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The UN-Habitat National Urban Policy Database provides a global overview of the state of urban policy at the national level. It gathers country-level data (when available) on the existence of relevant NUPs, dates of formulation, phase, main themes, the leading ministries, and, when possible, links to the policy documents. The aim of this tool is to gather pertinent information on National Urban Policies in a central location and therefore make available a broad overview of the state of National Urban Policy globally.

NUP

A NUP is defined as “a coherent set of decisions derived through a deliberate government-led process of coordinating and rallying various actors for a common vision and goal that will promote more transformative, productive, inclusive and resilient urban development for the long term” (UN‑Habitat, 2014).

Form of NUP

An explicit NUP is defined as a policy with “a title of ‘National Urban Policy’ or variant such as ‘National Urbanisation Policy’ or ‘National Urban Strategy’ or ‘National Urban Development Strategy’ ”.

The database includes a “partial, or implicit NUP” category to acknowledge that a policy document that is not explicitly labelled as NUP could in practice function as a NUP. Defined as having “many of the elements of a NUP but not yet brought together as a formal or explicit NUP”.

Stage of NUP

The stages of development of the NUP process are divided into five categories: “feasibility”, “diagnosis”, “formulation”, “implementation” and “monitoring and evaluation”.

  • “Feasibility”, the first stage, refers to the period when the country is making the case for the NUP and beginning to build stakeholder support and political will for this vision.
  • “Diagnosis”, the second stage, refers to the period when the country is conducting preliminary analyses to create the NUP.
  • “Formulation”, the third stage, refers to the period when the NUP is being drafted.
  • “Implementation”, the fourth stage, refers to the period when the NUP is being put into action.
  • “Monitoring and Evaluation”, the final stage, refers to the period when the outcomes of the NUP are being analysed and evaluated.

Thematic Scope of NUP

The thematic scope of NUP is analysed by assessing the degree of attention to five themes: economic development, spatial development, human development, environmental sustainability and climate resilience. The degree of attention devoted to each theme is assessed on a scale from low, to moderate, to extensive. Below are principles that guide this assessment:

  • The “low” category indicates that the thematic section is either not or only briefly mentioned as a concern in the NUP, without much information on the situation nor any guidance or directions for action.
  • The “moderate” category corresponds to cases in which the NUP provides a clear understanding of the situation relating to the thematic section, and the opportunities and challenges to address within it. For instance, the NUP provides background and analysis of the situation, as well as objectives and general directions to improve it.
  • The “extensive” category indicates a strong importance given to the thematic area, by giving it a prominent place among its objectives, providing a detailed analysis of the situation, concrete goals and targets, as well as implementation measures to achieve them (e.g. indicators, roadmap, timeline, budget, etc.)