Knowledge Products

The GPSC hosts a digital library featuring practical tools, reports, and case studies. Explore curated resources across thematic areas, filtering by topic or region to find the insights required to advance urban sustainability.

Featured Resources

Urban Sustainability Framework

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

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Climate

The city-industry-climate nexus: Cities as engines of global net-zero transitions in a shifting world

By 2050, almost two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities, which already consume most of the world’s energy and emit the majority of greenhouse gases. This makes urban areas central to both the causes of climate change and the solutions. The white paper argues that decarbonizing cities is not only environmental policy, but a strategic industrial agenda. It introduces the “city-industry-climate nexus,” where infrastructure, production systems, value chains, and climate action converge. Cities host the industries that supply

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All Knowledge resources
Explore the GPSC’s constantly growing library of knowledge resources, curated from cities across the world.

Municipal Solid Waste Cost Calculation Technical Guidelines for Low and Middle-Income Countries

Municipal Solid Waste Cost Calculation Technical Guidelines discusses good practices for calculating investment and operating costs in the solid waste

Advancing the Integrated Approach to Tackle Commodity-driven Deforestation

In 2014 the Global Environment Facility launched an ambitious effort to influence a shift in supply chains for beef, soy

Note on Nature Finance Tracking Methodology

International Development Association (IDA) participants requested that the World Bank develop a methodology to identify, monitor, and track nature-positive World

Toward Developing a Mobility and Gender Index

Although the benefits of a gender-inclusive approach to mobility for transport decarbonization, access to jobs, and human capital advancement have

Trading Towards Sustainability: The Role of Trade Policies in Indonesia’s Green Transformation

Climate change - and efforts to mitigate and adapt to it - will affect global flows of trade and Indonesia’s

Nature as Infrastructure

Nature as infrastructure has the potential to be a transformative concept for development. It goes beyond nature-based solutions or mitigating

Financing Nature-Based Solutions for Adaptation at Scale: Learning from Specialised Investment Managers and Nature Funds

Scaling funding to effective nature-based solutions (NbS) for adaptation is key to tackle climate change and support sustainable development. NbS

Healthy Cities: Revisiting the Role of Cities in Promoting Health

The Healthy Cities Report aims to provide policymakers and development practitioners with an action-oriented framework for achieving healthy cities. Informed

A Playbook for Nature-positive Infrastructure Development

Infrastructure is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. For example, 95% of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is

Unlocking Blue Carbon Development: Investment Readiness Framework for Governments

The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical framework to guide governments in catalyzing and scaling up public