Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Sustainable Cities and Communities is all about making the places where we live safe, inclusive, and resilient. With more people moving to cities, this goal focuses on providing affordable housing, good public transportation, and clean air. It also emphasizes creating green public spaces and protecting our cultural heritage so that cities are healthy places to live.
Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Sustainable Cities and Communities is all about making the places where we live safe, inclusive, and resilient. With more people moving to cities, this goal focuses on providing affordable housing, good public transportation, and clean air. It also emphasizes creating green public spaces and protecting our cultural heritage so that cities are healthy places to live.
Introduction to Goal 11
A curriculum designed for Goal 11 that inspires the values and competencies behind this mission for grades 5-12.
Featured Lesson: Music
Harmonizing for Justice: Music and Social Change
Dive into Goal 11 through the lens of music. This lesson provides hands-on activities and creative exploration designed to bring the concepts to life for students.
Lessons
Art Exploration
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through art.
Printing Our Future
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through art.
City Voices: Writing Free Verse for Better Communities
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through creative writing.
Urban Pulse: Dancing for a Better City (Flash Mob)
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through dance/movement.
Acting Our City Stories With Playback Theater
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through drama.
Voices for a Fair World: Folk Songs for Equality
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through music.
Building Our Town: A Cubist City for Everyone
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through art.
Urban Blues: Singing for a Smarter City
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through music.
Urban Pulse: Dancing for a Better City
Explore Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable through dance/movement.
These learning objectives are organized into five categories that together form a comprehensive approach to understanding and engaging with this goal.
Knowledge
- •
Identify and define what makes a city or community inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable (e.g., green spaces, public transportation, welcoming people, strong buildings, etc.).
(Cr1.1.MS, Cn11.1.MS) - •
Recognize that different communities face unique challenges related to housing, safety, and pollution, but that solutions exist.
(Cn10.1.MS, Cn11.1.MS) - •
Understand that Global Goal 11 is about building cities and towns that are good for people and the planet for a long time.
(Cn10.1.MS, Cn11.1.MS)
Discourse
- •
Explore and describe how messages and ideas about cities and communities are expressed through various art forms (visual art, creative writing, dance, drama, music) by reflecting on visuals, words, movement, sounds, and stories.
(Re7.1.MS, Re8.1.MS) - •
Participate in respectful discussions about urban challenges and solutions, considering how different people experience thier city or community.
(Re9.1.MS, Cn11.1.MS) - •
Communicate their own thoughts, feelings, and ideas about Global Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities through creative expression in various artistic mediums.
(Cr3.1.MS)
Attitudes
- •
Develop empathy and compassion for individuals and communities facing urban challenges, such as a lack of safe housing or public spaces.
(Re8.1.MS, Cn10.1.MS) - •
Appreciate the fundamental value of inclusive and safe public spaces for everyone in a community, regardless of their background or ability.
(Cn11.1.MS) - •
Cultivate a strong sense of personal and collective responsibility for creating and contributing to more inclusive, safe, and sustainable communities.
(Re9.1.MS)
Capacity
- •
Develop critical thinking skills by observing and discussing how different artistic elements can represent urban challenges and solutions.
(Re9.1.MS, Cn10.1.MS) - •
Practice collaboration and communication skills through engaging in group art projects, shared writing activities, and coordinated movement, drama, or musical performances to tell stories about urban life.
(Cr2.1.MS, Pr5.1.MS) - •
Develop creative expression skills through purposeful experimentation with diverse artistic mediums (visual art, creative writing, dance, drama, music) to communicate their understandings and feelings about Sustainable Cities and Communities.
(Cr3.1.MS)
Action
- •
Identify simple and age-appropriate actions they can take to make their own community or school a more inclusive, safe, or sustainable place.
(Pr6.1.MS, Cn11.1.MS) - •
Participate in collaborative artistic projects that creatively express messages of hope and support for sustainable communities.
(Cr3.1.MS, Pr6.1.MS) - •
Reflect on their personal role in contributing to a better community, fostering a sense of responsible global citizenship.
(Re9.1.MS, Cn11.1.MS)
Empowering youth to become active agents of change in creating inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements. Recognizing that even small, consistent actions, sparked by their creative explorations, can contribute to a larger global impact.
Taking Action Beyond the Classroom
Here are ways your students can extend their learning and apply their understanding of Global Goal 11 in their wider community and beyond.
Become Community Storytellers: Choose a favorite piece created in the lessons, and share with family, friends, or local community groups (like a neighborhood association or community group). This allows them to use their art to tell a powerful story about what makes a community great for everyone.
Concrete Action: Aim to share their creative work related to Global Goal 11 with at least three people outside of school.
Community Walk and Share: Go on a Community Walk in your neighborhood, and look for examples of a safe place, a green space, or something that might need improvement (like a broken bench, trash, etc.). Create a quick sketch or write a short descriptive paragraph about one example found and its connection to Global Goal 11.
Concrete Action: Students explore their local community and identify one example of a safe, inclusive, or sustainable place (or an example of something that could use help to get there), documenting it with a sketch or short writing piece.
Design a Better Community Idea: Choose one small idea for improving the community (e.g., a new bike rack for your school, a mini-garden for a public space, a recycling initiative, etc.). Create a simple drawing or persuasive paragraph explaining the problem and proposed solution(s).
Concrete Action: Students create a Better Community idea and present it to family, friends, or a local community group.
Community Voices Story Circle: Sit with family, friends, and community members from diverse generations and backgrounds and share stories about moments they felt a sense of community, a time their neighborhood came together to overcome a challenge, or a place that makes them feel safe and included in their city or community.
Concrete Action: Students initiative a Community Voices story circle with family, friends, or community members, sharing a personal story about their neighborhood and listening to others' perspectives.
Research a Community Champion: Research a real person (from history or today) who has made a significant positive impact on their city or community. This could be a local architect, a community organizer, a civil rights activist, or someone who started a program to help others. Write a short paragraph, create a drawing, or prepare a brief presentation about this Community Champion, explaining how their actions connect to Global Goal 11. This helps to see real-world examples of impact and positive change.
Concrete Action: Students research and present one Community Champion to share with family or the class.
Benchmarking Progress
A quick view of the official UN targets for this goal paired with the indicators that track global progress. Use these to connect classroom inquiry with real-world data.
Target 11.1
By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.
Indicators
- 11.1.1
Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing
Target 11.2
By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.
Indicators
- 11.2.1
Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
Target 11.3
By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.
Indicators
- 11.3.1
Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate
- 11.3.2
Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically
Target 11.4
Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world's cultural and natural heritage.
Indicators
- 11.4.1
Total per capita expenditure on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by source of funding (public, private), type of heritage (cultural, natural) and level of government (national, regional, and local/municipal)
Target 11.5
By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations.
Indicators
- 11.5.1
Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- 11.5.2
Direct economic loss in relation to global GDP, damage to critical infrastructure and number of disruptions to basic services, attributed to disasters
Target 11.6
By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.
Indicators
- 11.6.1
Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities
- 11.6.2
Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted)
Target 11.7
By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.
Indicators
- 11.7.1
Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
- 11.7.2
Proportion of persons victim of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months
Target 11.a
Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning.
Indicators
- 11.a.1
Number of countries that have national urban policies or regional development plans that (a) respond to population dynamics; (b) ensure balanced territorial development; and (c) increase local fiscal space
Target 11.b
By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels.
Indicators
- 11.b.1
Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
- 11.b.2
Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
Target 11.c
Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials.
Indicators
- 11.c.1
Proportion of financial support to the least developed countries that is allocated to the construction and retrofitting of sustainable, resilient and resource-efficient buildings utilizing local materials