Over the past three decades, rapid urbanisation has changed the nature of cities. They continue to be important centres of economic growth and social and cultural melting pots, but many have become very large, polluted, and showing increasing incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty. Cities are also significant consumers of energy and contribute to about 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and waste. Many cities are at high risk of facing natural disasters due to climate change

Addressing these challenges facing cities―especially in the Asia Pacific Region will require the development of innovative solutions that support sustainable development. Towards this end, cities need strong enabling environments that allow their local governments to function more efficiently, competitively and flexibly and to define a development pathway that contributes to achieving The United Nations sustainable development goals agenda.

The City Enabling Environment (CEE) Assessment is an attempt at understanding 'enablers' and 'actors' which will underpin the transformation of 21st-century cities addressed to issues of human development, quality of life, protection of the environment, and mitigation and adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change. The ‘enablers’ that the assessment examines are ‘core enablers’―that is, policies, law, institutions and systems of governance, fiscal autonomy, and levels of public engagement, which facilitate cities to harness the potential of urbanization for sustainable development.