What is urban governance and why does it matter? This topic guide introduces the literature on urban governance and its relationship to growth and poverty reduction. It considers the key debates and issues, and sets out some implications for practice on specific urban governance challenges.
The 21st century has been referred to as the first urban century. More than 50% of the world’s population live in urban areas. Rapid urbanisation has been identified as both an opportunity and a global challenge. Urban centres drive economic growth and offer economies of scale in productivity and public investment; they are social melting pots, centres of innovation and drivers of social change. However, cities can also be marked by inequality, poverty, conflict, violence and environmental degradation.
Links
Resource collections
- Evaluating humanitarian action
- UN Habitat - Urban Response Collection
- Urban Response - Urban Crisis Preparedness and Risk Reduction
- Urban Response Collection - Community Engagement and Social Cohesion
- Urban Response Collection - Economic Recovery
- Urban Response Collection - Environment and Climate Change
- Urban Response Collection - Housing, Land and Property
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Crisis Response, Recovery and Reconstruction
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Resilience
