For the last 40 years, UN-Habitat has been working to improve the lives of people in human settlements around the world. As our population has grown, so has the number of people living in cities, towns and villages on all continents. With around 3 billion more people expected to live in urban areas by 2050, it is more critical than ever that we plan and manage the way our cities expand.

This publication demonstrates just a snapshot of our overall portfolio and represents the ways in which, along with our partners, our work positively impacts the quality of life for people around the world. Working together we can, and must, promote economically, socially and environmentally sustainable urbanization and a better urban future for all.

This report is addressed to policy makers both inside and outside Europe. To help cities learn from each other, the report compares the performance of cities and provides examples of policies that have worked. Using a wealth of new data, it shows the latest demographic, economic, social and environmental trends in European cities. This can promote more evidence-based policy making at the city level. This publication shows how a newly developed, people-based definition of cities can bring better insights and make it easier to compare cities across national borders. Cities boost innovation, embrace people from different backgrounds or with different lifestyles, and reduce our impact on the planet. Cities that operate at the metropolitan scale and have sufficient autonomy and resources can better exploit this urban potential. In addition, the policies of higher levels of government need to consider the unique role of cities."

A special edition thematic/country activities report, that gives a timeline highlight of UN-Habitat’s evolution, the relevant mandate and GA resolutions; we showcase consolidated impacts of our work focusing at this time on two regions: Asia and Pacific and the Arab States, using two country examples per region (Afghanistan and Philippines for Asia and Pacific; Iraq and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the Arab States).

We plan to produce similar report for the other three regions (Africa, Europe and Latin American and Caribbean) at a later date. The report presents some examples of the impacts that UN-Habitat’s partnership with the selected countries have had on the people of the countries; it also gives a brief highlight of the journey, including some testimonials from some of the beneficiaries and stakeholders.

These are in no way a full representation of our work but only some examples. The report concludes with brief highlight of our normative contributions in creating and sharing knowledge in the areas of Human Settlement, Sustainable Urbanization and Sustainable Development. The research, data, knowledge, practice and experience of UN-Habitat has facilitated the production of these highly informative and influential publications.

The analysis of urban development of the past twenty years presented in this maiden edition of the World Cities Report shows, with compelling evidence, that there are new forms of collaboration and cooperation, planning, governance, finance and learning that can sustain positive change. The Report unequivocally demonstrates that the current urbanization model is unsustainable in many respects. It conveys a clear message that the pattern of urbanization needs to change in order to better respond to the challenges of our time, to address issues such as inequality, climate change, informality, insecurity, and the unsustainable forms of urban expansion.

The UN-Habitat Country Programme Document for Uganda outlines the main objectives and priorities for UN-Habitat in Uganda. In collaboration with the government and other United Nations agencies, the overall aim of this HCPD is to promote the New Habitat Agenda: ensuring the sustainability of urban growth as a driving force as well as a source of equitable development with the power to change and improve lives. UN-Habitat plays an active role in urban development and urban policy. Through partnerships with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD), UN-Habitat has assisted in identifying key urban issues and areas needing support to improve urban development in Uganda.

The HCPD has addressed these areas of intervention to guide the government of Uganda in meeting its sustainable urban development challenges. The multilateral programming instruments presented in the HCPD that help to guide national priorities and UN system priorities are the National Development Plan II (NDP-II), Vision 2040, and the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The focus areas of UN-Habitat and the government of Uganda, highlighted in the HCPD, are governance and accountability, social development, physical planning, human capital development, environment and natural resource management, service delivery/productivity and livelihoods, and security and conflict.

This timely report comes at a decisive moment in history where we can reshape urban environments and health systems for the majority of the world’s population that live in cities. Enabling this transformation are the SDGs, which have reconfigured how governments and the international community need to plan and implement actions to eradicate poverty and inequality, create inclusive economic growth, preserve the planet and improve population health.

Central to this quest is to create equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development. A focus on urban health not only recognizes global demographic trends but the inextricable and inter-dependent links between health, economic productivity, social stability and inclusion, climate change and healthy environments, and an enabling built environment and governance. With half of the anticipated world’s population that will live in cities in 2050 not yet born or living there, we must seize the opportunity to create health systems and environments that enable improved health outcomes and liveable cities.

At the core of the dynamic and transformative nature of cities are people – healthy people. In order to pursue this goal and the SDGs, we must ensure that all citizens and communities, regardless of income, social status, or gender, have access to the quality health services they need with sufficient financial protection.

Executive summary (PDF)

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 need for planning cannot be over-emphasized. Urbanization is progressing rapidly and by 2050, seven out of ten people will be living in cities. Inappropriate policies, plans and designs have led to inadequate spatial distribution of people and activities, resulting in proliferation of slums, congestion, poor access to basic services, environmental degradation, and social inequity and segregation.

The International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning serve both as a source of inspiration and a compass for decision makers and urban professionals when reviewing urban and territorial planning systems. The Guidelines provide national governments, local authorities, civil society organizations and planning professionals with a global reference framework that promotes more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities and territories that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change.

Governance is about the processes by which public policy decisions are made and implemented. ICT can become a catalyst to improve governance in towns and cities and help increase the levels of participation, efficiency and accountability in public urban policies, provided that the tools are appropriately used, accessible and affordable. This book examines how ICT enabled governance is applied to urban policy design and highlights case studies, tools, methodologies, all reflecting current challenges and potential for the use of ICT in governance processes in cities.

This joint publication by CYFI and UN-Habitat examines youth economic citizenship in Sub-Saharan Africa. This publication provides an overview of economic citizenship, explains how it is relevant to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and provides research findings on its application in the region. Detailed case studies are provided on financial literacy and financial education initiatives for children and youth in Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.