Transformative Partnerships for Resilience Community-Led Planning Enabling Affordable Housing and WASH for SDG Delivery

As global urbanisation accelerates at an historic rate, 68% of people worldwide are expected to reside in cities by 2050, rising from 56% today (UN DESA, 2025). This rapid expansion is already overwhelming urban systems’ ability to provide adequate housing, infrastructure and essential services. Worldwide, more than 2.8 billion people live in inadequate housing, including 1.1 billion in informal settlements, a crisis projected to worsen as cities grow (UN-Habitat, 2025). The challenge is most severe in Sub-Saharan Africa, where urban populations are forecast to double by 2050 (UN DESA, 2025). Urban expansion has outstripped planning, service delivery and institutional capacity, leading to widespread informality, infrastructure gaps and entrenched inequalities. Over 60% of urban residents live in informal settlements with limited or no access to water and sanitation services (UN-Habitat, 2025). In Zambia, the pace of urbanisation is increasing, with 45% of the population currently living in urban areas and projections surpassing 55% by 2040 (World Bank; UN DESA). Cities and towns are under mounting pressure to provide housing, social services and ensure environmental sustainability. Acknowledging that urban challenges are most effectively addressed through locally driven, context-specific approaches, Zambia has initiated a strong devolution agenda to enhance local capacity for inclusive and sustainable urban development. At the centre of this agenda is participatory and integrated development planning that prioritises multi stakeholder engagement and community led solutions to urban challenges. Zambia proposes a partner-led “SDGs in Action” session at the WUF13 under the topic “Transformative partnerships for resilience: Community-Led Planning enabling affordable housing & WASH for SDG delivery.” The event seeks to demonstrate how decentralised, community-led integrated development planning and social housing and transformative water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives enable districts and local authorities to advance safe, resilient and sustainable urban development at neighborhood and settlement level. The key objectives are to: • Demonstrate community-led integrated development planning and devolved provision of basic services as tools for local SDG delivery. • Demonstrate how decentralisation strengthens resilience and drives inclusive service delivery. • Share Zambia’s lessons in aligning local planning and efforts towards with sustainable development