scope:

Following the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, countries have struggled to find a way to implement the SDGs at the national level. This Supplement shows that not only is the implementation of the SDGs possible, but also that some countries and cities are already making good progress in this domain, often through programmes that predate the SDGs themselves but anticipated their goals.

This Supplement is based on the U4SSC report on "Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals"¹ and provides an overview of how cities can use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to achieve the SDGs. It also maps the case studies to the various international agreements as well as to the SDGs. This Supplement derives best practices and guidelines from these case studies with the final goal of propelling transitions to smart cities while simultaneously achieving the SDGs. The outputs presented in this Supplement are expected to provide urban stakeholders with an overview of innovative concepts, policies and frameworks that have been adopted in various countries, to facilitate smart-city transformations.

¹ "Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals" by BD, ECLAC, FAO, ITU, UNDP, UNECA, UNECE, UNESCO, UN Environment, UNEP-FI, UNFCCC, UN-Habitat,UNIDO, UNU-EGOV and WMO is licensed under CC BY-BC 3.0.