While many cities are hubs of economic growth, employment, and cultural life, urbanization has resulted in pronounced socioeconomic inequalities, exclusion, and segregation. The objective of this gender issue guide on urban planning and design is to:

• Increase understanding of gender concerns and needs in urban planning and design;
• Develop capacity to address gender issues in select human settlement areas 
• Encourage integration of gender perspectives into policies, projects, and programmes for sustainable urban development 
• Support institutionalization of the culture of gender mainstreaming and gender equality through the implementation of gender-sensitive projects/programmes and the monitoring of gender mainstreaming progress

Ethiopia remains one of the least urbanized countries in Africa and almost 80 per cent of the population reside in rural areas where they eke out a living from subsistence agriculture. However, rapid population growth, a sluggish agricultural performance and increased rural-urban migration have been countering this. The pace of urban growth is expected to  accelerate in the coming decades and this will largely be in small- and medium-size cities with low resilienceto climate change shocks.

This publication (in the form of a Strategy Paper) highlights the global problem of slums and advocates for using streets as tools for urban transformation. A street-led approach to citywide slum upgrading is promoted which advocates for a shift from piecemeal project based to programme scale upgrading. This publication draws from many slum upgrading experiences worldwide and encourages a relatively easy to implement approach. It views slums as integral parts of a city system which are spatially segregated and disconnected due to an absence of streets and open spaces. Therefore, taking advantage of streets as the natural conduits that connect slums with the city, UN-Habitat suggests a fundamental shift towards the opening of streets as the driving force for citywide slum upgrading.

Las proyecciones de crecimiento de la población urbana en todo el mundo nos dicen que entre 2000 y 2050, será necesario duplicar la cantidad de espacio urbano en los países desarrollados y deberá ser expandido en 326 por ciento en los países en desarrollo para dar cabida a la gente.6 Esto es equivalente a la construcción de una ciudad del tamaño de Londres cada mes durante los próximos 40 años. Los gobiernos locales tendrán que administrar este crecimiento y la repercusión del mismo sobre las fi nanzas municipales.

También tendrán que hacer frente a la desigualdad social resultante y deberán hacer planes para reducir la degradación del medio ambiente y hacer frente a los efectos del cambio climático.El hecho de que este crecimiento de la población ocurra en gran medida en las ciudades intermedias, con poca capacidad de recursos humanos y presupuestos limitados, agravará el problema.

In Inglés

Urban Planning for City Leaders is a valuable source of information, inspiration and ideas on urban planning that is designed for city leaders and decision makers at a critical moment in human history. Predicted human population growth over the next 50 years will have immense consequences for all cities, in particular intermediate cities with populations of up to two million people.

Developed countries will need to double the amount of urban space they have by 2050 to accommodate the expected numbers of people, whereas developing countries will need to expand their urban space by more than 300 per cent.

This publication is also available in Spanish.