- Global Cities 2026
- Annex C
References and record
Every source the edition rests on, the publication record, the corrections log and the open record.
Contents
- ·Edition home
- ·Executive summary
- 1Cities are where the systems meet
- 2Key findings
- 3Systems and sectors at baseline
- 4Risks and capability
- 5Heat wave followed by flooding in a subsiding coastal city
- 6Readings from the other desks
- 7The 2027 agenda
- 8Systems in depth
- AMethodology
- BData appendix
- CReferences and record
- ·Complete edition, for print
C.145 sources
NR-CIT-1, editor first. A DOI is linked where the source has one; Nexus records carry a UNI once the catalogue allocates it (NS-1).
- 1UN DESA Population Division (ed.), World Urbanization Prospects 2025: Summary of Results (publication page and press release; 45% of 8.2 billion people in cities, 33 megacities, more than 12,000 cities, Degree of Urbanisation). United Nations, New York, November 2025. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6
- 2DATA VINTAGE AFTER CLOSE: World Bank (ed.), World Development Indicators, API extract of urban population, total population, urban agglomerations, urban access to electricity, clean cooking, safely managed drinking water and sanitation, slum share (database updated 8 October 2026). World Bank, Washington. Observation year 2025 (population) and 2024 (access). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 3UN Statistics Division (ed.), Global SDG Indicators Database, API extract of series EN_LND_SLUM, EN_ATM_PM25, EN_ACS_URB_OPENSP, SP_TRN_PUBL, EN_REF_WASCOL and SD_CPA_UPRDP (release 2026.Q3.G.01). United Nations, New York. Observation year 2024 (slums), 2023 (PM2.5) and 2020 (transport, open space). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 4United Nations (ed.), The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025, Goal 11 (housing, flood, local risk reduction strategies, waste collection, national urban policies). United Nations, New York. Observation year 2024 (indicator data 2010 to 2024). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 5UN DESA (ed.), Sustainable Development Goal 11: make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (Goal page; slum population, land consumption rate, targets). United Nations, New York. Observation year 2022 (slums) and 2025 (land consumption). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 7, chapter 8
- 6IPCC (ed.), Urban systems and other settlements, chapter 8 in Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change, Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC (downloaded chapter, executive summary read). IPCC, Geneva, 2022. Observation year 2020. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 7IPCC (ed.), Cities, settlements and key infrastructure, chapter 6 in Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC (downloaded chapter, executive summary read). IPCC, Geneva, 2022. Observation year 2020. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6
- 8WHO (ed.), Ambient (outdoor) air pollution, fact sheet (4.2 million premature deaths in 2019; 99% of people above guideline levels). World Health Organization, Geneva. Observation year 2019. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 9WHO (ed.), Road traffic injuries, fact sheet (page dated 20 July 2026; about 1.16 million deaths a year). World Health Organization, Geneva. Observation year 2026 (page date). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 3, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 10WHO (ed.), Climate change, heat and health, fact sheet (about 489,000 heat-related deaths a year, 2000 to 2019; Europe summer 2022). World Health Organization, Geneva. Observation year 2019. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 1, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 11World Bank (ed.), Urban development overview (cities generate 80% of global GDP; infrastructure needs up to USD 2.7 trillion a year in low- and middle-income countries; slums about a quarter of urban population). World Bank, Washington. Observation year 2026 (page; individual figures undated). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 12UN-Habitat (ed.), World Cities Report 2024: Cities and Climate Action, key messages (report page; cities receive less than 20% of climate finance needed). United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Nairobi. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 7
- 13Rentschler, J., Salhab, M. and Jafino, B.A., Flood exposure and poverty in 188 countries, Nature Communications 13, 3527 (open access full text, PMC). Springer Nature, London, 2022. Observation year 2020 (population grid). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 14Tuholske, C. et al., Global urban population exposure to extreme heat, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(41), e2024792118 (open access full text, PMC). National Academy of Sciences, Washington, 2021. Observation year 2016 (series 1983 to 2016). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7
- 15Trees halve the urban heat island effect globally but unequal benefits only modestly mitigate climate-change warming, Nature Communications (2026), open access full text, PMC. Springer Nature, London. Observation year 2026 (analysis of 8,919 large urban areas). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 16Global subsidence of river deltas, Nature (2026), open access full text, PMC. Springer Nature, London. Observation year 2026 (40 deltas, satellite radar). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 1, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 17Romanello, M. et al., The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms, The Lancet 402 (open access full text, PMC). Elsevier, London, 2023. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 18The role of greenness in heat-related mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Annals of Global Health (2026), open access full text, PMC. Ubiquity Press, London. Observation year 2026 (11 studies). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 1, chapter 6
- 19Urban tree canopy fragmentation and child mortality in low- and middle-income countries, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026), open access full text, PMC. National Academy of Sciences, Washington. Observation year 2026 (420,000 children, 57 countries). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 1, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 20European Parliament and Council (eds.), Directive (EU) 2024/1275 of 24 April 2024 on the energy performance of buildings (recast), Official Journal of the European Union (downloaded text; Articles 7 and 12 read). Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 4, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 21United Nations General Assembly (ed.), New Urban Agenda, resolution 71/256, adopted at Habitat III in Quito on 20 October 2016 and endorsed on 23 December 2016 (downloaded text). United Nations, New York. Observation year 2016. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 4, chapter 6
- 22OECD and UCLG (eds.), World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment, 2022 highlights (135 countries; 2020 data). Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, and United Cities and Local Governments, Barcelona. Observation year 2020. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in the summary, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 6
- 23European Commission (ed.), EU Mission: climate-neutral and smart cities (mission page; 112 cities, 107 labelled). European Commission, Brussels. Observation year 2026 (page). Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 4, chapter 6
- 24FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (eds.), The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026 (publication page; 645 million people faced hunger in 2025; about 2.7 billion cannot afford a healthy diet). Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 3, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 25WMO (ed.), 2025 set to be second or third warmest year on record (press release; January to August 2025 about 1.42 °C above pre-industrial). World Meteorological Organization, Geneva. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 4
- 26Sinking cities, rising seas, Communications Engineering (2022), commentary on a Nature Sustainability study of relative land subsidence in 48 major coastal cities (open access full text, PMC). Springer Nature, London. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 1, chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 8
- 27UNVERIFIED, not opened: UNEP and GlobalABC (eds.), Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2024 to 2025; the report page returned an access error and the figures seen only in search summaries (buildings about 32% of energy and 34% of CO2) are not used. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, 2025. Observation year 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 28UNVERIFIED, not opened: UNEP (ed.), Global Waste Management Outlook 2024; the report page returned an access error and the figures seen only in search summaries are not used. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, 2024. Observation year 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 29UNVERIFIED, not opened: WMO (ed.), State of the Global Climate 2025 (released 23 March 2026), known from search results only; no figure is used. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 4, chapter 6
- 30UNVERIFIED, not opened: UN-Habitat (ed.), World Cities Report 2022: Envisaging the Future of Cities, cited from memory without figures. United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Nairobi. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 31UNVERIFIED, not opened: UNDRR (ed.), Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2025; the page returned an access error and no figure is used. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Geneva. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 4, chapter 6
- 32UNVERIFIED, not opened: UNDRR (ed.), Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 to 2030; the page returned an access error and the entry is cited from memory without figures. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Geneva. Observation year 2015. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 33UNVERIFIED, not opened: IEA (ed.), The Future of Cooling: Opportunities for energy-efficient air conditioning, cited from memory without figures. International Energy Agency, Paris, 2018. Observation year 2018. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6, chapter 8
- 34UNVERIFIED, not opened: ISO 37120:2018, Sustainable cities and communities: indicators for city services and quality of life, cited from memory. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. Observation year 2018. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 35UNVERIFIED, not opened: ISO 37123:2019, Sustainable cities and communities: indicators for resilient cities, cited from memory. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. Observation year 2019. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 36UNVERIFIED, not opened: ISO 37101:2016, Sustainable development in communities: management system for sustainable development, cited from memory. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. Observation year 2016. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 37UNVERIFIED, not opened: UNFCCC (ed.), Paris Agreement, adopted December 2015, cited from memory without figures. UNFCCC, Bonn. Observation year 2015. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 38UNVERIFIED, not opened: United Nations General Assembly (ed.), Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, resolution 70/1, cited from memory without figures. United Nations, New York. Observation year 2015. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 39UNVERIFIED, not opened: OECD and European Commission (eds.), Cities in the World: A New Perspective on Urbanisation, cited from memory without figures. OECD, Paris. Observation year 2020. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 40UNVERIFIED, not opened: Seto, K.C., Guneralp, B. and Hutyra, L.R., Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109(40), 16083 to 16088, 2012, cited from memory without figures. National Academy of Sciences, Washington. Observation year 2012. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 41UNVERIFIED, not opened: Guneralp, B. et al., Global scenarios of urban density and its impacts on building energy use through 2050, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(34), 8945 to 8950, 2017, cited from memory without figures. National Academy of Sciences, Washington. Observation year 2017. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 42UNVERIFIED, not opened: Nicholls, R.J. et al., A global analysis of subsidence, relative sea-level change and coastal flood exposure, Nature Climate Change 11, 338 to 342, 2021, cited from memory without figures. Springer Nature, London. Observation year 2021. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 43UNVERIFIED, not opened: Romanello, M. et al., The 2025 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change; the journal page returned an access error and no figure is used. Elsevier, London, 2025. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 44UNVERIFIED, not opened: WHO (ed.), WHO global air quality guidelines: particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, 2021; the fact-sheet page did not state the guideline values and no value is used. World Health Organization, Geneva. Observation year 2021. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
- 45UNVERIFIED, not opened: UCLG (ed.), GOLD VI report: Pathways to urban and territorial equality, cited from memory without figures. United Cities and Local Governments, Barcelona, 2022. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03. Cited in chapter 6
C.2Publication record
Publication
- Title
- Global Cities Risk & Resilience Report 2026: Baseline Edition
- Series
- Reports · Global Sector Series GS-10
- Edition
- Baseline Edition 2026 · inaugural annual
- Version
- v1.0.0 · draft for stewardship review
- Publication ID
- NR-SECTOR-CITIES-GLOBAL-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0
- Evidence close
- 30 September 2026
- Publication date
- October 2026
- DOI
- concept and version DOI at deposit
Publisher
- Publisher of record
- The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI), for the Nexus Consortium
- Place
- Toronto
- Editor
- Saeed Valadbaygi, Chief Steward and Managing Editor
- Stewards
- GCRI · technical truth · the Global Risks Forum (GRF) · public meaning · the Global Risks Alliance (GRA) · capital meaning
- Licence
- text CC BY 4.0; data on the terms of each source
- Copyright
- © 2026 GCRI · Nexus Consortium
- Language
- English (en-GB) source edition
- Correspondence
- Registry correction pathway · editorial office
Colophon
- Format
- A4 portrait · screen, print and archival PDF
- Typefaces
- Space Grotesk (display) · Geist (text) · IBM Plex Sans Italic (standfirsts) · IBM Plex Mono (data)
- Design standard
- Reports Foundational Edition, Volume I, Part VII
- Accessibility
- tagged PDF and HTML targets; text alternatives for every figure
- Production
- Reports editorial team, GCRI
Release path for this version
| Step | What happens | When |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | editorial self-check complete at evidence close | October 2026 |
| Steward review | five passes on the exact draft (keys T · M · F · N) | Q4 2026 |
| Approval | publication authority approves the exact digest | before release |
| Deposit | concept and version DOI minted; registry pointer set | at release |
| Succession | the 2027 cities edition reports changes against this baseline | 2027 |
- Current version
- v1.0.0 draft, stewardship review
- Previous edition
- none, first edition of the series
- Next edition
- NR-SECTOR-CITIES-GLOBAL-2027-v1.0.0
- Latest version
- resolve the concept DOI or the registry record
- Correction route
- Registry correction pathway
- Notice types
- erratum · addendum · supersession · withdrawal
C.3Corrections log
0correction notices. No edition has been released yet, so none can be corrected; the log below lists each edition’s current version.
| Edition | Version | Date | State | Change | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS-10 | NR-SECTOR-CITIES-GLOBAL-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0 | October 2026 | Draft | Baseline Edition 2026, inaugural annual edition, | None |
Notice types: erratum, addendum, supersession, withdrawal. A correction is a new version with a published notice; the earlier version stays resolvable, and no edition is ever edited in silence.
C.4Open record
This edition’s open record
- Publication ID
- NR-SECTOR-CITIES-GLOBAL-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0
- Desk identifier and series alias
- NR-SEC-GS-10-2026-BL
- Collection
- None
- DOI
- Concept and version DOI at deposit, on Zenodo with DataCite metadata
- Versions
- Each correction is a new version (isNewVersionOf); the concept DOI resolves to the latest
- Bundle
- RO-Crate 1.2 with CITATION.cff, CodeMeta and PROV-O provenance; a signed manifest
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0 (SPDX CC-BY-4.0) for original material; metadata CC0 1.0
Credit and identity
- ORCID
- Your iD in the deposit and the contribution record; DataCite can then add the work to your ORCID record
- ROR
- Your organisation by its ROR identifier, never by a typed name alone
- CRediT
- Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualisation, Writing, review and editing
- Account
- None needed to contribute; never a password
Find and follow
Search the open indexes for Global Cities and Urban Systems; software is cited by its SWHID from Software Heritage, and a quantified scenario run is preregistered on OSF before it is run. Annotation is your choice: Hypothesis opens this page in its own viewer.
Mirrors and harvest
The DOI is canonical. At release each signed bundle is also given an IPFS content identifier and a bloxberg anchor as mirrors; both are listed in the record once they exist. Zenodo exposes every record over OAI-PMH, and reviews and endorsements can arrive through COAR Notify where the repository supports it.
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}C.5Where this edition sits among the six pillars
Foundry seals the evidence and Universe tests it; Reports publishes it; Standards takes its corrections and Academy teaches from it.
- F03 Sealed observations and indicator series Foundry Sealed observations and indicator series behind a profile (closeout).
- F04 After-action and scenario findings for Universe After-action and scenario findings for chapters 10 and 13 (after action review).
- F05 National Portfolio movement for chapter Foundry National Portfolio movement for chapter 11 (after action review).
- Applied in editions Standards Nexus Standards: applied in editions.
- GS-10 edition Reports Global Cities 2026, published in every format with its sources, citation and corrections.
- F06 Method and correction findings as change Standards Method and correction findings as change proposals (correction).
- F12 Q4 synthesis informs the next-year Universe Q4 synthesis informs the next-year mandate (renewal).
- Taught in the open Academy Risk Academy: taught in the open.
What Foundry and Universe hand to this edition, and what it hands to Standards, Universe and Academy. From the programme spine; GS-10 is a drafted Baseline Edition, so these handoffs run from its first operational quarter.
| Handoff | Between | What crosses, and when |
|---|---|---|
| F03 | Foundry to Reports | Sealed observations and indicator series behind a profile (closeout). |
| F04 | Universe to Reports | After-action and scenario findings for chapters 10 and 13 (after action review). |
| F05 | Foundry to Reports | National Portfolio movement for chapter 11 (after action review). |
| Ring | Nexus Standards to Reports | Nexus Standards: applied in editions. |
| F06 | Reports to Nexus Standards | Method and correction findings as change proposals (correction). |
| F12 | Reports to Universe | Q4 synthesis informs the next-year mandate (renewal). |
| Ring | Reports to Risk Academy | Risk Academy: taught in the open. |
