This document discusses strategies for making cities more sustainable, productive, green and equitable. It argues that most urban growth is occurring in the global south, in cities like Kolkata, India, and that current development patterns risk locking cities into car-dependent and sprawling forms that hurt productivity, increase emissions and deepen inequality. However, compact and connected development centered around high-quality public transport can make cities more competitive, green and improve quality of life for all. The document calls for prioritizing such transformative solutions in cities to achieve climate goals and a more equitable urban future.

1. TRANSFORMATIVE
SOLUTIONS:
CITIES FOR PEOPLE
PHOTO: JESS KRAFT/SHUTTERSTOCK
ANI DASGUPTA | GLOBAL DIRECTOR, WRI ROSS CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES
May 24, 2016

2. 2
Photo by Stephen Bugno/Flickr.
GDP per capita: $1,110
(2014)
Population : 5.02 million
Poverty Rate: 25%
KOLKATA, INDIA

3. 3
Photo by: VnGrijl/Flickr
KOLKATA HAS BEEN MAKING STREETS WIDER TO
ACCOMMODATE GROWING NUMBER OF CARS

4. 4
Photo by: VnGrijl/Flickr
NARROW SIDEWALKS FORCE PEOPLE ONTO
STREETS, SLOWING TRAFFIC FURTHER

5. 5
CYCLING BANNED TO MAKE ROOM FOR CARS
ON MAIN STREETS

6. 6
Photo by Nicolas Mirguet/Flickr
ONLY 8% PEOPLE IN KOLKATA DRIVE CARS
25% WALK OR CYCLE

7. 7
CHOICES TODAY CREATE PATH DEPENDENCIES FOR DECADES TO
COME
Source: IIHS,2011,hp://iihs.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/IUC-Book.pdf

8. 8
LOW DENSITY SPRAWL AT THE URBAN FRINGE
Selected findings, Kolkata urban fringe,
1990-2014:
• Share of residential area in atomistic housing: 92.1±7.4%;
• Share of the built-up area in roads and boulevards:
8.4±2.2%; and
• Share of roads less than 4m. wide: 66.7±13.3%
Residential development on the urban fringe of Kolkata,
India1(1990-2014)
Source: Sholomo Angel

9. THE FUTURE IS MORE LIKE KOLKATA THAN
BERLIN – PROJECTED URBAN GROWTH 2030
Note: 1692 urban agglomerations.
Source: World Resources Report
Data Source: World Urbanization Prospects 2014; World Bank country classification.

10. (N=769 cities)
WITH GROWTH MOSTLY IN AFRICA AND
SOUTH ASIA 2015-2030
Source: World Resources Report
Data Source: Oxford Economics

11. CITIES ARE GROWING MOST RAPIDLY IN
LOWER- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES
Note: 1692 urban agglomerations
Source: World Resources Report
Data Sources: World Urbanization Prospects 2014; World Bank country classification
11

12. COMPARISON OF CITY POPULATION AND BUDGET PER CAPITA IN CITIES
IN GLOBAL SOUTH AND NORTH
Source: World Resources Report
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
City population (1000s) Budget per capita (USD)

13. HOW WE BUILD CITIES MATTERS
Source: LSE research, drawing on data from Atlanta Regional Commission (2014), Autoritat del Transport
Metropolita (Area de Barcelona) (2013), GenCat (2013), UCSB (2014), D’Onofrio (2014), based on latest data.
Atlanta’s built-up area Barcelona’s built-up area
Population: 5.26 million
Total area: 16,605 km2
Urban area: 7692 km2
Transport emissions: 6.9 tonnes CO2 p.c.
Traffic fatalities: 564 per year
Population: 5 million
Total area: 3263 km2
Urban area: 648 km2
Transport emissions: 1.2 tonnes CO2 p.c.
Traffic fatalities: 31 per year
ATLANTA BARCELONA

14. WHAT STRATEGIES WILL AVOID LOCK-IN?
Source: World Bank
Short-Term Capital Stock
Long-Term Capital Stock
Infrastructure
Land Use and Urban Form
10-15 years
15-40 years
30-75+ years
100+
years
14

15. 15
SO, HOW DO WE TRANSFORM FROM HERE…
Photo: Mexico City

16. 16
…TO HERE?
Photo: Andreas/Flickr
16

17. GROWING CONSENSUS IS ON COMPACT AND
CONNECTED CITIES

18. SCALING UP INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IS POSSIBLE
IN CITIES
Source: Dalkmann, WRI

19. STRATEGIES WE CHOOSE HAVE TO MAKE CITIES
MORE:
PRODUCTIVE
GREEN
EQUAL

20. ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY
Photo: Benoit Colin/WRI

21. CITIES ARE ENGINES OF GROWTH
AND PROSPERITY
SOURCE: McKinsey Global Institute, Population Division of the United Nations; Angus Maddison via Timetrics;
Global Insight; Census reports of England and Wales; Honda in Steckel & Floud,1997; Bairoch, 1975
65%
global GDP
growth in
major cities

22. TRAFFIC CONGESTION HURTS PRODUCTIVITY
Sources: IBM Institute for Business Value, Smarter cities for smarter growth. Li-Zeng Mao, Hong-Ge Zhu,
and Li-Ren Duan (2012) The Social Cost of Traffic Congestion and Countermeasures in Beijing.
Sustainable Transportation Systems: pp. 68-76.

23. HIGH QUALITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
AFFECTS CITY COMPETIVENESS
Note: * Determined by composite rankings against a range of indicators. Based on ranking of 24
international cities with #24 being the top rank. For more information on these see PwC Cities of
Opportunity available at http://www.pwc.com/us/en/cities-of-opportunity/

24. HIGH QUALITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
AFFECTS CITY PRODUCTIVITY
Note: * Determined by composite rankings against a range of indicators. Based on ranking of 24
international cities with #24 being the top rank. For more information on these see PwC Cities of
Opportunity available at http://www.pwc.com/us/en/cities-of-opportunity/

25. CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT
Photo: Benoit Colin/WRI

26. 26
Photo: Flickr/PauloFehlauer; Sources: UN-Habitat, UNFCCC, WHO
23% of global GHG
emissions are from transport
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE TARGETS ARE NOT
POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE TRANSFORMATION OF
CITIES
26
70% of GHG emissions
come from cities

27. TRANSPORT AND BUILDINGS PROVIDE KEY
OPPORTUNITIES
Photo: Jacek/Flickr Source: IPCC

28. 28
Total stock of motor cars, projections up to 2050
TRACKER
Total number of cars in thousands
1 Footnote
SOURCE: Fulton/IEA 2008
In1,000

29. CLIMATE GOALS CANNOT BE REACHED ON THE
CURRENT TREND TOWARD MOTORIZATION
Hidalgo and Duduta (2013)

30. 60% OF THE 2030 GLOBAL BUILDING
STOCK IS YET TO BE BUILT
Source: NASA Image. UN World Population Prospects. 2009. UNFCCC

31. A MORE EQUAL CITY:
HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL
Photo: Benoit Colin/WRI

32. RISE OF MOTORIZATION RESULTS IN
UNHEALTHY, UNSAFE CITIES
• 1.3MM deaths globally from
traffic incidents
• 90% of the world’s road
traffic deaths occur in low-
and middle-income
countries
• Air pollution linked to 6.7% of
deaths worldwide
Source: WHO

33. NONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP 50 CITIES BY
POPULATION MEET WHO AIR QUALITY STANDARDS
SOURCE: Mortality data from World Health Organisation:
http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.wrapper.ENVHEALTH3

34. INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS ARE GROWING
Source: UN (2014). *CAR: Central African republic, STP: Sao Tome and Principe, DRC:
Democratic Republic of Congo, Non-SSA (av) average in rest of the countries.

35. CITIES ARE DISCONNECTED
Source: UNEP and FIA Foundation 2013
Most people must walk to work

36. EMERGING GAPS IN QUALITY OF LIFE
Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank, Figures for 2010

37. COSTLY FOR WORKERS
Source: Kumar and Barrett (2008)

38. HIGH QUALITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
AFFECTS QUALITY OF LIFE
Note: * Determined by composite rankings against a range of indicators. Based on ranking of 24
international cities with #24 being the top rank. For more information on these see PwC Cities of
Opportunity available at http://www.pwc.com/us/en/cities-of-opportunity/

39. COMPACT, CONNECTED GROWTH PRODUCES
INTERCONNECTED OUTCOMES

40. THIS SHIFT IS POSSIBLE IN THE GLOBAL NORTH
Source: TfL

41. THIS SHIFT IS POSSIBLE IN THE GLOBAL
SOUTH
Source: Bogota Como Vamos, Encuesta de Percepción Ciudadana

42. WE NEED TO SPEND DIFFERENTLY, NOT JUST
MORE
Transport spending across the world today, WRI study

43. MAJORITY OF CITIES HAVE NOT MADE THIS
SHIFT

44. THE NEW URBAN AGENDA ?
• Build on consensus, focus on
solutions for more equal cities
• Prioritize actions for cities
• Transition from technical solutions
to political campaigns
Photo: Benoit Colin/WRI