Pacific Islands are very diverse regarding their levels and rates of urbanization and how public policy addresses urban development. However, many countries in the region have made significant strides to address urbanization challenges and to harness its opportunities. This document provides an urban policy overview, focussing on eight countries. The document concludes with a set of recommendations.

The State of Arab Cities report 2020 is driven by a sense of urgency around the headlong expansion of urbanization, in an area where more than two-thirds of the population will reside in cities by the middle of this century. In 1950, just two cities of the region had a million people, whereas by 2025 this is expected to reach 31. At a time whereas many Arab countries are undergoing major infrastructure initiatives and the proliferation of new cities, it is particularly useful to examine the…

Five years into implementing this important international development framework, rapidly growing cities and towns are faced with a range of developmental choices that will shape their growth and long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability. Many of these are complex choices with differing short-term versus long-term costs and benefits. These choices are seldom determined by individual actors or agencies but emerge out of the complex interplay of decisions made by a range of…

This report covers the Latin America and the Caribbean region as defined by the United Nations. The member countries, as well as the territories of the Regional Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean considered in the study are listed in the Report.
This report serves a dual purpose: on one hand, it was conceived as a technical input to the Habitat III process, while addressing the main emerging trends in urban development, as well as analyzing urban policies implemented…

The aim of The State of African Cities 2018: The geography of African investment report is to contribute to development policies that can turn African cities into more attractive, competitive and resilient foreign direct investment (FDI) destinations. Attracting global FDI is highly competitive and crosses various geographic scales, therefore regional cooperation by cities and nations is critical. But FDI is not a panacea since it has both positive and negative effects and careful choices need…

The Regional Reports were prepared by the respective United Nations Regional Commissions and the Regional Offices of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), in collaboration with the Habitat III Secretariat. A significant number of experts from different countries of the region representing various constituencies, including academia, civil society, United Nations agencies and programmes and governmental institutions, contributed to the preparation of the report.

The regional report is based upon the national human settlements development reports provided by CIS member states (the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus (draft report), the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation (draft report), the Republic of Tajikistan), conclusions and assessments provided by national focal points and experts (the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Moldova), and other open analytic and information sources. 2 Analytical report…

The State of European Cities report was prepared jointly by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to support the Urban Agenda for the EU and the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat III).

This report on the state of Asian and Pacific cities is the second in the series first published by UN-Habitat (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and ESCAP (the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) in 2010 then 2011.