SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Cities and Marine Plastic Pollution: Building a Circular Economy

This free eLearning course was developed to support city-level capacity building on the topic of plastic waste management. The purpose of this course is to share the latest knowledge and approaches to measuring and managing plastic pollution from land-based sources, in particular cities, for the achievement of local, national and regional goals related to sustainable development.

Trade Process Analysis Database (TPAD)

UNNExT Business Process Analysis (BPA) of Trade Procedures has proved to be an effective tool to provide detailed understanding of international trade transactions, and is regarded as the first step to be conducted before undertaking other trade facilitation measures. Over 50 import and export processes have been studied using BPA since 2009 by international organizations such as ESCAP, ECE, ADB, and their member states.

Shifting Towards Water-Resilient Infrastructure and Sustainable Cities

Sustainable, livable cities are the way forward for the future of Asia-Pacific. The 2030 Agenda implementation urges to advance urban SDG with other SDGs, related to resilience of water infrastructure to climate change. Water (-Hazard) Resilient (Infrastructure for ) and Sustainable Cities are cities that achieve safe and adequate water supply and sanitation services based on sound water-related ecosystems, high level of water use efficiency, and a greater urban resilience to water-related disasters (here Water-Resilient Cities).

2026 Asia-Pacific SDG Partnership Report- Inclusive Urban Futures: From Inequality to Opportunity

The Asia-Pacific region has urbanized rapidly over the past century and is now home to more than half of the global urban population—over 2.2 billion people. Although population growth is slowing, an estimated 1.2 billion people, or roughly 48 million annually, are expected to move to the region’s urban areas by 2050. Urbanization has spurred economic growth, expanded infrastructure, and created opportunities. However, it has also laid bare inequalities that prevent hundreds of millions of people from fully benefiting from urban development. 

Regional Report on Mainstreaming Leave No One Behind in National Urban Policies and Programmes in South Asia

Over the past few decades, the Asia-Pacific region has witnessed significant social development driven by economic growth, which has generated new jobs, increased labour incomes, strengthened social protection systems, and improved access to basic services and other amenities. Nevertheless, South Asian countries continue to face a wide range of systemic challenges that undermine inclusive and sustainable development. For example, the devastating social and economic impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to plague the subregion in the near future.