Introduction

In this chapter, attention shifts to the diverse ways in which local, regional and national authorities have sought to engage with, embed and implement the SDGs, and especially SDG 11, and how such efforts have been supported by the UN agencies, SDSN and local government membership organizations and networks, such as UCLG, ICLEI, C40 and the Resilient Cities Network (RCities). The range of responses has been substantial. On the one hand, there has been scepticism or senses that they already do as well or better with their existing indicator sets, while, on the other, there has been widespread enthusiastic embrace, seeing the SDG implementation as a potentially valuable way of rethinking service delivery and investment portfolios, and of helping to improve multi-level governance. This chapter also devotes attention to the rise and rapid growth of the Voluntary Local Review mechanism, initiated by New York City when the then newly elected President Trump announced the USA's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change in mid-2017. Specific examples will amplify these positions and experiences, highlighting challenges and obstacles as well as achievements.

Global reviews of progress with implementation

Assessing progress against the respective targets and indicators is essential to ensure that efforts are on track, that appropriate support actions can be implemented in time to augment existing efforts and overcome blockages or impediments and to enable cross-city and cross-country peer learning so as to enhance practice. These monitoring and evaluation efforts are being undertaken at different levels of governance, from the subnational to national, continental, regional and global, and by both official and non-governmental organizations. In respect of the SDGs, of course, the objective is not only to assess progress in and of itself but also in relation to Agenda 2030, for which the SDGs constitute the M&E framework.

The principal official mechanism is the periodic Voluntary National Review (VNR) undertaken by national governments and reported to the HLPF, held annually in July in New York (and, since the onset of the pandemic, also online). UN-Habitat et al. (2018) published a synthesis report of progress on SDG 11 submitted to that year's HLPF, at which it was one of the SDGs being scrutinized.