Seizing the opportunity

Habitat III, the Third International Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, offers the world an exceptional opportunity to rethink the sustainability of our urban model. It is largely recognized that cities have become the main driver of economic development. Yet an analysis of the urbanization of the last two decades reveals that current urban practices are unsustainable: our cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy, produce more than half of all greenhouse gas emissions and consume much more land than is needed, with consequent environmental impacts.