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 began 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

Agreement Regarding British War Memorial Cemeteries and Graves in Egypt

1937 T g

Agreement Regarding Decennial Liability and Insurance of Certain Architects and Contractors

1979 T g

Agreement Regarding Tourist Traffic

1938 T g

Agreement Respecting the Whangpoo Conservancy

1905 T g

Agreement to Facilitate the Sanitary Control of Traffic

1955 T g

Agreement to Promote Compliance with the International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas

1993 Rome Italy T g

Agroecology Fund

AEF 2012 F f

Aid To Southeast Asia

ASA 1989 Minneapolis MN USA G

Aide internationale au développement et à l'enfance

AIDE Aublain Belgium G

AIP Foundation

1999 Hanoi Vietnam F f

Air Pollution & Climate Secretariat

AirClim 1982 Gothenburg Sweden G

Air Transport Action Group

ATAG 1990 Geneva Switzerland E y

Air Transport Research Society

ATRS 1995 College Park MD USA E

Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Working Group

ARFFWG Grapevine TX USA G

Airlines for Europe

A4E 2016 Brussels Belgium F

Airport Regions Council

ARC 1994 Brussels Belgium F

Airports Council International

ACI 1991 Montréal QC Canada B y

Airship Heritage Trust

AHT 1985 Radcliffe-on-Trent UK N

AJS and Matchless Owners Club

1952 Kettering UK N

Akademie für Raumforschung und Landesplanung

ARL 1946 Hannover Germany G

Al Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation

1988 London UK G f

Albert Schweitzer Fellowship

1939 Boston MA USA G

Albertine Rift Conservation Society

ARCOS 1995 Cambridge UK E

Alianza Eurolatinoamericana de Cooperación entre Ciudades

AL-LAs 2013 Mexico City Mexico C

Alianza Global del Ombudsperson Local

AGOL 2019 Alcala de Henares Spain D

All Africa Baptist Fellowship

AABF 1982 Ibadan Nigeria E

All Hands Volunteers

2004 Mattapoisett MA USA G

All We Can

1946 London UK G f

All-Africa Students Union

AASU 1972 Accra Ghana D

ALLEA - ALL European Academies

1994 Berlin Germany F

Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment

ACE 1995 Brussels Belgium F t

Alliance for Communities in Action

ACA 1982 North Palm Beach FL USA N

Alliance for Consumer Fire Safety in Europe

ACFSE 1998 G

Alliance for Financial Inclusion

AFI 2008 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia F y

Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa

AFSA 2008 Kampala Uganda D

Alliance for Healthy Cities

2003 Tokyo Japan D

Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia

ARDA 2000 F

Alliance for Responsible Mining

ARM 2004 Medellin Colombia D

Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies

ASOP Global 2009 Washington DC USA G y

Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacy - EU

ASOP EU 2011 D y

Alliance for Synthetic Fuels in Europe

ASFE 2006 Brussels Belgium F

Alliance for the Freedom of Car Repair in the EU

AFCAR Brussels Belgium E y

Alliance for Zero Extinction

AZE 2005 The Plains VA USA C y

Alliance in the Alps

1997 Übersee Germany F g

Alliance internationale de tourisme

AIT 1898 Geneva Switzerland B

Alliance Internationale pour la défense des Droits et des Libertés

AIDL 2009 Paris France G

Alliance of Central Asian Mountain Communities

AGOCA 2003 Bishkek Kyrgyzstan D

Alliance of International Science Organizations

ANSO 2018 Beijing China C y

Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums

AMMPA 1987 Alexandria VA USA G y

Alliance of NGOs and CSOs for South-South Cooperation

ANCSSC 2018 London UK J

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