Three quarters of the world’s urban areas are more unequal today than they were 20 years ago, and nearly 1 billion people live in informal settlements without basic services. This project tackles the gap between global policy promises—such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal for inclusive cities—and the practical knowledge needed to deliver urban equality in developing countries. The research works across nine countries, including Peru, India, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, by forming local networks of academics, policymakers, and community stakeholders. They will identify city-specific barriers to prosperity, resilience to disasters and climate change, and the persistence of extreme poverty. A comparative programme will draw lessons across cities, while a separate work package develops an ethics framework for this kind of applied research. If successful, the project could reshape how urban policy is made in the Global South—moving from top-down planning to approaches that reflect local realities. It also aims to change how planners are educated and how UK research institutions support overseas development work. The ultimate goal is a long-term network of Urban Hubs that can sustain this work beyond the grant period.
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Urban equality refers to the possibility of attaining an even distribution of access to resources, services and opportunities, as well as recognition of social diversity and inclusion in decisions that affects urban citizens' lives. Increasing rates of urban inequality since the 1990s affect directly prosperity and resilience outcomes in urban areas. Increasing rates of urban inequality hold back economic, social and political progress and can contribute to conflicts and extreme poverty. In the age of urbanisation, with more than half of the World's population living in urban areas, achieving urban equality is a major global challenge. Three quarters of the World's urban areas are more unequal today than they were 20 years ago. Close to 1 billion people worldwide live in informal settlements, deprived of basic services and livelihood opportunities. The challenge of urban inequality has inspired a new global discourse on the future of cities and urban areas. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, the 'urban' goal, emphasise the need to deliver inclusive cities. The New Urban Agenda (NUA) adopted by national governments in Quito, October 2016, asks for urban policies for a city that leave 'no one behind'. The project 'Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality' (henceforth KNOW) seeks to develop research capacities in developing countries and in UK institutions that deliver ODA research, to deliver on the SDG11 and the NUA. KNOW focuses on the major knowledge gap in global policy agendas: delivering urban equality for inclusive cities of opportunities for all. The work programme focuses on three key challenges: achieving prosperity; building resilience to disasters and a changing climate; and addressing the persistent problem of extreme poverty. The work programme is divided in six work packages. Three work packages focus on learning-by-doing, that is, doing research as a means to build capacity. Work Package 1 will deliver city-relevant research in several countries including Perú, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Tanzania, Uganda, Sierra Leona, India, and Sri Lanka. In each case, KNOW will support the formation of a network of overseas and local academics, and stakeholders who will work together to identify the specific challenges associated with urban inequality that emerge in each city. Work Package 2 will use different case-based experiences to develop a comparative programme of research across cities, exploring the challenges of prosperity, resilience, and extreme poverty. Work Package 3 will focus on develop an 'Ethics of Practice' for urban research, within the framework of the Global Challenges Research Fund. Three work packages will focus on delivering capacities to maximise the impact of research. Work Package 4 will focus on how to translate research into practice, working with key policy makers, intermediaries, and activists to explore the development of urban policy following the programme of research in each city. Work Package 5 will focus on how to maximise the impact of research in education, particularly focusing on the education of planners in the Global South. Finally, Work Package 6 will examine the UK-based capacities to deliver ODA-research for urban equality, seeking to strength current areas of work and develop a new transdisciplinary field of research practice. KNOW will be coordinated by the Bartlett Development Planning Unit, a recognised institution with a track record of 60+ years of applied research to deliver socially and environmentally just cities in the global south. KNOW also build on a consolidated network of partners in urban areas, capable to deliver an ambitions, international, and interdisciplinary urban research. These partners constitute the locus for a worldwide network of Urban Hubs that, strengthen by the experience in KNOW, will deliver a long-term agenda of research for urban equality.
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