The present report was prepared for the second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat Assembly), the main legislative body for global urban policymaking, to articulate the Executive Director’s position on the special theme “A sustainable urban future through inclusive and effective multilateralism: Achieving the SDGs in times of global crises”. The report examines the role of enhanced multilateralism in furthering key policy…

This Global Report on Sanitation and Wastewater Management in Cities and Human Settlements is a global reference on sanitation and wastewater in urban settings. It takes stock of the sanitation and wastewater management situation, both in terms of service levels and the supporting functions required to enable service provision at scale.

Drawing from existing literature and primary data in 18 cities across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, the Report underlines the scale of…

MY Neighbourhood’ provides an extensive ‘check list’ of urban design principles that are applicable in diverse cultural and geographical contexts at the neighbourhood scale. This checklist ensures an integrated approach to neighbourhood design by integrating principles across five key city objectives, across sectors (transport, housing, public space, utilities etc), and across design dimensions (neighbourhood, street, open public space, and building unit).

The Rapid Planning Studio is a 12-week ‘rapid’ planning process aimed to quickly harness the knowledge of city stakeholders and identify actionable outcomes. RPS is a uniquely collaborative, evidence-based planning process resulting in a Strategic Spatial Plan.

The publication showcases the work conducted by UN-Habitat’s Global Public Space Programme and its partners in 2022, while reflecting on the 10 years anniversary of the programme. As we celebrate ten years of UN-Habitat’s Global Public Space Programme, we renovate our mandate on promoting and advocating inclusive, safe and accessible, green and public spaces for all. We recognise the crucial role of public space in our cities’ ecosystems as an enabler for social cohesion, health and well-being…

Urban legislation is an important development tool for urban growth as it provides a framework in which to mediate and balance competing public and private interests, especially in relation to land use and development; creates a stable and predictable framework for public and private sector action; guarantees the inclusion of the interests of vulnerable groups; and provides a catalyst for local and national discourse.

Parliaments are the main branch of government with the…

The world is on track to reach a peak global temperature rise by 2100 that far exceeds the 1.5⁰C target needed to reduce the worst climate change impacts. Cities are particularly critical as they account for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions, consume 78% of the world’s energy and will comprise 68% of the global population by 2050. This report explores the linkage between national climate plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and urban issues.

This framework supports the control and elimination of malaria in urban environments. It guides city leaders, health programmes and urban planners as they respond to the challenges of rapid urbanisation in a targeted way. For each urban context, the strategic use of data can inform effective, tailored responses and help build resilience against the threat of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.