Smart Sustainable Cities for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the UNECE Region

Keynote presentation - 4th OECD Roundtable on Cities and Regions for the SDGs

1. Smart Sustainable Cities for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the UNECE Region Keynote presentation $ th OECD Roundtable on Cities and Regions for the SDGs Ms. Paola Deda Director Forest, Land and Housing Division United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

2. Photo UNECE/Pierre Albouy Geneva Declaration of Mayors Strengthen the resilience of our cities Make our cities greener Ensure urban transport is sustainable Take ambitious climate action Ensure housing is affordable, healthy and adequate Make cities more equitable and inclusive Accelerate the transition to sustainable energy Turn these aspirations into reality

3. UNECE support to building smart sustainable cities Activities of the UNECE as part of the U4SSC Initiatives to promote use of the Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities within the projects: “ Improved sustainable urban development in 17 Norwegian cities”. Smart sustainable city profiles developed for four cities - Alesund, Asker, Baerum , Rana and Trondheim. “Smart Sustainable Cities for the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda in the UNECE Region” support the transition of cities towards becoming smart and sustainable. In 2021, the following cities undergo the KPI evaluation : Almaty (Kazakhstan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Podgorica (Montenegro). Guidelines and Compendium on Innovative Financing of City Projects.

4. Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities (KPIs for SSC) were developed by UNECE & ITU in 2015 endorsed by the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management in 2016 (ECE/HBP/2016/4); brought under the United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC). KPIs for SSC provide cities with a consistent and standardized method to collect data and measure performance and progress to: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) becoming a smarter city becoming a more sustainable city. 4 Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities (KPIs for SSC)

5. UNECE support to building urban economic resilience during and after COVID-19 A field project “Post COVID-19 Recovery Action Plan for Informal Settlements in the UNECE Region” (2020) provided project target cities (Tirana, Albania; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Podgorica, Montenegro; and Skopje, North Macedonia) with concrete recommendations to enhance the integration of informal settlements into the urban fabric of cities and to help cities to recover from the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemics. Outcomes of the project were also integrated into the UNDA project “ Building Urban Economic Resilience during and after COVID-19 ” (2020-2021) which is aimed to strengthen the capacity of city governments in 16 cities globally to design, implement, and monitor sustainable, resilient, and inclusive COVID-19 economic and financial responses, recovery, and rebuilding plans. In the UNECE region the following countries are beneficiaries: Albania, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. 

6. Following the assessment of city's "sustainability" against 91 key performance indicators, UNECE provides a list of recommendations on what could be done in the city to further develop it as a sustainable and smart one. The city government chooses the directions in which the city will develop based on the formulated recommendations UNECE and partners facilitate the formulation of a city action plan, including the list of specific actions on policy improvement the list of specific projects in order to attract external investments (in addition to those available on the government side or entirely external) What happens after smart sustainable city profiles are prepared? 6

7. Draft Guidelines for the Development of SDG Volunteer Local Reviews (VLRs) in the UNECE Region VLR as a practical action-oriented document Promotes ‘shared value creation’ Supports participatory approach Leaving no one behind, focus on the most vulnerable Based on evidence-based approach (KPIs for SSC) Strong focus on innovative financing Flexible and adaptable to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and recover better

8. From Sustainable Smart Cities Profiles to Volunteer Local Reviews – the approach 8 1. VLRs  (SSC Profile)       Evidence-Based Data Collection  and Data Analysis             (KPIs + Urban Economic Resilience Indicators) Recommendations for a City 2. Urban Economic Resilience Plan Investment Plan using Innovative Financing for Sustainable Smart Cities Action Plan

9. Relevant Publications and Reports

10. Thank you! Ms Paola Deda Director Forest, Land and Housing Division United Nations Economic Commission for Europe