Burdett, Ricky; Mazzucato, Mariana; (2025) Creating a Legacy for Just, Healthy, and Green Cities. (UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) Working Paper 2025-07). UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP): London, UK.

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Abstract

Constituted initially by an international group of 18 pioneering mayors, practitioners, designers, activists, and academics, the Council on Urban Initiatives (the Council) was launched in 2021 with the aim of positioning urban issues at the heart of global debates; influencing agendas at the highest levels of the international community; and promoting experimentation for progressive policymaking at the city level. Cities have long been sites of experimentation and innovation. However, they face unique environmental, fiscal, and structural barriers. We recognise that a new approach is needed, grounded in the principles of equity, transparency, and co-creation. This means a new understanding of value and consideration, not just of how cities are designed, but also how the design is governed. Equity in both design and governance is necessary for a more inclusive and effective response to the intersecting health, sustainability, and housing crises happening in our cities. The Council’s work centred on ambitious themes: the just city, the green city, and the healthy city. Its work was guided by three main objectives: accelerating the pace and scale of urban change by highlighting barriers and new approaches; supporting the international community to advocate for cities; and engaging wider audiences in shaping urban agendas and futures. This collection of five papers examines contemporary urban development through diverse case studies and thematic lenses. The first theme, mapping, analyses the population dynamics and spatial patterns of 22 cities, as explored in Council on Urban Initiatives (Burdett and Mazzucato, 2021). The second theme, care, focuses on how cities respond to humanitarian needs, with Shaping Urban Futures (Burdett and Mazzucato, 2022) featuring case studies from Gaziantep, Turkey, and Bogotá, Colombia. The remaining three reports focus on housing. The right to housing: A mission-oriented and human rights-based approach (Mazzucato and Farha, 2023) discusses the fundamental right to adequate housing, while Housing and the city: Case studies of integrated urban design (Burdett, 2023) details five innovative projects in Barcelona, Spain, Bogotá, Colombia, Melbourne, Australia, Mumbai, India and Singapore. Lastly, Modern Housing: an environmental common good (Hill and Mazzucato, 2024) advocates for sustainable housing models to be treated as a common good.

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