Urban planning - Building back better human settlement through innovative spatial planning- Affordable Housing: A Strategic Approach for Ultimate Concrete Actions by Prof. Tal Edgars

By 2030 the global urban population will have doubled, adding 2 billion more people to cities. The size of built-up areas will have tripled from what it was in 2000. Every year people move into cities. If managed well, urbanization can create enormous opportunities: allowing innovation and new ideas to emerge, saving energy, land and natural resources, managing climate and the risk of disasters. Globally, almost 80 % of GDP is generated in cities. It will be difficult for any country to reach middle-income status and beyond without getting urbanization right.

Urbanization creates opportunities. But cities also consume around 70% of the world’s energy and account for nearly 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.