Over the past two decades, cities have seen a proliferation of programmes, pilots, and innovations. Yet, many of the underlying challenges – fragmented governance, weak institutional capacity, misaligned incentives, and uneven service delivery persist. This is not due to a lack of effort, but because systemic problems cannot be solved through isolated interventions. 

Across the urban ecosystem:

• Organisations are generating valuable insights, but these often remain disconnected from each other
• Policy engagement is episodic rather than sustained, limiting long-term influence
• Collaboration tends to be project-bound, rather than built as an ongoing way of working
• There is no consistent mechanism to aggregate field knowledge into a shared reform agenda

The result is a familiar pattern: strong ideas, promising pilots, and committed actors, but limited systemic shift.

What is missing is not more effort, but alignment. Urban reform requires:

• Multiple actors working across sectors and scales
• A shared understanding of priorities and trade-offs
• Coordinated engagement with institutions that shape policy and practice

The URC is an initiative to enable organisations to work in alignment, build a shared reform agenda, and engage more proactively and collectively with the institutions and leaders that shape urban policy.