Building peaceful, just and inclusive urban societies

Humanity is becoming increasingly urban, with close to two-thirds of the global population projected to live in cities by 2050. Experience shows that urbanisation, when not properly managed, can trigger violence and conflict, with potential to destabilize urban societies and economies and pose negative knock-on effects on national prospects. Among many factors, poor management of urbanization can give rise to exclusionary and fragmented cities, where inequality becomes visible and untenable, where corruption derails best-laid plans and strategies, and violence impedes urban peace and growth (including in cities affected by violent extremism and terrorism).

To realize the peaceful, just and inclusive societies we envision in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieve the cities we want envisioned in the New Urban Agenda, we need to focus efforts on ensure inclusive governance of our cities, including through effective and fair law enforcement and justice institutions, and ensure that people equitably share the benefits of urban development. To focus attention on key factors and potential solutions, UNODC, UNDP and Transparency International are co-convening this session.

The event will present experiences and insights on possible solutions to help local institutions and development organizations to address existing challenges. The solutions may include:

• Building the capacities of our cities to produce data and indicators to properly understand violence in urban societies (e.g. interpersonal homicide, gender-based violence, organised crime or gangs-related), its possible drivers and develop evidence-based policies

• Understanding linkages between corruption, violence and sustainable urban development;

• Fostering trust between government and the people through inclusive governance that underpins peace and shared prosperity;

• Addressing the interplay of urbanization, poverty and violence through policy-making and social protection in the face of horizontal inequalities and perceptions of discrimination.

By looking into the issues and sharing experience and lessons on possible solutions, this event will advance the understanding of the inclusiveness and resilience aspects of the New Urban Agenda and reinforce “Leaving No One and No City Behind” as a fundamental principle of urban development policy-making and project design.