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Paper short abstract:

We analyse the emerging multi-level relations for engagement with and implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the SDGs in Kisumu and Cape Town. These relations are explored through the national guidance (or lack of) and the collaborations around urban boundary definitions and local indicators.

Paper long abstract:

The New Urban Agenda (NUA) and Agenda 2030's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognise the key role of 'sub-national entities', including cities, in achieving sustainable development. The NUA remains aspirational and is couched only in very broad terms, while the SDGs, which constitute a monitoring and evaluation framework for Agenda 2030, include a standalone urban goal on making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SDG 11). However, since these agendas were agreed and signed by national governments, implementing them at the local level requires a process of localisation to fit local realities. This presentation reports on our international comparative research project in 7 cities across the world, two of them in Africa, which has shown the very varied role of national governments in the localisation processes. We analyse the national guidance (or lack of) and the collaborations emerging between local, regional and national-level actors in the implementation of these global agendas. Apart from understanding the respective local authorities' degrees of engagement, key issues emerging include the need to delimit the urban boundary and the adaptation of SDG indicators to the local level. The paper draws particularly on the experiences from Kisumu, Kenya and Cape Town, South Africa, contextualised with reference to the 5 other cities: Buenos Aires (Argentina), Gothenburg (Sweden), Malmö (Sweden), Sheffield (UK), and Shimla (India).