The Urban Sustainability Framework (USF) is a practical tool developed by the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC) to help cities plan, finance, and implement integrated sustainability strategies. Designed for policymakers and practitioners, the USF supports cities in moving beyond sector-by-sector planning toward a holistic approach that balances economic growth, environmental stewardship, and social inclusion.
At its core, the USF helps cities answer three fundamental questions:
Where are we now?
Where do we want to go?
How do we get there?
By combining diagnostics, stakeholder engagement, and investment prioritization, the USF provides a structured pathway to translate sustainability ambitions into implementable actions.
What the USF Does
The USF provides cities with a structured process to assess their sustainability performance across environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Through data-driven diagnostics, it helps identify systemic risks, service gaps, and investment priorities. The framework encourages coordination across departments and levels of government, ensuring that land use, infrastructure, mobility, housing, energy, water, and waste planning are aligned rather than treated in isolation.
Importantly, the USF is not prescriptive. It is adaptable to different governance systems, levels of institutional capacity, and stages of urban development. Cities can apply it as a rapid diagnostic tool, as a foundation for long-term strategy development, or as a way to structure investment pipelines under national or international programs.
A Systems-Based Approach
Urban challenges—such as climate change, congestion, pollution, housing shortages, and service delivery gaps—are interconnected. The USF promotes a systems approach, recognizing linkages between land use, infrastructure, mobility, energy, water, waste, biodiversity, and economic development.
The framework integrates four key elements:
Diagnostics and Evidence – Using data and indicators to assess sustainability performance.
Integrated Planning – Aligning spatial, economic, environmental, and financial planning processes.
Investment and Financing – Translating strategies into prioritized and finance-ready projects.
Governance and Capacity – Strengthening institutions, stakeholder participation, and long-term accountability.
This structure helps cities shift from fragmented planning to coordinated, long-term transformation.
From Strategy to Investment
A distinguishing feature of the USF is its emphasis on implementation and financing. The framework supports cities in identifying high-impact projects, sequencing investments, and aligning sustainability objectives with budgeting cycles. It also helps clarify financing gaps and explore opportunities to leverage public and private capital.
This investment-oriented lens makes the USF particularly relevant for cities participating in global initiatives such as the GEF Sustainable Cities Integrated Program (SCIP), where integrated planning must be paired with bankable project development.
Designed for Practitioners
As urban populations grow and climate risks intensify, cities must strengthen resilience, reduce emissions, protect biodiversity, and improve service delivery simultaneously. The Urban Sustainability Framework provides a clear, structured pathway to achieve these goals through integrated governance, data-informed planning, and investment alignment.
Through the USF, the GPSC equips cities with a practical methodology to transform sustainability ambitions into measurable outcomes and finance-ready solutions.
Supporting Sustainable Urban Transformation
As cities face accelerating urbanization, climate risks, biodiversity loss, and infrastructure demands, integrated planning is no longer optional—it is essential. The Urban Sustainability Framework provides a structured, evidence-based methodology to help cities transition toward resilient, low-carbon, inclusive, and nature-positive development.
Through the USF, the GPSC supports cities worldwide in turning sustainability commitments into concrete, measurable, and finance-ready actions.
