SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities

Urbanisation and climate change are inextricably linked. This is because cities are the main driver of man-made climate change. They consume three quarters of all the world’s energy and are responsible for more than two thirds of global CO₂ emissions. If our behaviour and our economies remain as they are, energy consumption and emissions will continue to increase as a result of continuing urbanisation.

At the same time, cities open up huge opportunities to use energy more efficiently and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Whether it is more energy-efficient buildings, sustainable transport or a general approach to consumption of natural resources – urban areas have a key role to play in protecting the climate. They will decide whether the global community succeeds in reducing climate-damaging emissions enough to realise the 1.5 to 2 degree target in the Paris Agreement.

However, cities are not just drivers of climate change; they are victims, too. They are often located on the coast or on rivers. As a result, they are threatened by rising water levels and exposed to extreme weather events more often. Today, they are already seeing particularly high victim counts in natural disasters and are suffering major economic damage. People in slums tend to be particularly heavily affected. More than a billion people around the globe still live in these informal settlements.

Given this state of affairs, KfW Development Bank promotes projects aimed at environmentally friendly urban development in countries such as Bangladesh, Honduras and India. KfW’s urban development portfolio also includes earthquake-resistant construction in Türkiye, water supply and wastewater disposal measures in various cities in Serbia and Albania, and waste management measures in Indonesia.

Traffic arteries are a city’s lifelines. People need to be able to move around their city for nearly everything that they do: for their commute, to get to hospital, to go shopping, to reach school or the sports club, or for a trip to the theatre. Mobility is a key prerequisite for productive business and commerce, for creativity and leisure, education and health – for the individual and for the community as a whole. Cities only become truly vibrant through movement.

In recent years, however, traffic volumes have increased rapidly, as has the urban population around the world. Most notably, motorised personal vehicles have proliferated, which means more cars, more roads and more parking spaces. The number of cars on the road worldwide is expected to almost double from 1.2 billion in 2020 to 1.7 billion in 2035. The majority of these vehicles drive around the world’s cities – when it is possible to do so, at least. Often there is standstill congestion, so people spend several hours a day in traffic jams. Others are practically excluded from mobility altogether, as they have no (convenient) access to public transport – in 2023, this applied to over 60% of urban dwellers in least developed countries.

The only possible solution is to provide more sustainable and inclusive transport options. Above all, that means promoting local public transport and non-motorised modes of transport, involving both the poor and the wealthy and considering environmentally friendly individual modes of transport as well as shared use. Without solutions of this sort, the expanding cities will increasingly fall prey to traffic jams, poor air quality and noise pollution.

It is for this reason that KfW Development Bank is supporting sustainable urban transport in countries like Indonesia or India, where it is financing new metro lines in the cities of Nagpur, Mumbai or Ahmedabad, and the procurement of electric buses in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is also supporting sustainable urban transport in Peru, where a new network of cycle paths is being added.

Urbanisation is a trend that will probably not be easily reversed, despite the coronavirus pandemic. This means that for most people, cities have become their home. To truly fulfil this role, at the very least, cities need to meet their inhabitants’ basic needs. People need room to live and work, food and healthcare services, water and energy. They need clean air to breathe and means of transport that will get them to their destinations quickly and safely.

But cities are also places of identity and culture, and venues for public discourse. Parks and green spaces, public squares as meeting places, and leisure, cultural and relaxation facilities are an aspect of urban quality of life that should not be underestimated. Monuments and historic districts around the world preserve the legacy of the past and create a sense of community and shared values. These cultural features strengthen social cohesion and peaceful coexistence in a globalised world.

This is why the best cities of the future will be practical, but not without a heart. They are sustainable and well planned – “smart” – but not cold. They are more than just buildings, not “urban machines” that provide a conveyor belt of services to their residents – although these services are important, of course, and their availability still needs improvement in many places. Instead, the cities of the future incorporate all their residents; they are inclusive, preserve cultural characteristics and have “soul”. Only then do they become liveable.

This is why KfW Development Bank is promoting green urban infrastructure projects in places like Beira, Mozambique, and Kigali, Rwanda. A new, modern district is under construction in Kigali, which follows a sustainable approach while simultaneously delivering on the need to create affordable accommodation for those who are less well-off. KfW is also involved in crisis regions – for example, it supports Ukraine in creating housing for internally displaced persons in host communities.