The objective of this review is to survey, inform and evaluate national urban policies and strategies developed by national governments in the Asia and Pacific region. The purpose of the review is to assist UN Habitat and other national and international stakeholders involved with urban policy and management in pre-dominantly middle to low income countries.

The research encompasses both a recent generation of NUPs in the region as well as a set of older national urban programs for urban development. A particular focus of this report is institutional structures, legal frameworks and foundations, and financial and technical capacity, oriented to promoting long-term policy development monitoring of urban problems and responses.

报告直面当前国家和地方政府、商界和民间社会组织所面临的问题和挑战。报告高屋建瓴地阐明了在整个亚太地区的各种规模、处于不同发展阶段的国家所进行的财富和创新实践的积累。它告诉我们只要公共部门、私营部门和志愿机构精诚合作，可持续的人类住区就触手可及。这份报告同样强调了一系列关键问题，如人口与经济发展问题、贫穷与不平等问题、环境问题、全球气候变化问题、城市管理问题等。我们希望通过鼓励新的思路和新的措施，促进亚太地区的包容性、可持续性的城市发展。

This report on the state of Asian and Pacific cities is the second in the series first published by UN-Habitat (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and ESCAP (the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) in 2010 then 2011.

Building on the findings and baseline data provided in the 2010 report, and in capturing both rapid change and new policy opportunities, The State of Asian and Pacific Cities 2015 seeks to further contribute to policy-relevant literature on the region’s urban change.

Specifically, as reflected in its subtitle, the report highlights growing gaps between current urbanisation patterns and what is needed to shift to a more inclusive and sustainable urban future, in which the role of the region’s cities is unquestionably tied to national, regional and global development prospects.

The ‘Right to Develop: Planning Palestinian Communities in East Jerusalem’ provides an overview of the planning praxis of Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem. Planning practice in the context of East Jerusalem is best understood as the set of strategies and policies needed to translate ideas about the right to the city into concrete action. Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem lack a number of planning rights and have little say in official planning consistent with their needs and aspirations.

This publication analyzes planning practices utilized by Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem, while devising a set of planning guidelines that can help these communities better defend their planning and building rights. Furthermore, this publication helps to enhance urban awareness amongst Palestinian communities, while increasing the capacity of Palestinians to better plan their communities. The lessons drawn and the conclusions developed in this publication could also be useful in other fragile environments and politically challenged contexts.