Summary

Today, the region is characterized by a double transition: urban (significant decrease in the rate of rural-urban migration) and demographic (decrease in population growth rates and population ageing). 
High economic, population and administrative concentrations have been observed in few and large urban centres. However, intermediate cities are also gaining prominence, although they are often located in large metropolitan areas and systems. The negative externalities of large urban centres affect economic growth and quality of life, so to enhance the region’s development it is essential to consider city systems and the interaction between cities of different sizes, mainly in economic terms and with regard to interurban migration. 
Latin American and Caribbean urban areas have grown with a medium density pattern, which has posed environmental and economic challenges and heightened the cost of providing inclusive access to urban goods and services. Caribbean island countries have a particular lowdensity pattern characterized by a mixed and continuous succession of urban and rural areas. Territorial and population growth in urban peripheral areas is often associated with a population drop in city centres. However, there are exceptions to this pattern, with repopulation, regeneration and densification taking place in certain urban centres.
New patterns of production, distribution and consumption alongside old structural challenges in urban economies that hinder economic inclusion and universal access to the benefits of urban development. 
Despite the significant role in the regional economy of activities that are not typically urban (export of commodities and tourism in the Caribbean), the contribution of cities and, in particular, of large metropolises to the regional gross domestic product (GDP) is significant and characterized by a strong services and trade sector. However, negative externalities that are partly associated with urbanization and weak planning, in addition to the region’s traditional structural challenges (low productivity, informality and an absence of investment in infrastructure and knowledge), limit the benefits that cities can offer to urban development (economies of agglomeration and scale, proximity of production factors, exchange of ideas and innovation). 
Despite the positive achievements made in the past decade, there is still a high rate of informal employment in urban economies, which limits opportunities for accessing better working conditions, especially for women and young people, and illustrates the importance of inclusive local development and the creation of quality jobs.
Although some countries and cities are leaders in the creation and implementation of innovative instruments for capturing and distributing revenues generated by changes in urban land value, the region is still facing a highly uneven distribution of income from urbanization. The lack of inclusive urban land management determines the key urban challenges of the region: socioeconomic segregation, urban informality, access to housing, speculation and inefficient real estate taxation systems. 
Significant achievements have been made in poverty reduction and access to housing, but inequality, socio-spatial segregation and public safety remain central themes on the regional agenda. 
Inequality is one of the main structural features in the region’s countries and cities in that it determines conditions of high vulnerability for lower income sectors, is spatially expressed in the form of socioeconomic segregation and is associated with high levels of violence and criminality. Increasing inclusion in urban areas is a key challenge in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The sustainable future of the Latin America and the Caribbean region is closely linked to sustainable urbanization. To create sustainable cities, it is therefore essential to follow an institutional and political path based on the New Urban Agenda and a regional implementation plan that addresses the challenges arising from the new stage of urban development in the region.