Lebanon’s refugee crisis has highlighted the need for much closer coordination among the various organisations and local authorities involved in the response.

The Shanghai Manual embodies the principles and spirit of the Shanghai Declaration and the lessons and outcomes from both within and beyond Expo 2010. Together with the World Cities Day, sanctioned by the United Nations and celebrated on the 31st October, it represents a concrete outcome of the rich legacy of Shanghai 2010 to promote sustainable urban development for a better quality of life.

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).

National Urban Policy is a tool for government and other stakeholders that can assist with achieving more sustainable urban development. It also facilitates an enabling environment that allows stakeholders to take advantage of urban opportunity. How to address climate change in cities and human settlements represents one of the most pressing challenges facing urban policy-makers today. This Guide recommends how to mainstream such considerations into National Urban Policy, thus helping to…

The document analyse the existing urban structure and proposes a new one that ensure the provision of urban centres, street network and public spaces and eventually would allow residents to access basic services, public facilities, businesses and working areas within walking distance of their homes. The main boulevards and streets are designed in accordance with the existing topography.

Canaan II, located on the west of the central area of Canaan, has a population of 12,100. It is considered a low density neighbourhood with 4.383 inhab. per km2 and therefore its densification is encouraged. A large part of Canaan II borders the National Road 1 to the south but there is almost no access from it to the neighbourhood. The presence of quarries and the complex topography limit the availability of suitable lands.

The following land use proposals in this section are based on a participatory process within three months’ time-frame. The UN-Habitat team maps the existing situation and the community validates and proposes ideas. The urban Lab rechecks the suggested interventions and modifies if necessary. After that, a neighbourhood assembly is organized to showcase the overall vision and a land use is later developed.

A special edition thematic/country activities report, that gives a timeline highlight of UN-Habitat’s evolution, the relevant mandate and GA resolutions; we showcase consolidated impacts of our work focusing at this time on two regions: Asia and Pacific and the Arab States, using two country examples per region (Afghanistan and Philippines for Asia and Pacific; Iraq and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the Arab States).