Asia and the Pacific has the world’s fastest growing cities and urban centres. The region is home to 2.2 billion urban residents, which will increase by an estimated 48 million more each year until 2050.
While urban growth brings opportunities, the region faces growing urban divides, with nearly 700 million people living in slums or informal settlements, and many lacking adequate housing, reliable services, decent work and safe living environments.
The 2026 Asia-Pacific SDG Partnership Report highlights urban policies and initiatives that can tackle these inequalities and recommends practical policy actions to advance inclusive urban futures and drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Unequal access to housing and basic services
Inequalities in access to housing, transport, water and sanitation, electricity, clean energy, Internet and financial services persist, particularly for those "furthest behind."
Widespread informal employment
Over 65 per cent of urban workers are engaged in the informal economy, often in insecure and low paid jobs with no labour rights, protections or upward mobility.
Worsening urban environments
Air pollution, unmanaged waste and climate shocks are escalating, deepening urban inequalities and health vulnerabilities among those least able to adapt.
Expanding access to affordable housing and basic services
Community-led solutions for informal settlement and slum upgrading
- UN-Habitat's People’s Process model
- Thailand’s “Baan Mankong” (secure housing) Programme
Holistic planning and cross-sectoral collaboration to provide housing and basic services
- India’s “Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Urban” (Prime Minister’s Urban Housing Mission)
- Indonesia’s 1 Million Housing Programme
Bridging last-mile access to basic services and infrastructure
- Papua New Guinea’s National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Policy
- Multisector strategy for drinking water and sanitation in Sylhet city, Bangladesh
Advancing decent and inclusive urban employment for all
Promoting better and more secure jobs
- India’s SVANidhi micro-credit programme for street vendors
- ADB’s Skills for Employment Project in Mongolia
Improving working conditions and social well-being
- Singapore’s Platform Workers Act
- India's Self-Employed Women’s Association’s (SEWA’s) Extreme Heat Protection Initiative
Promoting a gradual and inclusive transition to formality
- Pakistan's Sindh Home-Based Workers Act 2018
- Cambodia’s National Strategy for Informal Economy Development 2023-2028
Improving urban environmental liveability
Interventions to reduce air pollution
- Gasification and eco-friendly transport in Kyrgyzstan
- Battery-backed renewables in Tonga
Improving solid waste management and supporting waste-pickers
- Waste banks in Battambang province, Cambodia
- Indonesia’s Plasticpay digital platform for waste recycling in Jakarta
Strengthening urban resilience and nature-based solutions
- Flood resilience for Ulaanbaatar’s informal Ger districts (FRUGA) in Mongolia
- Training urban planners for greener cities in Viet Nam
Additional and innovative financing
- GSSS bonds
- Green municipal bonds
- Contingent credit lines
- Parametric insurance
- First-loss credit enhancement
- Partial credit guarantee facilities
Science and technology
- Digital twins
- Remote sensing
- Geographic information systems
- IoT and real-time monitoring systems
- AI-enabled climate risk management systems
Effective governance
- Robust legal frameworks for inclusive urban growth
- Planning tools such as priority-aligned investments
- Digital governance for efficiency and inclusivity
- Public participation mechanisms
Multilateral and multi-stakeholder partnerships
- Inter-city cooperation
- Cross-border bilateral urban partnerships
- Multilateral city alliances
- Private sector partnerships
- Research partnerships
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