Building sustainable cities to address urban sprawl: a reflective analysis towards achieving SDGs

Abstract

The paper aims to evaluate the prospects of building a sustainable city to address urban sprawl in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11. This paper focuses on SDG 11, which is concerned with making sustainable cities and communities. Its objective is to make cities and other populated areas more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable in the long run. Examining some of the problems that impede the SDGs from being accomplished, urbanisation emerges as one of the most significant human endeavours, affecting the standard of urban living and its long-term development in most developing countries. In developing countries, many cities have been burdened with a new normal and culture of growth, driven by urban sprawl, which has led to the sustainable city strategy gaining popularity in recent years. Urbanisation is increasing at an unprecedented rate in many developing countries, threatening the achievement of SDGs due to the proliferation of urban sprawl. Currently, urban areas are home to over 50 % of the world’s population. It is projected, that by 2045 urban areas will be home to more 6 billion people. These have placed severe constraints on local governments, who should be developing sustainable cities and communities in response to urban development to fulfil SDG 11. This makes it impossible to achieve SDG 11 by the projected deadline of 2030. This paper argues that without fundamentally changing how cities are built, developed and populated, sustainability in urban areas cannot be realised. This paper suggests that adequate and ready policy and legislative frameworks are needed to promote sustainable development and prevent urban sprawl in cities.