Sustainable cities and communities

By 2030, 60 per cent of the global population will reside in cities. As dense hubs of global activity, cities present some of the greatest challenges among the Sustainable Development Goals. From housing, public health, and employment, to natural resource consumption and transportation, achieving the SDGs will hinge on urban planning initiated now.

UNU research on sustainable urbanisation seeks to overcome the tendency to treat urban issues (such as governance, water, waste, health, economic development, or vulnerability to natural hazards) as discrete problems and instead find integrated, interdisciplinary solutions.

Showing 1-12 of 366 results

News

Priming Crops Against Their Enemies by Fostering an Ancient Partnership

María Florencia Sardo is learning how local soil bacteria give plants an edge in the presence of a global menace

21 Feb 2026

News

Turning Lichens into High-Tech Starts with the Typical Petri Dish

Erika Calla learnt how to cultivate Peruvian lichens to be able to study the secrets to their tolerance to ultraviolet radiation

22 Jan 2026