A territorial approach to the Sustainable Development Goals: A role for cities and regions to leave no one behind

When we think of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 agenda, we tend to associate them with negotiations between UN member states. This is misleading. In a world that is increasingly urbanised, cities have become major drivers of national prosperity and well-being.

The last edition of the “OECD Regions and Cities at Glance” (2018) highlights that in the past decade metropolitan areas represented around 60% of GDP and employment in the OECD area, and drove over 50% of GDP growth. The local dimension therefore matters crucially if we want the implementation of the SDGs to become a reality — as most underlying policies and investments are a shared responsibility across levels of government.

Data from the OECD Observatory on Sub-National Finance and Investment point to the critical fact that subnational governments were responsible for 60% of total public investment in 2016 throughout the OECD area and for almost 40% worldwide. Most of such investments are related to infrastructure for basic services over which cities and/or regions have core competences. The UN has estimated that 65% of the 169 targets underlying the 17 SDGs will not be reached without proper engagement of, and coordination with, local and regional…