Urban 2.0 and Global UN frameworks

Urban 2.0 links into global multilateral frameworks. 

The two main global frameworks it links to are: 

1. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs)
2. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030)   

Linkages to these frameworks are outlined below, and in the Urban 2.0 system section. More details on how Urban 2.0 integrates with the SDGs and the Sendai Framework are available, as are details on integration with other global agreements such as the UN-Habitat New Urban Agenda.

The 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) were formally launched in 2015 as a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. The global initiative that is the SDGs is often referred to as “the 2030 Agenda”, which was agreed in September 2015 by UN members at the UN headquarters in New York. 

The SDGs are a set of interlinked goals that provide "a global guiding light" on what all countries should work towards for sustainable development at a national and international level. 

They were launched in 2015 with an envisaged lifespan of fifteen years, to 2030. In 2030 it is foreseen that an update of some sort will be launched. Progress updates and reports towards achieving the SDGs by 2030, including the midway Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023: Special Edition, are provided by the UN. As of 2025, the world is lagging with its progress towards the SDGs.

All 17 of the SDGs are relevant to, and have a bearing on, urban environments. 

As global goals, the SDGs provide overriding objectives. When they are used in an appropriate way, they provide an important top-level guide for municipal authorities and everyone involved in urban development and improvement, which can cascade through to detailed activities and the efficient monitoring of their SDGs contribution. With detailed targets, a cascading framework can be put in place that focuses on sustainable urban development that leaves no one behind. 

SDG 11 focuses specifically on “sustainable cities and communities”. The goal of SDG 11 is explained by the UN as being: “to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” 

 The global indicator framework includes 234 unique indicators. The total number of indicators listed in the global indicator framework of SDG indicators is 251, because thirteen indicators repeat under two or three different targets. Monitoring the effectiveness of the SDG global indicators is overseen by an oversight panel which updates the wording of indicators from time to time.

The global indicators are aspirational targets to be measured by nations at an appropriate level, which may include local areas. Measurement can include assessments of Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) - for which meaningful involvement by all parts of society should be sought when such reviews take place. Examples of VLRs provided by cities, provinces and other defined geographic areas are available on the UN DESA website.

There are currently ten global indicators for SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities). The goal of SDG 11 is explained by the UN as being: “to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable." The 16 other SDGs contain global indicators that are relevant to urban environments.

We can benefit from linked detailed metrics, and a way of tracking them in an efficient way

Use of the VLRs is not universal across all cities and towns, and they do not include specific quantitative indicators or metrics to track against at a city or a town level. VLR reporting is valuable, but it does not link to a shared "tier" of urban indicators that can be used to monitor performance by city and municipal teams, to be shared and discussed with their citizens. 

Urban 2.0 urban indicators, which are a detailed set of indicators underpinning  the Urban 2.0 Key Indicators, have been developed partly to connect to the SDG global indicators. The Urban 2.0 urban indicators link to the SDG global indicators for activities that directly take place at a city or a town, or part of a municipality. 

The indicators used in Urban 2.0 are a combination of "lag" (backwards looking) and "lead" (forwards looking) indicators. Lead indicators are important to spot potential problems early and deal with them before they become bigger.

It is important to emphasise that whilst there are approx. 260 urban indicators in total for Urban 2.0, they have been designed so that they are not a burden on busy teams, and they do not all need to be used - it depends on the urban scope and context. The following points apply to their use:

1. Existing data from various sources should be tapped into and used to monitor urban performance against the indicators, thus saving valuable time and money to collect data.
2. Their use should be stitched into business as usual, with no burden on reporting.
3. They number to be monitored should match the capacity of the team in charge of the activity. If appropriate, the urban indicators can be measured in a limited way to start with, and more can be tracked over time.

The urban indicators could be audited and benchmarked against and also linked to an urban diagnostic, if such an approach is being used to understand the current state and future needs of one or more cities and towns. 

As is typical for metrics measurement and reporting, it is suggested that independent assurance could add value by verifying the quality of tracking against the urban indicators. 

It is hoped that the urban indicators could be relevant to (and perhaps adapted for) the new set of goals that are foreseen to be launched in 2030, the year that the SDGs will be updated/replaced. 

More information about the urban indicators is available on request.

2023 was the half-way point of the SDGs which run to 2030. The UN 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) describes how our current incremental and fragmented change is insufficient to achieve the SDGs in the remaining years up to 2030, and that active mobilisation of political leadership and ambition for science-based transformations is required. 

Can we achieve the SDGs by 2030? Some think-tanks such as the Copenhagen Consensus Center advocate for a "less is more" approach, and how focusing on specific aspects of the SDGs, especially in the developing world, can reap significant social and economic benefits. 

However different parts of the world choose to use the SDGs, whether they can be "guiding lights" for them or key areas to link to, the world’s urban environments must play a major role towards an integrated effort on working towards the SDGs, which should involve everyone and be overseen with good governance.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) was a major agreement of the post-2015 development agenda. It provides UN Member States around the world with a framework to protect development gains from the risks of disaster events. The Sendai Framework dovetails with the other 2030 Agenda agreements, including the Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, The Paris Agreement on Climate Change and The Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.

Various sections of the framework discuss the way urban resilience needs to consider vulnerabilities to various types of disaster – those resulting from natural circumstances and those that are human-made. There are some important principles to disaster risk to highlight. A disaster is not connected to ‘accident’ or ‘chance’. We can avoid disasters if people with power and resources to act choose to do so. There have unfortunately been too many disasters that have occurred because people in power have failed to act.

Whilst there are many challenges, there are also examples of good work being undertaken to make places more resilient. Resilient urban societies and economies reduce and manage our exposure to disasters, and the Sendai Framework is designed to assist and support this effort.

Read an interview with the former head of UNDRR about progress towards the Sendai Framework, including for urban areas, on the Disasters Avoided website.

Certain Urban 2.0 urban indicators are linked to the Sendai Framework's 7 global targets.

The Urban 2.0 system aligns with the call by some groups, including UNDRR, to stop calling disasters such as floods, wildfires, storms, earthquakes, extreme heat and drought "natural disasters". They are simply disasters. Some hazards that cause disasters arise from nature's forces, others are human-made. Disasters arise from the choices we make to live and build in harm’s way, or when people are forced to live in hazardous areas.