NATIONAL URBAN POLICY: A JOINT INITIATIVE

The National Urban Policy Programme (NUPP) is a joint initiative of UN Habitat, OECD and Cities Alliance, aimed at working together to support the development and implementation of NUPs globally. The objectives of the programme are to:  

• Enhance knowledge creation, exchange and management on NUP at all levels of government, civil society, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders
• Help increase the capacity (human, financial, and institutional) of policy makers at national and subnational levels to develop and progressively implement urban policies, particularly in the form of NUP, by providing a platform for capacity-building activities
• Provide direct country support for NUP making and participatory processes to ensure involvement of relevant ministries, subnational governments, civil society etc.
• Monitor the progress of NUP in its role as a part of the monitoring process of the New Urban Agenda/SDGs, through a global review as well as country specific reviews on NUP
• Provide a networking platform where all levels of government, civil society, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders can engage in the process of developing and implementing NUP

Read the programme overview in English or French

Read the NUPP Workplan 2021-2022 

BUILDING SUCCESSFUL CITIES

• Cities are home to 2/3's of the OECD’s population and account for an even larger share of output.
  
  
• They are hubs for job creation, innovation and growth.  
  
  
• Yet cities give governments many policy challenges, including concentrations of poverty & unemployment, infrastructure bottlenecks, high levels of pollution and difficulties in providing key services.
  
  
• Well designed national policy frameworks can help countries and cities achieve economic growth, environmental sustainability and social inclusion.

UN HABITAT III & THE NEW URBAN AGENDA

The New Urban Agenda underscores the need for governments to effectively implement national urban policies when deciding on urban governance structures. The OECD stresses the importance of collaboration across all levels of government, civil society, the private sector and other key players when designing and implementing national urban policies.

National Urban Policies have been recognised internationally as a tool for the implementation and monitoring of global urban agendas, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework. 

FIRE-FIGHTING V BROADER STRATEGIC OVERVIEW

• Many national urban policy focuses on problems rather than potential.
  
  
• National governments intervene in almost all the policy domains that affect cities, but explicit "urban policies" are often narrowly framed at national level.
  
  
• Urban policies are frequently designed in response to specific urban problems and often target only what are deemed to be particularly "problematic" cities or neighbourhoods.
  
  
• City reform efforts are often undermined by lack of coherence  between national and city-level policies. 
  
  
• The broader needs of cities are often poorly understood, as are the effects on urban places of national policies that governments may not consider to be "urban policy".

POLICY CO-ORDINATION

• Achieving real co-ordination across sectoral policies is a challenge for most national governments given the complex array of institutions involved.
  
  
• As a result, cross-cutting policy challenges tend to be addressed by fragmented, narrowly sectoral responses.
  
  
• Policy co-ordination across levels of government is essential if cities are to function well, and this requires national leadership.

NATIONAL URBAN POLICY REVIEWS 

The OECD series of national-level Urban Policy Reviews evaluates the role of central government in urban policies and provides recommendations to assist policymakers in achieving their policy objectives.

OECD Urban Policy Reviews:

• Focus on national policies designed to address urban development and national policies that impact on urban development.
  
  
• Analyse how national-level interactions may have unintended yet profound impacts on urban development.
  
  
• Address issues of governance, including fiscal relationships and the various institutional policy tools designed to foster co-ordination

National Urban Policy Week (25 - 30 June, 2021)

Read the Global State of National Urban Policy 2021

Highlights Brochure

Agenda

Presentation

Watch recordings of the EUKN- OECD National Urban Policy Labs here. 

Highlights Brochure

NATIONAL URBAN POLICY IN OECD COUNTRIES

URBAN POLICY REVIEW: KAZAKHSTAN

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Report analyses how national spatial planning for urban regions, along with specific sectoral policies, affect urban development directly and indirectly.  Read more...

URBAN POLICY REVIEW: CHINA

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Report focuses on social and labour-market policies, land use and transport planning, urban planning, urban governance and public finance.  Read more...

URBAN POLICY REVIEW: CHILE

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Report examines the economic and socio-economic trends in Chile’s urban areas and approaches for revitalising the urban governance structures. Read more...

URBAN POLICY REVIEW: MEXICO

 NATIONAL URBAN POLICY FRAMEWORK