ABSTRACT
The United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a benchmark for what most world leaders now believe society needs to work towards. This chapter examines the performance of Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries regarding the achievement of the SDGs, focusing on those goals that are closely related to urban development. It explains the SDGs and their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals, which concluded in 2015. The chapter describes the New Urban Agenda signed in Quito (Ecuador) in 2016 and presents intended nationally determined contributions agreed during the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris 2015 to combat climate change. It evaluates how the LAC countries are performing by following a series of international indicators. The chapter looks at how LAC can achieve the SDGs as well as protect real estate and infrastructure assets and presents the authors' policy recommendations for the region.
