficacy with a statistical “confidence interval” that puts brackets around a range from 30 percent to 70 percent. At that point, per Pfizer’s protocol, the company could stop the trial. Technically, that vaccine would be successful. It doesn’t become unethical to continue,” says Elizabeth Halloran, a vaccine trial design expert at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and another vaccine trial design expert. World Economic Forum
Why improving women's lives is the key to healthy ageing 01 October 2020 Older women are more exposed to social isolation and economic exclusion – but this can be changed earlier in their lives. Rocky Mountain Institute
Clean Energy Is Canceling Gas Plants 30 September 2020 While COVID-19 has disrupted many aspects of the economy and daily life in 2020, the trend toward clean electricity is still going strong. Renewable energy and storage technology costs continue to fall, with expanding adoption by utilities and other investors,... Read More The post Clean Energy Is Canceling Gas Plants appeared first on Rocky Mountain Institute .
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Housing, Wealth and Affordability Rising home prices have contributed to increased wealth inequality The global inflation of real estate prices has helped shine a spotlight on broader issues related to housing affordability, wealth inequality, and inclusive economic growth. Due in part to the upward creep of home prices relative to income levels in many markets around the world, central bankers and other policy-makers have sought to put measures in place to ease the financial pain for potential buyers. While corresponding efforts must be made to prevent a resulting onset of housing bubbles, and ensure that people do not accumulate excessive debt, property must be recognized as an important means for people from all backgrounds to potentially gain wealth. In Europe, for example, research has shown that wealth based on the value of real estate assets has been increasing at a far faster rate than income levels. The economist Thomas Piketty among others has warned that this trend in combination with existing housing policies have created a dynamic in Europe where mostly only those “insiders” with access to family wealth have been able to access property, as high house prices increasingly limit access for “outsiders.” Meanwhile in China, according research published by the Beijing Normal University Business School, the country’s Gini coefficient - a measure of wealth inequality - increased by more than a third between 2002 and 2012 due in large part to rapidly rising real estate prices. And in the US, the collapse of housing prices after the financial crisis has been shown to have sharply decreased the wealth held by middleclass households, even as a relatively quick stock market rebound gave a boost to the wealthiest households due to their investments in equities. Also in the US, disparities in housing wealth have formed along racial lines; a report published in 2020 showed that the typical resident of an urban area in the US historically “redlined” for lenders due at least in part to being home to people of colour had gained 52% less in personal wealth generated by property value increases over the previous 40 years than a resident of a better-rated area. The ability to accumulate wealth through property ownership depends in part on access to financing and mortgage products, and government intervention can help ensure both. Related insight areas: Financial and Monetary Systems, Cities and Urbanization, Taxation, Public Finance and Social Protection, Private Investors, Global Risks, Systemic Racism, Institutional Investors, Sustainable Development
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Latest knowledge Center for Global Development
VoxEU
New DAC Rules on Debt Relief – A Poor Measure of Donor Effort
The role of beliefs on social and communal insurance
07 October 2020
02 October 2020
The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) recently produced a long-awaited set of rules for how debt relief on loans should be scored as Official Development Assistance (ODA). Unfortunately, the rules suffer from a number of statistical problems and the DAC needs to take these rules back to the drawing board, or lose credibility.
Household portfolios in the euro area differ systematically between countries. As a result, ECB policies have asymmetric effects and views on a potential EU financial transaction tax are divergent. This column argues that cross-country variation in portfolio structures is due to variation in country-specific beliefs on social and communal insurance. These beliefs lead to differences in subjective expectations regarding the availability of external support during financial distress. This means that they regulate the extent to which households use their portfolios for self-insurance, as well as their readiness to participate in debt markets.
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania - Knowledge@Wharton
What Drives Household Bankruptcy? 06 October 2020 New research by Wharton’s Sasha Indarte suggests that people file for bankruptcy not because of what they gain in debt relief, but because they lack cash on hand.
Brookings
Corporate bond market dysfunction during COVID-19 and lessons from the Fed’s response
Project Syndicate
The Stock-Market Disconnect
01 October 2020
05 October 2020
The investment-grade corporate bond market, which functioned well in the global financial crisis, did not in the COVID-19 crisis, and required aggressive emergency intervention by the Federal Reserve.
The best explanation for why stock markets remain so bullish despite a massive recession is that major publicly traded companies have not borne the brunt of the pandemic's economic fallout. But having been spared by the virus, they could soon find themselves squarely in the sights of a populist backlash.
The Economist
Project Syndicate
Booming house prices spell more trouble for the social contract
A Multicolored New Deal
01 October 2020
02 October 2020
Stockmarkets have not had a good September, but their strength for the year as a whole remains a source of wonderment. Less noticed has been the equally remarkable buoyancy of another asset class: housing. Many rich countries are seeing house prices surge even as their rate of infections is rising for a second time. In the second quarter, although economies were under lockdown, house prices rose in eight out of ten high- and middle-income countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified socioeconomic disparities between and within countries around the world, offering a disturbing preview of what awaits us on a warming planet. To get ahead of both current and looming crises, the world must commit to a recovery agenda that is not only green, but also blue, purple, and red.
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Inclusive Cities Cities that are inclusive are more creative, innovative, and sustainable The United Nations projects that the global urban population will increase from 4 billion in 2015 to 5.1 billion by 2030. Residents of growing cities around the world, including artists, are being displaced for economic reasons. This is unfortunate, because those cities where residents can continue to coexist irrespective of income, ethnicity, religion, age, physical ability, sexual orientation, or immigration status provide enormous opportunities for the sort of interaction that enriches the cultural and economic fabric. From Mumbai to San Francisco, cities have developed into hubs for creativity, commerce and culture - while offering the promise of a better life to families fleeing from conflict and poverty. However, cities can also be home to inequality and deprivation. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals call for “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” cities, while the “New Urban Agenda” agreed to at a 2016 UN conference provides related policy guidance. In 2020, urbanists will convene at the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, to discuss topics including the use of technology and data to enable more sustainable cities. Related advances like autonomous vehicles offer opportunities to re-purpose streets in more human-centric ways, and to incorporate mobility options that benefit everyone.
Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Related insight areas: Migration, Inclusive Design, Workforce and Employment, Innovation, Social Innovation, Circular Economy, Cities and Urbanization, Civic Participation, Colombia, Sustainable Development, Climate Change
In response to rapid urbanization, designers, architects, artists, and communities are formulating innovative approaches. In Medellín, Colombia, former Mayor Sergio Fajardo determined that the most beautiful public buildings should be built in the poorest areas, transforming the city from one of the world’s most dangerous into a more inclusive metropolis. Elevated cable cars now link outer settlements to Medellin’s central metro system, while libraries and cultural centres support civic participation. In other cities, “social practice" artists are shining a spotlight on urban inequality and revealing our shared humanity. The French street artist “JR” has displayed photographic portraits in places like the slums of Paris and Nairobi, and in Israel and Palestine, which engage viewers with the larger-thanlife faces of ordinary people who might otherwise remain relatively hidden. In the urban US and much of the industrialized world, income inequality, housing costs, and limited public transportation are decreasing social mobility, as social and spatial segregation and climate change create serious challenges. Local residents, designers, artists, and advocates in affected areas are working to create more sustainable and inclusive barrios, neighbourhoods and boroughs. Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, for example, transforms vacant properties in an under-served neighbourhood into community-art spaces for residents. This key issue was curated in partnership with Cynthia E.
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Latest knowledge Frontiers
London School of Economics and Political Science
Disparity in Perceptions of Social Values for Ecosystem Services of Urban Green Space: A Case Study in the East Lake Scenic Area, Wuhan
India, China, and the headwaters of Asia: The importance of water along India’s northern border 21 September 2020
29 September 2020
With tensions between India and China growing along India’s northern border, Mike Todman (Lancaster University) explains how water scarcity, driven by climate change, will increasingly intersect with and exacerbate existing fissures between the two regional superpowers, ultimately becoming the primary strategic concern in the two countries’ fractious relationship. In his Independence Day speech, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, confirmed plans to make Ladakh, a government administered region in the north-west, the first carbon neutral region in India. The terrain of the territory makes it an ideal choice for such an ambition – it is mountainous and contains the upper reaches of the Indus and several other major rivers, making it suitable for hydroelectricity and wind-power projects.
Urban green space can bring various ecosystem benefits to diverse social groups. Among those ecosystem benefits, intangible social values are often neglected but highly relevant to human welfare. Existing research on the social values of urban green space often focusses on the perspective of urban inhabitants rather than tourists, even though tourists are also major beneficiaries. By combining different data sources into a comprehensive source about green-space social values, we investigated the disparity between inhabitants' and tourists' perceptions about space-associated social values, and further explored the underlying environmental conditions in the East Lake scenic area, Wuhan. The Atlantic
Representation, Activism, and Voting with Billy Porter
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Governors' Seminar: Developing Asia beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic
23 September 2020
19 September 2020 World Economic Forum
Why we need international cooperation now more than ever
Center for Global Development
A “Rosetta Stone” for Comparing Test Scores Around the World (and Across the Global Income Distribution)
22 September 2020 Most people believe strongly in the power of working together to face the challenges of today and tomorrow, according to a survey by the United Nations.
15 September 2020 How much do educational outcomes around the world depend on where you were born? In a new CGD working paper, we propose a very simple strategy to overcome this problem and build a “Rosetta Stone” for test scores. We take a single sample of students and give them questions from each major exam around the world. By grading each child’s responses on the original test scales, we calculate scores on different exams for the same child on the same day.
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3D Printing for Construction The technology could help address the global shortage of affordable housing The world suffers from a lack of housing. According to the World Resources Institute, the global affordable housing gap is expected to rise to 440 million households by 2025 depriving roughly 1.6 billion people of an adequate and affordable home. 3D printing may be able to help. The technology enables new, significantly faster and more economical approaches to construction. Constructionrelated 3D printing processes differ slightly from traditional 3D printing, due to the size of the desired product; they involve a large, robotic arm that moves via railways that are installed around a building area as they extrude concrete, layer by layer. These large machines are able to create complete buildings, use less material than traditional construction by producing honeycomb-structured walls with minimal density, and require lower-cost materials that can keep expenses to a minimum. Before it can be made available broadly for commercial use, however, construction-related 3D printing must be further tested, standardized, and approved by regulators. Still, both startups and established construction companies are already developing related projects, achieving breakthroughs, and using new materials. For example, US-based startup Apis Cor famously managed in 2017 to 3D print an entire 38square-metre house in 24 hours - at a cost of about $10,000. In addition to reducing time and costs, 3D printing has an environmental impact on construction, as less material is used and less waste is produced; it also reduces the risk of accidents, and enables the creation of complex architectural shapes. It may also stir greater competition within the construction industry, potentially leading to lower prices and greater rates of ownership. Overpopulated and fast-growing cities in particular stand to benefit from the technology. Dubai has announced that by 2025, 25% of its new buildings will be created using 3D printers - which could reduce the amount of required labour by 70%, and expenses by 90%. 3D printing can also help develop relatively inaccessible areas. The Italian company WASP, for example, has developed a 3D printer that works on solar or wind power and is able to print eco-friendly shelters using local materials in regions without electricity. Related insight areas: Agile Governance, Global Governance, Cities and Urbanization, Real Estate, Advanced Manufacturing and Production, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Workforce and Employment, Environment and Natural Resource Security
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Latest knowledge MIT Technology Review
World Economic Forum
How AI will revolutionize manufacturing
Which countries are making the most progress in digital competitiveness?
29 September 2020
07 September 2020 Ask Stefan Jockusch what a factory might look like in 10 or 20 years, and the answer might leave you at a crossroads between fascination and bewilderment. Jockusch is vice president for strategy at Siemens Digital Industries Software, which develops applications that simulate the conception, design, and manufacture of products like cell phones or smart….
While some countries are advancing quickly in digital technologies, others are losing ground. With the right policies in place, new champions can emerge. World Economic Forum
Could copper beat COVID-19? Three lessons from Chile
Scientific American
27 August 2020
3-D Printing inside the Body Could Patch Stomach Ulcers
Chile has long led the world in copper-based innovation, using the metal’s antiviral properties to develop products from disinfectant to children’s clothes. When the pandemic came, it was ready.
22 September 2020 Stomach ulcers and other gastric wounds afflict one in eight people worldwide, but common conventional therapies have drawbacks. Now scientists aim to treat such problems by exploring a new frontier in 3-D printing: depositing living cells directly inside the human body. Just as 3-D printers set down layers of material to create structures, bioprinters extrude living cells to produce tissues and organs. A long-term dream for this concept is that people on active waiting lists for organ donations— nearly 70,000 individuals in the U.S. alone, according to the nonprofit United Network for Organ Sharing—might one day have the option of getting a bioprinted organ.
World Resources Institute
America’s New Climate Economy: A Comprehensive Guide to the Economic Benefits of Climate Policy in the United States 28 July 2020 This working paper draws on the latest economic research to demonstrate how climate policy and investments in low-carbon infrastructure can reboot America’s economy and set it up for long-term success. Decarbonization can benefit U.S. economic output, jobs, manufacturing, rural communities, and consumers.
Chatham House
The circular economy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Opportunities for building resilience 17 September 2020 The circular economy model has gained high-level political attention and support in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in recent years. This paper provides analysis of the current state of circular economy policies in LAC and identifies priority issues for governments, businesses, civil society and the research community. The Science Breaker
DNA of Things: how a plastic bunny got DNA 14 September 2020 The ever-increasing amount of digital data has led scientists to look for new ways of storing information efficiently. In the last years, a new field of research has evolved around storing information in the sequence of DNA molecules. We have shown a new approach, which allows us to encode data in DNA and store it in everyday objects like coffee cups, reading glasses or 3D-printed bunnies.
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Strained Health Systems Systems around the world were rendered unfit for purpose prior to the pandemic The total cost of COVID-19 to health systems remains to be seen - though the â‚Ź7.4 billion pledge made by world leaders in May 2020 for a European Commission initiative to develop a vaccine provided a glimpse of its enormity. Related risks include differences over how to ensure fair, low-cost distribution of a vaccine and treatments, and the antivaccination movement. Even prior to the pandemic, gains made in in terms of lifespan and health span (the number of years spent in good health) seemed to be petering out in both developed and developing countries. COVID-19 has exacerbated worrying trends in many countries; an inability to care for many at-risk patients has exposed decades of insufficient investment, mounting workforce limitations, and demand-capacity mismatches. COVID-19 also threatens to worsen health disparities between countries; in the world's least developed economies, hundreds of millions of people are faced with inadequate healthcare delivery and hygiene standards. Even responsible measures taken to stem the spread will place additional stress on healthcare systems, as isolation, confinement, and remote working lead to increased depression and anxiety. Regardless of the pandemic, climate change, increasing longevity, and lifestyle changes will continue to transform disease burdens, and will require new health infrastructure. However, many systems have been failing to adapt. Depression and anxiety disorders increased by 54% and 42%, respectively, from 1990 to 2013, according to World Health Organization data - and some 700 million people worldwide are estimated to have a mental disorder. Most health systems continue to focus on reactive care, while paying too little attention to non-communicable disease prevention and control. They have yet to effectively combine online, remote, and retail care settings in order to improve information, screening, treatment, and support. While specialized new drugs promise better treatment for devastating diseases, they come at an exorbitant price - in the next few years, up to 30 new, million-dollar drugs are expected to hit the market, mostly for cancer. Leaders everywhere need to take a close look at their current approaches to health if we are to maintain the progress made during the last century, and decrease our collective exposure to future risks. Related insight areas: Future of Economic Progress, Ageing, COVID-19, Biotechnology, Mental Health, Migration, Sustainable Development, Global Health, Retail, Consumer Goods and Lifestyle, United States, ASEAN, Vaccination, Climate Change, Future of Food, Future of Health and Healthcare, The Great Reset
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Latest knowledge Project Syndicate
The Conversation
The Core of the ECB’s New Strategy
Climate migration: what the research shows is very different from the alarmist headlines
08 October 2020 Now that the European Union has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the European Central Bank must start preparing for the structural shifts that lie ahead. In a world where governments want the prices of certain forms of energy to rise, the concept of price stability becomes more complicated.
07 October 2020 Predictions of mass climate migration make for attentiongrabbing headlines. For more than two decades, commentators have predicted “waves” and “rising tides” of people forced to move by climate change. Recently, a think-tank report warned the climate crisis could displace 1.2 billion people by 2050. Some commentators now even argue that, as the New York Times noted in a recent headline “ The Great Climate Migration Has Begun ”, and that the climate refugees we’ve been warned about are, in fact, already here. These alarming statements are often well-intentioned.
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Measuring price stability in Covid times 08 October 2020 The recent fall in both headline and core inflation in the euro area has increased pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to adopt further measures to stimulate the economy. With headline inflation turning negative for two months, additional measures seem to be warranted. However, inflation data based on consumer prices should not be the only guide for policy in the kind of turbulent times we are currently experiencing. A broader price index such as the GDP deflator provides important additional information for policy decision. [1] This broad indicator is increasing at a rate of around 2%. There seems to be no danger of broad-based deflation. How to measure price stability? The main aim of the ECB is to preserve price stability, which it has defined as an inflation rate of “below, but close to 2%”.
Duke Fuqua School of Business
The CFO Survey Shows Expectation of Slow Recovery 07 October 2020 CFOs expect employment and revenues to remain below pre-COVID levels into 2021. Land Portal
COVID-19, reverse migration, and the impact on land systems 07 October 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world abruptly, affecting nearly all of humanity with breath-taking speed. At the time of writing in mid-September 2020, almost 20 million people have contracted the disease and more than 900,000 have died. [1] Besides its tragic direct toll on human lives, the pandemic is triggering a cascade of unexpected and dramatic effects that will deeply impact the global economy, social inequalities, and human– nature relationships in the coming years. Here, we wish to draw attention to an ongoing process that could have important consequences for land systems: that of reverse migration , or the return of migrant workers from cities to their rural areas of origin, especially in low- and middleincome countries.
LSE Business Review
How student debt influences the behaviour of graduates 08 October 2020 Student loans have become the new normal for bachelor’s degree recipients in the United States. Between 1993 and 2016, the percentage of students who had borrowed at any time during their undergraduate years rose from 45 percent for 1993 graduates to 68 percent for 2016 graduates (Figure 1). Among borrowers, the median cumulative amount borrowed rose from $13,000 to $27,000 […].
Inside Climate News
Droughts That Start Over the Ocean? They’re Often Worse Than Those That Form Over Land 07 October 2020 Droughts usually evoke visions of cracked earth, withered crops, dried-up rivers and dust storms. Droughts can also form over oceans, and when they then move ashore they are often more intense and longer-lasting than purely land-born dry spells. A Sept.
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Urban Society Billions of additional people will be flooding into cities, creating a need for responsible policy-making In 2018, the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs reported that 55% of the world’s population was living in urban areas, and estimated that the figure will reach 68% by 2050. This relentless rural-to-urban shift will add 2.5 billion people to cities, coming in search of a better life, new opportunities, and excitement. As a result, cities will face massive challenges: insufficient decent and cheap housing, expanding waste management needs, growing demand for access to clean water and employment, and worsening traffic congestion. Technology can help, as policymakers seek to meet the needs of diverse populations representing different ethnicities, cultures, religions and ages, while at the same time they attempt to address inequality. Singapore, for example, is a mosaic of multiracial and multi-religious communities, carefully managed through the city state’s policies designed to encourage inclusivity - such as the allocation of public housing done in a way that avoids ghettoization, and education and public service programs that foster integration. While the population diversity that must be addressed in developed countries like Singapore is largely attributable to international migration, in developing nations it is mostly a result of internal migration.
Related insight areas: Ageing, Healthcare Delivery, Migration, Values, Sustainable Development, Role of Religion, Human Rights, Workforce and Employment, Civic Participation
Internal migration remains a significant feature of East Asian countries in particular, according to the International Organization for Migration. Indonesia alone has an estimated 9.8 million temporary internal migrants, according to a UN report, and about 40% of Beijing’s population are migrants. Addressing diversity also means not leaving people aged 60 and over behind, as this demographic is expected to double in size by 2050 globally. In Japan, where 28% of the population is over 65 (according to the World Bank), the government has made radical changes to healthcare delivery; long-term health care insurance was introduced there in 2000 to supplement the national pension plan (Japan is also a leader in using robotics to assist the elderly). Another challenge: cities must deal with the inequality between those plugged into globalization and those left behind, particularly in high-tech hubs where growing wealth has left the middle class unable to buy homes, as is the case in San Francisco. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that cities with a relatively healthy sense of social solidarity have been more successful in following important directives like social distancing and selfquarantining, which are necessary to slow the spread of the virus.
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Latest knowledge SpringerOpen
GovLab - Living Library
On migration, geography, and epistemic communities
The secret to building a smart city that’s antiracist
02 October 2020
29 September 2020
This commentary paper starts by questioning the assumption that migration means international migration, and goes on to affirm that migration studies has indeed come of age as a coherent if highly diverse rese...
Article by Eliza McCullough: “….Instead of a smart city model that extracts from, surveils, and displaces poor people of color, we need a democratic model that allows community members to decide how technological infrastructure operates and to ensure the equitable distribution of benefits. Doing so will allow us to create cities defined by inclusion, shared ownership, and shared prosperity. In 2016, Barcelona, for example, launched its Digital City Plan , which aims to empower residents with control of technology used in their communities. The document incorporates over 8,000 proposals from residents and includes plans for open source software, government ownership of all ICT infrastructure, and a pilot platform to help citizens maintain control over their personal data.
UNRISD
Social and Solidarity Economy for the Integration of Migrants and Refugees: Experiences from Three European Cities 01 October 2020 What roles can the social and solidarity economy (SSE) play in addressing the problems faced by migrants and refugees, particularly in contexts of austerity and welfare retrenchment, growing xenophobia and populist politics? Focusing on selected European cities, the findings of the project Social and Solidarity Economy, Urban Communities and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups deepen our understanding of institutions and policies which can help SSE to play a constructive role in the integration of refugees and migrants into a host society. .
Frontiers
Improving Air Quality by Nitric Oxide Consumption of Climate-Resilient Trees Suitable for Urban Greening 29 September 2020 Nitrogen oxides (NO x ), mainly a mixture of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), are formed by the reaction of nitrogen and oxygen compounds in the air as a result of combustion processes and traffic. Both deposit into leaves via stomata, which on the one hand benefits air quality and on the other hand provides an additional source of nitrogen for plants. In this study, we first determined the NO and NO 2 specific deposition velocities based on projected leaf area (s V d ) using a branch enclosure system. We studied four tree species that are regarded as suitable to be planted under predicted future urban climate conditions: Carpinus betulus , Fraxinus ornus , Fraxinus pennsylvanica and Ostrya carpinifolia . The NO and NO 2 sV d were found similar in all tree species.
RAND Corporation
Building Back Locally 30 September 2020 In Puerto Rico's post-hurricane reconstruction, municipal governments face significant responsibility. The authors recommend ways to target government and other resources where they are needed most to help municipal reconstruction efforts.
SpringerOpen
Wages, integration, migration motivation: cases of export industry employees in Tijuana and TangiersTetouan 28 September 2020 Recent commentaries on migration integration suggest that researchers focus more on cities than nation states and include considerations of political economy, societal inequality and shifts in production.
15 SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Briefing, October 2020
Urban Resilience The issues that plague cities are often chronic, and must be addressed proactively While urban areas can become stronger in the aftermath of a catastrophe, it is a less-than-ideal way to bolster resilience. Urban resilience is a measure of how well communities, businesses, and government agencies can withstand both temporary shocks and chronic stress; increasingly, it is an essential goal for urban planners everywhere. The Rockefeller Foundation-funded City Resilience Index provides dozens of indicators that cities can use to measure their resilience, such as the availability of safe and affordable housing, and it has been tested in cities including Hong Kong and Liverpool. Meanwhile the World Bank Group’s City Resilience Program is designed to foster investment in viable projects that can enhance resilience. In practice and in theory, urban resilience must go beyond merely managing urban challenges like transportation system failures, housing shortages, and social strife by merely reacting to them. Instead, it should focus on proactively anticipating and preparing for challenges. Still, it is often only following catastrophe that city governments implement system-wide changes. It remains to be seen to what extent cities will be able to fix the many flaws - in governance, infrastructure, and trust between the city authorities and residents - that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related insight areas: Climate Change, Future of Energy, Systemic Racism, Civic Participation, Environment and Natural Resource Security, The Great Reset, COVID-19, Future of Food, Cybersecurity, Global Risks, Water
The distinction between temporary shocks and the chronic, long-term stress that affect urban areas is sometimes unclear. Social upheaval that seems to have been triggered unexpectedly is often underpinned by longstanding underlying tension. Indonesian riots in 1998, for example, were triggered by systemic and sustained problems in urban centres - such as widespread unemployment, food shortages, an escalating cost of living, and an increasingly bifurcated society along class and ethnic lines. Building urban resilience is a difficult process that requires good governance and significant capital investment. In many cities, resilience is hindered by geography; Jakarta is increasingly vulnerable to floods, as 40% of its land area is below sea level and generally over-developed. Other threats to resilience include viral epidemics, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome in the early 2000s that killed hundreds of people in Asia. It is likely that COVID-19 has been relatively well managed in Singapore, Taiwan, China, and China because these places experienced SARS, and have since boosted their urban pandemic resilience. In addition, natural hazards exacerbated by poor infrastructure and services (such as Hurricane Katrina in the US in 2005, which claimed thousands of lives) also continue to pose threats.
16 SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Briefing, October 2020
Latest knowledge Cornell University
Frontiers
Subsidized cars help low-income families economically, socially
More Than Food: The Social Benefits of Localized Urban Food Systems
01 October 2020
29 September 2020
Programs that help low-income families access and keep cars provide more than just economic benefits, according to new research by Nicholas Klein, assistant professor of city and regional planning.
Localized urban food systems are gaining attention from policy makers, planners, and advocates for benefits that go well beyond food production and consumption. Recognizing that agriculture, and food systems more broadly, provide multiple, integrated services, this study measures the social, educational, civic, and nutritional impacts of four common types of local food system activity in an urban setting. Specifically, we examine the outcomes of two common types of urban agricultural production (home gardens and community gardens) and two common types of direct markets (farmers' markets and Community Supported Agriculture programs or CSAs) through a survey of 424 gardeners and 450 direct market shoppers in California's San Francisco Bay Area.
Project Syndicate
A Cool New Energy-Efficiency Policy 30 September 2020 A single change in our approach to energy efficiency can enable more people around the world to stay cool, benefit consumers, and flatten the curve on cooling-related energy demand and emissions. If we want climate-friendly AC, we need to leap toward the technology ceiling, rather than hover just above the technology floor.
World Economic Forum
Geopolitics and investment in emerging markets after COVID-19
World Resources Institute
Green Space: An Underestimated Tool to Create More Equal Cities
25 September 2020
29 September 2020
The pandemic has opened up an opportunity for international investors and companies to invest in infrastructure in emerging markets.
The correlation between urban tree cover and income is well-documented in cities around the world, and is often a by-product of historic inequality. However, cities can proactively address inequality, build resilience and improve residents' lives by making green spaces more equitable.
SpringerOpen
COVID-19 and regional shifts in Swiss retail payments 25 September 2020
Project Syndicate
The Internal Combustion Bust
This paper analyzes card payments to the retail sector in Switzerland during the COVID-19 crisis. We provide evidence on aggregate effects and regional shifts. Pronounced shifts—which persisted post-lockdown—c...
29 September 2020 With or without a catastrophic pandemic and global recession, the trend in motorized transportation has long been shifting toward zero-carbon technologies. But the strategies that governments and industries adopt in the next few years will be decisive for humanity's longterm success in managing climate change.
17 SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Briefing, October 2020
Urban Infrastructure and Services Many cities faced serious obstacles to providing basic services even before the advent of COVID-19 More than 700 million urban residents have no access to Related insight areas: Future of Mobility, Real Estate, 5G, piped water, and more than one quarter of the world’s Infrastructure, Electricity, Water, Social Innovation, COVIDurban population lives in informal, haphazard settlements 19, Future of Energy, Innovation, Inclusive Design lacking the most basic infrastructure and services. Asia alone is projected to require $1.7 trillion per year in investment until 2030 to address infrastructure needs. Cities require a range of basic infrastructure and services in order to be viable: sanitation systems, power grids, roads, public transportation, housing, hospitals, and schools. Particularly in developing countries, cities face considerable challenges in providing this infrastructure, and accelerating development is essential to alleviate poverty and improve liveability. Establishing robust infrastructure and services is also necessary to boost resilience in the face of challenges like climate change and rising sea levels. The capacity of urban infrastructure is often overwhelmed by the cascading effects of rapid urbanization, sprawl, and demographic shifts - and the COVID-19 pandemic has only more clearly exposed gaps in many urban healthcare systems for both the rich and the poor. While no healthcare system could realistically cope with a pandemic of such magnitude comfortably, managing hospitals on the premise of full efficiency but with no excess capacity has worsened the pandemic in some cities. Weak urban governance and capital constraints can exacerbate these issues. As a result, cities from Australia to China, and from Europe to North America, have begun to rethink what is possible. New conceptions of sustainable urban forms include so-called compact cities, where high residential density and efficient public transportation are emphasized, and eco-cities specifically designed to curb carbon emissions. Some places have been able to harness technology and the non-governmental sector to address their issues. The Australian social enterprise Pollinate Energy, for example, has offered solar-powered products including water filters and clean cookstoves in Indian slums; six years after its founding, Pollinate Energy had provided tens of thousands of products to more than 20,000 families. Meanwhile the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has financed dozens of infrastructure projects collectively worth about $4 billion in developing countries since it was established in 2016 - including a public train line in Bangalore, and slum upgrades in Indonesia. China is meanwhile pushing its Belt and Road initiative, which is funding large infrastructure projects throughout cities on a massive scale including highways, ports, and IT systems, in a bid to strengthen ties with other countries in Asia and further afield.
18 SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Briefing, October 2020
Latest knowledge EOS
German Development Institute
Converging on Solutions to Plan Sustainable Cities
The transition towards a green economy and its implications for quality infrastructure
07 October 2020
29 September 2020 Climate change is imposing complex, interacting effects on every ecosystem around the world, and of course, there is more change to come. Problems associated with heat stress, food availability, energy security, air quality, water quality and availability, flooding, and sea level rise affect even the most remote areas, but these issues are amplified in urban areas [ Grimm et al., 2008], where many people already disproportionately experience disparities in health and economic and political equity [ Tessum et al., 2019]. There is a need to connect sustainability science more fully with efforts to address equity and justice issues and with the many sectors comprising the urban environs. Continuing rapid urban development will only intensify these disparities unless measures are taken to ameliorate them.
This study contributes to understanding the essential link between quality infrastructure (QI) and an effective transition towards a green economy. It explores green technologies diffusion in developing countries and what QI investments are needed to support, and benefit from, this green transition. GreenBiz
This is the moment to reimagine public transportation 29 September 2020 Back in April, the city of Seattle temporarily closed off nearly 20 miles of streets to most vehicular traffic in order to let residents bike, walk, jog and skate at a safe social distance during the height of the city’s COVID-19 pandemic. Seattle’s Stay Healthy Streets program was designed to encourage people to travel to essential services and small local businesses — or just to get outside for exercise or fun — at a time when many people felt anxious about doing so. While wildfires ravaging the West Coast and smoke clouding the air across Seattle create yet another barrier to getting outside, these hazy skies also underscore the importance of defending our air quality, right now and for years to come.
RAND Corporation
Developing Recovery Options for Puerto Rico's Economic and Disaster Recovery Plan 30 September 2020 This report summarizes the strategic planning process in support of the government of Puerto Rico in its development of a congressionally mandated recovery plan. Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization
World Economic Forum
An economist explains what COVID-19 has done to the global economy
Does Lockdown Policy Reduce Human Activity?
25 September 2020
29 September 2020 COVID-19 has caused an economic shock three times worse than the 2008 financial crisis - but the worst is probably behind us, according to Nariman Behravesh.
In this study, we empirically investigate how much human economic and social activity was decreased by the implementation of lockdown policy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We measure the magnitude of human activity using nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Our observations include daily NOx emissions in 173 countries between January 1 to through July 31, 2020. Our findings can be summarized as follows. Lockdown policy significantly decreased NOx emissions in low-income countries during the policy as well as postpolicy periods.
19 SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Briefing, October 2020
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2. Housing, Wealth and Affordability
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4. 3D Printing for Construction
8. Urban Infrastructure and Services
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20 SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Briefing, October 2020
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21 SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Briefing, October 2020
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