The Weight of Cities: Resource Requirements of Future Urbanization is the latest report from the International Resource Panel, a scientific forum for scientists and experts working on natural resource management. Its main conclusion is that cities must dramatically rethink urbanism and governance in the face of scarce resources and intensifying environmental problems including pollution and climate change.

More specifically, this means designing cities for people, not cars; allowing everyone access to urban opportunities; investing in resource-efficient buildings, transport, energy, water and waste systems; and allowing cities experiment and learn from each other.

For instance, restructuring the shape and structure of cities will both boost resource efficiency and achieve greater social inclusion. Denser, better connected cities that are open to nature could improve well-being and encourage social and economic exchanges, while also saving on all the asphalt, concrete, electricity and water currently consumed in sprawling, contemporary urban centres.

The task ahead is to “rethink the city for the era without cheap fossil fuels,” the authors write. Moving away from fossil fuels and current consumption rates will create “a spike of sustainability-oriented innovations. If done well, sustainability will become an aspirational good in itself.”

The International Resource Panel will present the report at the 9th World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 9 February 2018.