On 16 and 17 July 2026, the United Nations General Assembly held the High-level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), under the theme “Delivering Sustainable Urbanization for All – Accelerating and Scaling Implementation of the New Urban Agenda to 2036 together”. But before focusing on this meeting, it is important to remind ourselves that the New Urban Agenda was adopted on 20 October 2016 at the Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador, just one year after the 2030 Agenda was adopted. Yet, the NUA missed a major opportunity to fully align itself with the most comprehensive global sustainable development framework. Visit the SF Blogs Space to read about SF Fellow Branka Balac’s assessment of the midterm review and recommendations on the way forward.