United Nations-Habitat recently released a new report entitled State of the World’s Cities 2012/2013 – the Prosperity of Cities (PDF 5.7Kb). Under-Secretary General Joan Clos, the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, writes that the report “presents with compelling evidence, some of the underlying factors behind the crises that have strongly impacted on cities.” These include “a lopsided focus on purely financial prosperity [that] has led to growing inequalities between rich and poor, generated serious distortions in the form and functionality of cities, also causing serious damage to the environment.”

In order to meet these challenges, “the Report proposes a fresh approach to prosperity, one that is holistic and integrated and which is essential for the promotion of a collective well-being and fulfillment of all. This new approach does  not only respond to the crises by providing safeguards against new risks, but it also helps cities to steer the world towards economically, socially, politically and environmentally prosperous urban futures.”

According to Margareta Wahlström, the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), "The findings from our own studies on cities show that low socio-economic development need not necessarily limit all resilience-building activities, especially when the central government and multinational agencies work together to ensure the right people come together to take action."

In early September 2012, the UNISDR and UN-Habitat signed a cooperation agreement to develop modular training packages, guidance and tools to assist local governments build disaster resilience. The goal, according to the UNISDR office is to “involve multiple stakeholders such as civil society and the private sector.”

The enormity of the growing problems faced by urban populations in the developing world is shown in the statistics.  According to the UNISDR website, “urban populations in the developing world grew by an average of 1.2 million people per week. By 2025, Africa’s urban population is set to outstrip Europe’s: the aggregate urban population of Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to reach 642 million, 566 million and 560 million, respectively.”