Making cities human-centric

Urban living is our dominant lifestyle and will remain so in the future. According to the UN, the proportion of the urban population is expected to exceed 68% by 2050. Rapid urbanization shapes the future of the world and our lives, and it is becoming increasingly important to find new ways to properly plan and manage our cities. Urban infrastructure, the way it is built and maintained, will largely determine the quality of our life.

While infrastructure is vital for economic growth, a supply led approach to its provision has often led to unintended and negative consequences for people and the environment. Examples include increasing traffic congestion and air pollution resulting from a purely car-oriented development of transport infrastructure. This is because even if mandated by legislation, public consultations on infrastructure proposals often tend to be inadequate and do not reflect the needs of the people.

The good news is that there are methods and tools that have been tested and used to ensure that infrastructure planning responds to peoples’ needs. Human-centric approach needs human-centric variables for the analysis of “what people want”. When developing these methods, it is important to use qualitative tools to assess the social and emotional well-being of residents, their perceptions, motivations, emotions, ways of living or values rather than a purely quantitative approach that focuses on how many blocks or units were installed.

Popular tools that are employed to make infrastructure human-centric include conversations with people who use or are impacted by infrastructure proposals. The so-called participatory approach to planning, when planners and decision-makers meet residents, community members and important actors to better understand what they need and want and even discuss the contributions they may be willing to make to its provision and maintenance.

In one of our projects in Egypt, UN-Habitat has supported the government to plan a modern bus system and make it more responsive to the needs of women. Focus group discussions and an online survey revealed difficulties that women experience when using public transport. Those included lack of priority seating, harassment, poor security, and poor quality of footpaths and bus-stops. Findings from these participatory processes informed mobility planning and design of the Bus Rapid Transit system which was then developed considering the needs and concerns expressed by women. Cities can ensure genuine participation of citizens in planning through “Open Street Days” events. These platforms help co-create and co-design solutions.

UN-Habitat has supported such initiatives in cities around the world, in Kampala, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Bucaramanga and Belo Horizonte. While digital technologies are becoming all pervasive these days and provide a great opportunity for efficient planning, there is a risk that a purely technocratic approach may leave some people behind. UN-Habitat acknowledges the transformative potential that digital technologies can have for sustainable urban development. However, cities can only be smart if they are inclusive, and we should strive to develop them with people and their needs in mind.