23 MAKE CITIES AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS INCLUSIVE, SAFE, RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE
This goal is all about managing urban development. Cities are on the rise, and well-managed cities can be hubs of innovation and prosperity. Their management is a big cornerstone in sustainable development. As more people migrate to cities in search of better opportunities, access to affordable, safe and sustainable housing becomes a priority. Managing slums, urban sprawl, waste management and air pollution are essential to ensuring the well-being, health and prosperity of our population and our environment.
Learning Objectives
- Learners will understand how to identify and address their basic physical, social and psychological human needs in relation to their urban, semi-urban or rural settlement.
- Learners will understand the basic principles of sustainable planning and building, and identify opportunities to make their own area more sustainable and inclusive.
- Learners will understand the role of local decision-makers and participatory governance and the importance of representing a sustainable voice in planning and policy for their community.
- Learners will be able to use their voice to identify and advocate for a sustainable future vision for their community through community groups, local planning systems and themselves.
- Learners will understand the value of planning, implementing and evaluating inclusive community-based sustainable projects.
Essential Questions
Media (Identification of Value/Biases):
What are the different perspectives needed to understand urban issues in the media?
Environment
What are some steps to make urban development more sustainable?
Poverty, wealth and power
How does the poverty cycle differ between rural and urban areas?
Indigenous Peoples
How are Indigenous communities impacted by urban settlement?
Oppression and genocide
What are the impacts of oppression and segregation on urban development?
Health and biotechnology
What are the health issues caused by urban expansion?
Gender politics
How does urbanization impact women uniquely?
Social justice and human rights
How can we strengthen our social support for the vulnerable?
Peace and conflict
How can urban participation and inclusion promote peace?
Overview of The Goal
We all want to live in communities that are safe, inclusive, clean, affordable, and vibrant.
In 2018, Vienna was named the most livable city in the world, ranking highly in criteria like low crime rates, high employment, health care, affordable housing, reliable transportation, and stable government.
What are the traits that make cities and communities great? What do you love about your own community? How can we help all communities all over the world be more livable and sustainable?
A sustainable city is one that respects sustainable development priorities from their social, economic and environmental perspective, and that allows its inhabitants to live in good conditions and in harmony with their surrounding nature.
Nowadays half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – live in cities. By 2030, almost 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. In the next few decades 95% of this urban expansion will take place in the developing world. 828 million people live in slums today, with this figure constantly increasing. The world’s cities occupy just 3% of the earth’s land, but account for 60-80% of its energy consumption and for more than 70% of its carbon emissions.
Overview Handout on sustainable cities:
https://c15a759148e3465cc1e0-b5c37212e1d32204235caf5298e9144a.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/2017/03/11.pdf
Learning Activities
Lesson Plan: A Teaching Module on Human Dependence on the Biosphere
Footprint Futures is a college-level teaching module for exploring the sustainability challenge facing human economies. This challenge is described as “improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems” by the World Wildlife Fund, International Union for Conservation of Nature and United Nations Environment Programme. While the module works best for university classes, it also can be adapted for advanced high-school students but may need to be stretched over more classes. FYI – large file size to download the module.
https://www.footprintnetwork.org/2016/05/01/footprint-futures/
Lesson Plans: Understanding Community Violence lesson plans from from Unicef
http://cdn.worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.org/2016/06/Understanding-Community-Violence-LP-PDF.pdf
Video
Ted Talk: 7 Principles for Building Better Cities
More than half of the world’s population already lives in cities, and another 2.5 billion people are projected to move to urban areas by 2050. The way we build new cities will be at the heart of so much that matters, from climate change to economic vitality to our very well-being and sense of connectedness. Peter Calthorpe is already at work planning the cities of the future and advocating for community design that’s focused on human interaction. He shares seven universal principles for solving sprawl and building smarter, more sustainable cities.
https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_calthorpe_7_principles_for_building_better_cities#t-53541
Ted Talk: Floating Cities, The Lego House, and Other Architectural Forms of the Future
Design gives form to the future, says architect Bjarke Ingels. In this worldwide tour of his team’s projects, journey to a waste-to-energy power plant (that doubles as an alpine ski slope) and the LEGO Home of the Brick in Denmark — and catch a glimpse of cutting-edge flood resilience infrastructure in New York City as well as an ambitious plan to create floating, sustainable cities that are adapted to climate change.
Ted Talk: The Next Generation of African Architects and Designers
Christian Benimana wants to build a network of architects who can help Africa’s booming cities flourish in sustainable, equitable ways — balancing growth with values that are uniquely African. From Nigeria to Burkina Faso and beyond, he shares examples of architecture bringing communities together. A pan-African movement of architects, designers and engineers on the continent and in diaspora are learning from and inspiring each other, and Benimana invites us to imagine future African cities as the most resilient, socially inclusive places on earth.
https://www.ted.com/talks/christian_benimana_the_next_generation_of_african_architects_and_designers
Ted Talk: Architecture That’s Built to Heal (Superb talk!)
Architecture is more than a clever arrangement of bricks. In this eloquent talk, Michael Murphy shows how he and his team look far beyond the blueprint when they’re designing. Considering factors from airflow to light, theirs is a holistic approach that produces community as well as (beautiful) buildings. He takes us on a tour of projects in countries such as Rwanda and Haiti, and reveals a moving, ambitious plan for The Memorial to Peace and Justice, which he hopes will heal hearts in the American South.
https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_murphy_architecture_that_s_built_to_heal#t-18337
Educational Videos: The Ecological Footprint
https://www.footprintnetwork.org/educational-videos/
Video: Gender and Mobility from UN-Habitat worldwide
There is increasing concern about women’s safety in cities over the past few years. The fear of violence in public spaces affects the everyday lives of women as it restricts their movement and freedom to exert their right as citizens of the city – freedom to move, study, work, and leisure. Women, particularly those living in low income settlements, feel unsafe in their settlements after dark as the areas are poorly lit, the streets are not well paved, the drain water overflows on the streets making it tough for them to walk, and the bus stops are often located in a corner of the settlements – forcing them to walk in the dark streets.
Creating safety involves much more than just responding to violence. It is important to create the conditions by which women are able to move about safely and without fear of violence or assault. Fear often plays a key role in women’s experience and access to the city. Therefore, in order to create greater levels of safety and comfort, both actual violence and the fear of violence need to be addressed. Research has shown that many factors play a role in determining women’s access to the city including urban design and planning, community involvement, improved policing, usage of space etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC54cTnVtSU
Ted Talk video: Why Is She Here? (Gendered Spaces) | Shreena Thakore
Shreena Thakore talks about the gendered negotiation of space as reflective of deeply imbalanced power relations. Her talk analyzes and provides solutions to implicit manifestations of gender-based discrimination – such as the right to loiter, the right to leisure and the right to social existence. She emphasizes the importance of making public spaces accessible as a crucial measure in the fight toward gender equality. To do so, she argues that we must shift the discourse away from “why is she here?” toward “why can’t she be here?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP5lErSSteE
Lecture Video: Ana Falu – Gender perspectives in urban planning
UN-Habitat worldwide
Ana Falú from the National University of Cordoba – and the Coordinator of the UN-Habitat UNI Gender Hub – in this lecture discusses urban planning from a gender perspective, with emphasis on both who has the right to the city, and who has the right to plan the city.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sop4fqc2NV8
TedX Talk: Designing cities for women | Lucy Turnbull | TEDxMacquarieUniversity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUFxDXB24J0
Video for UN Women: Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Initiative
In 2010, UN Women launched its Safe Cities Global Initiative to encourage innovative, locally owned and sustainable approaches to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women in public spaces. This video documents many successful stories from cities that have joined: 35 cities and counting. With our many partners– cities, women’s groups, civil society, UN sister agencies, donor community – we have ensured that ending violence against women in public spaces is part of the Agenda 2030 for the next decades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LRqxWpVwJ4
Further Research and Activities
Assessment and Reflection
Reflection Journal
- Describe the learning activities (articles, videos, etc.) and your experience – What did you do/hear/see?
- Interpret and evaluate the events from your perspective – What do I think about it now? How does it relate to other things that I know?
- Explain your experience; reveal your new insights, connections with other learning, your hypotheses, and your conclusions.
- Reflect on how this information will be useful to you – What questions do I have? Have I changed how I think about the situation? Where do I go from here?
- What did you particularly value and why?
- Is there anything you would do in the next unit? What have you learned? What will you do with these lessons?
Renewable Assignment Options
Learn about the issues. No matter how big or small your city, there are certainly issues and inequalities related to sustainability that need attention. Put on your investigator hat and start asking questions about how people meet their basic needs and access essential services. Identify what the issues are and how they need to be addressed. See what other cities and citizens are doing to resolve these issues and get inspired.
Use your voice. Once you have identified the issues you want to see resolved for you and your community, identify who the key stakeholders are who can make a difference and advocate for you. If homelessness or housing availability are key issues for your city, make sure your government knows about it. Call in, show up, and speak out—using your voice as a citizen helps reinforce that sustainability and empowerment are a priority for governments and decision-makers in your city. Every voice counts.
Get involved. Make a difference with sustainable activities on a local scale. Join a community garden, learn about the history of citizen activism, support a food bank and learn about the stories of vulnerable populations in your city. Getting involved will help give you a better understanding of the issues facing you and your neighbors.
Support a cause. Beyond government policy, citizen groups, NGOs and local charities are highly involved in supporting the needs of marginalized groups in urban centers. Lend your time, talent and treasure to a cause you feel drawn to and help make a difference in your community.
Participate in a community garden. Start a small plot in your neighborhood or community and grow your own food, learning what it takes to put food on the table while simultaneously reducing emissions related to transportation.
Learn and invest in vertical farming. This agricultural practice uses a system of vertically stacked layers while growing produce to save space and control environmental factors that tend to use less energy. Vertical farming not only requires less land and helps protect the environment’s diversity, but also cuts down on transportation and production emissions as vertical farms can be closer to its consumers, while maximizing the food production of a small area.
Create or get involved in a commuter challenge. Challenge yourself, your class and your community to cut down on their transportation emissions. Walk, bike or share a ride.
Propose a bike exchange system in your community. Set up a system from which people can borrow bikes to get from point A to point B. These initiatives help reduce emissions and make this form of transportation more accessible community-wide.
Encourage positive spaces in your community. Protect green spaces by having clean-up days, hold art contests with the help of your local government to showcase your community’s culture and heritage, or help plan and promote sustainable development projects in your community
