From Data to Action: Empowering Rapidly Urbanizing Cities with Climate and Urbanization Insights

Rapid urbanization is reshaping cities across the Global South, yet many of the fastest-growing urban areas, particularly small and medium-sized cities, remain underrepresented in global climate research and policy discussions. At the same time, these cities face significant pressures related to infrastructure, climate risk, and limited governance capacity.

This moderated panel will present preliminary findings from ongoing research analyzing patterns of urban growth using the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL), which enables global comparisons of population change and built-up expansion across cities. The research identifies distinct urbanization trajectories and highlights key pressure points where rapid growth intersects with climate risk and planning challenges.

Panelists will discuss the implications of these findings for climate mitigation and adaptation planning, including insights from a case study of Embu County, Kenya. The session will also introduce a discussion paper and invite dialogue on how improved urban data and new typologies of urban growth can help support more targeted climate action in rapidly urbanizing cities.