Welcome to the first edition of UN-Habitat’s Urban Law and Governance Newsletter!
This newsletter series aims to offer a curated snapshot of recent developments, key tools and knowledge products, partner contributions, and emerging opportunities related to our work on urban law and governance.
In this inaugural edition, we provide highlights of our recent technical support to countries and cities, share an invitation to the July 2025 IALS–UN-Habitat Urban Law Day, and extend a call for partnerships to pilot the Legal Review for Inclusive and Sustainable Urban Development in your city. You will also find updates on upcoming publications and opportunities to co-develop knowledge products such as UrbanLex.
Enjoy the read!
In this issue
Setting the scene: Our work on urban law and governance
Urban Legislation and Governance Highlights
New developments in the UN-Habitat Urban Law and Governance space
Setting the Scene: Our Work on Urban Law and Governance
Urban law is a key tool for building inclusive, well-governed and sustainable cities. It helps balance public and private interests, for instance in ensuring access to land and services, promoting transparency; and protecting vulnerable groups. At UN-Habitat, we support governments at all levels in reviewing and reforming legal frameworks to better guide urban development environments.
Urban law and governance are closely linked. Together, they shape how cities are planned and managed. Yet, many cities still rely on outdated law, weak enforcement, and limited local capacity- Often resulting in informal systems filling the gaps, especially in land, housing, and basic services.
UN-Habitat promotes practical, contextspecific solutions, working closely with governments, communities, and experts.
Our aim is to enhance legal and governance systems that are transparent, inclusive, accountable and aligned with global commitments.
Our work is backed by key UN Habitat and UN General Assembly resolutions, including the adoption of the New Urban Agenda, which calls for stronger legal frameworks to ensure inclusive, safe, and resilient cities.
To deliver on this mandate, UN-Habitat focuses on four core areas: Normative work –developing and disseminating tools and identifying good practices
Together, these efforts contribute to fairer, more effective legal and governance systems that can help cities and communities thrive.
Urban law directly supports the Sustainable Development Goals —notably:
SDG 10 on reducing inequality
SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities
SDG 16 on justice, strong institutions, and inclusive decision-making.
Recent Urban Legislation and Governance Highlights
Saudi Arabia: Support to the Spatial Planning Reform and Visual Appeal Program
In collaboration with the Saudi Arabia Country Office, UN-Habitat’s Policy, Legislation and Governance Section (PLGS) is supporting the development of a new Spatial Planning Act (SPA). A key milestone was a high-level workshop held in Riyadh in February 2025, which featured an in-depth analysis of international SPA case studies. The session explored how such Acts contribute to sustainable urbanization, focusing on their design and implementation, legal and governance impacts, and effectiveness in aligning laws and regulations.
To inform this process, PLGS has prepared a benchmarking report on planning laws in six countries— Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Spain (Catalonia region) —to be published by July 2025
Palestine, Ramallah: Project on Safe, Inclusive and Climate Resilient Cities
UN-Habitat, through PLGS and the Palestine Country Office, is supporting Ramallah Municipality in integrating child-friendly approaches into its urban planning and policy-making—advancing the localization of the SDGs.
As part of this effort, the Ramallah Strategic Plan is being revised using global best practices from the UNHabitat–UNICEF Guidance on Child-Responsive Urban Laws, Policies and Standards
A recent public space survey (Dec 2024–Feb 2025), targeting caregivers, teenagers, and young adults, identified key priorities to improve urban safety, accessibility, community engagement, and sustainability.
The recommendations aim to position Ramallah as a national leader in child-responsive, safe, and climate-resilient urban development.
Cuba and Costa Rica: Increased resilience of urban development and infrastructure in Costa Rica through the development of an adaptation construction code & Enhanced energy efficiency and climate resilience in neighborhoods and communities in Cuba
PLGS, in collaboration with the University of Michigan, is analyzing legal and policy gaps that hinder climate-resilient infrastructure and energy efficiency in housing.
The partnership will also produce comparative case studies showcasing global best practices to support evidence-based legal and institutional reforms.
SPOTLIGHT ON RECENT EVENTS
‘How can we Strengthen the Implementation of NUPs through effective Legislation and Multi-level Governance?’
The Community of Practice (CoP) brought together 71 participants to explore challenges and practical solutions for strengthening legislation and governance in support of National Urban Policy (NUP) implementation.
9-11th April 2025, Herrenhausen Palace, Hannover, Germany
As Prof. Helen Xanthaki of University College London aptly noted:
Good urban legislation should begin with a clear understanding of policy objectives and be structured around measurable criteria for effectiveness. These objectives must reflect long-term urban goals—such as well-functioning cities, housing affordability, climate resilience, and cultural inclusion—and guide the choice of legal interventions.
PLGS actively participated in the International Urban Health Summit (IUHS). Engaging in the plenary session on urban planning and governance, as well as in a breakout discussion on implementation gaps, PLGS contributed to dialogues on enhancing health equity through effective governance and addressing challenges in urban health policy execution.
Building on this engagement, PLGS is initiating a collaboration with the InterAcademy Partnership and the University of Bielefeld. This partnership aims to undertake comparative legal case studies, focusing on urban health, to inform and improve policy, legislative, and governance frameworks.
Is Your City’s Legal Framework Advancing Sustainability?
Of the various tools used to shape and govern cities, laws are the most difficult to change once they are in place. PLGS has leveraged the support and expertise of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) and the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP) as well as other academic partners to develop a legal review tool to advance SDGs. The tool features 200 key assessment questions to support SDG localization in the areas of:
Inclusive Urban Planning; Land Tenure, Property Rights and Housing; Environmental Protection and Resilience; and Digital Governance and Privacy.
» Environmental Protection and Resilience- https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/4AI6lZWb
» Land tenure, Property Rights and Housing- https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/6DMBy9kD
» Digital Governance- https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/4z20PoX0
Reach out to us to learn more about how your city can participate in this transformative initiative. Interested in piloting this tool in your city ?
What’s coming up in the UN-Habitat Urban Law and Governance space?
1. Forthcoming knowledge releases
A. Housing, Land and Property (HLP)-Sensitive Urban Law: Enhancing urban law to protect HLP across the conflict cycle
PLGS has launched a new publication series titled “Urban Law and Conflict”, aimed at identifying legal, policy, and regulatory gaps that affect Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) rights during crises.
The series offers practical reforms and best practices to enhance urban governance, spatial planning, land administration, and housing law in conflict-affected settings.
The first volume, Conflict Prevention, was published in January 2025 and is available here: Housing, Land and Property (HLP)Sensitive Urban Law: Enhancing urban law to protect HLP across the conflict cycle (Conflict Prevention) | UN-Habitat
The second volume, focusing on Emergency Response, is scheduled for release later this year.
This series aims to support governments and practitioners in strengthening legal frameworks to safeguard HLP rights throughout the conflict cycle.
B. Legislation, Governance and Finance of Public Space
Public spaces are essential to urban life, offering areas for social interaction, recreation, and community engagement. However, inadequate legislative, governance, and financial frameworks often lead to their neglect, deterioration, and eventual privatization.
To address these challenges, PLGS has developed a publication examining the critical role of legislation, governance, and financing in public space management.
This comprehensive analysis identifies key factors influencing the creation, maintenance, and sustainability of public spaces, providing actionable insights for policymakers and urban planners.
Stay tuned for its release later this year!
2. New E-learning course: Key Principles for Urban Governance
PLGS is set to launch a free e-learning course titled “Key Principles for Urban Governance: Tackling Corruption, Dispute Resolution, and Ensuring Equality for All.” This course aims to equip urban professionals with practical tools to enhance transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in city governance. The course will be available online later this year. 2025
3. Urban Law Day
UN-Habitat and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, UK are pleased to invite you to our 12 th Urban Law Day on “ Effective Urban Laws for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Housing and Construction.”
What to expect? An engaging forum with diverse and interesting set of two expert panel discussions to amplify the awareness of the holistic legal approaches to support ecofriendly and sustainable housing/ buildings.
Join us here: Zoom
Please mark your calendars and we look forward to seeing you!!
UrbanLex:
The Global Urban Law Database
UrbanLex gives you free access to 2,500+ laws from 108 countries across 7 key areas of urban development — from housing and planning to disaster recovery and climate resilience.
Cities Shape Lives — Laws Shape Cities
UrbanLex features city by-laws alongside national laws, giving insights into everything from zoning and sanitation to street vending and slum upgrading.
Search Smart
Explore by country, theme, year, or keyword — plus check whether laws are in force or repealed. It is urban law made searchable, accessible, and relevant.
Browse in English, Search in UN Languages
While summaries are in English, UrbanLex is accessible in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish — opening legal access for a global audience.
UrbanLex = Power at Your Fingertips
To find out more and learn about UrbanLex:
If you have ideas on how to enrich the database or wish to assist in uploading urban laws from your region, please reach out to us. Together, we can make UrbanLex a more comprehensive and accessible resource for all.
Contact us
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) P.O. Box 30030, GPO Nairobi, 00100, Kenya
www.unhabitat.org
Editorial Team: Anne Amin, Samuel Njuguna and Norah Katunga; Contacts: anne.klen@un.org; samuel.njuguna@un.org Design & Layout : Jean Robert Gatsinzi and Mark Mungai
