Cities at the Front Line of Displacement - Governing for inclusion and sustainability

At the end of 2024, more than 83.4 million people worldwide were living in internal displacement, the highest figure on record. Ukraine remains one of the largest crises in Europe, with around 3.6–3.7 million internally displaced due to prolonged conflict. In Türkiye, the February 2023 earthquakes triggered about 4 million internal displacement movements, underscoring how disasters can overwhelm urban systems and prolong displacement. Climate impacts are already a major driver of movement. In 2023, disasters such as floods and storms triggered 26.4 million internal displacement movements, and 7.7 million people were still living in disaster-related internal displacement at year’s end. Looking ahead, city level projections suggest that up to 8 million additional residents could move to just ten Global South cities by 2050. For city governments, these dynamics translate into immediate choices: how to expand housing fast without locking in risk; how to finance services for newcomers without undermining social cohesion; and how to plan for displacement that may be temporary, cyclical, or permanent. As a direct response to these challenges, this session explores strategies for building inclusive, resilient settlements that can absorb sudden population shifts while ensuring social equity and environmental sustainability. Building on insights from Ukraine’s housing and infrastructure reconstruction, global patterns of climate migration, and post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in Türkiye and many countries around the world, we will examine scalable housing models, financing mechanisms, and governance frameworks to address these urgent urban challenges. In short: how can cities act fast and effectively to absorb rapid population shifts while building a more inclusive, resilient future? This session directly advances Dialogue 3 by placing housing and the protection of housing, land and social infrastructure at the forefront of crisis recovery and reconstruction. The session is structured around direct testimonies from city leaders and practitioners, focusing on what has worked, what has failed, and what they would do differently. The discussion spotlights how local governments, host communities, developers, and city level financing can work together to deliver adequate housing quickly and at scale, while protecting vulnerable groups and ensuring access to dedicated services, particularly those advancing gender equality and human capital development.