SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Recent global policy discourses orchestrated under the aegis of the United Nations, such as the Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030) and the New Urban Agenda of UN Habitat, stress upon the need for concerted focus at the city and the community scale – not only to achieve long-term developmental objectives but also to make direct tangible benefits to the quality of lives of the people. The world at large is gradually taking an urban turn, as more and more people are moving to the cities. Cities account for 55% of the population, produce 85% of the global GDP but also 75% of the greenhouse gas emissions. The issues of global sustainability cannot be addressed, without strongly addressing sustainability at the urban scale. This chapter focuses on SDG 11 as the analytical framework to explore how the transformative force of urbanization represents opportunity and challenge to meet several other sustainability challenges, such as SDG 1 (poverty reduction), SDG 4 (education), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 8 (economic growth) and SDG 13 (climate action). The research highlights research and action points for urban governance systems to mainstream sustainability concerns through their local planning and development mechanism.