The world is becoming increasingly urban. Cities are now home to 55 per cent of the global population of 8.2 billion, a figure projected to increase to more than 68 per cent by 2050. While these urban areas increasingly grapple with environmental challenges like rising temperatures, floods, biodiversity loss and pollution, some of the best solutions lie in nature.
By adopting nature-based solutions, cities can work with ecosystems to help improve the quality of life for urban residents and make cities more resilient to the growing effects of climate change. For example, restoring wetlands reduces flood risks, mangroves protect coastlines, and expanding urban forests, parks and gardens can cool neighbourhoods and improve food security.
A global initiative called Generation Restoration Cities is helping municipalities worldwide put these ideas into practice. Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with Cities Biodiversity Center, the project has worked with 24 cities in 19 countries to integrate ecosystem restoration and nature into urban planning, while helping local governments overcome technical, political and financial barriers to action.
Over three years, the initiative has supported pilot projects, new policies, technical studies and peer learning among cities to promote urban nature-based solutions and restoration. The results show that nature has become an essential part of modern urbanism, serving as a powerful tool for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Turning restoration into policy
One of the project’s biggest achievements has been helping cities move beyond isolated pilot projects and embed restoration into long-term planning. The project supported participating cities to integrate climate and nature considerations into 31 policies, urban plans and ordinances.
For example, in Curitiba, Brazil, ecosystem restoration informed a suite of municipal policies. These policies include a climate law proposing a municipal carbon market linked to community-led restoration initiatives and reforms that recognise urban agroecology as both an environmental and economic asset. The project’s ecosystem services assessments also contributed to make the case for the city to unlock financing partnerships linked to sustainable food systems and restoration.
In Quezon City, the Philippines, the initiative contributed to biodiversity profiling and restoration planning, which informs new urban ecosystem protection policies. In Samborondón, Ecuador, the project helped assess barriers to mangrove restoration and proposed legislative instruments to strengthen urban ecosystem protection. The project has also contributed to national-level frameworks showing how local action can implement national policies at the territorial level.
From studies to action
Urban restoration often stalls because city governments lack data on where to intervene and what approaches work best. To bridge that gap, Generation Restoration Cities supported the development of 87 assessments and tools, ranging from biodiversity mapping to restoration plans and financing strategies.
In Barranquilla, Colombia, technical teams conducted hydrological studies, topographic mapping, and environmental assessments to guide restoration efforts around León Creek, while also producing a practical guide for implementing nature-based solutions and exploring financial mechanisms to scale future projects. More than 20 nature-based interventions suitable for the creek were identified.
In Manaus, Brazil, the project mapped urban agriculture and restoration opportunities, created an online tool for participatory mapping, and drafted recommendations for a city-wide public policy on urban and peri-urban agriculture.
Meanwhile in South Asia, efforts demonstrate that cities facing water-related risks increasingly rely on ecosystem restoration as a resilience measure. In Sirajganj, Bangladesh, a restoration plan for the Katakhali Channel was developed. And Kochi, India, prepared a strategy to facilitate the ecological restoration of the Thevara-Perandoor Canal, a critical waterway for the city,
Scaling up ambition and unlocking investment
Although pilot restoration sites were relatively small, covering around 4 hectares, participating cities identified more than 196,688 hectares for future restoration, suggesting substantial room for expansion.
Some cities stand out for continued ambition. For example, Barranquilla has identified 20 hectares for future restoration. At the same time, Curitiba modelled the restoration potential of 2,000 hectares of vacant land, exploring how productive restoration and urban agriculture could strengthen ecosystem services and food systems. Dakar, Senegal, identified 528 hectares for future restoration, while Istanbul, Türkiye, mapped 223 hectares where ecological nature-based interventions could be implemented. In Kisumu, Kenya, city authorities prioritised 100 hectares along the River Auji, a corridor critical for flood control, water purification and biodiversity in the Lake Victoria Basin.
The project also demonstrated how relatively modest investments can unlock bigger ones. For example, in the Municipality of Overstrand, South Africa, an initial grant of US$80,000 helped secure approximately US$346,000 in additional financing, including support for invasive plant removal as well as riverbank and wetland rehabilitation.
Across participating cities, project investments helped attract external financing and unlock municipal co-funding, effectively doubling the original investment in ecosystem restoration.
Building a global urban restoration movement
Beyond physical restoration, Generation Restoration Cities invested heavily in people and institutions. The initiative reached more than 1.5 million people through awareness activities and trained over 2,687 people on nature-based solutions and urban resilience through dozens of workshops and dedicated trainings.
Most importantly, it created a strong network of cities learning from one another, sharing challenges and lessons on financing, governance, biodiversity and resilience, while supporting each other in scaling up urban nature-based solutions and restoration efforts. This global initiative is helping transform the way cities approach urban landscapes, driving a gradual shift from isolated interventions toward integrated, large-scale planning.
The Restoration Cities initiative is part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global push to revive the natural world. Restoring urban areas, which often have unique ecosystems, is an important part of the UN Decade and, experts say, helps improve human health and well-being.
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