The SDGs provide a long-term, non-partisan framework for a more sustainable vision of urban development that provides equal opportunities for all inhabitants, promotes healthy living environments with access to green space, and is resilient in the face of everyday disasters and climatic hazards.
Goal 9 seeks to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. Economies with a diversified industrial sector and strong infrastructure sustained less damage and are experiencing faster recovery. In 2021, global manufacturing rebounded from the pandemic, although the recovery remains incomplete and uneven.
Higher-technology industries performed better and recovered faster, providing a strong example of how important technological innovation is to achieving Goal 9.
Inclusive and sustainable industrialization, together with innovation and infrastructure, can unleash the dynamic and competitive economic forces that generate employment and income. These play a crucial role in introducing and promoting new technologies, facilitating international trade and enabling the efficient use of resources.
However, there is still a long way to go before the world can take full advantage of this potential. In particular, the least developed countries need to accelerate the development of their manufacturing sectors if they are to achieve the 2030 target and increase investment in scientific research and innovation.
Growth in the global manufacturing sector has been steadily declining, even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is severely affecting manufacturing industries and is causing disruptions in global value chains and product supply.
Innovation and technological progress are crucial to discovering lasting solutions to economic and environmental challenges, such as increasing energy and resource efficiency. Globally, investment in research and development (R&D) as a percentage of GDP increased from 1.5% in 2000 to 1.7% in 2015, and continued at almost the same level in 2017. However, in developing regions it was less than 1 %.
In terms of communications infrastructure, more than half of the world's population is now connected and almost the entire global population lives in an area with the mobile network coverage. It is estimated that, in 2019, 96.5% of the population had at least 2G network coverage.
València, through its Smart City Office, is working to improve the quality of life in urban environments, following the SDG roadmap for a more balanced and equitable urban development.
