Extreme urban heat is becoming an urgent challenge for Bangkok, threatening lives, livelihoods, and the city’s economic resilience. The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect exacerbates this crisis, turning built-up areas into heat traps that contribute to heat-related mortality, lost productivity, higher energy consumption, and other negative outcomes. Shaping a Cooler Bangkok: Tackling Urban Heat for a More Livable City Kigali is bringing nearly 500 hectares of urban wetlands back to life—the largest city-wide urban wetland rehabilitation in Africa and one of the largest in the world.

Understanding the Context

Five Wetland Ecosystem Parks will draw over one million annual visits by 2031, create 5,000 jobs, and result in $45-90 million in avoided flood damages, linking recreation, research, and nature-based tourism to community benefits. The Djibouti Integrated Slum Upgrading Project, launched in 2018, aims to improve living conditions in deprived urban areas in Djibouti City and to strengthen the capacity of public institutions responsible for implementing the Zero Slum Program. The World Bank Group supports cities and mobilizes subnational finance to create jobs by building urban infrastructure and strengthening municipal services. This report highlights the substantial investments required to build more resilient and low-carbon cities in low- and middle-income countries.

Key Insights

These investments are crucial to strengthen essential infrastructure, unlock new jobs, and ensure more sustainable urban development. Resilient and low ... Discover how the Ethiopia Urban Institutional and Infrastructure Development Program created 1.15 million jobs with World Bank support. How an Urban Program in Ethiopia Delivered More than a Million Jobs The World Urban Forum is the premier global conference on urbanization. It brings together participants from around the globe to discuss the major urban challenges facing the world today.

Final Thoughts

The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) will be held from May 17–22, 2026 in Baku, Azerbaijan, co-organized by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Government ...