Russia and UN-Habitat Strengthen Ties for Sustainable Urban Growth

A meeting between Russia's National Network of the UN Global Compact and Erfan Ali, Director of the UN-Habitat Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, took place on the VEB.RF platform to strengthen cooperation with Russia. Representatives of VEB also attended the session, where comprehensive urban quality-of-life analytics from the Razvivaem.RF (Developing.Russia) National Center were presented, the bank's press service reported.

Participants discussed socially oriented and infrastructure projects, as well as environmental and climate initiatives by Russian companies.

"For over five years, VEB has been developing analytics as a tool now in high demand among urban and regional management teams working to improve the lives of ordinary families," said Andrei Samokhin, Chairman of VEB.RF and CEO of the Razvivaem.RF National Center. "It helps advance a key strategic priority—raising living standards."

He noted that collaboration with UN-Habitat expands opportunities to share best practices for sustainable urban development, replicate successful projects, and accelerate positive change in the regions.

Anton Butmanov, VEB.RF's Executive Director, outlined the bank's core approaches to assessing quality of life in Russian cities. By the end of 2025, the study will cover over 270 municipalities, evaluating around 300 indicators across 12 categories, including transport accessibility, housing conditions, urban amenities, safety, and environmental quality. Following a directive from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the research will expand to 500 cities this year.

The meeting focused on broadening international cooperation under UN-Habitat programs and integrating Russian cities into global rankings. Discussions also centered on showcasing the contribution of Russian businesses to regional and urban development and improving quality of life.

Erfan Ali emphasized that the goal is to concentrate efforts on fostering balanced urban and regional growth. He noted that quality-of-life analytics tools help measure the impact of implemented initiatives on overall well-being and identify the most effective practices for scaling up these efforts.

UN-Habitat also highlighted the alignment of Russia's urban quality-of-life assessment methods with the Global Habitat Index tools. Erfan Ali proposed launching a dialogue between Russia's index-based programs and the UN initiative.