The planet is urbanizing at an unprecedented speed, generating enormous social, economic and climatic stress. If sustainable urbanization is one of the paramount challenges of the 21st century, then Asia is ground zero for determining whether humanity can succeed.

Démocraties fatiguées 3|6. La montée de l’autoritarisme est inquiétante, mais les libertés continuent leur marche en avant. Sans excès de confiance, battons-nous pour elles, estiment les chercheurs Steven Pinker et Robert Muggah.

Overall, the past quarter-century has been an era of progress for the region: Democracy has spread.

Three years into the 2030 Agenda it is already apparent that those living in fragile contexts are the furthest behind. Not all forms of fragility make it to the public’s eye: fragility is an intricate beast, sometimes exposed, often lurking underneath, but always holding progress back.

There are ominous signs of growing turbulence around the world. The number of civil wars has doubled since 2001 – ​jumping ​from 30 to 70. The number of people killed in these armed conflicts has increased tenfold since 2005.

This article explores the participation of uniformed personnel (military and police) from Latin America and the Caribbean in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations, through data analysis covering the period of 1990 to 2017.

To Robert Muggah cities are places where people connect, feel safe and live. Places where people thrive and express creativity.

A new website that lets people delve into data on the world’s cities has been launched.

Dr Robert Muggah from the think-tank Instituto Igarapé showed the BBC some of his favourite maps from EarthTime.

Africans are moving to the city. Already home to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population, the continent is urbanizing more rapidly than any other part of the planet.

A new website that lets people delve into data on the world’s cities has been launched.

Dr Robert Muggah from the think-tank Instituto Igarapé showed the BBC some of his favourite maps from EarthTime.