Digital Tools for Urban Recovery: From Spatial Evidence to Recovery and Resilience Planning

As part of Urban October, the United Nations Innovation Technology Accelerator for Cities (UNITAC) hosted a virtual session on Digital Tools for Urban Recovery & Resilience: From Spatial Evidence to Recovery and Resilience Planning. The session was co-organized in partnership with GIZ and scheduled as part of the GIZ Urban October programme. Cities affected by conflict, disasters and climate-related crises need integrated approaches to integrated planning and to support urban resilience, including in informal settlements. The session explored how AI, spatial data and digital tools can help translate urban data into action, supporting evidence-informed decision-making, damage assessment, prioritisation and resilient planning. In the session, UNITAC introduced practical digital solutions and approaches, such as the Urban Recovery Planning System (URPS) and the Building and Establishment Automated Mapper (BEAM). Speakers from UN-Habitat Syria and UN-Habitat Brazil shared practical insights and experiences from their work in local contexts.