UMF-Shanghai Index Application Report Aims to Spur Innovative, Sustainable Urban Development
BOGOTA, Colombia, Nov. 03, 2025 — The English version of the UMF-Shanghai Adapted Index Application Report was unveiled on October 31 (local time) during the opening ceremony of the global observance of the 2025 World Cities Day in Bogota, Colombia.
This global unveiling followed the release of the report’s Chinese version days prior in Shanghai. Kazuko Ishigaki, regional representative of UN-Habitat’s Asia and Pacific office, presented it at the 2025 SDG Cities Global Conference. This conference was a joint initiative of UN-Habitat and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, organized by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing, Urban-Rural Development and Management.
Significantly, the report offers recommendations for designing an indicator system for various application scenarios. It also introduces specific indicator systems for diverse contexts, including megacities, sci-tech innovation cities, healthy cities, and livable cities.
The UMF-Shanghai Adapted Index is recognized as an authoritative index. It was developed by an international research team, benefiting from the collaborative support and guidance of UN-Habitat, China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.
Designed to provide scientific diagnosis and trend analysis for global urban sustainable development, the index first premiered at the China observance of World Cities Day in 2021.
The UMF-Shanghai Adapted Index is characterized by its progressiveness, openness, and adaptability. It aims to measure a city’s progress in sustainable development rather than providing definitive rankings. Furthermore, it functions as an open platform and incorporates an adaptive methodology in constructing its comprehensive indicator system.
The research underpinning the index primarily focuses on three principles: progressiveness, which encourages cities to act and pursue development; comprehensiveness, which guides balanced, coordinated, and truly sustainable urban growth; and categorization, which ensures the index’s relevance and inspiration by addressing key priorities for different types of cities.
Since its introduction, the UMF-Shanghai Adapted Index has undergone pilot applications in various cities worldwide. To date, over 100 cities globally are actively engaged in these pilot programs.
Looking ahead, a global urban database is planned for gradual establishment. This database will be made openly accessible and shareable with cities globally, providing valuable resources for diagnosing and analyzing urban sustainable development.
Source: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing, Urban-Rural Development and Management
CONTACT: Contact person: Ms. Liu, Tel: 86-10-63074558
