| A Road Map Towards a Socioeconomic Development Plan for the Union of Municipalities of Chamal Baalbek, Baalbek – Hermel Governorate | 2024 | |
| Waste Management and Resource Utilization in China and Africa: Practices in Shanghai and Lagos | 2024 | The SDG, Agenda 2063: Africa we want and the New Urban Agenda underscores the need for international cooperation, knowledge sharing, and technology transfer to address the global solid waste challenge. They call for increased investment in waste management infrastructure and capacity building, particularly in developing countries. As representative cities at distinct stages of development, Shanghai, China and Lagos, Nigeria have amassed unique experiences in waste management. These experiences not only provides invaluable insights for their respective futures but also serve as beneficial references for other cities seeking to optimize waste management strategies amidst globalization. This publication aims to encourage regions, countries and cities to prioritize investment in and the financing of sustainable long-term waste management initiatives, which are often treated as an afterthought in the context of the rapidly urbanizing world and thus impede the achievement of SDG targets. |
| Building Bridges: Executive Director's Report (2018-2023) | 2024 | In the past six years, UN-Habitat has grown from strength to strength. The World Urban Forum is now the world’s premier United Nations platform for sustainable urbanization. UN-Habitat is present in all global platforms including at the UN General Assembly where we were selected on the high impact pillar on localization. It is very clear that shelter, housing, and sustainable urbanization cut across all political divides. |
| Local Action for Global Goals: An Opportunity for Enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions | 2024 | As countries prepare to revise their NDCs ahead of COP30, the analysis summarized in this technical brief shows: which countries have the biggest potential to work towards stronger integration of urban content in their NDCs; how they can reap co-benefits of sustainable urban development, effective local adaptation measures, and reducing emissions by stronger collaboration with local governments. |
| CiCoSA Action Toolkit | 2024 | The CiCoSA Action Toolkit includes a CiCoSA Handbook and a CiCoSA Implementation Guide with a focus on Kenya and Namibia. The CiCoSA Handbook examines benefits and risks of circular economy approaches to a sustainable building and construction sector from the waste management perspective, providing practical case studies that could be scaled up in the region as part of a sustainable urbanization strategy. The CiCoSA Implementation Guide serves as a roadmap to navigate challenges on circular construction. It is specifically tailored to policymakers in Sub-Saharan Africa, considering the region's unique social, economic, and environmental context. It outlines the various stages of a circular construction life cycle, from product manufacture and design to construction, operation, and ultimately, building deconstruction. Recommendations emphasize the crucial role of empowering local communities and fostering collaboration across sectors. |
| Synthesis Paper 4: Identifying universal measures of quality of life: A Technical Process, a Human Story | 2024 | This fourth synthesis paper of the Quality of Life Initiative highlights its journey from concept to the creation of a global index to measure quality of life in cities. The Initiative views quality of life as a dynamic assessment of how well cities offer opportunities for individuals and communities to thrive. This paper explores the collaborative, people-centered approach used to develop a universal set of indicators, balancing technical rigor with human dimensions, to capture factors like housing adequacy, job satisfaction, and well-being. |
| Multilayered Vulnerability Assessment Handbook - Resilience planning for urban, biodiversity and climate action | 2024 | The Multilayered Vulnerability Assessment (MVA) tool, developed under UN-Habitat's RISE-UP flaghip programme, helps communities and cities assess vulnerabilities by mapping and assessing the intersection of climate risks, urbanization trends, biodiversity loss, and land degradation. It identifies and appraises vulnerability hotspots from spatial overlaps and areas of concentrated vulnerability which helps to better inform planning, resource mobilization and investment for systemic urban climate resilient infrastructure in cities. |
| A Road Map Towards a Socioeconomic Development Plan for the Union of Municipalities of Chouf El-Souayjani, Mount Lebanon Governorate | 2024 | |
| Building the capacity of municipalities and unions of municipalities | 2024 | |
| Heritopolis working papers – Volume 1 | 2024 | Heritage and Metropolis (Heritopolis) is a loose research network established during 2021 to explore how metropolises are being (re-)shaped by heritage redefining their meaning. This largest category of city is growing rapidly in number and their demographic, economic and governance importance globally. Metropolises are also where many of the sustainability and resilience challenges – including potential loss of natural and cultural heritage – are particularly profound. Recognising these dramatic changes, this research began by posing questions such as ‘What specific role heritage can play in 21st century metropolises?’ and ‘What are the limits of the current heritage paradigms and how metropolitan authorities can change them?’ The work undertaken to date, including the initial analysis of a first baseline survey reported here, confirms the validity of the initial hypothesis: that there is indeed a need to delve deeper into the nature of metropolitan identities and that this is likely to bring significant innovation in the heritage field as an enabler for sustainable development. |