City Prosperity Initiative: an innovative methodology

City Prosperity Initiative: an innovative methodology

The search for innovative models of urban coexistence and development also implies the need to be able to rely on more sophisticated and precise analytical tools. The City Prosperity Initiative (CPI) developed by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), is one attempt to respond to this need.

The methodology photographs cities using six dimensions:
  • productivity
  • infrastructure development
  • quality of life
  • equity and social inclusion
  • environmental sustainability
  • urban governance and legislation

The survey involved more than 400 cities around the world, offering institutions and the various social stakeholders more articulated and organic indications on which to formulate their policies. The goal: to provide useful information to identify the potential and opportunities to make cities richer, more liveable, more inclusive and more sustainable places.

UN-Habitat also proposed that governments adopt the CPI as a global monitoring platform for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with an urban component. Around 23% of the SDG indicators have a local or urban component.

The dedicated website https://cpi.unhabitat.org/ allows users to enter data and calculate a city’s index.

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