Making Cities Work Better for Everyone

More than half the world’s population lives in cities. Urban areas are engines of economic growth and innovation — but also huge consumers of resources.

How cities are designed and governed affects quality of life for billions of people. Over the next 30 years, 2.5 billion people and as many as 1 billion more vehicles will be added to urban centers. Three-quarters of the infrastructure that will exist in cities by 2050 has yet to be built.

Cities are at a critical inflection point: Decisions made today will determine whether we continue on a path of fractured, unsafe, polluting growth, or succeed in creating a sustainable, resilient, more inclusive future.

WRI sees this moment as an opportunity for transformative change. We help decision-makers navigate competing tensions to shape a future where cities work better for everyone.

Our network of local and international experts work in more than 100 cities across 75 countries. We produce practical, data-driven research on how fast-growing urban areas can sustainably deliver core services like transport, housing, clean water and sanitation to all residents. We work hand-in-hand with local leaders to advance solutions ranging from electric mobility to air quality improvements to better urban land use. And we forge long-term partnerships and coalitions to ensure that cities not only create change, but sustain it.