# Global urban futures
**Source**: https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/
**Parent**: https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/study/taught-masters/
## The challenge
Global urbanisation in the 21st century presents a range of challenges:
- The geography of many cities is characterised by inequality, segregation and fragmentation, with concentrations of poverty and wealth existing in close proximity to one another.
- Accessing affordable, decent, secure shelter is increasingly difficult as urban land and housing become targets for speculative activities. In the global South, an estimated 3 billion people will be living in informal settlements by 2050. Meanwhile in the global North, austerity policies are exacerbating homelessness and housing insecurity.
- Infrastructure and service delivery systems in many cities in developing countries are incomplete. There is an urgent need to develop accessible, sustainable and affordable energy, water and sanitation systems.
- Decent employment is a challenge for city dwellers in the context of changing patterns of work and continuing casualization within labour markets. Many rely on informal employment in order to make a living and lack the basic protections and benefits associated with formal sector work.
- Many urban residents live in smaller towns with close connections to rural livelihoods. There is a need to understand changing patterns of migration and the flow of goods and services between urban, peri-urban and rural areas.
- Climate change is already having a profound impact on cities, and in most cases its impacts disproportionately impact low-income residents. Urban processes will increasingly be influenced by climate change, and cities must simultaneously seek to mitigate climate change while adapting to its most immediate impacts.
## How we are addressing it
The global urban futures group seek to understand and address these challenges through engaged research and practice. Research themes include:
- Addressing urban inequalities and making cities more inclusive
- Exploring innovative solutions to the global housing crisis
- Enabling city dwellers to make a decent living
- Widening access to public and green space, infrastructure and public transport for all city dwellers
- Co-producing knowledge with urban communities and social movements
## Research projects
[## African Cities Research Consortium
Led by Professor Diana Mitlin, ACRC and its international partners will tackle complex problems in some of Africa’s fastest growing urban areas.](https://www.african-cities.org/)
[## Scaling up participation in urban planning
This research project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, looks at how community involvement in urban development can help achieve inclusive cities.](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/scaling-up-participation-in-urban-planning/)
[## The urban political economy of Africa’s real estate frontier
This project investigates the geographical expansion of urban real estate markets in Africa through a comparative study of Accra, Ghana, and Nairobi, Kenya.](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/political-economy-africa-real-estate-frontier/)
[## Second Cold War Observatory
The Second Cold War Observatory seeks to understand China-US competition and how it shapes societies, politics, economies, and ecologies globally.](https://www.secondcoldwarobservatory.com/)
[## Turkey's urbanization-led development strategy
Seth Schindler's project is a Newton Advanced Fellowship.](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/turkey-urbanization/)
[## Deindustrialisation and its impacts in cities in the Global South
This is the first large-scale multi-site comparative research project focused on deindustrialisation in cities the Global South.](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/deindustrialisation-impact-cities/)
[## Democratising data on urban land ownership
Smith Ouma and Tom Gillespie have been collaborating with social movement organisations to democratise data on urban land ownership in Nairobi and Manchester.](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/democratising-data-on-urban-land-ownership/)
## Research project archive
- [Nairobi County special housing fund](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/project-archive/nairobi-county-special-housing-fund/ "Home%20%BB%20Shared%20%BB%20Humanities%20%BB%20Global%20Development%20Institute%20%BB%20Research%20%BB%20Groups%20%BB%20Global%20urban%20futures%20%BB%20Project%20archive%20%BB%20Nairobi%20County%20Special%20Housing%20Fund")
- [Exploring transnational gentrifications in urban Africa: A pilot study of Accra, Ghana](https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/projects/exploring-transnational-gentrifications-in-urban-africa-a-pilot-study-of-accra-ghana-project(4e0a8348-5dd4-4fdd-bf28-356e7b2cd794).html)
- [Youth, poverty and inequality in urban Tanzania](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/project-archive/youth-poverty-inequality-tanzania/ "Home%20%BB%20Shared%20%BB%20Humanities%20%BB%20Global%20Development%20Institute%20%BB%20Research%20%BB%20Groups%20%BB%20Global%20urban%20futures%20%BB%20Project%20archive%20%BB%20Youth%2C%20poverty%20and%20inequality%20in%20urban%20Tanzania")
- [Institutions for urban poor’s access to ecosystem services](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/project-archive/institutions-for-urban-poors-access-to-ecosystem-services/ "Home%20%BB%20Shared%20%BB%20Humanities%20%BB%20Global%20Development%20Institute%20%BB%20Research%20%BB%20Groups%20%BB%20Global%20urban%20futures%20%BB%20Project%20archive%20%BB%20Institutions%20for%20urban%20poor%u2019s%20access%20to%20ecosystem%20services")
- [Urban climate resilience](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/project-archive/urban-climate-resilience/ "Home%20%BB%20Shared%20%BB%20Humanities%20%BB%20Global%20Development%20Institute%20%BB%20Research%20%BB%20Groups%20%BB%20Global%20urban%20futures%20%BB%20Project%20archive%20%BB%20Urban%20climate%20resilience%3A%20how%20does%20land%20tenure%20affect%20adaptation%20to%20climate%20change%20in%20Dhaka%3F")
- [Climurb](https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/global-urban-futures/project-archive/community-and-institutional-responses-to-the-challenges-facing-poor-urban-people-in-bangladesh/ "Home%20%BB%20Shared%20%BB%20Humanities%20%BB%20Global%20Development%20Institute%20%BB%20Research%20%BB%20Groups%20%BB%20Global%20urban%20futures%20%BB%20Project%20archive%20%BB%20Community%20and%20institutional%20responses%20to%20the%20challenges%20facing%20poor%20urban%20people%20in%20Bangladesh")
## Our teaching agenda
- [Global Urban Development and Planning MSc](https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/08212/msc-global-urban-development-and-planning/)
- [Research Methods with International Development MSc](https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/11845/msc-research-methods-with-international-development/)
- [Development Policy and Management PhD](https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/programmes/list/05228/phd-development-policy-and-management/)
## People and publications
Click on the names below to read their latest publications or read the [latest publications from the Global Development Institute](https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/organisations/global-development-institute/publications/).
- [Dr Nicola Banks](http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/nicola.banks/) - Senior Lecturer, International Development: Urban Development and Global Urbanism
- [Dr Tom Gillespie](https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/thomas.gillespie.html) - Lecturer, Global Urban Development
- [Prof David Hulme](http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/david.hulme) - Professor, Development Studies
- [Prof Diana Mitlin](http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/Diana.Mitlin) - Professor, Global Urbanism, Director of Global Urban Research Centre
- [Dr Johan Oldekop](https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/johan.oldekop) - Reader in Environment and Development
- [Dr Smith Ouma](https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/smith.ouma) - Leverhulme Early Career Fellow
- [Dr Maria Rusca](https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/maria.rusca.html) – Senior Lecturer in Global Development
- [Prof Seth Schindler](https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/seth.schindler.html) - Professor, Urban Politics and Development
- [Dr Alice Sverdlik](https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/alice.sverdlik.html) - Lecturer in Social Development
There are several non-GDI colleagues who are also involved in the global urban futures research group
- [Dr Alfredo Stein](https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/alfredo.stein.html) - Lecturer in Urban Development Planning
- [Dr Leandro Minuchin](https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/leandro.minuchin.html) - Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Global Urbanism
## PhD researchers and post-doctoral fellows
- Mohd Helmi Abu Yahya - Homelessness and the Political Agenda in Southeast Asia: The Case Study of Malaysia
- Laura Hirst - Fire justice in informal settlements in the Global South: evidence from Nairobi, Kenya
- Whitney Banyai-Becker - Leaning in to urban social movements: a gendered analysis of Muungano wa Wanavijiji
- Daniela Cocco Beltrame - Interstitial Colalitions for Just Urban Futures: The Young People's Federations of SDI
- Edwin Rwigi
## News and insights
- [Read the latest blog posts from the global urban futures research group](http://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/tag/Urban-futures/)
- [Watch the latest videos from the global urban futures research group](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3ua0MTzoi87T_GGjohzYhH2EF6osZq0I)