Urban Chances, City Growth and The Sustainability Challenge: Chance2Sustain is a research programme that examined how governments and citizens in cities with differing patterns of urban economic growth make use of participatory (or integrated) spatial knowledge management to direct urban governance towards more sustainable development. Participatory spatial knowledge management is the main concept used to study this issue, as it reflects a strategic resource, which all stakeholders can contribute to urban governance processes towards sustainable development.

It includes both expert knowledge and several forms of non-expert knowledge, such as knowledge from (working) experience (tacit), embedded sectoral knowledge, and social (or community-based) knowledge at the  neighbourhood and city-wide level. Participatory processes of urban planning and management are strategic in eliciting these forms of spatially disaggregated (of specific) knowledge, which are usually not acknowledged in topdown, expert-driven models of urban governance and planning. Utilizing participatory spatial knowledge can make urban governance and planning more effective and gain wider acceptance, by incorporating both expert and local community knowledge. Although participatory spatial knowledge management is increasingly used in urban planning processes, its success depends on external political and economic conditions.

A legal framework providing for fiscal decentralisation and funding, for instance, is a strategic support. The influence of various external conditions has not yet been analysed much locally, and certainly not comparatively across different socio-political contexts, although it is a strategic question, given the inherent trade-offs and potential  political conflicts in combining environmental, social and economic goals (within sustainable development). Therefore, the programme focused on ten cities with contrasting economic and political conditions, with the main scientific objective of developing a model on participatory spatial knowledge management to direct urban governance to sustainable development.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) was a dissemination partner for the research programme. This report summarizes the findings of the research and contains two policy briefs targeted at policy makers and practitioners.

In 2012, UN-Habitat launched its Global Public Space Programme, now active in more than 75 cities across the world, with the objective to promote public spaces as a keystone for sustainable cities in order to ensure good quality of life for all. 

The Global Public Space Programme is a consolidated and integrated approach to public space improvement across UN-Habitat. Over the last seven years, we have developed an iterative approach to public space that includes a variety of normative and operational tools, methodologies and practices that support local and national governments and other partners to make public spaces more safe, inclusive, accessible and green. This includes public space assessments, policy guides, strategies and design principles, capacity building, participatory tools, technology and innovation projects and carrying out advocacy work and actual implementation.

Together with local government and civil society partners, the programme has implemented more than 105 concrete public space upgrading projects selected through annual expressions of interests. Our work has been proven to be effective in achieving social, economic and environmental benefits. The good policy and practices that we have on a global level is shared through a network of more than hundred partner organizations.

This document attempts to capture the early history and institutional memory on gender equality and women's empowerment work in UN-Habitat.

It describes its evolution and early processes and significant milestones that shaped it. It also endeavors to capture some of the most influential external trends and events as well as the significant partners involved.

This publication of Financing for Resilient and Green Urban Solutions in Zhoushan, China in examines the status of housing and urban infrastructure and how much investment is needed. The assessment particularly considered the status of housing finance instruments and costs, as well as the roles of local and national governments in facilitating investments. The report was also anchored on determining whether the identified investment needs address resilient housing and infrastructure and assessed challenges to financing such green urban solutions in Zhoushan, China.

It also examines the financial instruments and their impacts on the financial systems and identifies potential practical projects.

This publication of Financing for Resilient and Green Urban Solutions in Beira, Mozambique in examines the status of housing and urban infrastructure and how much investment is needed. The assessment particularly considered the status of housing finance instruments and costs, as well as the roles of local and national governments in facilitating investments. The report was also anchored on determining whether the identified investment needs address resilient housing and infrastructure and assessed challenges to financing such green urban solutions in Beira, Mozambique.

It also examines the financial instruments and their impacts on the financial systems and identifies potential practical projects.

This report: Financing for Resilient and Green Urban Solutions in Mombasa, Kenya examines the status of housing and urban infrastructure and how much investment

is needed. The assessment particularly considered the status of housing finance instruments and costs, as well as the roles of local and national governments in facilitating investments. The report was also anchored on determining whether the identified investment needs address resilient housing and infrastructure and assessed challenges to financing such green urban solutions in Mombasa City and in Kenya in general.

It also examines the financial instruments and their impacts on the financial systems and identifies potential practical projects.

This report: Financing for Resilient and Green Urban Solutions in Cebu, Philippines examines the status of housing and urban infrastructure and how much investment

is needed. The assessment particularly considered the status of housing finance instruments and costs, as well as the roles of local and national governments in facilitating investments. The report was also anchored on determining whether the identified investment needs address resilient housing and infrastructure and assessed challenges to financing such green urban solutions in Cebu City and in the Philippines in general.

It also examines the financial instruments and their impacts on the financial systems and identifies potential practical projects.

Global commitment to the inclusive right to adequate housing was renewed at the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III. Housing will hence prove central to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11: ‘Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’.

Across the  Arab region, around 18 % of residents live under each country’s national poverty line, with significant variation between the Gulf countries, which have an average per capita income of USD 29,000, and the Southern Tier countries (not including Somalia), which have an average per capita income of USD 1,300. Also significant disparities continue to exist between rural and urban areas. Informal Settlements have become the reflection of the mirror of poverty and lack of access to adequate housing.

Slums versus informal settlements: the term 'slum' is a "general context to describe a wide range of low-income settlements and/or poor human living conditions". Different criteria are used to define slums include physical, spatial, social and behavioral criterion. Informal or spontaneous settlements are settlements whereby persons, or squatters, assert land rights or occupy for exploitation of land which is not registered in their names, or government land, or land legally owned by other individuals. Squatters are people who occupy land or buildings without the explicit permission of the owner. The structures and location of the informal settlements of the region are characterized by two different patterns: substandard or makeshift structures in central slums, hazardous, and unsafe locations or suburban areas lacking access to basic services; and unplanned urban expansion mostly through the subdivision of agricultural land in violation of existing codes.

At this stage of the analysis, the data collection process was limited. It is based on two elements:

• A questionnaire filled by National focal points in some countries with variable quality and comprehensiveness of the information provided.
• Data based on literature review and research networks.
• Two-days Consultation workshop with representation from most Arab countries, development partners and civil society organizations where the data prepared was presented, discussed and further information was gathered in parallel thematic groups.

This report provides an overview of the status of informal settlements in the main Arab countries where data was accessible; explores the reasons of emergence, national definitions and forms of informality, national responding approaches and strategies; in addition to highlighting some useful case studies from these countries. This overview provides guidance to national governments by offering a preliminary framework for the preparation of national or local informal settlement upgrading strategies grounded in international and regional best practices and recognizing approaches and regional and national challenges.

The analysis of the different countries focused on the potential lessons learned through highlighting the  advancement level of their public policies responding to informal settlements, the mapping processes of their informal settlements, their physical state and socio-economic situations, the presence of pilot projects, and the involvement of the private sector or innovative finance mechanisms in the upgrading process.

Despite the data limitation, the review and analysis presented by country  conducted in this report enabled some observations on the common and specific challenges, the importance of social and economic aspects of informality, the need for innovative financial and governance mechanisms, and the importance of participation for sustainable strategies and programmes. The review of all approaches that have been addressed in different Arab countries and the examples of the different projects could be concluded in such in some main items as follows: The investment, financial and environmental impacts in most of cases not been tackled and there was concentration on the physical, and sometime social, aspects only. The sustainability of development aspects (financial, social, environmental) of projects has not been addressed in most of cases and there will be risks of sustainability of the development of the projects in future. This would emphasize the need for an integrated development approach to be embraced in development of informal settlement.

The overview also shows large possibility of cross learning among the region, specifically between comparable countries, or those whose political or governance situations are similar. The conclusion also highlights key cross cutting issues that have to be mainstreamed in upgrading approaches and programmes, namely: environment, migration and displacement, finance, gender, participation and local government.

Finally, the report lays out the way forward towards the formulation of the new programme -to be launched in WUF 10- “Towards Arab Cities without Informal areas” where this report and analysis present the first step, followed by the launch of a call for Arab cities to join the first phase of the programme supported by UN-Habitat in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank. The regional programme will continue to learn from early implementation phases to support progressing of Arab cities that are inclusive, resilient and productive; integrating various sustainable goals and programs to ensure leaving no one, and nowhere behind.

Political upheaval or violent conflict is often characterised by a fundamental failure of governance, and the destruction of local economies, and yet in the aftermath of conflict people reconstruct their livelihoods and rebuild urban services through informal mechanisms of survival and support. This report explores the response of the urban informal economy to urban crises, its role in poverty reduction, peace building and development in post-conflict cities, and its scope as a platform for economic recovery and resilience. With a focus on urban areas in post-civil war settings, and on cities affected by ongoing turf wars, the research explores the complex drivers of conflict and the resilience and recovery of the informal economy.

The report is a synthesis of a three-year research project on Economic Recovery in Post-Conflict Cities: The Role of the Urban Informal Economy, funded under the DFID-ESRC Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research (Project ES-M008789-1). Fieldwork was carried out in five cities: Cali, Colombia; Dohuk, N. Iraq; Hargeisa, Somaliland; Karachi, Pakistan, and Kathmandu, Nepal. Each city was selected to explore the different facets of conflict and violence in order to study the informal economy’s crisis response in the widest possible contexts