DUBAI, (Pakistan Point News - 16th Jun, 2025) The World Governments Summit Organization (WGS) has launched a new report titled ‘from ADL and offers actionable insights to help government, civil society, and the private sector to manage the urban design and security landscape as they build the cities of the future.
The launch of ‘Urban Security: Enabling Cities of the Future’ falls in the global context of rapid urban transformation. Cities across the globe are evolving fast, with developments in infrastructure, technology, and socio-economic structures enhancing the functionality, sustainability, and livability of the world’s urban centers. However, to reap the long-term rewards of transformation, a city must first be safe and secure.
Against this backdrop, the joint report explores the vital link between security and development through five sections: The importance of urban security as a national priority; The relationship between urbanisation and crime; The methodology for forecasting crime in evolving urban areas; Case studies of Delhi, Singapore, and Buenos Aires; Recommendations for future urban security transformation.
The pioneering report is the result of in-depth research, analysis, and modelling conducted by Arthur D. Little that unearthed a wide range of valuable findings. Among them is a strong, positive correlation between economic development and societal factors such as GDP per capita and performance on the UN Human Development Index (HDI).
Delving deeper, the study identified a theoretical and empirically valid relationship between HDI scores and crime rates, where higher HDI levels are observably associated with reduced crime.
These findings point to several considerations about economic development and urban security that impact countries worldwide:
- Economic development has many conceptual factors. However, at its heart lies people who aim to live in a productive, modern, and safe urban environment.
- Well-designed urban centers drive economic productivity, prosperity, and livability for citizens – and, most importantly, sustainable cities for the future.
- Addressing public safety and security is critical to improving livability, tourism, and the attractiveness of cities for citizens, localisation of businesses, and FDI.
- There is a symbiotic relationship between national security, economic development, and public safety, where improvements in one area create positive momentum in the other.
- Successful economic and urban transformation requires a holistic approach that balances growth, urbanisation, and future infrastructure, service, and technology needs for citizens.
Building on these findings, ‘Urban Security: Enabling Cities of the Future’ relays several key messages and calls to action, including the clear need for coordinated efforts across all levels of government to ensure successful urban security transformation. This need is particularly great in a world where emerging megatrends such as AI, blockchain, and cybersecurity are reshaping societal structures and making traditional approaches less effective.
Reem Baggash, Deputy Director of the World Governments Summit Organization for Strategy, Content, and Communications, emphasised the importance of security modernisation in enabling safer cities of the future.
She said, “As the world’s cities continue to advance and evolve, the need for security in various forms is paramount. Not only does security underpin economic stability and social cohesion, but it also enhances quality of life and boosts a city’s ability to attract investment and talent.”
Alexander Buirski, Transformation Practice leader at Arthur D. Little middle East & India, outlines some of the important steps that cities can take towards successful urban transformation.
He said, “There is no one-size-fits-all approach. However, success requires collaboration and information sharing across agencies, balancing whole-of-government reforms, city-level initiatives, modernising policing, and upholding national security standards.” Buirski adds: “Moving forward, city stakeholders need to carefully consider the impact of human development and urbanisation initiatives on future public safety and security requirements to unlock the full potential of engines of economic growth, innovation, and social cohesion.”
