Resilient Futures: A Dialogue on African, Asian, and Latin American and Caribbean Cities

This networking event brings together city leaders and innovators from Asia, Africa, and Latin America to reflect on resilience and its futures.

We have now grown accustomed to hearing that, by the end of the century, close to 85% of the projected population will live in cities. Less discussed is the fact that, unlike the first wave of urbanization that took place in developed countries in the 19th century, in this century, the protagonists of rapid urbanization are and will be cities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

A distinct feature across these regions is their exposure to multiple risks and their vulnerability to the potential impacts of climate change. By mid-century, nine of the top ten cities in terms of population exposed to coastal flooding will be in Asian countries. Fifteen cities with more than one million people are located in coastal areas. In Latin America and the Caribbean, over two-thirds of urban populations live in low-lying areas in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Critically, all of these cities are also home to numerous poor communities, which, due to social, economic, and environmental conditions, are especially vulnerable to manifold risks, from hazards to political and military conflict.

In light of these challenges, and following the commitment to the SDGs and the adoption of the New Urban Agenda, resiliency has emerged as a goal around the world. But what are the actual experiences from people in these protagonist regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America?

City leaders and regional partners from each region will share concrete experiences and discuss the shared (and dissimilar) challenges and opportunities. This three-way, south-south dialogue offers an opportunity to ground-truth our assumptions about what works and what is still needed to achieve the goals of the Agenda 2030.