The 2025 Annual Report of the Policy and Legislation Section (PLS) presents a year of steady progress in advancing sustainable urban development. Through diverse initiatives and collaborative partnerships with donors, development partners, and countries, UN-Habitat through PLS has continued to strengthen policy, legislative, and governance frameworks at national and subnational levels. The report also identifies emerging priorities that will guide the Section’s work in 2026, supporting global…

National Urban Policies (NUPs) serves as a key guiding frameworks towards the realization of the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Urbanization. The Korea-funded National Urban Policy Programme contributes to this by not only supporting countries in developing and implementing NUPs but also strengthening the capacity of relevant stakeholders. The 2024-2025 Annual Report shows the progress of the programme implementation at global and local scale among the eight participating countries of Phase 2…

UN-Habitat’s Catalogue of Solutions presents the organization’s portfolio of tested tools, methodologies and advisory support designed to help countries, cities and communities address today’s most pressing urban challenges. The catalogue brings together solutions developed through decades of UN-Habitat’s global experience, providing practical pathways for advancing inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban development.

These solutions respond to the urgent need to improve…

​This report documents how nine cities across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Arab States, Eastern Europe and Latin America have implemented the New Urban Agenda through integrated planning, multi-level governance, and capacity-building. It captures lessons, mind-shifts, and implementation pathways that accelerate SDG 11 and sustainable urban transformation

Public spaces to play are important to children's health and development and are a core right. Yet with increasing urbanization, access to public spaces to play is shrinking, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This guide, developed by UN-Habitat, WHO and UNICEF, highlights the importance of public spaces for optimizing children's health and well-being, and realizing their comprehensive rights. It provides support for practitioners in developing and improving public…

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…