Page 13 - A U4SSC deliverable - Accelerating city transformation using frontier technologies

Connecting cities with the Sustainable Development Goals

The disruptive potential of frontier technologies provides cities with an unprecedented opportunity to
reinvent their approach to sustainable development and align their development strategies with the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted by all 193 UN member states in 2015, the 17 SDGs
offer the most comprehensive developmental blueprint for cities to tackle global challenges and achieve
inclusive growth.

Figure 1: The Sustainable Development Goals

Cities, in particular, are at the centre of initiating policies that would steer the world towards a sustainable
path. Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. The proportion is expected
to reach 68 per cent by 2050. And yet, over 1 billion people still live in slums or informal settlements.
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Around 2 billion people do not have access to waste collection services and 3 billion do not have access to
controlled waste-disposal facilities. Cities also account for 60 to 80 per cent of global carbon emissions.
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Densely populated urban areas are particularly vulnerable to more frequent and extreme weather and
natural disasters.
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The importance of making cities safer and more sustainable is unambiguously reflected in SDG 11 “Make
cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. While each of the 17 SDGs is closely
linked to rapid urbanisation, SDG 11 calls for, among other things, providing access to safe, affordable and
accessible housing and transport systems to all, reducing the number of deaths and people affected caused
by natural disasters, and increasing the resource efficiency of cities and human settlements. 9
Therefore, the most prominent challenge cities will be facing is to develop a sustainable environmental,
social and economic ecosystem for all citizens who either already reside in urban areas, or will be arriving
in cities by 2030. As elaborated in the ensuing sections of this report, frontier technologies can contribute
positively to all three pillars of sustainable development. With the support of the SDGs as a strategic
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framework, frontier technologies can drive positive changes that would support cities in reaching the
targets within SDGs.
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Accelerating city transformation using frontier technologies | A U4SSC deliverable 3