UN-Habitat conducted this comparative legal study of spatial planning laws and governance frameworks in nine countries—Bangladesh, Japan, Malaysia, Panama, Paraguay, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, Thailand, and the Philippines—as part of its technical support to the Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building project in Viet Nam. The study examined how planning mandates and hierarchies are defined and implemented across national, regional/provincial, and local levels.

UN-Habitat has conducted an international benchmarking case study of planning laws in five countries and one sub-national region (Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, South Korea and Catalonia Region, Spain) to assess the impact of planning laws in these contexts on sustainable urban development. This has provided a spectrum of regulatory models and schemes for the spatial planning legal reform agenda in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These case studies reveal that planning legal frameworks…

As the world continues to urbanize, cities face greater challenges in responding to humanitarian crises and achieving sustainable post-conflict development that upholds everyone’s right to adequate housing. The impacts of conflict are increasingly being experienced in urban areas around the world – as seen in modern crises such as those in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip, Yemen and Syria – putting the housing, land and property (HLP) rights of civilians at risk. HLP issues arise in conflict contexts,…

UN-Habitat’s National Urban Policy Programme (NUPP) continues to play a pivotal role in advancing inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban development globally through national and subnational urban policies. This 2024 edition of the Korea-funded National Urban Policy Programme (K-NUPP) report presents progress made during year two of the second phase of the programme, with a focus on activities undertaken and results achieved in 2023/2024, while providing a forward-looking view of planned…

The paper ‘Urban Regeneration for Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals’ focuses on demonstrating how urban regeneration can drive progress across at least 15 SDGs and advance 45 targets. It includes four case studies from different regions to illustrate the impacts and lessons learnt.

The National Urban Policy Programme (NUPP) remains a central tool towards promotion and realisation of an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban development. The Korea-funded National Urban Policy Programme (K-NUPP) 2022-2023 report reviews the first year of implementation in the second phase of the programme. The report articulates the commitment of UN-Habitat through the Policy, Legislation and Governance Section, in collaboration with the government of the Republic of Korea through the…

The Shanghai Manual was established in 2011 following the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and serves as a tool to support the efforts of mayors and urban practitioners in advancing sustainable urban development. The ideas and principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and New Urban Agenda have been integrated into the Manual, with a focus on challenges such as how to achieve inclusive and liveable cities, innovative and creative cities and sustainable and resilient cities.
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Through this international benchmarking case study on planning laws in five countries (Morocco, Netherlands, South Africa, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), UN-Habitat has assessed the impact of these urban laws on sustainable urban development to provide a spectrum of regulatory models and schemes for the spatial planning legal reform in the Sultanate of Oman. These case studies reveal that planning legal framework should clearly define planning…