The Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC)

GPSC provides access to cutting-edge tools, data, and expertise, promoting an integrated approach to urban planning, design, and financing.
 

The Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC) is a World Bank–led partnership that helps cities turn sustainability into opportunity. By connecting cities with knowledge, partners, and practical tools, the GPSC supports urban leaders in designing and implementing solutions that reduce emissions, protect biodiversity, create jobs and economic opportunities, strengthen resilience to climate and urban risks, and improve quality of life for residents.

 

The GPSC is the lead agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Sustainable Integrated Cities Program (SCIP), which combines a global knowledge platform with city-level projects to accelerate sustainable urban transformation. Download the brochure

The GPSC operates through a dual structure that links global knowledge with local implementation. At the global level, it serves as a platform for peer learning, technical exchange, and collaboration among cities, partners, and experts. At the city level, projects implemented by GEF agencies translate this knowledge into tangible actions, supporting integrated solutions to climate, biodiversity, and resilience challenges.

 

The GPSC supports cities through four core areas of work

 

 

The GPSC promotes integrated urban solutions that address interconnected challenges across systems. It advances nature-positive and climate-resilient development, supports the decarbonization of the built environment, and promotes circular economy approaches. These priorities are reinforced by cross-cutting efforts in integrated planning, inclusive and gender-responsive development, and private sector engagement to mobilize sustainable investment.

 

 

GPSC Themes

Circular

Circular cities reduce waste and regenerate resources by rethinking production, consumption, and material flows. Through circular design, green construction, and sustainable urban systems, cities...

Tourism

Tourism shapes how cities grow and connect to their natural and economic systems. Integrating sustainable tourism into urban planning can help protect ecosystems, activate public spaces, and support local economies while promoting low-impact, resource-efficient development.

Data

Urban data and digital tools empower evidence-based planning and decision-making. By integrating geospatial analysis, open data, and performance tracking, cities can design smarter, more transparent, and more accountable sustainability actions.

Climate

An estimated 70 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions come from cities. Rapid urbanization is expected to continue, intensifying even further the energy use in the cities. Yet there is also an opportunity. Cities are also where the greatest energy efficiencies can take place.

Nature

Nature-positive cities restore ecological systems through green corridors, urban forests, wetlands, and parks. Integrating biodiversity and nature-based solutions enhances resilience to climate risks, improves well-being, and reconnects people with the natural environment.

Inclusivity

Inclusive urban transformation ensures that all residents—especially women, youth, and vulnerable groups—benefit from sustainable growth. By integrating equity, accessibility, and participation into planning, cities build social cohesion and resilience.

Mobility

Sustainable mobility links people, jobs, and opportunities through low-carbon, accessible, and equitable transport systems. Compact urban design and investment in public transit, cycling, and...

Finance

Innovative urban finance drives transformation by linking knowledge and investment. Cities mobilize public and private capital, adopt blended finance and green bonds, and integrate nature and climate...

Planning

Urban planning provides the framework for sustainable city transformation. It aligns land use, infrastructure, housing, mobility, and environmental systems through integrated, data-driven strategies...