China News Service, Shanghai, November 2 (Reporter Miao Lu) The plenary session of the 2026 World Cities Day Global Conference on Urban Sustainable Development was held on the 2nd at the World Conference Hall on the North Bund, Shanghai. With the theme of "Urban Renewal, Livable Living", nearly 100 international guests from more than 30 countries and regions discussed ideas and practical paths for improving living conditions and improving urban functions through urban renewal.
The conference was co-sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the United Nations Human Settlements Agency. World Cities Day originated from the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Adhering to the concept of "Better City, Better Life", it provides an important platform for implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the "New Urban Agenda" and promoting mutual learning among cities around the world.
The conference released the 2026 Chinese version of the "Shanghai Manual: A Guide to Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century" (hereinafter referred to as the "Shanghai Manual"). The "Shanghai Handbook" was jointly compiled by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the Bureau International des Expositions. It was first released in 2011 and has continued to publish annual reports since 2016. It is an important knowledge product and an updateable international document that shares the experience of global urban sustainable development.
The 2026 edition of the "Shanghai Handbook" selects 23 key cases and 6 columns from 19 countries and regions, focusing on issues such as housing improvement, urban renewal, climate resilience, community governance, cultural inheritance and financial innovation. It deeply analyzes housing challenges, clarifies the indispensable interdependence between tenure security, affordable financing and community-led processes, and regards urban renewal as an important opportunity to coordinate the above conditions, demonstrating the practical experience of promoting housing security in a people-centered and coordinated manner around the world.
The conference also released the Chinese version of the "2026 Shanghai Index Application Report: Different Scenarios and Solutions for Global Cities" and thematic application scenario reports. The full name of Shanghai Index is "Global Urban Monitoring Framework-Shanghai Application Index". It is an internationally authoritative index that conducts scientific diagnosis and trend analysis on the progress of global urban sustainable development. Based on the existing comprehensive indicator system, this year's report further extends to thematic scenario applications and solution research.
The conference also announced the official launch of deepening cooperation on international public goods on World Cities Day. China and UN-Habitat will further improve the normalized cooperation mechanism, expand diversified cooperation areas, jointly promote the construction of international exchange platforms such as the World Cities Day Global Conference on Urban Sustainable Development, continue to play the international leading role of the Shanghai Award, steadily promote the global experience sharing of the "Shanghai Manual", deepen the application research of the Shanghai Index, and effectively promote exchanges and mutual learning in the field of urban sustainable development, and deepen and solidify pragmatic cooperation.
