Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Sustainable Cities & Communities


Goal 11 is about making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Cities represent the future of global living. The world’s population reached 8 billion on 2022 over half living in urban areas. This figure is only expected to rise, with 70 per cent of people expected to live in cities by 2050. Approximately 1.1 billion people currently live in slums or slum-like conditions in cities, with 2 billion more expected in the next 30 years.

However many of these cities are not ready for this rapid urbanisation, and it outpaces the development of housing, infrastructure and services, which led to a rise in slums or slum-like conditions.

Urban sprawl, air pollution and limited open public spaces persist in cities.

Good progress has been made since the implementation of the SDGs in 2015, and now the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies has doubled. But issues still remain and in 2022, only half of the urban population had convenient access to public transport.

Sustainable development cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way urban spaces are built and managed.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

Sociedad Iberoamericana y del Caribe de Restauración Ecológica

SIACRE 2013 D

Sociedad Latinoamericana de Estudios Sociales de la Ciencia y la Tecnologia

ESOCITE 2006 Mexico City Mexico D

Sociedad Mesoamericana para la Biologia y la Conservación

SMBC 1996 D

Sociedad Panamericana de Retinopatía del Prematuro

SPROP 2013 D

Société d'Ergonomie de Langue Française

SELF 1963 Mantes-la-Jolie France D v

Société des amis de Tyr

Paris France G

Société internationale Leon Battista Alberti

SILBA 1995 Paris France E

Society for Conservation and Protection of Environment

SCOPE G

Society for Conservation Biology

SCB 1985 Washington DC USA F

Society for Conservation GIS

SCGIS 1997 N

Society for Creative Anachronism

SCA Milpitas CA USA N

Society for Development Alternatives

1983 Delhi India G

Society for Ecological Restoration International

SERI 1987 Washington DC USA G

Society for International Development

SID 1957 Rome Italy B y

Society for Participatory Research in Asia

PRIA 1982 Delhi India G

Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions

SRISTI 1993 Ahmedabad India G

Society for Social Studies of Science

4S 1975 Falls Church VA USA D

Society for the Conservation of Endangered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study

SPECIES J

Society for the Conservation of Reef Fish Aggregations

SCRFA Hong Kong Hong Kong D

Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration

SEPI 1983 Baltimore MD USA D

Society for the Preservation of the Natural History Collections

SPNHC 1985 New York NY USA G

Society for the Study of Social Problems

SSSP 1951 Knoxville TN USA G v

Society for Urban Development in East Africa

SUDEA Addis Ababa Ethiopia D

Society for Urban Ecology

SURE 2009 Salzburg Austria C

Society of Cleaning and Restoration Technicians

SCRT 1971 Wilmington OH USA N

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

SETAC 1979 Brussels Belgium F v

Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers

SNAME 1893 Alexandria VA USA G v

Sociologists without Borders

2001 Blacksburg VA USA F

Soil and Water Conservation Society

SWCS 1943 Ankeny IA USA G

Soil Security and Planetary Health Conference

2015 S c

Solar Cookers International

SCI 1987 Sacramento CA USA F

Solar Decathlon Europe

SDE Naarden Netherlands J

SOLIDARIDAD Network

1969 Utrecht Netherlands F

Solidarité internationale des maisons familiales rurales

SIMFR Brussels Belgium K

Solidarité internationale sur les transports et la recherche en Afrique sub-saharienne

SITRASS 1996 Lyon France G

Solidarité Mondiale contre la Faim

SMF 1982 Gémeaux France F f

Solidarités International

1991 Paris France G v

Solutions in Organisations Link-up

SOLWorld 2002 Cheltenham UK F

Soroptimist International Africa Federation

SIAF D

SOS Children's Villages International

1949 Innsbruck Austria B

South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme

SACEP 1982 Colombo Sri Lanka F g

South Asia Democratic Forum

SADF 2011 Brussels Belgium F

South Asia Research Network for the Social Sciences and Humanities

SARN New York NY USA G

South Asia Tourism Society

SATS Delhi India N

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation of Architects

SAARCH 1991 Thimphu Bhutan D

South East Europe Transport Observatory

SEETO Belgrade Serbia F g

South East European Heritage Network

SEE Heritage Network 2006 Kotor Montenegro F

Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment

SEARICE 1977 Quezon City Philippines E

Southeast Asia Rescue Foundation

SARF 1982 Tallahassee FL USA N f

Southeast Asian Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives

SARBICA 1968 K

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