Achieving more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities is part of the great challenge behind Sustainable Development Goal 11

The world is changing very rapidly, and we, its citizens, are changing with it. We live in an increasingly urbanized planet, where cities are becoming the nerve centers of economic and demographic growth; they also concentrate the decision-making power of nations. Today, more than half of the world’s population – 3.5 billion people – live in cities, and 60% of global GDP is located in them, representing 75% of the planet’s carbon emissions and more than 60% of resource use. If we compare these figures with those from the beginning of the 20th century, when only 13% of the population lived in cities, and we take into account the forecasts for 2030, when 5 billion people will live in cities, we can see why it is crucial for cities to be more inclusive, safer, more resilient and, fundamentally, more sustainable from an environmental point of view. This is where Sustainable Development Goal 11 comes in.

This SDG 11 focuses on the importance that cities have and will have in the development of society. The rapid growth of these cities is putting our societies in check, especially in developing countries, which will account for 95% of the expansion of urban land in the coming decades. And currently, 883 million people live in slums, mainly in East and Southeast Asia.

Consider massive cities, with precarious infrastructure, inadequate services, poor waste and sanitation management, unsustainable pressure on water resources… Populations with a terrible quality of life – 90% of the world’s city dwellers breathed air that did not meet the safety standards established by the World Health Organization, causing a total of 4.2 million deaths due to air pollution. Cities where the old dream of a single-family home, with a private garden and swimming pool, has passed away, replaced by a more efficient or lucrative concept of a vertical city (cities occupy only 3% of the earth’s land). Denser cities, with less land area and looking more towards the sky to free up space. Conditions that could have a negative impact on human life and the environment, and to prevent this from happening, the future of billions of people requires a strategy for a better quality of life.

This is where we need to look towards the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, which lay out a roadmap for these cities to look out for the community, trying to make them friendlier spaces where the services and resources we need are accessible and sustainable, promoting local and the sharing economy. A healthier and more sustainable model.

What are the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 11?

11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums

11.2 By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all and enhance road safety, including through expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of people in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons

11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries

11.4 Redouble efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

11.5 By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths from and people affected by disasters, including water-related disasters, and substantially reduce the direct economic losses from disasters compared to global gross domestic product, with special emphasis on the protection of the poor and people in vulnerable situations

11.6 By 2030, reduce the negative per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management

11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities disability

11.a Support positive economic, social and environmental linkages between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning

11.b By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements that adopt and implement integrated policies and plans to promote inclusion, resource efficiency, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and disaster resilience, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, comprehensive disaster risk management at all levels

11.c Provide support to least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, to enable them to construct sustainable and resilient buildings using sustainable and resilient materials local

How expensive is it to develop SDG 11?

Although we now know the roadmap, it is essential to consider these actions from a cost-benefit perspective. Carrying out the necessary actions requires a considerable investment, but organizations such as the United Nations maintain that their benefits are enormous in terms of economic activity, quality of life, the environment, and the medium- to long-term success of a city. An example of this is investment in a functional public transport network, which has been shown to be one of the points with the greatest return on socioeconomic levels.