It’s estimated nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals highlight the need to ensure these cities are safe and sustainable for all.
Around the world, cities are innovating to help tackle challenges such as climate change.
Projects include tiny urban forests that could help combat climate change, ‘sponge’ cities that soak up floodwater, and vertical forests that tower into the sky.

With an ever-increasing global population and rising urbanization, creating safe, resilient and sustainable cities is right at the top of the green agenda.

The United Nations included this mission among its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which together form a blueprint for collectively addressing the challenges the world faces.


2. Vertical forests

Short on space, people in cities have often looked upwards for places to expand. In Milan, Italy, architects have done the same with tree cover – creating a "vertical forest" on two residential tower blocks. Boasting 800 trees, 4,500 shrubs and 15,000 plants, the "forest" would cover an area the size of three and a half football pitches if planted on the ground. Similar projects are underway in cities in Switzerland, The Netherlands and China.

Targets for achieving Goal 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities – include reducing the adverse effects of natural disasters, ensuring everyone has access to green spaces and addressing the environmental impact of cities.

Here are some of the innovative ways cities are rising to the challenge.

1. Sponge cities

Scientists think global warming is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events, including floods. But some cities are fighting back, using the power of nature to mitigate the risks. In China, concrete neighbourhoods are being interlaced with green spaces that can naturally detain and filter water. The same concept is employed in Singapore, which has been dubbed “the garden city” due to its abundance of greenery. Read further following the link above