Why Care Must Shape the Cities of Tomorrow

Key takeaways

• Unpaid care work, predominantly performed by women, is foundational to urban functioning and sustainable development but remains undervalued. Reframing care as a public investment rather than a private cost is essential to achieving transformative urban futures.
• Building caring cities requires bottom-up approaches and participatory definitions of care that prioritise social, ecological, and psychological wellbeing. Policies must also address time poverty, enabling caregivers to care for themselves, others, and the environment.
• Municipalities should adopt feminist perspectives that recognise the gendered nature of care work and its systemic undervaluation. This includes expanding accessible, local care services while promoting more equitable gender norms and improving caregivers’ quality of life.
• Early childhood development, together with the health and well-being of caregivers, should be a central lens for urban planning and policymaking, given the profound influence of caregiving environments on brain development, mental health, and community resilience.
• Care policy models built on multi-pillar frameworks and cross-sector collaboration offer replicable pathways for embedding care into municipal agendas. These approaches emphasise redistribution, recognition, equity, empowerment, and reducing time poverty.
• Community-based caregiving spaces, such as mother centers, strengthen social capital and democratic participation, making them valuable municipal investments that contribute to more sustainable and inclusive communities.
• Climate change intensifies caregiving challenges, making urban climate resilience inseparable from care resilience. Integrating caregiving needs into climate adaptation plans helps protect maternal health, mental well-being, and broader social resilience.
• Caring cities can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by integrating care into urban governance, breaking down policy silos, and aligning health, gender, climate, and social policies to better support caregivers and communities.
• Indicators of caring cities include more inclusive public spaces, stronger community connections, and everyday practices that enhance the visibility and well-being of caregivers. Together these reflect a deeper cultural and systemic shift rather than superficial interventions.

The growing global momentum behind care-sensitive urban policies depends on stronger alliances across social and environmental agendas. Local governments have a critical role to play as democratic institutions responsible for embedding care into urban planning, legislation, and the social contract.

Read the event’s report for key insights from each speaker

Watch the recording

Thank you to our speakers

• Simon Ticehurst, Movements and Advocacy Lead, Wellbeing Economy Alliance (Moderator)
• Celine Charveriat, Founder and Director, Pro(to)topia / Forum for caring societies – PowerPoint presentation
• Ayşe Göç Yalçınkaya, Expert of International Affairs and Projects, Marmara Municipalities Union (Türkiye)
• Gemma Parera Álvarez, Technical advisor, Social Sustainability, Life Cycle and Community Area, Barcelona Provincial Council
• Victoria Chavez Barriga, Senior Urban95 Expert, Bernard van Leer Foundation – PowerPoint Presentation
• Rachel Castleberg, Project Coordinator, Mother centres International Network for Empowerment (MINE) – PowerPoint presentation
• Saravanan Thangarajan, Founder, CliMent; Public Health Systems & Global Health Delivery Consultant; Mittal Associate, Harvard University
• Ana Moreno, Technical Secretary, Global Alliance for Care (Closing remarks)
• Shahnaz Pakravan, Communication Manager, Make Mothers Matter (Welcome & introduction)

Further reading

General Resource on Caring cities:

• UN Women Asia Pacific: Towards Caring Cities, Research-in-Action Report Series
• ‘Cities that care’: A blueprint for feminist cities
• Economies of Equality and Care, the final report of a research initiative of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

From WEAll:

• Blog Post: UTOPÍAS: Reimagining Wellbeing in Mexico City’s Neighbourhoods. Turning utopia into everyday reality

From Prototopia:

• Le Care au coeur de la ville: Pour une société durable du soin à Montpellier

From the Marmara Municipalities Union

• Care Policy Handbook for Local Governments:

From the van Leer Foundation

• Urban 95: Creating healthy, safe and vibrant cities where babies, toddlers and their families thrive

From Mother centres International Network for Empowerment – MINE

• Policy Brief: Transition into a caring Europe

On the impact of Climate Change on mothers and children:

• MMM & Saravanan Thangarajan Joint Policy Brief: Climate Change: A Maternal Physical and Mental Health Emergency

→ See also our invitation article with additional background information, speakers’ bios and more.