URBANLex
UrbanLex is a global collection of urban laws. UN-Habitat is compiling urban laws from over 190 member states into a user-friendly database. The laws are fully searchable, and categorized by the following key topics:
Urban planning; Natural and cultural resources; Taxation, finance and economic development; Building and construction; Disaster recovery and resilient cities; Infrastructure and basic services (water, sewerage, electricity and transportation); Governance and government.
The laws can be searched using various indicators including theme, region, country or keywords. The laws are primarily available in their original language and accompanied by a digest in English. The digest is an important added value, as it increases the accessibility of instruments and describes the core functions and mechanisms of relevance to urban law.
The database is maintained by the Urban Legislation Unit, within the Urban Legislation, Land and Governance Branch of UN-Habitat.
URBANLEX PARTNERS NETWORK
UrbanLex is UN-Habitat’s principal means of collecting and openly sharing primary information on urban law. As well as providing direct access to the largest collection of legal instruments organized and summarized according to urban priorities, UrbanLex provides a platform for comparative analysis and the identification of patterns and innovations in urban law and is supported by a growing network of partners, such as FAO, CNJUR, University of Wits, etc. The Policy Legislation and Governance Section is collaborating with UN Environment, UNFCCC and the Commonwealth Secretariat for the development of the Law and Climate Change Toolkit. The Toolkit provides a global resource to help countries to put in place the necessary legal frameworks for effective national Implementation of the Paris Agreement and their Nationally Determined Contributions. Find out more about UrbanLex partners here or contact the UN-Habitat legislation team: unhabitat-legislation@un.org