Guide
Climate Action Guide for Urban Planners
From C40, UrbanShift, and Community Jameel, this guide leads urban planners and practitioners through how to effectively infuse climate action into the development of urban plans.
By 2050, two out of every three people on Earth will be living in cities. As cities grow, they typically expand outwards, growing in area and converting more land to urban use. The built-up area of cities is therefore growing faster than their populations, leading to vast and sprawling cities, often occupying area vulnerable to climate hazards.
Some 80% of cities face significant risks from heat and flooding, while around 90% of urban expansion in Global South countries is happening near hazard-prone areas – and taking the form of informal and unplanned settlements.
The guide, available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic, will support urban planners from cities around the world to play their full part in tackling the climate crisis. Urban planning is a city function which offers unparalleled opportunities to set cities on development pathways that are lower-carbon and more responsive to evolving climate risks.
The guide focuses on the preparation and policy content of urban plans – known variously as strategic spatial plans, master plans, land use plans, and more. The guide also identifies a range of planning policies from cities around the world which have been designed with specific climate considerations in mind.
How African cities can develop to become green, resilient, and inclusive
During the Green & Resilient UrbanShift Africa Forum, leaders from across the continent united to learn and share insights on accelerating transformative urban planning approaches—and the finance needed to implement them.
GREEN & RESILIENT URBANSHIFT AFRICA FORUM 2025
UrbanShift's forum for Africa will gather leaders from cities and national governments from across the continent to collectively discuss the role of urban planning amidst rapid urbanisation and climate breakdown.
Clean Air Zone Toolbox
This toolbox is for all C40 and non-C40 cities planning, developing and implementing Clean Air Zone policies.
UrbanShift Looks Back: Reflecting on the Impact of our Capacity-Building Offer
WRI’s Mariana Orloff and John-Rob Pool share highlights and learnings from our broad capacity-building efforts, from the City Academy to Peer-to-Peer Exchanges.
