Shanghai, 27 October 2025 – Urban leaders and international partners came together in Shanghai, China this week for the 2025 SDG Cities Conference, reaffirming the vital role cities play in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and accelerating global progress through local innovation and systemic transformation.

Co-organized by UN-Habitat, the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and Shanghai’s Municipal Commission of Housing, Urban-Rural Development and Management, the two-day event (26–27 October) gathered representatives from national, regional, and local governments, alongside civil society organizations, United Nations agencies and international organizations. Under the theme, ‘Innovative Development towards People-Centered Smart Cities,’ the SDG Cities Conference underscored the need for cities to be better planned, inclusively managed, and sustainably developed, in order to address the global housing crisis, guarantee dignity, reduce poverty and ensure universal access to basic services.

“The state reframed its development narrative around care and inclusion - for people who work and care - embedding the SDGs across education, local economy, and environmental policy.” Mr. Luis Paulo Gomes Mascarenhas, Director of the General Department of Economic and Social Development, Parana State Government, Brazil

Cities Driving Systemic Change on the Road to WUF13

With the world facing the convergence of two pressing challenges: a global housing crisis and rapid urban transformation, the ‘SDG Cities Impact Solutions for Systemic Change towards WUF13’ key event focused on integrated urban planning, SDG localization, data and capacity development, partnerships, and resource mobilization. Participants discussed city-led innovations addressing the global housing crisis, advancing just green transitions, and promoting digital governance for more inclusive and transparent urban management. The event highlighted how as UN-Habitat’s corporate approach, SDG Cities offers a holistic, flexible and modular approach aimed at making things easy for cities – simplifying their path toward prosperity by translating the SDGs into a practical tool guiding local development.

Anchored in the UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029, the SDG Cities Conference provided a platform for technical exchanges and action-oriented dialogues on the future of cities, scaling up citywide solutions, and systems thinking on integrated local development. Special themed sessions translated the Strategic Plan into practice by focusing on three interconnected priorities: adequate housing, green transitions for resilient cities, and digital governance. These sessions showcased system-wide solutions, ensuring equitable access to housing, enabling just low-carbon transitions, and leveraging digital innovation to strengthen governance, transparency, and urban service delivery, contributing to the implementation of UN-Habitat’s vision for a sustainable urban future.

“The Voluntary Local Review became a governance reform tool: it united the mayor, technical teams, civil society, and business around one shared vision for sustainable development” Carolina Ana Ferreira, Head of Sustainability Unit of Mafra Municipality, Portugal

During the Conference, Shanghai launched the Shanghai Award, Shanghai Manual 2025 (Chinese edition), Global Case Database, and the UMF–Shanghai Adapted Index: Application Report, which provided new insights into how cities can measure and accelerate their progress toward sustainable urban development. Together, these initiatives formed a cohesive platform for learning, replication, and global cooperation aligned with the 2030 Agenda

About Shanghai

SDG Cities’ longstanding partner, Shanghai, has long been a pioneer in advancing the localization agenda. Beyond serving as the birthplace of World Cities Day, the city has partnered with UN-Habitat and China to develop flagship contributions to global urban knowledge and practices, such as through the Shanghai Award for Sustainable Development in Cities, the Shanghai Manual, and the Global Urban Monitoring Framework - Shanghai Adapted Index. 

About SDG Cities

Implemented by UN-Habitat, and embedded within the Local2030 Coalition, SDG Cities offers a holistic, flexible, modular and on-demand approach aimed at making things easy for cities. With the ambition to transform 1,000 cities and improve the lives of 1 billion people, SDG Cities brings together UN-Habitat’s expertise on sustainable urban development under one umbrella. Anchored on three tracks – data, planning and investment, SDG Cities accompanies local governments through a step-by-step process strengthening their capacities to collect and analyze data, make strategic decisions based on evidence, and invest where the potential to produce positive and wider systemic change is higher. 

To hear from Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, at the 2025 SDG Cities Global Conference, click here. 

For more information, contact sdgcities@un.org.

“Sustainable urban development, when combined with political priorities and multilevel coordination, can be extremely complex to translate into real short- and long-term impact for communities. That’s why we work to simplify decision-making for cities, helping them follow a development path anchored in impact.” Martino Miraglia, SDG Cities Coordinator, UN-Habitat