2025 SDG Cities Global Conference Kicks Off in Shanghai
Print Edition
ON October 26, the 2025 SDG Cities Global Conference, themed “Innovative Development Towards People-Centered Smart Cities,” kicked off in Shanghai to mark the World Cities Day.
Co-hosted by UN-Habitat and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the conference is organized by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing, Urban-Rural Development and Management.
Upholding the vision of “Better City, Better Life” from the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, World Cities Day serves as a crucial platform and plays a vital role in advancing the implementation of the UN 2030 “Agenda for Sustainable Development” and the “New Urban Agenda,” as well as promoting mutual learning among cities worldwide.
At the plenary session, approximately 400 participants gathered, including representatives from governments at home and abroad, mayors and city representatives of relevant cities, experts and scholars, business leaders, and delegates from international organizations. They shared and discussed experiences and challenges in urban sustainable development.
UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat Anacláudia Rossbach, and Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator in China, delivered speeches via video. Mayor of George Town, Penang State, Malaysia, and Special Envoy for Sustainable Building of Netherlands, also addressed the conference.
The conference released the Chinese version of “Shanghai Manual: A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century · 2025 Annual Report” (referred to as the “Shanghai Manual”).
As an updatable international document and a key knowledge output of World Cities Day, the Shanghai Manual has, since its first release in 2011, become an important international platform for sharing global experiences in urban sustainable development.
Closely aligned with the theme of “People-Centered Smart Cities,” the 2025 edition of the “Shanghai Manual” compiles 21 typical cases from 19 cities across 11 countries. It vividly showcases advanced experiences from around the world in improving comprehensive urban management, economic development, and people’s livelihood services through data-driven approaches, technological innovation, and artificial intelligence. It also provides new ideas and solutions to address challenges such as resource constraints, environmental issues, and traffic congestion encountered in the global urbanization process.
The “UMF-Shanghai Adapted Index Application Report” released at the conference put forward suggestions on the design of an indicator system for application scenarios, and unveiled multiple application scenarios including megacities, sci-tech and innovative cities, healthy cities, and livable cities.
This year’s SDG Cities Global Conference ran from October 26 to 27. In addition to the plenary session, it also included three themed sessions on Equitable Housing for Livable Cities, Green Transition towards Resilient Cities, and Digital Governance for Innovative Cities, along with a series of special sessions and relevant supporting activities.
Furthermore, the Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities (Shanghai Award) will be presented overseas for the second time.
It will be awarded in Bogota, Colombia — the global observance city of World Cities Day — on October 31 (local time). Meanwhile, the English versions of the “Shanghai Manual: A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century · 2025 Annual Report” and the “UMF-Shanghai Adapted Index Application Report” will be released simultaneously.
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