Cities are the epicentre of economic growth and are hotbeds for innovation and change. They host the necessary political institutions and governance mechanisms to promote the changes needed to accelerate sustainable development. However, their potential may be easily lost in the absence of holistic and cross-sectoral integrated planning and decision-making processes and effective and efficient monitoring and evaluation systems at all levels to ensure that progress is tracked, and results are accounted for and reported as appropriate. The progressive potential of urbanization can equally be lost in the absence of socially inclusive urban plans and policy decisions that foster wellbeing and leave no one and no place behind. The extent to which the urban potential can be harnessed relies strongly on the capacity of national and local governments to develop strategies that include cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder integration and operate on multiple levels and scales of intervention. Through this project, UN Regional Commissions and UN-Habitat will increase policy coherence amongst member States across the regions and promote improved capacities of institutions and other agents of change in the implementation and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda and the New Urban Agenda. This requires a greater integration of regional, national, and local dimensions through a variety of activities including: (i) building capacity of national and local level decision makers to develop cross-sectoral and integrated urban action plans for the implementation, monitoring and reporting of the NUA and localization of SDGs; (ii) establishing mechanisms for sharing of information and successful practices combining global relevance with regional pertinency; and (iii) facilitating an inclusive process of regional monitoring and reporting on sustainable urbanization frameworks. The project will be piloted in nine target countries across the globe, in one city in each of these countries. The planned results of the project will be: (i) improved capacity among national and local policymakers and decision makers in selected countries to develop cross-sectoral and integrated urban plans and coherent urban policies for sustainable urban development in line with the implementation, monitoring and reporting requirements for the NUA and localization of the SDGs; and (ii) increased inter-regional cooperation and sharing of best practices allowing for the regionalization and subsequent localization of globally set urban agendas and commitments.