The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the growing inequalities in cities between those who have money and options to remain safe and employed and those who do not. It has exacerbated the effects of a long-standing urban services divide, with disastrous consequences. On one side of that divide are city dwellers who have access to crucial urban services and infrastructure; on the other side are those who lack running water and sanitation, electricity, decent housing, transport, and other amenities.
As the world continues to urbanize, how can growing cities in the global South ensure equitable access to urban services and opportunities and, in doing so, generate prosperity and environmental benefits for all? This flagship World Resources Report series, Towards a More Equal City, provides answers. Over five years, WRI developed a knowledge base culminating in a roadmap for sweeping, durable and transformative changes in the ways cities are built, managed and experienced.
This synthesis report builds on that work and presents new analysis that identifies common threads and effective strategies. It documents breakthrough innovations that cities have pioneered and reveals not only which solutions must be our highest priorities, but also how to implement them.