World Bank2024-07-092024-07-092024-07-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/41840Rapid urbanization and population growth are driving the construction of new buildings, with global building stocks expected to double in the next 15–20 years. While such trends will represent significant development advances and offer economic growth opportunities, concern remains regarding the resilience and safety of both new and aging building stocks, increased energy and water consumption, and accessibility of the existing and evolving built environment and infrastructure. This increase in development will result in greater exposure to climate and disaster risks due to the evolving impacts of climate change, depending on where urbanization growth occurs and the standard of construction. Additional vulnerabilities can be compounded in unregulated and informal settlements where buildings are constructed on risky sites, with high density, using substandard building materials, and failing to implement safe design and construction practices. The combination of urbanization and climate change poses significant challenges for countries and cities to form a comprehensive set of regulatory and policy instruments to guide a more resilient, sustainable, and accessible built environment. The World Bank’s Disaster Risk Management (DRM) engagements support countries to design and implement diversified investments for risk reduction and preparedness. Among various approaches, improving the building regulatory framework and implementation capacity proves to be one of the most cost-effective means of reducing underlying climate and disaster risks, in combination with investments for physical structural improvements and retrofits. In this context, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)’s global thematic area Building Regulation for Resilience (BRR) aims to promote resilient, green, healthy, and inclusive built environments through enhanced regulatory frameworks and implementation capacities.en-USCC BY-NC 3.0 IGOURBANIZATIONSUSTAINABILITYDISASTER REDUCTIONSDG 11ReportWorld Bank10.1596/41840