The Report Housing#2030 - Effective policies for affordable housing in the UNECE region was developed within a joint international initiative of UNECE, UN-Habitat and Housing Europe. It explores housing affordability challenges and existing policy instruments for improving housing affordability, and facilitates exchange and dissemination of good practices in improving housing affordability among countries and cities of the UNECE region. Based on the analysis in the #Housing2030 study, the Regional Action Plan 2030 proposes a series of aims, policies, goals and targets for sustainable urban development and affordable housing in the ECE region and identifies a series of actions to achieve these. The Action Plan is intended to inspire action and provide the basis for plans and activities focusing on the contribution of affordable housing to sustainable urban development in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the face of the climate emergency. It was endorsed by the UNECE Ministerial Meeting in October 2021.
 

UNECE is developing data-driven urban assessment and sustainable urban infrastructure planning and financing strategies in 5 cities across Central Asia and Western Balkans. It is thanks to the establishment of partnerships with local authorities, national ministries, multilateral development banks and agencies, local and international NGOs, the private sector, think thanks, academia and civil society at large that in 2021, the subprogramme successfully developed and launched three Smart Sustainable City Profiles (SSCPs): a) Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan b) Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and c) Grodno, Belarus. 
 

In the UNECE region the second Forum of Mayors held on 4-5 April 2022 reported its outcomes at and fed into the Regional Forum for Sustainable Development on 6-7 April 2022. Mayors and city leaders gathered to exchange experiences, present their efforts to tackle challenges in their cities, and discuss how to work together in the context of the UN. It included sessions on: Sustainable urban transport, shared mobility and safer roads; Vibrant public spaces, green cities and nature-based solutions; Resilient, healthy and climate neutral buildings and affordable and adequate housing; and Sustainable urban planning, the 15-minute city and smart urban development solutions.

UNECE in cooperation with partners developed Guidelines for the use of Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities in the preparation of Voluntary Local Reviews. These draft VLR Guidelines provide cities with a standardized approach to localizing the SDGs and to reviewing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 

The guidelines were recently revised to incorporate experience gained from the Smart Sustainable City Profiles and results of pilot testing in UNECE cities, and feedback from stakeholders and United Nations agencies.

The revised Guidelines contain: 

• A coherent approach for anchoring the cities evaluation against the KPIs for SSC and other indicators in a whole-of-government perspective that is linked to the three pillars of sustainability.
• A step-by-step process for preparing the VLRs.
• A recommended outline for structuring the Voluntary Local Reviews.