Towards a More Equal City

The document outlines the challenges of modern urbanization, particularly in the global South, where rapid population growth coincides with low per capita resources. It argues that providing equitable access to core services—such as housing, water, sanitation, energy, and transportation—is essential to avoid cycles of poverty and environmental degradation and to unlock economic productivity.

• Current global urbanization trends differ from the past in four ways: the highest growth rates are in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia; urbanization is increasingly occurring in low-income countries; a higher proportion of the poor now live in cities; and cities in the global South possess the fewest public resources per capita.
• The global urban population is projected to grow by approximately 2.5 billion people by 2050, with over 90 percent of this increase occurring in Asia and Africa. By mid-century, Asia is expected to house 52 percent and Africa 21 percent of the world's total urban population.
• Significant gaps in core service access exist in the global South, where up to 70 percent of residents are under-served. Specifically, in 2012, over 482 million urban residents lacked modern fuels and 131 million lacked electricity, while 140 million urbanites lacked reliable, clean water in 2015.
• Preliminary analysis suggests that successful urban transformation is characterized by three common features: a strong coalition of change agents with a shared vision to solve a seminal problem, the availability of financial resources for ambitious reforms, and long-term political commitment.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Towards a More Equal City. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/WRR_Towards_a_More_Equal_City_Brochure.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Towards a More Equal City. n.d. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/WRR_Towards_a_More_Equal_City_Brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Towards a More Equal City |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/WRR_Towards_a_More_Equal_City_Brochure.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendtowards, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Towards a More Equal City}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/WRR_Towards_a_More_Equal_City_Brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }