World Cities Day: Celebrating Sustainable Urban Growth on 31 October

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World Cities Day, celebrated every31 October, is an annual occasion established by the United Nations in 2013 to raise awareness of the importance of sustainable and inclusive urban growth. This annual event aims to raise awareness about sustainable urbanisation, a process that enables cities to grow by meeting current needs without compromising resources for future generations and safeguarding the environment. It also encourages governments, communities and organisations to work together in achieving this goal. But why is it so important to make green cities? To understand this, it is good to understand how metropolitan areas are growing.

In recent decades, the number of people living in cities has grown exponentially: today more than55% of the world's population, in fact, resides in urban areas, and this percentage is expected to increase to 68% by 2050, when the population will be 2.5 billion more. Hosting 90% of this staggering increase will be developing countries where most of the necessary infrastructure and buildings have yet to be constructed. In fact, according to the latest UN report, as of today,urban areas occupy only 2% of the earth's surface though they are home to 54% of the world's population. This phenomenon brings with it several consequences including resource management, pollution, traffic and social inequalities. This is why it is crucial to identify a sustainable development and planning model towards which funding can be diverted.

The focus of World Cities Day Cities 2024 is to push for the creation of greener and more resilient cities that can meet the challenges imposed by climate change and uncontrolled urbanisation. Green cities focus on reducing pollution, protecting natural resources and expanding urban green spaces. Furthermore, resilient cities are those capable of adapting to external shocks, such as extreme weather events or economic crises, while protecting the most vulnerable. Sustainability and resilience, therefore, become the cornerstones for the future of urban areas.

The Day of Cities 2024 sees the participation of manyurban centres around the world, engaged in a series of activities to awareness-raise and promote change. For example, researchers from the EPFL, a university and research institute in Lausanne, propose to prioritise action on innovation and new technologies related to renewable energy, building renovation, active education of the population towards more virtuous behaviour, city redesign, and urban agriculture. All measures that, if applied together, wouldincrease the well-being of citizens, while also significantly reducing the associated economic costs. Globally, conferences and forums allow urban leaders and practitioners to share best practices and solutions to improve city management in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

World Cities Day 2024 is not only a time for reflection, but also an opportunity to look to the future with hope. Building greener and more resilient cities means engaging collectively to ensure that future generations can live in healthy, safe and prosperous urban environments, but above all respecting and caring for the environment. This will require bold policies, investment in green technologies and a strong commitment from all actors in society. Only with a shared vision and coordinated efforts will it be possible to transform cities into more sustainable and inclusive places for all.