Sustainable Development Goals UNDP SDG Booklet, 7x5inches for DG_final | Page 39

GOAL 11: SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
Make cities and human settlements
inclusive, safe, resilient and
sustainable
Makati skyline (Credit: UNDP)
If you’re like most people, you live in a city. More than half the world’s
population now lives in cities, and that figure will go to about two-
thirds of humanity by the year 2050. Cities are getting bigger. In 1990
there were ten “mega cities” with 10 million inhabitants or more. In
2014, there were 28 mega cities, home to 453 million people. Incredi-
ble, huh? A lot of people love cities; they’re centers of culture and busi-
ness and life. The thing is, they’re also often centers of extreme poverty.
To make cities sustainable for all, we can create good, affordable public
housing. We can upgrade slum settlements. We can invest in public
transport, create green spaces and get a broader range of people
involved in urban planning decisions. That way, we can keep the things
we love about cities and change the things we don’t.
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