This report explores for the first time the scale of the challenge for 20 cities across the world to reach selected targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More than half of the targets included will require a profound acceleration of efforts if they are to be achieved by the majority of selected cities.

Data collection methods and poverty measures have not caught up with the reality of an increasingly urbanised world; as a result, it is increasingly likely that urban poverty is underestimated.