2024 marked a transitional year for UN-Habitat’s Global Public Space Programme. The Programme delivered impactful action in 13 countries, benefiting over 70,000 people through initiatives advancing climate resilience, social inclusion, and crisis response. From neighborhood delivery to global platforms, the year reaffirmed public space as a foundation for equitable cities and a key enabler of housing, basic services, and sustainable urban development.

Rapid demographic growth and urban expansion are transforming intermediary cities in Kenya and Mozambique. However, limited governance and planning capacity – along with scarce financial resources – are driving these cities towards car-dependent systems, which lock in carbon emissions, reduce accessibility and undermine quality of life. Without timely intervention, current choices risk embedding high emissions and social inequalities for decades to come.

Building on the OECD…

This playbook provides a practical guide for urban actors to integrate Nature-based Solutions (NbS) into projects and policy actions. It outlines a flexible, action-oriented process that can be adapted to different local contexts and scales, applied across diverse themes and sectors, and supports the integration of nature into decision-making.

This playbook provides governments with a practical, people-centred approach to urban digital transformation. It offers a step-by-step guidance, tools, access to relevant resources and case studies to help cities design inclusive, ethical, and resilient smart city strategies grounded in community needs and human rights.

This Toolkit provides planners and city leaders with practical guidance on applying Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) to urban planning and decision-making. It explains key concepts, applications, risks and benefits, and provides step-by-step guidance, case studies and tools to support responsible, data-driven and inclusive planning for sustainable and resilient urban development.

Cities face growing pressures from rapid urbanization, climate risks, and inequality. This study compares 26 global urban assessment tools in relation to , offering evidence-based insights that link global frameworks with local needs and support greener, more resilient urban development.

Public spaces are vital for the dynamic social, environmental and health need functions as part of public life of diverse user groups, as they provide areas for social encounter, civic and political engagement, recreation (including work, play and study), shelter needs and other forms of community engagement. This publication has examined the crucial role that legislation, governance, and financial frameworks play as critical aspects of public space management and development. It has provided a…

UN-Habitat, as part of the Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building (ISCB) project in Viet Nam, funded by the Government of Switzerland through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), has conducted comparative legal case studies from 11 countries (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Kenya, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, South Korea, and the United Kingdom) to support the drafting of Vietnam’s Urban Development and Management Law.

The WUF12 Report provides an overview of the programme, participation and strategic highlights from the twelfth session of the World Urban Forum, held in Cairo, Egypt. It showcases the sustainability, inclusivity and diversity of the Forum, reflecting the collective efforts to advance sustainable urban development and implement the New Urban Agenda.