Février 2026
ITDP, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (32 pages).

Public transport is a vital part of cities, connecting people to jobs, education, healthcare, and other opportunities. In most cities around the world, public transport — both formal and informal — accounts for the majority of motorized trips, from 40% to 70%. In the United States, where transit accounts for just 10% to 20% of daily travel, studies still show high economic returns on investment, with every $1 spent on transit generating approximately $5 in broader economic benefits (American Public Transportation Association, 2020). By providing publicly available passenger service that most commonly operates with fixed routes and schedules, public transport offers an efficient way to move large numbers of people through dense cities while using minimal space. More than just a mobility solution, it is a foundation for economic development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Further, public transport reduces CO2 emissions by up to 45% per passenger-km compared to private vehicles. In well-planned cities, public transport supported by walking and cycling enables vibrant, compact, and connected urban areas, making them more livable and efficient for all.
Despite its benefits, public transport has faced increasing challenges in recent years. Ridership has declined in many places, with some cities experiencing reductions of 26% post-pandemic. Infrastructure investments remain insufficient, with a global funding gap estimated at $15 trillion by 2040. Additionally, in some regions, service quality has not kept pace with growing urban needs, leading to increased reliance on private vehicles and worsening traffic congestion. Projections indicate that urban passenger transport demand will more than double by 2050, intensifying existing issues. The current scenario presents a crucial opportunity to rethink and strengthen public transport systems worldwide. Addressing these gaps requires increased funding, strategic partnerships and global knowledge-sharing to ensure that both well-established and fast-growing cities can build resilient, adaptable, and high-quality public transport networks.
This publication presents the Public Transport Principles — a shared framework to guide governments, planners, and advocates in designing public transport systems that deliver good service, with zero-emissions vehicles for everyone, grounded in well-managed institutions and wellfunded operations. These five principles define what makes good public transport services effective, equitable, and transformative and how to achieve them. In a moment when cities face mounting pressure to improve access, reduce emissions, and support inclusive economic growth, there is an urgent need for clear guidance.
Rather than prescribing one-size-fits-all solutions, this paper offers adaptable principles grounded in global experience. It can be used to inform policy development, align stakeholder efforts, and support more consistent evaluation of what constitutes “good public transport.”
Ultimately, it aims to empower cities to make strategic, long-term improvements that deliver lasting benefits to people and the planet.

Janvier 2026
UNU-INWEH, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (72 pages).

Water is the quiet infrastructure of everything the United Nations cares about: human security and prosperity, food and energy security, biodiversity, environmental resilience, public health, climate stability, and peace. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) captures this centrality by committing the world to ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Yet, the world is still very far from meeting SDG 6. About 2.2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water, 3.5 billion lack safely
managed sanitation, and about 4 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month per year. Nearly 75% of the world’s population lives in countries classified as water-insecure or critically water-insecure with progress toward SDG 6 is far off track for 2030. These figures indicate that water-related risks are now systemic rather than marginal.
For decades, the global policy and science communities have warned of an escalating “water crisis” and called for accelerated action to avert it.
Those warnings were not wrong, but they are now incomplete. The language of crisis — suggesting a temporary emergency followed by a return to normal through mitigation efforts — no longer captures what is happening in many parts of the world.
This report by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNUINWEH) on the 30th anniversary of its inception responds to this gap by offering a new, more precise diagnosis and recommendations for a new governance agenda fitting the water realities of the Anthropocene in the 21st century. The report is a wake-up call and an open invitation to the policy community to use water as a powerful bridge to promote cooperation to address some of the most critical security, peace, justice, development, and sustainability challenges of our time.
The central message of this report is direct: the world has entered the era of Global Water Bankruptcy. In many regions, human–water systems are already in a post-crisis state of failure. Over decades, societies have withdrawn more water than climate and hydrology can reliably provide, drawing down not only the annual “income” of renewable flows but also the “savings” stored in aquifers, glaciers, soils, wetlands, and river ecosystems. At the same time, pollution, salinization, and other forms of water quality degradation have reduced the fraction of water that is safely usable.
The consequences of water bankruptcy are now visible on every continent: rivers that no longer reach the sea; lakes, wetlands, and glaciers that have shrunk or disappeared; aquifers pumped down until land subsides and salt intrudes; forests and peatlands drying and burning; deserts and dust functioning more efficiently within tighter hydrologic limits through reconfigured economics, governance institutions, and development models, while recognizing non-stationary climatic and changed environmental conditions.
The report reframes the water governance challenge for a post-crisis era. Rather than asking only how to avoid a future water crisis, it asks what it means to govern human-water systems on a waterbankrupt planet: how to admit insolvency where it exists; how to manage irreversibility honestly; how to share unavoidable losses fairly; and how to design institutions, development pathways, and financial frameworks that prevent further overspending of hydrological capital and damage to the underlying natural capital.
The report emphasizes that water bankruptcy is also a justice, security and political economy challenge. Water bankruptcy management must therefore be explicitly equity-oriented: securing basic human needs and critical services; safeguarding environmental flows; providing compensation and social protection where livelihoods must change; and strengthening grievance and conflict resolution mechanisms at local, national, and transboundary levels. Without this justice lens, necessary reforms risk fueling social unrest and undermining the
political viability of transitions.
Finally, the report situates Global Water Bankruptcy within the wider multilateral landscape and the realities of a fragmented world. It argues that the current global water agenda — focused primarily on safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), incremental efficiency gains and generic IWRM prescriptions — is no longer fit for purpose in the Anthropocene or for an era of growing geopolitical tensions and stalled multilateral processes. It calls for a new water agenda that recognizes water as both a constraint and an opportunity sector for achieving the goals of the Rio Conventions and the 2030 Agenda, aligning local and national priorities with global climate, biodiversity and land commitments, and offering common ground between the Global North and Global South as well as between rural and urban, left and right constituencies. It proposes that water be used as a bridge between fragmented policy arenas and a divided world, helping to re-energize stalled negotiations on the triple planetary crisis. The upcoming UN Water Conferences in 2026 and 2028, the conclusion of the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” in 2028, and the 2030 deadline for SDG 6 are identified as critical milestones for embedding water-bankruptcy diagnostics, monitoring frameworks and justtransition support into global governance.
This UNU-INWEH report is not another warning about a crisis that might arrive in the future. It is a declaration that the world is already living beyond its hydrological means and that many human-water systems are operating in a state of water bankruptcy. Recognizing this post-crisis reality is not an act of resignation; it is the starting point for a more honest, science-based and justice-oriented agenda that uses mitigation and adaptation to build a fresh, more sustainable balance between societies and the water on which they depend — before the remaining natural capital is lost.

Janvier 2026
Cour des Comptes Européenne (36 pages).

Les mégaprojets sont essentiels à l’achèvement du réseau transeuropéen de transport de l’UE. En 2020, nous avions publié un rapport spécial qui faisait état de retards importants, d’augmentations des coûts, d’une mauvaise coordination entre les États membres et de faiblesses dans la supervision exercée par la Commission. Le présent rapport propose de refaire un point, en tenant compte des évolutions intervenues depuis lors. Nous avons constaté une nouvelle hausse du coût global des mégaprojets, principalement due à deux d’entre eux, ainsi que des retards supplémentaires qui impliquent que le réseau central de l’UE ne sera pas achevé pour l’échéance de 2030. En 2024, de nouvelles dispositions légales ont été introduites, susceptibles d’améliorer la supervision exercée par la Commission sur la mise en œuvre du réseau, mais ces changements concerneront surtout les projets lancés après les mégaprojets que nous avons audités.

Décembre 2025
Commission européenne (110 pages).

ECO’s 2025 Analytical Report on Skills provides an in-depth analysis of the construction workforce across the EU, examining employment trends, workforce demographics, education and training, and future skills needs. The report explores how skills demand is evolving towards 2030 and 2050 in the context of the green and digital transition, offering valuable evidence to inform policy development and strategic planning in the construction ecosystem.

Décembre 2025
Banque Mondiale (58 pages).

Road networks are critical development lifelines, enabling the movement of people, goods, and essential services and underpinning economic growth and social well-being. Yet these networks are increasingly at risk from aging assets, deferred maintenance, and increasingly severe and frequent climate hazards. Adaptation needs in developing countries are projected to exceed hundreds of billions of dollars annually by 2030, underscoring the importance of directing limited resources toward the most critical and vulnerable sections of a road network.
In this context, effective prioritization of investments, efficient resource allocation, and strengthened asset management are essential to delivering value for money. Over the past decade, risk-based road prioritization and transport resilience analysis have evolved from highly specialized studies into practical, scalable approaches that are feasible and cost-effective for most countries, including those with limited data and institutional capacity. Early studies focused mainly on physical exposure and direct asset damage, offering useful but partial insights. More recent approaches increasingly recognize that resilience is multidimensional, encompassing risks at three levels: asset level (e.g., the vulnerability of individual road segments to hazards), system level (network disruption and loss of connectivity), and user level (impacts on people, markets, and essential services).
Drawing on a review of 50 transport resilience studies across the World Bank portfolio, this report finds that, despite wide variation in scope and analytical depth, road assessments generally follow a common sequence of analytical steps: (1) map hazard exposure, (2) assess asset-level vulnerability, (3) analyze system-level criticality and network effects, (4) identify resilience measures, and (5) prioritize interventions through economic analysis.
In practice, not all assessments apply the full sequence. Many studies focus on the earlier steps—typically exposure mapping and asset-level vulnerability analysis—and fewer extend to system-level analysis or economic prioritization This sequence has emerged progressively over time through practical application, enabling assessments to be scaled and adapted to different decision-making needs, data availability, and institutional capacities.
The report highlights two emerging tools that reflect recent advancements in the cost efficiency of resilience analysis. The Global Resilience Index (GRI), developed by the University of Oxford and widely applied by World Bank transport teams, is an open-source geospatial model that facilitates rapid, low-cost vulnerability assessments using open data. Its application in the Kyrgyz Republic and Nigeria demonstrates how the GRI can effectively screen road networks, identify priority segments, and support policy dialogue and the development of Country Climate Development Reports in contexts where data and resources are limited.
The report also highlights the Hazard & Risk Multi-Regional Assessment (HARMA) model, developed by the World Bank transport team. This model supports more in-depth analysis by assessing climate impacts on network performance, estimating economic losses from disruptions, and comparing adaptation options using cost-benefit metrics. A Pakistan case study illustrates how the HARMA model can be applied to prioritize investments, and provide economic justification for resilience interventions.
To facilitate practical application, the report includes a decision tree designed to help users choose between the GRI and HARMA models, depending on the purpose of the analysis, the availability of data, and analytical needs. The decision tree differentiates between rapid screening and diagnostic applications, for which GRI is typically well suited, and investment prioritization and appraisal decisions, where HARMA is more applicable.
This report also shares two additional case studies to highlight applications with distinctive operational value.

Décembre 2025
Forum Economique Mondial (44 pages).

Despite the centrality of water, and the fact that existing circular solutions, technologies and innovative finance are expanding the tools available to modernize water systems, investment remains insufficient. A projected €6.5 trillion infrastructure gap by 2040 could leave billions of people exposed to absent or outdated systems. Responding to calls from leading intergovernmental organizations, this paper amplifies the voice of the global water industry within the World Economic Forum ecosystem. Developed in collaboration with Acea and the University of Cambridge, it quantifies the global infrastructure gap, assesses the socio-economic benefits of closing it, and offers a strategic playbook for advancing equitable access, infrastructure resilience, circularity and innovation. Drawing on 27 best practices, it shows that solutions already exist and can be adapted and scaled. Above all, it calls for coordinated leadership and a renewed commitment to water stewardship.

Décembre 2025
 PPIAF, Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (81 pages).

The PPIAF Annual Report 2025 showcases how public-private partnerships are advancing resilient, inclusive infrastructure across emerging markets and developing economies. Spanning insights and case studies from 131 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia & the Pacific, Latin America & the Caribbean, and beyond, the report details PPIAF’s track record in helping mobilize over $30 billion in private capital since inception, with a further $3 billion in the pipeline. It highlights a strong sustainability focus—100% of approved activities are gender-informed and 90% have climate co-benefits—while underscoring the imperative to strengthen policy, regulatory, and institutional frameworks to attract and sustain investment. Designed for governments, investors, and development partners, the report offers practical pathways to bridge the global infrastructure financing gap and accelerate growth, making a compelling case for scaled, climate-smart, and inclusive PPP solutions now.

Novembre 2025
Nations Unies (124 pages).

Ths report highlights the key findings of the 2025 Revision of the World Urbanization Prospects, offering an overview of global urban transformation. It integrates worldwide and regional trends with detailed country-level insights spanning from 1950 to 2050, showing that the world is becoming increasingly urban, with cities now home to 45 per cent of the global population of 8.2 billion. This is more than double the share in 1950. The report summarizes the latest estimates of city, town and rural populations for 237 countries or areas from 1950 to 2025, with projections until 2050.
- In 1950, city living was relatively unusual: just 20 per cent of the world’s 2.5 billion people lived in cities, defined as population centres with at least 50,000 inhabitants and a density of at least 1,500 people per km2. Following many decades of urbanization, cities are now (in 2025) home to 45 per cent of the world’s 8.2 billion people, more than double the proportion in 1950.
- The share of the global population living in towns, defined as population clusters of at least 5,000 inhabitants and a density of at least 300 people per km2, declined gradually from 40 per cent in 1950 to 36 per cent in 2025.
- Rural communities are less densely populated than cities and towns. Today, they are home to just 19 per cent of the global population, a share that has fallen by half since 1950.
- Projections indicate that two thirds of the growth of the world’s population between now and 2050 will take place in cities, with most of the remainder concentrated in towns. The size of the global rural population is expected to peak sometime during the 2040s and then begin to decline.
- Urbanization is one of the most significant demographic shifts in human history, fundamentally altering how and where people live, work and build communities across the globe.
- The number of megacities quadrupled from eight in 1975 to 33 in 2025, with 19 in Asia. Projections indicate that there will be 37 megacities globally by 2050, as the populations of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dar es Salaam (United Republic of Tanzania), Hajipur (India) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) grow to over 10 million.
- Jakarta (Indonesia) is the world’s most populous city, with nearly 42 million inhabitants in 2025, followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh) with almost 37 million and Tokyo (Japan) with 33 million. Cairo (Egypt) is the only city among the world’s ten largest that is not located in Asia.
- Fast-growing Dhaka is expected to become the world’s largest city by mid-century. Karachi (Pakistan) will enter the top ten by 2030 and could rank fifth by 2050. Meanwhile, Tokyo is projected to fall in rank from third in 2025 to seventh in 2050, as its population shrinks to around 31 million. More people live in small and medium-sized cities than in megacities; many of these smaller settlements are among the fastest growing, especially in Africa and Asia.
- The total number of cities worldwide more than doubled between 1975 and 2025. Among the world’s 12,000 cities, 96 per cent have fewer than 1 million inhabitants, and 81 per cent have populations below 250,000. This distribution underscores that the majority of the world’s urban population resides not in megacities, but in small and medium-sized urban centres that play a critical role in shaping sustainable urban development. By 2050, there could be more than 15,000 cities in the world, mostly with populations below 250,000.
Of the roughly 400 cities that grew faster than 4 per cent per year between 2015 and 2025, one third were in sub-Saharan Africa and another quarter were in Central and Southern Asia. Over two thirds had fewer than 250,000 inhabitants.
- Smaller settlements often lack the planning capacity and resources to manage their growth sustainably. They can benefit from improved access to basic services, better land-use management and increased connectivity. Growth of the world’s city population between now and 2050 will be concentrated in seven countries.
- Taken together, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Bangladesh and Ethiopia are expected to add more than 500 million city residents between 2025 and 2050, accounting for over half of the projected 986 million increase in the global number of city dwellers over that period.
- The success or failure of urbanization in these key countries will shape global development outcomes. Their ability to manage city growth sustainably will have profound implications not only for their populations but also for global progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals and climate objectives.

Novembre 2025
CNUCED, Conférence des Nations unies sur le commerce et le développement (74 pages).

International investment in sustainable infrastructure – including both hard infrastructure sectors like transport and energy, and soft infrastructure sectors such as health, education, water, and sanitation – remains insufficient in both volume and distribution. Sectoral and geographical diversity is lacking, with the poorest and smallest countries often bypassed despite their urgent financing needs.
Public private partnerships (PPPs) offer significant potential to help close the sustainable development goals (SDG) financing gap. Among PPPs, international PPPs – those involving international investors as project sponsors, and the focus of this report – are relatively significant contributors to investment in developing economies. Their impact is particularly notable in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where they account for roughly one-third of all PPP projects, compared with less than 20 per cent in other developing economies.
Nevertheless, international investment in PPPs in developing countries remains insufficient. Two major imbalances shape international PPP activity: sectoral and geographical. From a sectoral perspective, since 2015, renewable energy has been dominant, accounting for over 70 per cent of projects. While this reflects strong momentum in sustainable infrastructure it also highlights limited diversification into other critical sectors such as transport, and social infrastructure. Geographically, activity remains highly concentrated, with ten developing countries, led by Brazil, India, Chile, Viet Nam and the Philippines, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of all international PPP projects. In contrast, many smaller or lower income economies remain largely excluded from international PPP flows.
Structural constraints, such as high perceived risks and limited institutional capacity, continue to hinder progress. Unlocking the full potential of PPPs requires long-term government planning, strengthened regulatory frameworks, and robust institutional frameworks and dedicated PPP units with sufficient authority to manage complex projects. In addition, it requires improved project bankability. Risk mitigation instruments, often provided by multilateral development banks (MDBs), can support this and help build investor confidence.
The findings of this report highlight four critical dimensions that must be addressed to advance international investment in sustainable infrastructure: robust legal frameworks, integrated planning and contract design, innovative financing mechanisms, and strengthened implementation and management capacity.

Octobre 2025
Mc Kinsey (9 pages).

Humanoid robots are still at the pilot stage but could emerge as the solution to the construction sector’s productivity problem. How can industry leaders prepare for their entry into the workforce?

Octobre 2025
Banque Mondiale (42 pages).

Global PPI investments rebounded in 2024 after a few years of declining investments and depict variance across regions. In regions like MENA, ECA, and SSA — which are characterized by geopolitical, macroeconomic, and regulatory uncertainties — PPI activity has been heavily supported by Development and Export Finance Institutions (DEFI) involvement. Although overall PPI declined in MENA, nearly all projects in the region (7 out of 8) were backed by DEFIs, underscoring their critical role in mobilizing private capital by mitigating risks in the more challenging investment environments.
In contrast to the overall rebound in LMICs 2024, PPI investment in IDA countries fell to $3.0 billion across 33 projects, down 38 percent from 2023 and 57 percent below the five-year average. Strikingly, 88 percent of projects in IDA countries depended on DEFI support, underscoring the indispensable role played by DEFIs in sustaining investment flows in IDA countries, where private capital remains constrained.
Renewable energy projects continue to dominate PPI investments in the energy sector, but DEFI-backed renewable energy projects fell from 56 percent of all electricity generation
projects in 2019 to just 16 percent in 2024 — reflecting stronger investor confidence in the renewables sector and growing commercial viability. Rather than creating dependency,
DEFIs appear to be enabling greater self-sufficiency in key subsectors. This shift highlights the evolving role of development finance—from primary funders to strategic enabler of sustainable private capital flows.

Octobre 2025
Banque Interaméricaine de Développement (192 pages).

Public transport is essential for promoting social inclusion, productivity, and sustainability in the cities of Latin America and the Caribbean. However, achieving these benefits largely depends on the capacity of transport systems to ensure stable, efficient, and sustainable funding and financing.
Public transport systems in the region face increasing economic pressures due to a persistent decline in demand, limited fare policies, and rising operating costs. This combination puts additional strain on fare revenues and deepens their dependence on subsidies, representing one of the main challenges to the economic sustainability of public transport.
This document analyzes the current state of public transport funding and financing in the region, identifying the structural causes that have led to this situation. It also highlights good practices and success stories that offer valuable lessons to help reverse current trends. Based on this analysis, the document proposes a set of policy guidelines and recommendations for decision-makers and planners aimed at advancing toward more sustainable funding schemes and improving access to financing, in order to strengthen public transport as a driver of sustainable urban development in the region.