Paris – The Coalition for Urban Transitions is committed to making the economic case for better urbanisation. But to achieve this, its target is not cities themselves but rather national leaders whose policies affect cities.

The Coalition for Urban Transitions is a new think tank jointly managed by the World Resources Institute and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. But while its focus is on sustainable urbanisation, its target is key national decision-makers, said Nick Godfrey, the New Climate Economy’s head of policy and urban development. In an interview, he told Citiscope’s Gregory Scruggs that the coalition targets national leaders because many of the powers that impact the performance of cities are in the hands of national decision-makers.

One of the main obstacles facing cities in realising the Sustainable Development Goals and New Urban Agenda comes down to money and the narrow domestic revenue bases of many cities. According to Godfrey, national governments should help provide their cities with some of the power they need to start to grow their domestic revenue bases. Examples include providing assistance in improving municipal credit ratings, as was seen in Lima, or experiments with new models like municipal green bonds, as occurred recently in Johannesburg. 

The coalition is also working closely with national governments to help them develop effective national urban policies, said Godfrey. These are based on the three C’s: compact (efficient land use), connected (investing in urban mobility and public transport systems) and coordinated (ensuring that national policy is compatible with local policy in the cities).

According to Godfrey, a good example of a robust national urban policy is in China, which in 2013 released a major new national urban policy focusing on better-planned urban growth, more low-carbon development, pilot cities, and significant resources for municipal authorities. Another example is India, which is in the early stage of implementing its 100 Smart Cities programme. He also pointed out that one third of countries in Africa have their own national urban policies, which gives good momentum to build on.