Tools and experiences for monitoring urban SDGs SDG

Tools and experiences for monitoring urban SDGs (SDG 11): what have we learnt since 2015 Experiences from UN-Habitat global and ESCWA regional coordination roles Robert Ndugwa Chief, Global Urban Observatory / Data and Statistics Unit Research and Capacity Development Branch UN-HABITAT Email: robert. ndugwa@un. org Copyright PSA Ismail Lubbad UN-ESCWA Statistics Division lubbad@un. org 2

UN-HABITAT AT A GLANCE FOCUS MANDATE To promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all To promote transformative change in cities and human settlements through knowledge, policy advice, technical assistance and collaborative action to leave no one and no place behind DATA Our work is anchored on scientific data, rigorous research and analysis

Adopted in 2015 Adopted in 2016 In addition to many other global agendas, the New urban Agenda and SDGs especially Goal 11 covers many aspects/targets for achieving urban sustainable development at local, national and global levels

Many SDG indicators have direct connections and impacts to cities Majority of indicators are connected to urban policies 17 Goals 169 Targets 244 Indicators SDG Indicators 1/3 of indicators are measured at local level Almost all the 244 available SDG indicators have a direct connection to urban policies and a clear impact on cities and human settlements; and about one third of indicators are being measured at the local level.

Increased urban population poses an enormous potential for both urban and rural areas 54% Of world’s population lives in cities Number of cities with population of over 1 M 584 (2018) 706 (2030) Nearly 54% of the world’s population live in cities and urban human settlements in 2018, and this will increase to nearly twothirds by 2030. Between 2018 and 2030, the number of cities with population of more than 1 million will increase by 158 cities (from 548 to 706), bringing new potential and challenges for growth

What supporting sustainable urbanization entails Follow up and continuous support Supporting production of accurate, up to date data 4 2 1 Clear understanding of human settlement systems (and needs) in diverse contexts 6 Direct support to pilot projects, activities 3 Encouraging commitment to, and implementation of data-informed actions – demonstration of value for action based on data 5 Best practice documentation, sharing 7 Multi-stakeholder, expert and partner engagements

SDGs, Urban Monitoring and Sustainable Urbanization compilation and UN-Habitat engagements, activities Data reporting Tools dissemination, advocacy for accelerated monitoring in support of sustainable urbanization Global methodologies testing, piloting 1 3 2 Methodological developments 5 4 Capacity building countries for monitoring 6 Exploring and testing usability of emerging data products for local and global monitoring

Technology and smart systems help to save costs for monitoring • About half of SDG 11 indicators require new forms of data, which can be easily collected using modern technologies and methods, including spatial data, crowd sourcing and community collected data • 7 of the 15 Goal 11 indicators require to be collected at local city level through nonroutine methods/ mechanisms (e. g from spatial analysis, civil society led initiatives, e. t. c)

Support to exploring and testing usability of emerging data products for local and global monitoring • Continuous identification, testing of available products that can support urban monitoring efforts / produce baseline analysis • Imagery products – Landsat, Sentinel, • Global built-up layer products – GHSL, WSF, HRSL, GUF, Atlas of Urban Expansion …. • Population datasets – GPW, World. Pop, GHS-Pop, HRSL, UNDESA population data • Tools, platforms, systems, toolboxes – Trends. Earth, GHSL, UTEP, GEE, POPGRID, … • Existing open data resources – OSM, GTFS, … • Introducing and demonstrating to countries available products and their possible applications for monitoring

Globally applying the agreed city definition is slowing down SDG 11 monitoring What is a city? • While SDG 11 indicators (and other urban indicators in other goals) should be measured and reported at the city level, a globally agreed upon definition of a city is yet to be attained, affecting measurement and progress in monitoring. • Adoption of such definition will enable national governments and development partners to standardize the unit of measurement, reduce inconsistencies, and harmonize urban indicators.

Tools: The National Sample of Cities (NSC) supports consistent and systematic monitoring of Goal 11 Useful for harmonizing urban data and indicators using an agreed number of cities that are statistically representative of the country’s urban human settlements CRITERIA q Number of cities q Population q Size of the city q Geographic location q City functionality q Economic and political importance Global Sample of Cities Based on 200 cities, it represents 5% of the Universe of 4, 231 cities of over 100, 000 inhabitants in 2010 and 70% of the world urban population

Data compilation and reporting as next steps • Compiling data from countries, production of regional and global aggregates • Progress reporting at global and regional levels • Data dissemination, comparisons through the urban indicators database • Support urban level decision making through local urban observatories • Thematic reports • City Prosperity index assessments Multiple partners and actors involved/engaged in review, feedback • Countries • Regional commissions • GEO activity streams + secretariat • Diverse data producers and users, incl. Individual experts • Civil society, scientific and academic partners

SDG Goal 11: Arab regional perspective Urbanization: + Urban population over time ü ü High youth proportion of tot Pop High youth unemployment Low proportion of employment in agriculture Water shortages, Natural disasters, air pollution Population in urban (%) 80 60 52 59 70 40 20 25 0 1950 2000 Arab countries Wars and armed conflict: - Statistical production + Man made disaster, + refugees, destruction (-heritage) 2050 World

SDG Goal 11: Arab regional perspective 6 GCC countries High Urbanization Labor migrants Climate and water issues Algeria , Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia, Comoros, Djibouti Countries in conflict Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Somalia, Lebanon, Palestine Countries affected by conflict Lebanon, Jordan

Goal 11 indicators: Measurement issues ØData availability: Indicators by Tier & disaggregation by sex, age, disability and locality; ØLack of resources: financial & human resources; ØPriority indicators by sub-region or country; Ø Data sources at national level (National Statistical System) ØInternational intervention and coordination

Data availability in Arab countries (Goal 11) 5 INDICATORS: TIER I AND TIER II No data = no collection of data is available for the A indicator 1 data point = data for only any one year is available B for the indicator 2 data points= data for any two years is available for C the indicator, D more than 2 data points

Data availability in Arab countries (Goal 11: 5 indicator from Tier I and Tier 2) 15 24 62 A B C D

Opportunities and Regional initiatives Ø Data issues: Enhance statistical coordination and harmonization at the national and regional level and use of: § Traditional (census, surveys, Registers) § Modern (Registers, Geospatial information, Big data, etc. . ) § The role of Urban Observatories in data issues. § Technical Advisory Group on Demographic and Social Statistics (NSOs, ESCWA and regional organizations- a List of indicators) § Task Force SDGs vs. ICPD: ASRO –LAS -ESCWA , regional orgs and MCs

Opportunities and Regional Initiatives Ø Statistical Capacity Development: § A project (HABITAT, ESCWA): Enhancing the capacity of MCs to monitor and report SDGs (Goal 11 Indicators); § Regional workshops: (ESCWA – Habitat) on human settlement indicators for Arab states, Kuwait, May 2017, July- 2018, Riyadh, Manama, Cairo 2019; § Advisory missions: Pilot countries: Bahrain and Tunisia Ø Make use of coming population and housing censuses in Arab countries as main source of data at small area level.

Thank you robert. ndugwa@un. org lubbad@un. org