ABSTRACT

This chapter demonstrates the important contribution that organized low-income communities can make in achieving inclusive urban development, and particularly so when their efforts are supported by partnership with government and other actors. While the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include the urban-specific Goal 11 for ‘safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable’ cities, many of the other 17 goals, ranging from no poverty (goal 1) to clean water and sanitation (goal 6) to decent work (goal 8), cannot be achieved without sustained effort and investment in cities. Estimates suggest that low- and lower middle income countries will require an increase in public and private expenditure of USD 1 trillion per year to achieve the SDGs (Schmidt-Traub 2015). But business-as-usual approaches to funding and delivering development will fail to reach those most likely to be left behind – including urban informal settlements, while a growth-first strategy of urban development risks cementing exclusion (McGranahan 2016).