2015•01•30     Bangalore

In an increasingly urban world, cities represent both a serious challenge and a major opportunity for sustainable development over the next generation, hence the inclusion of Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) in the set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the UN Open Working Group.

Urban issues fundamentally underlie many of the global problems UNU aims to address, including through urban health research of the Planetary Change and Health programme at UNU-IIGH. In an effort to help further define SDG 11, UNU-IIGH Research Fellow Dr. José Siri participated in the Second Urban Sustainable Development Goal Campaign Consultation on Targets and Indicators, held in Bangalore, India from 12–14 January at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements.

The Bangalore Outcome Document on Urban SDG Targets and Indicators resulting from these deliberations outlines a revised set of targets and indicators for the proposed SDG 11. A critical aspect of the new recommendations lies in their integration with urban needs across the SDGs, underscoring and creating synergies with other Goals; no less important is the effort to engender a multi-scalar metric framework for monitoring in the urban context.

The Bangalore Outcome Document will be submitted to the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Draft Indicators Report during the open comment period from 16–31 January. Individual and group comments to this process are also welcome and can be submitted through the Sustainable Development Solutions Network website.