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Urbanisation: a megatrend that will define our future

Messner, Dirk / Clara Brandi
External Publications (2015)

in: Diplomatisches Magazin 2/2015, 36-39

Urban living is the dominant life-style of the future. By 2050, two thirds of the world population will live in cities. The current preparations for the UN-Habitat III conference in 2016, where a “New Urban Agenda” will be established, are thus of utmost importance.
In the course of growing urbanization, both the potential as well as the challenges of global development are increasingly concentrating in cities. Therefore, the fundamental role of urbanization must be reflected in policymaking. Particularly two challenges should be focused on: the eradication of poverty and the transformation towards sustainability.  
Against this background, the article sketches fields of action that contain particularly crucial chances and risks for global development.

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