New WRI research shows that cities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are expanding outward rather than vertically. As these places grow in population, continuing their unwieldy expansion outward could push them into economic, environmental and social crises.
cities
Upward and Outward Growth: Managing Urban Expansion for More Equitable Cities in the Global South
Urban areas are expected to triple in size between 2000 and 2030. Unmanaged urban expansion increases the costs of service provision, deepens spatial inequities, and imposes heavy economic and environmental burdens. New analysis on 499 cities’ urban expansion confirm the challenge of rapid...
Residents in Surat, India are dealing with frequent flooding, heavy monsoon rains and extreme heat. But they’re also learning to adapt to these extremes.
Bike shares, electric scooters, ride-hailing services and other "micromobility" options are exploding. But governments can’t afford to sit back and be spectators – they need to ensure that this mobility revolution benefits everyone.
Designing Sustainable Cities: What About the People?
February 14, 2019
The Evolution of Bike Sharing: 10 Questions on the Emergence of New Technologies, Opportunities, and Risks
This working paper seeks to provide decision makers at the city level a series of frequently asked questions and responses in order to assess the adoption and implementation of bike sharing. It is not designed to be a comprehensive guide to bike-sharing implementation, nor is it meant to provide...
Johannesburg: Confronting Spatial Inequality
This case study in the World Resources Report, “Towards a More Equal City,” examines transformative urban change in Johannesburg, South Africa, through transit-oriented development (TOD). The paper reviews the evidence on whether Johannesburg’s TOD strategy...
Like many other big, developing cities, South Africa's largest city struggles with spatial inequality, where good jobs and affordable housing are mismatched. To bridge the gap, they've turned to a new planning paradigm called transit-oriented development.
Cities in Brazil, India and Indonesia are using the new Urban Community Resilience Assessment tool to prepare for a warmer world.
Prepared Communities
Implementing the Urban Community Resilience Assessment in Vulnerable Neighborhoods of Three Cities
Climate change affects poor and marginalized communities first and hardest. Particularly in cities, a lack of access to basic services, a long history of unsustainable urban development, and political exclusion render the urban poor one of the most vulnerable groups to climate induced natural...
