Developing and testing the Urban Sustainable Development Goal’s targets and indicators – a five-city study

• Published in: Environment and urbanization Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 49 - 63
• Main Authors: Simon, David, Arfvidsson, Helen, Anand, Geetika, Bazaz, Amir, Fenna, Gill, Foster, Kevin, Jain, Garima, Hansson, Stina, Evans, Louise Marix, Moodley, Nishendra, Nyambuga, Charles, Oloko, Michael, Ombara, Doris Chandi, Patel, Zarina, Perry, Beth, Primo, Natasha, Revi, Aromar, Van Niekerk, Brendon, Wharton, Alex, Wright, Carol
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.04.2016; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Cities; Greater Manchester; Human; Indicators; Objectives; Pilot projects; Pilots; SDG; Social Sciences Interdisciplinary; Sustainable development; Towns; Tvärvetenskapliga studier; United Nations; Urban areas; Urban development; Urbanization; South Africa; Sweden; United Kingdom > UK; Kenya; India; Kenya, Nyanza, Kisumu; ANE, Sweden; PSW, South Africa, Western Cape, Cape Town; Kisumu; Greater Manchester; Cape Town; Urban Sustainable Development Goal; indicators; Gothenburg; targets; Bangalore
• ISSN: 0956-2478; 1746-0301; 1746-0301
• DOI: 10.1177/0956247815619865

The campaign for the inclusion of a specifically urban goal within the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was challenging. Numerous divergent interests were involved, while urban areas worldwide are also extremely heterogeneous. It was essential to minimize the number of targets and indicators while still capturing critical urban dimensions relevant to human development. It was also essential to test the targets and indicators. This paper reports the findings of a unique comparative pilot project involving co-production between researchers and local authority officials in five diverse secondary and intermediate cities: Bangalore (Bengaluru), India; Cape Town, South Africa; Gothenburg, Sweden; Greater Manchester, United Kingdom; and Kisumu, Kenya. Each city faced problems in providing all the data required, and each also proposed various changes to maximize the local relevance of particular targets and indicators. This reality check provided invaluable inputs to the process of finalizing the urban SDG prior to the formal announcement of the entire SDG set by the UN Secretary-General in late September 2015.