National Urban Policy in OECD Countries
Cities are crucial for national economic, social and environmental performance. A
national urban policy (NUP) has been recognised by the international community as
an important instrument for harnessing urbanisation to achieve national and global
goals. This report, prepared for the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable
Urban Development (Habitat III), provides an assessment of the state and scope of
NUPs across 35 OECD countries. It also describes how urban policy, and its place in
national political agendas, is evolving.
This publication has been prepared for the Habitat III conference and builds on existing
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) methodology. It is inspired
by the joint work of UN-Habitat and the OECD following their co-leadership of Policy
Unit 3 on National Urban Policies during the preparations for the New Urban Agenda.
The findings of this report will contribute to the global monitoring process of National
Urban Policy, as will the Global Report on National Urban Policy, jointly produced
by UN Habitat and the OECD.
Published on May 15, 2017Also available in: Korean