Thriving Cities Initiative
Cities + Creation
Around the world, Creation-based Solutions are helping fast-growing cities address flooding, extreme heat, biodiversity loss, and human well-being in practical, cost-effective ways that can be applied at scale.
What if creation were part of the infrastructure?
Trees, wetlands, and rain gardens can do essential work for cities too.
When we think about urban infrastructure, we usually think of roads, pipes, power systems, buildings and concrete. But creation can do essential work for cities too — trees can cool neighborhoods, wetlands can absorb floodwater, rain gardens can capture stormwater, green roofs can reduce heat and runoff, rivers and streams can become ecological corridors, and urban forests can provide habitat. UN-Habitat describes these Creation-based Solutions as an important approach for addressing urban challenges such as flooding, extreme heat, erosion, landslides, drought and water scarcity — while frequently providing additional environmental and social benefits.
Creation can be infrastructure
Don't just ask where we can put creation in the city.
Ask what jobs creation can do for the city.
- A wetland can be flood infrastructure.
- A tree canopy can be cooling infrastructure.
- A watershed can be water infrastructure.
- A greenway can be transportation, recreation and habitat infrastructure.
- A rain garden can be stormwater infrastructure and pollinator habitat.
- An urban forest can provide shade, cleaner air, habitat and public space.
One solution. Many benefits.
A single Creation-based intervention can accomplish several things at once.
Creation cools cities.
Trees, vegetation, green roofs and other green infrastructure can help reduce the urban heat-island effect and create cooler microclimates. UN-Habitat identifies urban vegetation, rain gardens, green roofs and living walls among Creation-based Solutions that can help address extreme heat.
Creation manages water.
Instead of moving rainfall away as quickly as possible through pipes and concrete channels, cities can use creation's own systems to slow, absorb, store and filter water. Rain gardens, bioswales, infiltration basins, wetlands, restored waterways and vegetated areas can help reduce runoff and flooding while replenishing groundwater.
Creation reduces climate risk.
UN-Habitat highlights Creation-based Solutions as tools for increasing urban resilience to hazards including flooding, storm surge, extreme heat, drought, erosion, landslides, sea-level rise and water scarcity.
Creation supports biodiversity.
A city does not have to be biologically empty. Trees, parks, waterways, wetlands, green roofs, gardens and connected green spaces can create habitat for birds, insects, pollinators, plants and other species. The World Urban Campaign specifically calls for urban green spaces that foster local biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services.
Creation supports human health.
Access to creation and green space supports physical activity, social connection, mental health, and spiritual well-being—helping create healthier people and more livable communities.
Creation can improve neighborhoods.
Well-designed Creation-based Solutions can provide more than ecological benefits. They can create attractive public spaces, support walking and cycling, strengthen community connections and improve neighborhood quality of life.
Working with creation can make economic sense
Creation-based approaches can be cost-effective investments in urban resilience.
In Lami Town, Fiji, UN-Habitat and its partners compared conventional engineering approaches to ecosystem-based adaptation, including restoring mangroves and stream buffers. Across the scenarios studied, estimated benefits ranged from approximately US$3.96 to US$4.66 for every US$1 spent — including avoided damage to homes and businesses, avoided health costs, and ecosystem services maintained or enhanced.
In fact, the Lami study found that the pure ecosystem-based adaptation scenario produced the highest cost-benefit ratio among the scenarios compared. Researchers separately estimated that if restoring mangroves reduced storm-surge damage by 25%, every Fijian dollar spent on mangrove replanting could save approximately FJD $38 in avoided damages.
Cities can become places for creation
A city and creation don't have to be opposites.
Creation-based urbanism doesn't mean returning cities to wilderness. It means designing cities in ways that recognize that human communities are part of larger ecological systems — restoring rivers rather than burying them, protecting wetlands rather than building over them, and planning around watersheds, soils and ecosystems.
“The City We Need is regenerative.”
A regenerative city doesn't simply consume resources — it seeks to restore and replenish energy, water, food systems, air and ecosystems. — World Urban Campaign
“The City We Need thrives on nature and culture.”
Such a city recognizes the capacities and limits of the natural systems that sustain it and values biodiversity for its contributions to health and liveability. — World Urban Campaign
What does this look like in a real city?
Three cities putting creation to work.
Wuhan, China — Reconnecting people and creation
The Donghu Greenway in Wuhan was developed as part of a UN-Habitat demonstration project focused on improving urban public space. The project combined ecological restoration, biodiversity improvements, walking and cycling infrastructure, natural approaches to improving lake-water quality, public amenities and neighborhood economic development.
According to the World Urban Campaign, visitors to the area increased from approximately 94,000 in 2015 to more than 10 million within two years, contributing to job creation and local economic development.
Quito, Ecuador — Designing with water
In Quito, Creation-based Solutions have been used to address challenges including flooding, mudslides, heat and limited green space. Neighborhood interventions have included rain gardens, swales, tree planting, ecological parks and improved water management.
Importantly, the solutions have been developed through co-creation with local residents, combining ecological restoration with community participation and neighborhood improvement.
Chengdu, China — A city within a park
In Chengdu, planners have been developing a large-scale Park City approach designed around networks of blue and green spaces. UN-Habitat helped develop a Park City Indicator System evaluating the initiative across five dimensions: People, Place, Planet, Prosperity, and Participation.
The Tianfu New Area initiative seeks to rebuild the relationship between people and creation through ecological networks, parks, walking and cycling trails and protected biodiversity.
Explore the sources
- UN-Habitat — World Cities Report 2022Urban population projections and the future of global urbanization. unhabitat.org/wcr/2022
- UN-Habitat — Nature-based Solutions to Build Climate Resilience in Informal AreasDetailed guidance on urban heat, flooding, green roofs, rain gardens, bioswales and other NbS. Read the strategy paper
- UN-Habitat — Urbanization and Climate Change in Small Island Developing StatesIncludes the Lami, Fiji cost-benefit case study. Read the report
- UN-Habitat — Lami Town Climate Change Vulnerability AssessmentDetailed assessment of mangroves, stream buffers, engineering solutions and avoided climate damages. Read the assessment
- World Urban Campaign — The 60 Priority ActionsRecommendations addressing biodiversity, green space, climate resilience, human health and Nature-based Solutions. worldurbancampaign.org/60actions
- World Urban Campaign — #Nature4CitiesExamples of Nature-based urban development and UN-Habitat-supported city initiatives. worldurbancampaign.org/nature4cities
- World Urban Campaign — #Resilience4CitiesUrban resilience examples including Wuhan's Donghu Greenway and Nature-based Solutions. worldurbancampaign.org/resilience4cities
- World Urban Campaign — The City We NeedThe regenerative-city vision and the principle that cities should thrive on nature and culture. Read more
Thriving Cities Initiative
Explore the rest of the Thriving Cities Initiative.
See the milestones, partnerships, and the Gospel and the Future of Cities: A Call to Action statement.