CITIES originated as safe, convenient hubs with access to work, culture and nature.

Today, they feature infrastructure and services to improve living standards and economic prospects. Yet the way these systems are planned determines whether cities are engines of prosperity or places of social and ecological crisis. Without sustainability, cities can become dangerous for their residents. Unsustainable urbanisation often leads to environmental degradation, law and order issues, urban flooding, inequality and inefficient transport systems. When cities fail to embody these characteristics, they risk becoming unsafe, unhealthy and unjust.

Sustainability also requires equity. Zachary Lamb and Lawrence Vale’s The Equitably Resilient City argues that resilience cannot ignore social justice. Their model identifies four domains necessary for equitable resilience: environmental safety and vitality, security from displacement, stable and dignified livelihoods and enhanced self-governance. Many adaptation schemes exacerbate inequalities; equitable resilience requires that climate responses empower rather than displace vulnerable communities.

Some cities have embraced sustainability. Medellín in Colombia responded to severe air pollution and rising temperatures by launching the Green Corridor initiative in 2016. The project transformed 18 roads and 12 waterways into an interconnected 20km network of shaded green corridors. In three years, the corridors reduced the city’s average air temperature by 3.5 °C and average surface temperature by 10.3 °C. Greening also reduced energy use for cooling and cut fine particulate matter: between 2016 and 2019, PM2.5 levels fell by........

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