Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities

The report advocates for a shift in urban development metrics toward the quality, reliability, and affordability of essential services to address the needs of over 1.2 billion under-served city dwellers. It identifies seven necessary transformations across infrastructure, service provision, data, employment, finance, land management, and governance to create more equitable and sustainable cities.

• Approximately one-third of city dwellers worldwide, and two-thirds in low-income countries, are considered "under-served" because they lack access to at least one core urban service.
• Traditional poverty metrics are insufficient for modern urban contexts; in 15 major cities in the global south, nearly half the population lacks reliable piped water, and 62% of sewage and fecal sludge is managed unsafely.
• Energy access is a critical gap in low-income countries, where 42% of the urban population lacks electricity, with some cities in Africa experiencing daily power outages and some in South Asia experiencing up to 25 per month.
• Urban transport infrastructure is heavily skewed toward motorized vehicles, with up to 95% of road space allocated to cars and trucks despite low-income commuters relying primarily on public transport, cycling, and walking.
• The informal economy accounts for 50-80% of employment in Global South cities, involving two billion workers; partnering with informal service providers may be more effective than extending municipal infrastructure in certain areas.
• Achieving equitable and sustainable cities requires seven specific transformations: governance, finance, land management, urban employment, data collection, service provision, and infrastructure design and delivery.

APA

World Resources Institute (2021). Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities. https://www.wri.org/research/7-transformations-more-equitable-sustainable-cities

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities. 2021. https://www.wri.org/research/7-transformations-more-equitable-sustainable-cities.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities |date=19 October 2021 |url=https://www.wri.org/research/7-transformations-more-equitable-sustainable-cities |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2021seven, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/7-transformations-more-equitable-sustainable-cities}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }