Mexico, 18 March 2016 – The first results of the City Prosperity Index (CPI) carried out in 136 municipalities across Mexico were presented in Mexico City earlier this March. The CPI is UN-Habitat’s urban development indicator and is being implemented with the Mexican federal institute for housing Infonavit. Currently applied in over 500 cities around the world, the CPI is a tool that provides metrics and data to evaluate urban development. A baseline of the current urban situation, the index contains six dimensions. It measures productivity, infrastructure, quality of life, equity and social inclusion, environmental sustainability and governance.

“Through the CPI, cities gain a better understanding of themselves. It unearths the underlying issues, the strengths and weaknesses. The CPI gives a snapshot of the current state of a city, paving the way for the development of the most efficient strategies for sustainable urban development,” said Erik Vittrup, head of UN-Habitat in Mexico. “The CPI has been adopted by 136 municipalities in Mexico. This shows how powerful a tool it is, and also how committed the Mexican authorities are to urban development,” said Vittrup. To date, Mexico is the country carrying out the most CPI initiatives worldwide.

Vittrup also added that the participating Mexican municipalities now have an instrument to guide their urban development decisions, helping to confirm or adjust current policies and to redirect the resources where needed most. The aim of the CPI is to enable city authorities to identify opportunities and potential areas of intervention for their cities to become more prosperous.