Making Jakarta & Manila Sustainable Inclusive Cities Inception Phase Urbanization is a complex, irreversible and worldwide phenomenon which has global dimensions and long-term consequences for everyone. The Human Cities Coalition, initiated by a group of Dutch companies, aims to contribute to the development of inclusive and sustainable cities by bringing together a wide range of partners to help solve major urbanization challenges, particularly those faced by urban poor communities.  Pilot interventions will be developed for Jakarta and Manila. Today half of the world's population, about 3.5 billion people, live in cities. It is expected that by 2050 6.5 billion people will live in urban areas. Unfortunately urbanization also results in large slum areas. Today almost 1 billion people are living in slums and that number is expected to grow to 3 billion by 2050. Almost all urbanization, 95 percent, will take place in developing countries. The fast growth of metropolitan areas often results in big challenges in areas such as infrastructure and access to basic services. according to recent studies from the World Bank and McKinsey until 2030 approximately 80 trillion US dollars will be invested in urban infrastructure. 

The rapid urbanization calls for new, collaborative approach. The Human Cities Coalition was founded in 2016 to contribute to the United Nations' New Urban Agenda, which will shape the future development of cities to make them inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (the 11th Sustainable Development Goal). We want to channel the energy of the metropolis into a force for economic and social development that benefits everyone. At its core the Human Cities Coalition believes that we are stronger when everyone collaborates we can succeed to make the worlds megacities livable and prosperous places for all.

The Human Cities Coalition, initiated by a group of Dutch companies, has forged a unique coalition that brings together a wide range of partners, predominantly from the private sector. Our coalition consists of twenty partners and 150+ stakeholders spanning from blue-chip companies and top-tier universities to grassroots organizations and governments.

The Human Cities Coalition is a platform that acts as a convener and catalyst, within the triangle government, private sector and community, for change. Its strength comes from its strong roots in the private sector. Its members recognize the need to pioneer viable business propositions that serve the needs of the urban poor and harness the value of urban agglomeration as a driving force for sustainable growth and prosperity.

The role of the private sector in the Coalition in combination with its focus on the urban poor is unprecedented in the field of urban development. That is why UN-Habitat has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Human Cities Coalition to contribute to its platform and to the development of evidence-based policies to strengthen the case for investing in sustainable urbanization.

In the first year we focus our work on Jakarta and Manila, both mega-cities in a river delta, which pose extra challenges for which Human Cities Coalition is extra equipped. Some members of our coalition are worldwide leaders in water and infra management. Our first step was to determine precisely the local needs of the urban poor. HCC is conducting with its core partners assessments from the bottom-up focusing on the needs of local communities as well top-down assessments that give insights into the political-economic boundaries.

At the same time we are forging strong local coalitions with the aim to unite all key stakeholders, from grassroots to government level. For each city, Human Cities Coalition facilitates 1) the process to choose jointly one of the urban development priorities and 2) the design of an inclusive public-private partnership approach to build a sustainable business proposition, including its financing, to solve the chosen basic services priority, e.g. clean drinking water.