NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 30 – The 2026 Innovate4Cities Conference (I4C26) opened in Nairobi with a community street art initiative designed to draw residents into conversations on climate action, urban development and the future of cities.

📻 Breaking It Down

In a departure from the traditional conference launch format, artists painted murals in public spaces across the city focusing on sustainability, climate resilience and the role communities play in shaping urban environments.

The initiative brought together residents, policymakers, climate scientists and international delegates ahead of the week-long summit taking place at the United Nations Complex in Gigiri.

The conference, being hosted in Africa for the first time, has placed housing, infrastructure and inclusive urban planning at the centre of global climate discussions.

📌 What You Need to Know

During a plenary session on housing and infrastructure, urban planners, climate scientists and policymakers warned that the success of future climate action efforts will largely depend on how cities accommodate rapidly growing populations.

Speakers at the session argued that climate-resilient housing must become a core pillar of urban development strategies aimed at reducing emissions, managing disaster risks and improving public health.

Anaclaudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, challenged the common belief that informal settlements arise solely from disorderly urban growth.

According to Rossbach, many informal settlements are a reflection of broader urban planning systems that fail to provide affordable and adequate housing for low- and middle-income residents.

“We see how this is not necessarily unplanned urbanisation. In many cases, it reflects broader planning systems that exclude certain segments of society,” she said.

Rossbach further linked recurring floods, fires and droughts in cities such as Nairobi to planning models that fail to recognise the social and ecological role of land.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya