Urban Planning

The IUCN Urban Alliance, a broad coalition of IUCN constituents concerned with the urban dimensions of nature conservation, has unveiled a new knowledge product for measuring the ecological performance of cities: the IUCN Urban Nature Indexes (UNI). Comprising six themes with five indicator topics nested within each theme, the UNI is intended to help policymakers, stakeholders and local communities understand their impacts on nature, set science-based targets for improvement, and monitor progress using science-based measures.

Open spaces are essential resources for public health and the environment: they provide places for recreation, cultural enrichment, learning, exercise, and relaxation, as well as crucial support for wildlife and habitat, clean air and water, and local economies.

 

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 created a temporary crisis of confidence in the future of cities. However, a broad consensus is that urbanization remains a powerful twenty-first century mega-trend; and that well-planned towns and cities remain central to the sustainable development trajectory. There is a sense of optimism that the crisis may provide us with the opportunity to build back differently, more inclusively, greener and safer.

 

In order to respond to the challenges and growing demand of counterparts, partners and populations to better integrate nature in cities, AFD Group has developed this technical guide "Biodiversity in Cities". In urban areas, biodiversity makes it possible to act simultaneously on health and well-being of inhabitants, on employment, on resilience to natural risks and on climate. It thus complements actions in the water management, agriculture and fisheries sectors.

 

Cities4Biodiversity (C4B) participants convened in April 2022 to explore the first of a series of themes critical to the purpose of C4B – developing and supporting a network of cities forging commitments to incorporate climate and nature-based solutions into project design, planning and implementation. Conducted over six days, the Green Cities Deep-Dive Learning included plenary and breakout sessions with presentations from 35 cities in 16 countries.

It is estimated that around 600,000 motored vehicles enter the city of Asunción each day, adding a lot of pressure to the already dense traffic. The car-centric design of cities like Asunción, Ñemby and Fernando de la Mora, makes urban mobility uncomfortable and less safe for pedestrians, as well as unfriendly towards more sustainable modes of transportation like bicycles. Interim tactical urbanism interventions can work as means to increase road safety and promote citizen participation.