SDG 11: Make Cities and Human Settlements Inclusive, Safe, Resilient, and Sustainable

Introduction

SDG 11 aims to create inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements. It emphasises access to affordable housing and essential services, upgrading informal settlements, and providing safe, affordable public transportation and green spaces. The goal also includes minimising urban environmental impact, enhancing climate and disaster preparedness, and safeguarding cultural and natural heritage.

Key Components

SDG 11 aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable by 2030. Key components include ensuring access to safe/affordable housing and basic services, providing sustainable transport, enhancing inclusive urbanisation, protecting cultural/natural heritage, reducing disaster risks, minimising environmental impact, and providing safe green public spaces.

The social objectives of SDG 11 focus on making cities inclusive and equitable.

  1. Affordable and Safe Housing
    • Ensure everyone has access to housing that is both affordable and structurally safe.
    • Includes upgrading slums and informal settlements to improve living conditions.
  2. Basic Services for All
    • Guarantee access to essential services such as clean water, sanitation, and energy.
  3. Accessible and Sustainable Public Transport
    • Provide safe, affordable, and reliable transportation options.
    • Pay special attention to vulnerable groups like women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
  4. Inclusive Urban Planning
    • Promote participatory planning processes where communities have a voice in shaping their cities.
    • Encourage designs that foster social inclusion and accessibility.
  5. Universal Access to Public Spaces
    • Ensure that parks, streets, and recreational areas are safe and open to everyone.

The environmental dimension of SDG 11 is critical for making cities sustainable. Here’s a deeper look at what each component involves:

1. Improving Air Quality

Urban areas often face high levels of air pollution from traffic, industry, and construction. Strategies include:

  • Promoting clean energy and electric mobility.
  • Expanding green spaces to act as natural air filters.
  • Implementing stricter emissions standards for vehicles and industries.

2. Waste Management

Cities generate massive amounts of solid waste. Sustainable approaches involve:

  • Reduce, Reuse, Recycle programs.
  • Integrated waste management systems that include composting and energy recovery.
  • Policies to minimise plastic use and encourage circular economy practices.

3. Sustainable Resource Management (Land and Water)

Urban expansion often strains land and water resources:

  • Smart land-use planning to prevent urban sprawl.
  • Rainwater harvesting and wastewater recycling.
  • Protecting wetlands and green belts to maintain ecological balance.

4. Integration of Sustainability into Urban Planning

Urban planning must embed sustainability principles:

  • Designing compact, walkable cities to reduce car dependency.
  • Incorporating renewable energy and energy-efficient building codes.
  • Climate-resilient infrastructure to withstand floods, heatwaves, and other disasters.

5. Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage

Rapid urbanisation can threaten heritage sites:

  • Enforcing conservation laws.
  • Promoting adaptive reuse of historic buildings.
  • Community engagement in heritage preservation.

The economic and resilience aspects of SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Here’s a deeper explanation of what each part means:

1. Reduce the Impact of Natural Disasters

  • Urban areas are highly vulnerable to floods, earthquakes, and storms.
  • SDG 11 promotes disaster risk reduction strategies, such as:
    • Building climate-resilient infrastructure.
    • Implementing early warning systems.
    • Strengthening emergency response capacity.

2. Implement Inclusive and Sustainable Policies

  • Policies should ensure social equity and environmental sustainability.
  • Examples include:
    • Affordable housing programs.
    • Green building codes.
    • Urban mobility plans that prioritise public transport and reduce emissions.

3. Strengthen Planning Across Urban and Rural Areas

  • Urbanisation often creates disparities between cities and rural regions.
  • Integrated planning helps:
    • Prevent uncontrolled urban sprawl.
    • Maintain ecological corridors and agricultural land.
    • Improve connectivity between rural and urban economies.

4. Support Developing Nations for Sustainable and Resilient Construction

  • Many developing countries face resource and capacity constraints.
  • SDG 11 encourages:
    • Financial assistance and technology transfer.
    • Capacity-building for sustainable architecture.

Challenges and Progress

SDG 11 aims to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable by 2030, but progress is uneven and currently far off track. While more cities are adopting disaster risk strategies, challenges include rapid, unplanned urbanisation, lack of affordable housing, dangerous air pollution levels, and limited, unequal access to public transport.

Challenges

  • Rapid urbanisation: The world’s urban population is growing, but development of housing, infrastructure, and services often lags behind, leading to overcrowding and slums.
  • Inadequate housing: There is a massive need for adequate, safe, and affordable housing, as well as services for slum upgrading.
  • Slum growth: The number of people living in slums or informal settlements has continued to grow due to accelerating urbanisation, despite a lower percentage of urban dwellers living in them compared to previous decades.
  • Public transport: Access to convenient public transport remains a challenge, with only about half of the urban population having access in 2022.
  • Environmental impact: Cities face issues with air pollution, waste management, and limited green public spaces.
  • Data gaps: Lack of robust and disaggregated data hinders the ability to accurately track progress and develop effective policies. 

Progress

  • Disaster risk reduction: The number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies has doubled since the start of the SDGs in 2015.
  • Solid waste management: The global average municipal solid waste collection rate in cities has reached 82 per cent, though collection and management in controlled facilities remain low in some regions.
  • Policy implementation: There is increased focus on implementing policies for inclusive, sustainable development, including urban planning reforms that have slowed urban sprawl in some areas.
  • COVID-19 response: The pandemic highlighted the importance of open public spaces and sustainable transport, leading to some positive outcomes like the creation of more facilities for sustainable transport and rethinking urban layouts.

Targets and Indicators

TargetsIndicators
Target 11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums11.1.1 Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing.
Target 11.2 By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.11.2.1 Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities.
Target 11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.11.3.1 Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate 11.3.2 Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically
Target 11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage11.4.1 Total expenditure (public and private) per capita spent on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by type of heritage (cultural, natural, mixed and World Heritage Centre designation), level of government (national, regional and local/municipal), type of expenditure (operating expenditure/investment) and type of private funding (donations in kind, private non-profit sector and sponsorship).
Target 11.5 By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations11.5.1 Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population. 11.5.2 Direct disaster economic loss in relation to global GDP, damage to critical infrastructure and the number of disruptions to basic services, attributed to disasters
Target 11.6 By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.11.6.1 Proportion of urban solid waste regularly collected and with adequate final discharge out of total urban solid waste generated by cities. 11.6.2 Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted)
Target 11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.11.7.1 Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities with disabilities 11.7.1 Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age, and persons with disabilities. [Tier III] 11.7.2 Proportion of persons victim of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months.
Target 11.a  Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning11.a.1 Proportion of population living in cities that implement urban and regional development plans integrating population projections and resource needs, by size of city
Target 11.b By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels.11.b.1 Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster management in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030a. 11.b.2 Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
Target 11.c Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilising local materials11. c.1 Proportion of financial support to the least developed countries that is allocated to the construction and retrofitting of sustainable, resilient and resource-efficient buildings utilising local materials

SDG 11 and UNEP Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) 2026–2029 

UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) supports SDG 11 by focusing on accelerating the transition to sustainable, low-emission, and resilient cities, addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss, and pollution. Key priorities include fostering circularity in waste management, improving air quality, and promoting sustainable, nature-positive urban planning for 2030. 

UNEP’s Approach to SDG 11 (2022-2025):

  • Urban Infrastructure & Planning: UNEP aims to shift urban development toward compact, energy-efficient, and inclusive designs, focusing on nature-based solutions for urban cooling and reducing the environmental footprint of rapid urbanisation.
  • Pollution & Waste Management: The strategy prioritises waste management and air quality improvement, crucial for the nearly 1 billion urban poor, particularly in informal settlements.
  • Cleaner Transportation: Promoting active mobility (walking/cycling) and electric, sustainable public transport to reduce emissions.
  • Data & Monitoring: UNEP works with partners to enhance data collection on urban air quality and environmental impact (e.g., Urban Air Action Platform). 

UNEP’s efforts aim to transform cities into safer, more resilient, and inclusive environments, aligning with targets for affordable housing, sustainable transport, and reduced per-capita environmental impact. 

Relevant linkages with other SDGs

SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) acts as a central hub for the 2030 Agenda, with deep interlinkages to nearly all other goals, particularly in driving climate action (SDG 13), reducing poverty (SDG 1), and improving health (SDG 3) through sustainable urban planning. It acts as an enabler for economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity. 

Key SDG 11 Interlinkages:

Key science reports for SDG 11

Key scientific and policy-oriented reports for SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) focus on tracking rapid urbanisation, slum growth, public transport access, and air quality. These reports are primarily driven by UN-Habitat, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and specialised academic-practitioner partnerships, emphasising that SDG 11 is currently off-track for 2030, with over 1.1 billion people living in slum-like conditions as of 2022. 

Key reports and data sources include:

  • The Sustainable Development Goals Report (Annual – e.g., 2025/2024): Produced by the UN Statistics Division, this is the primary source for progress on SDG 11 indicators. The 2025 report highlights that urban expansion continues to outpace population growth, resulting in increased spatial sprawl, and notes that only about half of the world’s urban population has convenient access to public transport.
  • “Rescuing SDG 11 for a Resilient Urban Planet” (UN-Habitat): This report highlights the urgent need to accelerate progress, noting that in 2022, 1.12 billion people lived in slums or informal settlements—an increase of 130 million since 2015.
  • “UN SDG 11 and the Global Planning Agenda” (Arup & University of Liverpool, 2025): This report analyses how SDG 11 influences planning practices worldwide. It finds that while awareness is high, the application is often implicit, calling for stronger tools to link local spatial planning with global goals.
  • “What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050” (World Bank): This report provides critical data for Target 11.6 on waste management, noting that improper waste management is a major source of pollution and GHG emissions.
  • The Global Report on Human Settlements (UN-Habitat): These reports provide in-depth analysis on specific themes like housing, urban resilience, and planning.
  • World Cities Report (UN-Habitat): Examines the value of sustainable urbanisation and provides evidence on how cities can lead on climate action and equity. 

Key Data Trends from Recent Reports:

  • Slums & Housing (Target 11.1): 1.1 billion people live in slums or informal settlements, with that number expected to rise to 3 billion by 2050.
  • Urban Sprawl (Target 11.3): Between 2000 and 2020, cities expanded up to 3.7 times faster than they densified.
  • Public Transport (Target 11.2): Only 51.6% of the world’s urban population had convenient access to public transport in 2022.
  • Waste Management (Target 11.6): The global average municipal solid waste (MSW) collection rate in cities is 82%, but this drops below 60% in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania.
  • Disaster Risk (Target 11.b): Local-level risk governance is improving, with 106 countries reporting local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2023. 

Funding SDG 11

Financing SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) requires a radical transformation of the international financial system to increase urban funding, along with unlocking private capital through improved municipal creditworthiness and regulatory reforms. Key needs include strengthening subnational borrowing capacity, implementing SDG-aligned national planning, utilising blended finance mechanisms, and increasing public investment in resilient infrastructure. 

Key Requirements to Finance SDG 11

  • Financial System Reform: The international financial architecture must be revamped to ensure cities have direct access to, or greater influence over, financial flows.
  • Strengthening Municipal Finance: Local governments need capacity building to manage finances, improve credit ratings, and raise funds via municipal bonds or public-private partnerships.
  • Mobilising Private Capital: Utilising “blended finance” and enhancing risk-management skills to connect investors with bankable projects in sustainable urban infrastructure.
  • Targeted Investment Areas: Focus on financing affordable housing, clean energy, efficient public transport, and disaster-resilient infrastructure.
  • Support for Developing Cities: Substantial capital is required to meet the high costs of sustainable infrastructure in developing regions, including urban planning and social services.
  • Actionable Frameworks: Aligning national urban planning with financial, legal, and regulatory systems that encourage investment in sustainable, inclusive city development. 

Estimated Costs and Funding Sources

  • Annual Needs: Achieving water, sanitation, and hygiene targets (6.1, 6.2) requires roughly US$28.4 billion per year.
  • Project Costs: Depending on size, developing city needs can range from US$20 million for small cities to over US$5 billion for large cities annually.
  • Sources: A mix of public sector funding, Official Development Assistance (ODA), and private capital is essential, with a call for at least $500 billion in SDG stimulus for developing countries. 

SDG 11 and the Just Transition

SDG 11 contributes to a just transition by fostering inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities, ensuring that the shift to low-carbon economies does not leave vulnerable urban populations behind. It promotes equitable access to housing, green public spaces, and sustainable, affordable public transport while reducing environmental impacts. 

Key contributions of SDG 11 to a just transition include:

  • Affordable Housing & Basic Services: Addresses urban inequality by improving housing and services, crucial for vulnerable, low-income populations.
  • Sustainable & Equitable Transportation: Promotes investments in safe, accessible, and green transportation, reducing reliance on car-based infrastructure and enhancing mobility for all.
  • Inclusive Urban Planning: Empowers local communities through participatory, integrated decision-making processes, ensuring local voices guide development.
  • Environmental & Climate Resilience: Protects residents from natural disasters and climate change impacts through sustainable, resilient infrastructure.
  • Green Job Creation: Drives the development of sustainable, low-carbon urban economies that create new employment opportunities. 

By aligning with social equity, SDG 11 ensures that the environmental, economic, and social aspects of urban development are addressed concurrently during the transition. 

SDG 11 and the Just Transition

SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) contributes to a just transition by fostering a circular economy that reduces resource depletion, waste, and pollution while creating sustainable livelihoods. It shifts production towards low-carbon, resource-efficient methods, minimising ecological damage and promoting equitable economic growth. 

Key Contributions to a Just Transition:

  • Circular Economy and Job Creation: By promoting the reuse, recycling, and repurposing of materials, SDG 12 drives a shift from a linear “take-make-waste” model to a circular economy, creating new, green jobs and sustainable business opportunities.
  • Resource Efficiency and Equity: It aims for the sustainable management of natural resources, which helps reduce the environmental footprint and supports poverty alleviation by making resources more accessible and sustainably managed.
  • Waste Reduction and Health: SDG 12 targets halving per capita food waste and reducing waste generation through prevention and recycling. This improves public health and reduces the environmental burden on communities, especially in developing nations.
  • Sustainable Industrial Practices: The goal encourages businesses to adopt sustainable, non-polluting practices and reports on their sustainability efforts, ensuring that industry, as it transitions, is accountable to people and the planet.
  • Elimination of Harmful Subsidies: SDG 12 promotes the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, allowing for the reallocation of funds toward sustainable, low-carbon, and cleaner technologies. 

By integrating these practices, SDG 12 supports a transition that is environmentally sustainable and socially just, ensuring that economic shifts do not leave communities behind or destroy their natural environment.

UN-Habitat and Partnerships and Commitments

UN Habitat

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. UN-Habitat is the focal point for all urbanisation and human settlement matters within the UN system.

UN-Habitat works with partners to build inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities. UN-Habitat promotes urbanisation as a positive transformative force for people and communities, reducing inequality, discrimination and poverty.

UN-Habitat’s mission embodies the four main roles of the organisation, which can be summarised as: think, do, share, and partner.

THINK: UN-Habitat’s normative work, including ground-breaking research and capacity-building, sets standards, proposes norms and principles, shares good practice, monitors global progress and supports the formulation of policies related to sustainable cities and human settlements.

DO: UN-Habitat’s operational work takes various forms of technical assistance, drawing on its unique expertise in sustainable urbanisation and crisis response. UN-Habitat implements projects to provide value-added and tailored support to countries.

SHARE: Through advocacy, communication and outreach, UN-Habitat mobilises public, political and financial support and collaborative action to inspire qualitative change in national development plans, policy frameworks, development practice and investment choices for sustainable urban development at the local, national and global level.

PARTNER: UN-Habitat collaborates with governments, intergovernmental, UN agencies, civil society organisations, foundations, academic institutions and the private sector to achieve enduring results in addressing the challenges of urbanisation.

UN-Habitat works in over 90 countries to promote transformative change in cities and human settlements through knowledge, policy advice, technical assistance and collaborative action.

Partnerships and Commitments: The delivery of each Sustainable Development Goal and its targets cannot be achieved by governments alone. In 1992, the UN Earth Summit identified nine stakeholder groups to help implement its outcomes, and that approach was further developed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 and at Rio+20 in 2012.

For the Sustainable Development Goals, we saw an acceleration in the number of multi-stakeholder partners. You can find over 1200 SDG 11 partnerships here. The 2025 SDG Report is available here.

SDG 11 partnerships focus on implementing sustainable urban policies through multi-stakeholder collaboration across governments, civil society, the private sector, and communities. Key initiatives include the Global Green-Grey Community of Practice, which integrates conservation and engineering, and voluntary commitments on the SDG Actions Platform. These partnerships are critical to achieving inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities.

SDG 11 Partnerships and Commitments involve creating and implementing policies and plans for sustainable cities, with a strong emphasis on multi-stakeholder collaboration across government, civil society, the private sector, and communities. Key initiatives include the Global Green-Grey Community of Practice, which links conservation and engineering, and voluntary commitments registered on the SDG Actions Platform. These partnerships are essential to achieving Goal 11’s objectives of making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Examples of SDG 11 partnerships

The Global Urban Observatory Network (GUO-Net) is a worldwide information and capacity-building network established by the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) to help implement the New Urban Agenda at the national and local levels. The GUO-NET consists of national and city-level institutions that function as National and Local Urban Observatories.

UNI, Habitat’s Partnership with Universities Worldwide is UN-Habitat’s partnership with universities worldwide. With a global geographical coverage, the network was introduced as a means of promoting cooperation between UN-Habitat and institutions of higher education, as well as facilitating exchange and cooperation among universities globally. The network is focused on collaborative research, partnerships and knowledge sharing. As such, UNI promotes partnerships between universities and cities actively engaged in problem-solving, thus closing the gap between academia and practice, and encouraging collaborative learning.

Habitat Professional Forum is a voluntary affiliation of international and regional associations of Human Settlements Professionals, involved in sustainable urban development. It aims to foster cooperation and partnership between the Human Settlements Professionals and UN-HABITAT through dialogue and partnerships. It also provides leading-edge information and expertise that contribute to the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and sustainable urban development.

Global Water Operations Partnerships is the organisation set up by UN-Habitat through the Water Trust Fund to promote and support Water Operators’ Partnerships (WOPs) worldwide. GWOPA aims to contribute to meeting national and global water and sanitation commitments, including those relating to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Human Right to Water.

Global Network of Urban Planning and Design Labs proposes and implements urban planning projects from neighbourhood to city-wide scale worldwide. The LAB was created as a response to the growing demand from local, regional and national governments for assistance in sustainable urban planning.

Global Network for Sustainable Housing is an international partnership linking practitioners, academics and organisations that are leading the policy development, research and design for environmentally, economically, socially and culturally sustainable housing. With a global geographical coverage, the network aims to promote projects that demonstrate the capacity to enhance sustainable urban development and economic growth, increase employment opportunities, improve quality of life and contribute to poverty alleviation.

Global Network on Safer Cities is an initiative of UN-Habitat, with the goal of equipping local authorities and urban stakeholders to deliver urban safety. Launched in September 2012 at the Sixth session of the World Urban Forum in Naples, Italy, the GNSC is envisioned to serve as the foremost international platform for cities and urban stakeholders endeavouring to prevent crime and improve urban safety.

The principal organisations which support the development of national urban policies are UN-Habitat, Cities Alliance and OECD. In each country, a committee comprising diverse partners is established to develop a national policy. Once completed quite often the committee/taskforce is disbanded.

Global Network on Energy was established by UN-Habitat to encourage and support the design and implementation of energy-access programmes and projects for the urban poor worldwide. With a focus on urban energy, GENUS aims to promote collaboration among the public and private sectors, CSOs and global agencies working in the urban energy sector.

GLTN is an alliance of international and regional partners whose focus is to contribute to poverty alleviation efforts through increased access to land and security of tenure for all. In addition, it aims to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda, through land reform for all people, especially women, youth, and vulnerable groups. GLTN is a multi-stakeholder issue-based network with diverse partners, including Member States, UN agencies, civil society, professional groups, academia, grassroots and informal sector organisations.

Global Housing Strategy Platform is a collaborative global movement towards adequate housing for all and improving the housing and living conditions of slum dwellers. The GHS was initiated by the GC Resolution 23/16, with a major focus on human settlements, specifically slum dwellers. GHS aims to assist member states in working towards the realisation of the right to adequate housing. Furthermore, it aims to enable member States to develop national housing strategies.

Cities and Climate Change Initiative – seeks to enhance the preparedness and mitigation activities of cities in developing countries. It emphasises good governance, responsibility, leadership, and practical initiatives for local governments, communities, and citizens. Its areas of focus are medium-sized cities in developing and least developed countries, and it emphasises good governance and practical initiatives for the municipalities and their citizens.

Global Alliance of Cities in Crisis is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative community of practitioners focused on preventing, preparing for, and effectively responding to humanitarian crises in urban settings. It was established to bring together the different actors who can help to improve crisis preparedness and response in cities. It promotes a vision of inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and towns in which urban communities, their leaders and members have the power, capacities and resources to address the risks and reality of humanitarian crises, to mitigate crisis impacts on the most vulnerable, including the displaced, and to enable affected people to determine, with dignity, the course of their lives and their futures.

Key events for SDG 11 in preparation for the 2027 High-Level Review of the SDGs

February 24–27: HLPF regional meeting  Asia-Pacific (ESCAP Bangkok, Thailand)

March 3-6th: UN Statistical Commission

March 31– 2 April: HLPF regional meeting Western Asia (ESCWA Beirut, Lebanon – tentative)

April 13–17: HLPF regional meeting Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC Santiago, Chile

April 21-22: HLPF regional meeting Europe and Central Asia (UNECE Geneva, Switzerland)

April 28-30: HLPF regional meeting Africa (ECA Kampala, Uganda)

May 6-7: 11th Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals.

May 17-22 Baku, Azerbaijan: World Urban Forum 13. WUF theme is Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities. It will shine a global spotlight on the urgent need to address the global housing crisis and position housing as a driver of inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban development. Taking place at the midpoint of the New Urban Agenda, WUF13 will play a pivotal role in shaping global discussions and will contribute to the 2026 UN Secretary-General’s report on its implementation. WUF was established in 2001 by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies. The first WUF was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2002 and has been held around the world ever since.

July 6-15th UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development: The theme of the HLPF will be “Transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for a sustainable future for all”. The 2026 HLPF, with full appreciation for the integrated, indivisible, and interlinked nature of the Sustainable Development Goals, will conduct in-depth reviews of: SDG 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all; SDG 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all; SDG 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation; SDG 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable; and SDG 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Previous key events for SDG 11

December 2024: Launch of the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport

In 2023, the General Assembly declared the first-ever United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport to start in 2026. The General Assembly, through resolution 78/148 titled “Strengthening the links between all modes of transport to achieve the Sustainable Development  Goals” also called for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) to develop an Implementation Plan for the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport, in collaboration with the UN Regional Commissions and in consultation with the Member States, the United Nations system and all other relevant stakeholders.

The Implementation Plan will be launched on 10 December 2025 at a special event in the ECOSOC Chamber at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. This multi-stakeholder event will also signify the launch of the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport. The launch event will provide an opportunity for Member States and a variety of stakeholders to showcase their commitment to sustainable transport, share good practices and make announcements of the actions and activities they intend to take to advance sustainable transport during the UN Decade.

The launch of the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport will consist of an opening, a high-level segment, a showcase of voluntary commitments, and an interactive multi-stakeholder roundtable.

November 2024: World Urban Forum 12 – outcome was the “Cairo call to action on Local Actions for Sustainable Cities and Communities.” A second outcome was the “Voices on localisation for Sustainable urban development.”

Stakeholder Engagement in UN-Habitat

UN-Habitat stakeholders are a diverse group of individuals and organisations, including major groups like women, children and youth, farmers, indigenous peoples, and local authorities, as well as other stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, business and industry, the scientific and technological community, and civil society organisations. Other key stakeholders identified by UN-Habitat include partners, foundations, parliamentarians, persons with disabilities, older persons, and the media. 

The UN-Habitat Executive Director established the Stakeholder Advisory Group Enterprise, SAGE, in May 2019 to advise the organisation on stakeholder engagement in strategies, policies, knowledge, advocacy, and programmes to improve living conditions for all in an urbanising world. SAGE provides a mechanism to strengthen innovative and effective stakeholder engagement as stakeholders play a crucial role in implementing the New Urban Agenda and the urban dimensions of the SDGs. The advisory role by the SAGE will be on technical and financial perspectives, as guided by the stakeholder collaborative implementation framework and as requested by the Executive Director.

SAGE is composed of 16 members who have professional experience in sustainable urban development and in coordinating multi-stakeholder engagement. Every two years, eight new members are selected to succeed SAGE members who have served for two two-year terms. Efforts are made to achieve geographical and gender balance as well as good representation of different stakeholder groups in the membership.

At the request of the Habitat III Secretary General, in order to address the growing needs for partnership engagement in the Habitat III preparations, the WUC Steering Committee held an extraordinary meeting on October 15, 2014, in Caserta, Italy. The attendees reviewed and approved a proposal put forward by the WUC Secretariat for a WUC Special Initiative to create a General Assembly of Partners (GAP) composed of Partner Constituent Groups (PCG) to serve as a deliberative body to develop and publicise consensus statement(s) to contribute to the Habitat III Conference.

The General Assembly of Partners (GAP) is an independent, multi-stakeholder platform that was set up at the initiative of the World Urban Campaign to support stakeholder engagement and contributions to the Habitat III process.

Included in the PCGs are:

  1. Local Governments
  2. Research and Academia
  3. Civil Society Organizations
  4. Grass-Root Organisations
  5. Women
  6. Parliamentarians
  7. Children and Youth
  8. Private Sector
  9. Foundations
  10. Professionals
  11. Trade Unions and Workers
  12. Farmers
  13. Indigenous People
  14. Media
  15. Older people
  16. People with Disability

UN-Habitat engagement with stakeholders can be found here.

Download as PDF
Return to 2027 Review Primer