In September 2019, the heads of State and Government met at the Sustainable Development Goals Summit to renew their commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. During this event, they recognized that the first four years of implementation of the 2030 Agenda have made great progress, but overall, the world is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Goal number 11 refers to poor neighborhoods, the management and planning of human settlements, mitigation and adaptation to climate change and the urban economy. Prior to the adoption of Agenda 2030, point 4 of Millennium Development Goal 7, efforts were required to achieve "significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers" by 2020. In 2008, for the first time in history, the global urban population surpassed the rural population.

This stage marked the beginning of a new “urban millennium” and it is expected that, by 2050, two thirds of the world's population will be able to live in urban areas. The number of urban residents increases by 73 million each year, and urban areas are estimated to account for 70 percent of global gross domestic product, generating a large share of economic growth. Therefore, sustainable development cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way we build and manage our urban spaces.

Unprecedented growth, coupled with increased migration from the countryside to cities, is a combination of “push” and “pull” factors, has led to a boom in metropolises, especially in developing countries.

In 1990 there were megacities with 10 million inhabitants or more, in 2014 there were 28 that were home to 453 million people.

Slums are also becoming a more significant aspect of urban life. Between 2000 and 2014, the total number of slum dwellers rose from 792 million in 2000 to around 880 million in 2014. Most of them are in East and Southeast Asia. Over the next 30 years, 90% of urban growth is expected to occur in Asia and Africa. Rapid urbanization around the world is putting pressure on freshwater supplies, sewers, the environment and public health. The vast majority of research on sustainable development goal 11 comes from the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. The environmental and social sciences sectors are those that register the highest number of research related to sustainable development goal 11, followed by medicine, energy and engineering.

The United Nations has identified 10 goals and 15 indicators for sustainable development 11. The goals specify the objectives and the indicators represent the measurement method by which the world aims to monitor whether they have been achieved. Six of them must be achieved by 2030, one by 2020 and three have no deadline year. Each of the objectives also has one or two indicators that will be used to measure progress.

In September 2019, the heads of State and Government met at the Sustainable Development Goals Summit to renew their commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. During this event, they recognized that the first four years of implementation of the 2030 Agenda have made great progress, but overall, the world is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Goal number 11 refers to poor neighborhoods, the management and planning of human settlements, mitigation and adaptation to climate change and the urban economy. Prior to the adoption of Agenda 2030, point 4 of Millennium Development Goal 7, efforts were required to achieve "significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers" by 2020. In 2008, for the first time in history, the global urban population surpassed the rural population.

This stage marked the beginning of a new “urban millennium” and it is expected that, by 2050, two thirds of the world's population will be able to live in urban areas. The number of urban residents increases by 73 million each year, and urban areas are estimated to account for 70 percent of global gross domestic product, generating a large share of economic growth. Therefore, sustainable development cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way we build and manage our urban spaces.

Unprecedented growth, coupled with increased migration from the countryside to cities, is a combination of “push” and “pull” factors, has led to a boom in metropolises, especially in developing countries.

In 1990 there were megacities with 10 million inhabitants or more, in 2014 there were 28 that were home to 453 million people.

Slums are also becoming a more significant aspect of urban life. Between 2000 and 2014, the total number of slum dwellers rose from 792 million in 2000 to around 880 million in 2014. Most of them are in East and Southeast Asia. Over the next 30 years, 90% of urban growth is expected to occur in Asia and Africa. Rapid urbanization around the world is putting pressure on freshwater supplies, sewers, the environment and public health. The vast majority of research on sustainable development goal 11 comes from the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. The environmental and social sciences sectors are those that register the highest number of research related to sustainable development goal 11, followed by medicine, energy and engineering.

The United Nations has identified 10 goals and 15 indicators for sustainable development 11. The goals specify the objectives and the indicators represent the measurement method by which the world aims to monitor whether they have been achieved. Six of them must be achieved by 2030, one by 2020 and three have no deadline year. Each of the objectives also has one or two indicators that will be used to measure progress.