SDG Goals
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
We are witnessing that more than 50% of us live in cities. Two-thirds of all humanity—6.5 billion people—will be urban, by 2050. Without significantly transforming the way we manage and build our urban spaces; sustainable development cannot be achieved.
Rising populations and increasing migration are the results of the rapid growth of cities. This has led to a boom in mega-cities, especially in the slums and in the developing world is becoming a more significant feature of urban life.
Creating business opportunities and career safe and affordable housing, and building resilient societies and economies, these are all meant in making cities sustainable.
Facts and Figures:
- 1 In 2018, 4.2 billion people, 55% of the world's population, lived in cities. By 2050, the urban population is expected to reach 6.5 billion.
- 2 Cities occupy just 3% of the Earth’s land but account for 60 to 80% of energy consumption and at least 70% of carbon emissions.
- 3 828 million people are estimated to live in slums, and the number is rising.
- 4 In 1990, there were 10 cities with 10 million people or more; by 2014, the number of mega-cities rose to 28, and was expected to reach 33 by 2018. In the future, 9 out of 10 mega-cities will be in the developing world.
- 5 In the coming decades, 90% of urban expansion will be in the developing world.
- 6 The economic role of cities is significant. They generate about 80% of the global GDP.
