COVID-19 Recovery in Urban Areas: Building Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Cities .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform

COVID-19 Recovery in Urban Areas: Building Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Cities

Monday, 12 July 2021

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Virtual (NY Time)

Side Event

Co-organized by Habitat for Humanity Interntional and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

This side-event will highlight innovative practices from cities, local governments, and communities to ensure a robust COVID-19 recovery that addresses the urban challenges of growing inequalities, urban poverty, and resilience. Local and regional governments, as well as local communities, face enormous challenges now and in the years ahead. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, emerging local stories of resilience demonstrate how local governments and communities are finding innovative solutions to mitigate the health and socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The “Decade of Action” — the timeframe for making the Sustainable Development Goals a reality by 2030 — will lean a great deal on the generation of people-centric cities that balance inclusion with competitiveness, and sustainability with prosperity. Many local leaders around the world are at the forefront of bold efforts to reshape their urban landscape to improve the lives and prospects of their communities.

This side event will explore, among others, how cities and communities:

Design tailored measures to protect the needs of vulnerable population groups (e.g. including financial relief to people who have lost their jobs and livelihoods and are at risk of losing their homes);

Foster affordable and inclusive housing solutions, along with access to water, sanitation, energy, and the provision of basic public services, to address homelessness and the shortage of inadequate housing for vulnerable population groups and informal settlements in urban areas;

Leverage digital technologies to control the spread of the virus and deliver critical information and services, while also addressing the ‘digital divide’ by targeting improvements in digital infrastructure to reduce the lack of access and connectivity among vulnerable population groups;

Build the resilience of urban communities and public spaces to COVID-19, while also reimagining urban living, along with the overall health and well-being of local communities, in a post-COVID era by planning for an inclusive and green recovery with continuous innovation.