Investing in Urban Resilience: Making Cities and the Urban Poor More Resilient

Cities in the developing world are expanding rapidly, boosting countries’ economies, reducing poverty, and fueling global prosperity. But as more people, assets, and economic activity become concentrated in cities, and infrastructure struggles to keep up with rapid growth, the risk posed by natural disasters and climate change is rising. The urban poor – who are most exposed and least able to cope – will be hardest hit. To help the urban poor unlock their full economic potential, and protect the strides we’ve made in development across the globe, we need to invest in urban resilience. Over the next 15 years, at least $400 billion will be needed each year to make city infrastructure low-emission and more resilient to the wide range of shocks and stresses that cities may encounter.  This event will launch a flagship report – co-authored by the World Bank Group and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery – that illustrates how building urban resilience is critical to reducing poverty and promoting shared prosperity. But although the World Bank Group has, over the last five years, financed more than $9 billion in projects to help cities in 40 countries become more resilient, significant investment gaps still exist today. To overcome those gaps, the World Bank and other multilateral development institutions must enable city and national governments to leverage private capital to boost their resilience.  This process is critical to creating stronger cities that will flourish for decades to come. To that end, this event will also highlight the World Bank Group’s innovative financing products and technical advisory services, which – along with the World Bank’s hundreds of partnerships with a broad range of organizations – help governments at every level leverage private capital. By investing together in urban resilience, we can protect hard-won development gains, and create a safer, more prosperous future.