Summary for city-level decision makers


It is clear from the analysis provided in this second edition of GEO for Cities that cities have the potential to drive progress towards the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve this, cities must be designed or redesigned to use resources in an environmentally sustainable way and become more resilient, inclusive and just places. This potential can be fulfilled by adopting the transformative visions and pathways towards implementation presented in this report, to make cities beacons for others to follow.


Cities are diverse places of exchange, continuously interacting both internally and with other places. It is through these interactions that urban innovation is possible. In this process, cities can significantly transform their own environments and societies while also impacting places beyond their immediate urban environment.


Urbanization continues to increase across the globe, but growth and prosperity are unequally distributed. While megacities remain economically, socially and ecologically important, growth is also accelerating in small and medium- sized cities, especially in developing countries. Inequality within and between cities affects human health and well- being, as well as the environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this inequality.


However, all cities have difficulty managing these interactions and challenges sustainably. They are faced with multiple dimensions of ecological, social and economic dynamics that reinforce unsustainable trajectories. Several factors “lock” cities into an unsustainable status quo, including:


1. the prevalence of the static political economy, often leading to capture of governance systems by vested interests;


2. the dominance of business-as-usual models of urban planning that tend to focus on controlling, taming or exploiting nature; and


3. the complex and multi-level governance systems to which cities belong and within which they operate. These factors vary across cities but have slowed transformational progress to date.


Global environmental challenges are affecting cities. The conditions under which cities have developed and currently function are changing. Global changes (for example, climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution) have direct impacts at the city level. There is an urgent need to consider the implications of these transformations in urban contexts. Global environmental challenges also affect the value of essential city infrastructure and the quality of life of urban residents. Environmental changes in air, fresh water, biodiversity, oceans, coasts and land, even in far-flung but connected places, affect human aspects such as health, equity and food security at the city level.


Cities also impact all three environmental crises: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Urban activities contribute to current environmental degradation, both within and


10 GEO for Cities


beyond their boundaries. These environmental impacts primarily result from energy and material use in cities (particularly in transport and buildings), increasing consumption patterns, including for food, and the generation and management of waste. Although enough data and information currently exist to allow cities to take important actions, gaps in data quantity and quality could be filled that would help refine urban planning and environmental management at the city level. Urban environment planning and management needs to consider ecological processes and nature-based solutions for all city inhabitants, both human and non-human.


Some cities are using various governance processes to build more environmentally sustainable and equitable futures. These approaches are built on


1. inclusive, publicly engaged decision-making; 2. partnerships and coalition-based governance; and 3. institutionalization for longevity and scaling up. The success of these approaches depends on time- and place-specific factors.


Using these approaches, urban planning and overall city management become important tools for changing the sustainability performance of cities. Urban planning and city management need to consider the complexity, diversity and interconnections within and beyond cities in order to change the current trends and simultaneously achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals.


GEO for Cities presents a vision of environmentally sustainable and just cities that recognizes the diversity of cities and will help guide these urban transformations. The goals in the vision and the associated dimensions presented in this report are consistent with global conventions and agreements related to development, sustainability, disaster prevention, resilience, reducing biodiversity loss and pollution and addressing climate change. Linked to this future urban vision and its dimensions are transformation pathways tailored to local and regional specificities, priorities and capacities; these are presented in the form of a set of proposed transitional actions associated with each dimension.


Cities must be part of the solution to environmental and climate crises. If it is implemented quickly, the broad, flexible vision for environmentally sustainable and just cities will allow cities to lead the transformation called for in the United Nations Environment Programme’s Sixth Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-6) and help avoid irreversible tipping points. This vision is based on strong scientific evidence, case studies, and forward-looking ideas about how changes in policy, practice and behaviour could lead to environmentally sustainable and just cities. With this vision, we identify three main areas of urban action – or urban dimensions – involving


1. low carbon, energy and material efficiency as well as circularity;


2. resilience and sustainability; and


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