A National Urban Policy (NUP) is a coherent set of decisions derived through a deliberate government-led process of coordinating and rallying various actors for a common vision and goal that will promote more trans-formative, productive, inclusive and resilient urban  development for the long term (which can be from 20 to 30 or even 100 years horizon).

An NUP is an interactive process that could have at-least four phases: diagnostic, formulation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. A specific analysis framework has been developed for the diagnostic phase. Other complementary tools for each of the phases and processes are under development.

UN-Habitat is prioritizing NUP in low and middle income countries with rapid urbanization. The approved NUP should be the stakeholder's framework for implementation of inclusive urban development.