World Solve

Seismologists can identify risky zones but not the exact moment a quake will strike. A few minutes of reliable warning could save thousands of lives in earthquake-prone cities.

Rapidly urbanizing areas of Poland experience worsening heat-island effects, yet most cities lack neighborhood-level heat alert systems tied to actionable cooling-center and outreach protocols.

Fast-growing cities in Colombia regularly flood due to undersized or absent stormwater infrastructure, with retrofit costs far exceeding current municipal budgets.

Urban drainage infrastructure in Yemen was designed for historical rainfall patterns and now floods regularly under intensified storms, with no funded plan for systemic upgrade.

Achieving designs for public spaces that promote social connection and mental well-being in dense cities at meaningful scale demands simultaneous progress in fundamental research, engineering integration and socio-technical systems that work for low- and middle-income settings. Existing efforts remain fragmented relative to the magnitude of the challenge.

Limited economic opportunity in rural areas of Morocco is driving large-scale youth migration to cities that lack the infrastructure or job market to absorb them.

Organic waste makes up a large share of landfilled municipal waste in Papua New Guinea, generating methane emissions that could be avoided with accessible composting infrastructure.

Current approaches to architectural and planning approaches that make cities more equitable and climate-resilient simultaneously either underperform under variable field conditions or generate externalities that undermine long-term sustainability and equity. Closing the gap requires coordinated advances in science, systems design and enabling institutions.

Develop safe, affordable testing, cleanup, liability, community engagement, and redevelopment methods for land-scarce cities.

Develop city-level data and economic models that quantify barriers in transport, housing, employment, education, and public services to guide investment.

Create valuation, exemptions, tenure recognition, and appeal mechanisms that finance services without displacing low-income households.

Design water-allocation and enforcement systems that reduce consumption among high users without shifting disproportionate burdens onto low-income residents.

Develop species selection, watering, soil protection, maintenance financing, and monitoring systems that allow urban tree canopies to survive rapid development.

Create practical risk models and investment plans for fast-growing cities that lack detailed maps, weather records, asset inventories, or technical staff.

Develop preservation and adaptation methods for dense historic urban areas where conventional drainage upgrades and building retrofits are difficult.

Develop building, public-space, energy, health-alert, and worker-protection solutions for low-income neighborhoods facing extreme heat and intermittent power.

Create predictive maintenance and equipment-upgrade strategies for overloaded local grids serving growing cities and newly electrified rural areas.

Build localized early-warning systems that combine shipping, climate, conflict, currency, storage, and market data to anticipate sudden food affordability crises.

Peri-urban areas surrounding major cities in United States have inconsistent internet access, limiting residents' access to remote work, telehealth, and digital financial services.

Last-mile freight delivery in Egypt's congested cities remains dominated by diesel vehicles, and electric alternatives face high upfront costs and inadequate charging infrastructure.