Committed to Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All

In Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC

Sustainable Development Goal 11 of the United Nations is committed to making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. As part of an integrated agenda, cities and human settlements have an important role to play across the 17-goal spectrum of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The New Urban Agenda sets out a shared vision for the future of the city and provides a systematic implementation plan, realistic methodology and pragmatic ideas for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 11.

According to an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report, 51.2 percent of the global population, or 3.9 billion people, were using the Internet at the end of 2018. Countries around the world are making great strides toward building a more inclusive global information society. The digital revolution, led by information technology characterized by mobile internet, big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and blockchain technology, is on the rise. While promoting economic and social transformation, information technology and the digital economy have also triggered comprehensive and profound changes for urban development and human settlements, which is reshaping our cities and communities. Article 66 of the New Urban Agenda states that “we commit ourselves to adopting a smart-city approach that makes use of opportunities from digitalization, clean energy and technologies, as well as innovative transport technologies, thus providing options for inhabitants to make more environmentally friendly choices and boost sustainable economic growth and enabling cities to improve their service delivery.”