The Global Network of Urban Planning and Design Labs is an initiative of UN-Habitat to support local governments in achieving sustainable urban development, by bringing together local and international planners to work on concrete projects.

Welcomed in 2015 by resolution 25/L.6 of the Governing Council of UN-Habitat, the Network’s sets up temporarily and permanent Labs as part of or in close collaboration with the government. The network develops capacity of local and international planners with a ‘Learning by Doing’-approach and creates as such a global portfolio of practice that is being exchanged in the Network.

The Network disseminates UN-Habitat’s sustainable planning principles, advocates planning as a cyclical and participatory process that engages early on with civic society, the private sector and decision makers. The Labs of the Global Network are integrative facilities with a project approach that utilizes design throughout the whole planning process.

The Global Network is focused on implementation applying a ‘three-pronged’ methodology that integrates planning, finance and the legal framework.
 

The design process is a key component in the work of the LAB. In many contexts, design arrives at the end of the planning process, after all the problems have exhaustively been described. The LAB promotes integrating design throughout the whole planning process since design explorations can actually also contribute to problem definition and the formulation of goals. Doing so replaces the sequential planning process with an iterative planning process in which plans are developed, tested and improved. This provides space for all sorts of stakeholders to contribute and participate in a process focused on implementation. Furthermore, the LAB’s emphasis on clear and understandable plans ease political buy-in and can accelerate governments’ decision-making processes where plans often end up in gridlock.