Sustainable urban development for peace and security

Well-planned, inclusive and prosperous cities are less prone to instability and crises. Reconstruction and recovery programming provides an opportunity to “plan out” risk and “build in resilience”, for a more functional city. Linking humanitarian action and development enables cities and communities in post-crisis situations to “build back better”. The New Urban Agenda provides tools and reasserts the relevance of sustainable urban development in operationalizing the humanitarian-development nexus and sustaining peace.

This session aims to: 

• Reflect on the premise that ‘Well-planned, inclusive and prosperous cities are less prone to instability and crises’ through both prevention of conflict and recovery from conflict. Further, reflection on the premise postulates that crisis provides an opportunity to build resilient cities that could promote and sustain peace through inclusive development and the realization of human rights for all;  
• Explore the intersection between the New Urban Agenda, the Sustaining Peace Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the humanitarian-development nexus, and their combined role in establishing resilient, peaceful and inclusive cities;
• Identify opportunities for using sustainable urban development, including planning and design to prevent conflict, address protracted insecurity and maintain peace in cities;   
• Shed light on innovative measures and practical experiences of implementing the New Urban Agenda in urban settings to promote peace and security.   

Sustaining peace is at the center of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aiming at preventing the “outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of [violent] conflict”, addressing its root causes, and assisting parties to end hostilities, through reducing the risk of relapse into violent conflict in cities in post-conflict situations. The comprehensive approach of sustaining peace integrates peacebuilding, humanitarian and development assistance, while ensuring inclusiveness and national ownership through the two lenses of prevention of conflict and recovery from conflict.

In this regard, the promotion of inclusive, safe and resilient urban development is paramount to prevent conflict in urban areas and beyond, and to better recover from crisis. Interventions are needed to ensure inclusivity and that “no one is left behind”, both for preventing conflict and in post-conflict eras. Inclusive urban development can help in reducing marginalization and ensuring voice and accountability for the prevention of crisis. It can also play a transformative role in sustaining peace and ensuring inclusive and resilient communities in recovery.

Recognizing peace as an enabler of sustainable development, the New Urban Agenda promotes the importance of increasing urban crisis. It advances the necessity to elaborate comprehensive policy frameworks which connect national governments with local authorities and urban stakeholders to localize durable responses to crisis and integrate them in a long-term vision that would prevent the outbreak of conflicts.

The role of women, youth and other vulnerable groups in building and sustaining peace is key and needs to be strengthened in line with Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 2250. Following the core commitments of the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, the need to ensure coherence, complementarity, collaboration and coordination within and between development and humanitarian activities and mechanisms on the ground is required to foster better response, prevention and preparedness.

Q1: The New Urban Agenda includes a vision to “produce just, safe, healthy, accessible, affordable, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements to foster prosperity and quality of life for all”. How can this vision be localized to prevent conflict, sustain peace and complement the global United Nations Sustaining Peace Agenda? How can it be used to further the humanitarian-development nexus?

Q2: Urban conflicts are increasing, partly because unplanned rapid urbanization is increasing inequality and marginalization. Are there specific comparative experiences for using urbanization as a vehicle for the prevention of conflict? What tools have been used that could be replicated? What lessons learned can be assembled?

Q3: Crisis may offer an opportunity to “build back better” in post-conflict recovery settings. What is the role of urban development, including planning and design, to rebuild peaceful societies and prevent renewed conflict in post-conflict settings? What tools have been used that could be replicated? What lessons learned can be assembled?

Q4: Local authorities are often at the forefront of preventing and responding to crises. How can the role of local government be strengthened to respond to crises in urban areas and in sustaining peace and security?

Q5: Peace processes tend to be dominated by men, while the roles of women, young people and other vulnerable groups in building and sustaining peace have been increasingly acknowledged. What can be done to make processes more inclusive?

Q6: A new set of partnerships is required to address and sustain peace and security in urban areas within the overall sustainable development agenda. Which new stakeholders are to be brought to the forefront while recognizing their various roles in bridging humanitarian and development nexus?