As the world continues to urbanize it is also becoming metropolitan. Whether horizontal spreading, dispersed urbanization or periurbanization, the physical extent of urban areas is growing much faster than their population, thereby consuming more land for urban development. Those phenomena have made many cities grown beyond the boundaries of their central municipality or “city proper” configuring bigger and denser metropolises. This is a trend still present in all world regions and affecting...

This paper on the use of artificial intelligence in cities is part of UN-Habitat’s strategy for guiding local authorities in realizing a people-centered digital transformation process in their cities and settlements.

El caso del Área Metropolitana de San Salvador (AMSS) es inspirador. El trabajo conjunto que realizan sus 14 municipios le ha permitido al AMSS ser la única en El Salvador y Centro América en consolidar sus marcos legales y políticas públicas de largo plazo, habilitando la gobernanza, planificación y financiamiento integrados y coordinados.

The Urban Recovery Framework (URF) is a key instrument to enhance responses to urban crises. The aim of the URF is to create an enabling environment for more effective recovery in urban areas, affected by natural or man-made crises, including conflict. It clarifies institutional and multi-level governance arrangements, policies and plans, the coordination mechanisms and the financing instruments needed to drive and steer the implementation of immediate and medium-term urban recovery intervention

The 2022 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR 2022) entitled ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’ describes the challenges and opportunities associated with the development, management and governance of groundwater across the world.
UN-Habitat contributed Chapter 4 of the Report on ‘Groundwater for Human Settlements’. The Chapter gives an overview of groundwater supply for domestic uses (including drinking water) in both urban and rural settings.

University partnerships are key to UN-Habitat’s ‘centre of excellence’ aspiration. They can act as drivers of capacity building, innovation, and urban change. These partnerships are enacted through a wide array of knowledge products and across a vast geography of collaborations internationally. A reform and enhancement of Habitat UNI, as the university partnership initiative of UN-Habitat, could be pivotal to reap the benefits of this multifaceted engagement.

Building on the 2018 Edmonton Cities and Climate Change Science Conference and the resulting Global Research and Action Agenda (GRAA) on Cities and Climate Change Science, the Innovate4Cities 2021 Conference (I4C 2021) focused on the nexus of science, practice, and innovation – including local challenges, priority needs, and cross-sector opportunities to realize ambitious climate action.

Adequate housing is a right of every person — regardless of age, gender, race or income level — and is the foundation for all human development, well-being and survival, as recognized by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR.