Planning for Peace/Coexistence in Cities

In 2015, the UK government published its National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, which identified social inequality and exclusion together with rapid and unplanned urbanisation as being among the key drivers of instability. Two years later, the World Economic Forum cited ‘failure of planning’ as one of the top global risks over the course of the next decade.

Responding to these challenges, the UK Built Environment Advisory Group (UKBEAG) champions the importance of good planning and design as vital contributors to prosperity and peaceful coexistence for both established communities and planned settlements.

The UKBEAG brings together the collective skills and expertise of more than 100,000 built environment professionals in over 150 countries. Founded by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Institution of Structural Engineers, its aim is to support humanitarian and development agencies together with foreign governments.

The outcomes of this and future sessions and research will feed into UKBEAG’s support for Action Framework for Implementation of the New Urban Agenda (AFINUA), noting that the theme of ‘Cities in Crisis’ feature prominently on the agenda of the week-long World Urban Forum which opened in Kuala Lumpur on 7 February.