As epicentres of the COVID-19 crisis, many cities have suffered from insufficiencies in public health systems, inadequate basic services, a lack of well-developed and integrated public transport systems and inadequate open public spaces, as well as from the economic consequences of lockdowns. As a result, the pandemic is likely to further increase the number of slum dwellers. In order to improve the lives of over 1 billion slum dwellers, there is an urgent need to focus on policies for improving health, affordable housing, basic services, sustainable mobility and connectivity.

Over the years, the number of slum dwellers has continued to grow and that number was over 1 billion in 2020. Slum dwellers are most prevalent in three regions, which are home to about 85 per cent of the world’s slum residents: Central and Southern Asia (359 million), Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (306 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (230 million).

Data for 2020 from 1,510 cities around the world indicate that on average only about 37 per cent of their urban areas are served by public transport, measured as a walking distance of 500 m to low-capacity transport systems (such as buses and trams) and/or 1,000 m to high-capacity systems (such as trains and ferries). Given variations in population concentrations within those cities, this translates into only about 52 per cent of the world population having convenient access to public transport.

In 2022, the global average municipal solid waste collection rate in cities is at 82 per cent and the global average rate of municipal solid waste management in controlled facilities in cities is at 55 per cent. The municipal solid waste collection rates in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania are less than 60 per cent. Uncollected waste is the source of plastic pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and incubation for infections.

Data for 2020 from 1,072 cities point to a poor distribution of open public spaces in most regions. In these cities, only about 38 per cent of urban areas are loca ted within a walking distance of 400 m to an open public space, which translates into only about 45 per cent of the global urban population having convenient access to those spaces.

By March 2021, a total of 156 countries had developed national urban policies, with almost half (74) already in the implementation stage. A further breakdown shows that 40 per cent of the countries are in the early stages of developing their plans, while 12 per cent are monitoring and evaluating how well those plans are functioning.

By the end of 2021, a total of 98 countries had reported having local governments with disaster risk reduction strategies, an increase from 51 countries in 2015.

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