Figure 4.1 highlights how these synergies work together across the three dimensions. The figure shows how different components of each dimension can generate synergies (positive and negative) within and across dimensions. Examples include:


v infrastructure (green, blue and grey) and food systems strategies are vital to the first two dimensions as they have significant benefits in terms of circularity and climate, especially since resource efficiency can reduce latent stressors and enhance resilience (as noted in the UN-Habitat New Urban Agenda);


v urban form and nature-based solutions are key to the first two dimensions, since they can enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability linked to inequalities;


v drives for efficiency in the use of resources and in energy may generate trade-offs if the redundancies of the sociotechnical systems critical to urban resilience are not considered;


v urban revegetation can have negative impacts, such as propagating allergies that affect public health;


v progress in the first two dimensions may be limited without effective changes in governance, as outlined in the third dimension, to build local capacity to act in bold ways that are equitable, inclusive and transparent, recognizing the ties that bind cities and nature.


To accelerate urban transformation towards more liveable cities where urban dwellers fully participate in local governance, live in healthier and more resilient communities and enjoy more equitable access to efficient public services and economic opportunities, every city will need to work through all three dimensions, including their components and interactions. However, they will need to do so at the intensities and temporal and spatial scales that respond to their own priorities, needs, capacities and governance. Advancing all dimensions of integrated urban action as a whole multiplies their potential benefits, working across linkages to explore unique opportunities and enhancing positive synergies or potential multi-benefits or avoiding negative outcomes. Chapter 5 discusses specific pathways for achieving each dimension in greater depth.


4.3.2 Localizing global urban agendas


A key challenge facing cities and urban regions around the world is to effectively contribute to key global and regional agreements and agendas that support the future urban vision proposed here or adapt them to their local context (Figure 4.4). The three integrated dimensions described in this chapter are consistent with the normative principles of sustainability, equity, resilience and others included in the aforementioned global agreements. Most of these agreements explicitly or implicitly mention the role of action at the city level, meaning they can help guide cities in their efforts to contribute to avoiding global tipping points.


The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a comprehensive international agenda that includes specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many of them relate


84 GEO for Cities


to cities and SDG 11 explicitly covers urban environments. The 2030 Agenda also supports other global agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework, the New Urban Agenda and the forthcoming New Deal for Nature, which supports the post-2020 global biodiversity framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (McDonald et al. 2018; ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability [ICLEI] and Cities Biodiversity Centre 2020). The task is to localize these agreements with aggregate policies and strategies and coordinate forward-looking measures by governments, city networks, coalitions of mayors, international and regional development banks, academia, the private sector and civil society (for guidelines and tools, see UNEP 2020c). This bottom-up process, which starts with cities, is a critical pathway to meet multilateral environmental agreements simultaneously promoted at multiple levels, from international agencies, through national, state and provincial levels of governance, all the way down to the urban and metropolitan levels.


These efforts show the interlinkages and potential synergies between different global agendas and the role of cities in achieving goals. Examples include the Sustainable Cities Impact Programme, funded through the Global Environment Facility-7 by UNEP in collaboration with C40, ICLEI and the World Resources Institute (Global Environment Facility 2020). Current reporting of climate action by cities in the context of global agreements and agendas (for example, C40, the Voluntary Local Review process for the SDGs and the Carbonn Center) are also valuable, as they reveal the many different realities of cities around the world. Finally, cities such as Copenhagen, Johannesburg, Montreal, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul and Sydney , among others, are already taking their own steps to counter the impacts of climate change, mitigating GHG emissions and promoting adaptation (Seto et al. 2014; ICLEI 2018; C40 Cities and Arup 2020; Delgado Ramos et al. 2020). Figure 4.4 shows how the three dimensions are linked to regional and global agreements.


4.4 From city visions to realities: transformative pathways to change


Achieving the cities of the future based on the dimensions outlined in the chapter will not be without its challenges. While these examples of future cities set out a general direction – and even constitute a paradigm shift – they must be grounded in practical and wide-ranging realities. Making the dimensions a reality requires not only identifying potential challenges, but also adopting a creative approach to devise solutions on different timescales while working together across cities, developing durable capacities and robust local governance systems, and encouraging urban residents to adopt novel everyday practices that support the future cities envisioned in this chapter.


The extent of the challenge will depend on how the transformation goals for cities will be set and their level of ambition. Another key issue is the capacities – in terms of resources and expertise – currently possessed by cities and nations and that can be used to achieve and implement


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