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Prior to Cardiff’s research, there was a policy gap where urban and housing challenges for Eastern European cities were not visible enough in UN international agreements and were paid little direct and sustained attention in national-level strategies [5.1]. Golubchikov placed these challenges more firmly in international policy debates and shaped how UN policymakers and specific UN Member States (Serbia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Armenia) understand urban and housing challenges, leading to new policy frameworks and actions to promote sustainable housing and urban development. This work further contributed to the delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG11, which calls for cities to be inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

The Head of the UN-HABITAT Project Coordination Office for Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States confirmed that “Dr Golubchikov’s academic research… has been highly valuable to our work, providing robust research-informed analysis contextualising our understanding of the specific issues, challenges, and actions needed to address the current urban transformations experienced in these countries” [5.2].

As well as the specific impacts discussed below, Golubchikov’s research was used in multiple UN reports on associated issues as their key knowledge base. For example, his work was cited four times in a UNECE/UN-HABITAT joint report on cities in the Commonwealth of Independent State countries [5.3], and 10 times in a UNECE study on informal settlements [5.4]. These reports underpin the development of new technical guidelines for countries with economies in transition.

4.1 Developing and implementing the UN’s New Urban Agenda (NUA)

The UN’s New Urban Agenda (NUA, 2016) is a global framework of policies and standards required to achieve sustainable urban development. Paola Deda, Director of UNECE Forests, Land and Housing Division, described Golubchikov’s co-authored HABITAT III Regional Report for UNECE region [3.3], as “one of the cornerstones of the NUA development process” [5.1]. As well as contributing to the final output of the NUA at the global level, the Regional Report was also directly translated into the ‘Geneva Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Housing and Urban Development’ adopted by the 56 UNECE member States in 2017 [5.5].

The Ministerial Declaration is the first international agreement covering the whole UNECE region to directly promote sustainable urban development as an international (rather than only national or local) policy mandate [5.2]. This places the urban agenda more centrally in both international and national policy commitments. As the practical policy instrument for implementing the NUA at the level of the UNECE region, the Declaration commits all the member States to implementing recommendations from the HABITAT III Regional Report. Moreover, as Paola Deda confirmed, following Golubchikov’s input in the Regional Report, “the Declaration asserts more firmly than in previous UNECE policies the importance of…specific challenges faced in the Eastern (post-socialist) part of the region” and “provides a holistic approach for urbanisation in the region” that takes these challenges into account [5.1].

The Declaration is based on the analyses, conclusions and recommendations of the HABITAT III Regional Report for the UNECE Region [5.5, p.6 ] and directly adopts a range of Golubchikov’s recommendations derived from the Report as policy actions, including:

• addressing “social and spatial inequality within and among the cities in the region” [5.5, p.3 ];

• “reducing the economic polarization in growing cities” [5.5, p.3 ];

• “promoting inclusive cities by addressing the multiple aspects of housing, urban poverty and exclusion” [5.5, p.4 ].

In conjunction with the Regional Report, since 2017 the Ministerial Declaration mobilised governments across the region to address key urban and housing challenges. This “affects millions of citizens in the 56 Member States of the UNECE” [5.1]. These countries, with progress monitored by UNECE and reported on by national governments annually, have all committed to integrate the Declaration into their national programmes [5.2]. The Head of the UN-HABITAT Project Coordination Office noted that it has been “particularly important for the CIS countries” as the Declaration fills their policy gaps in this field and also “provides the recognition of specific needs of the post-socialist cities” [5.2].

4.2 Developing UN-sponsored National Action Plans in Member States

In parallel with this impact, Cardiff’s research also informed the preparation of National Action Plans for sustainable housing and urban development in Serbia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Armenia. In 2016-17, Golubchikov provided evidence from his research on urban challenges and policy needs in the region through several workshops for these national governments to build capacity and develop National Action Plans [5.6].

Svetlana Ristić, Head of the national department responsible for housing policy in Serbia, was in attendance. She noted key factors from Golubchikov’s research discussed at the workshops, including the imperative of an integrated urban/housing agenda at the national level, social inclusivity, and energy efficiency [5.7]. Ristić stated that “Golubchikov’s expertise was of great significance to us” and that the findings he shared “were important considerations raising awareness and capacities of our Government and experts” [5.7].

Following the workshops, the Head of the UN-HABITAT Project Coordination Office noted that “all four countries incorporated these key factors” into their National Action Plans. The Plans, which represent the only national mechanism currently available to these countries to develop affordable housing and sustainable urban development, “serve as important policy instruments in these countries, translating the ideas advocated by Dr Golubchikov into concrete action” [5.2].

For example, Serbia’s National Action Plan supported the development of a more sustainable and inclusive housing sector [5.8]. Ristić confirmed that the work on the Plan has [5.7]:

• “consolidated a number of ad hoc activities previously implemented on an individual basis and with different principles, in order to channel the development of the housing sector towards higher standards”;

• “identified key steps in national budget allocation and policy development process”;

• been *“an important factor influencing development of Serbia’s first Sustainable Urban Development Strategy.*”

4.3 Shaping the first UN policy framework on ‘people-smart sustainable cities’

Golubchikov’s research continued to support the development of sustainable urban policies by shaping the UN’s flagship policy publication on ‘People-Smart Sustainable Cities’, approved by UNECE member States in October 2020 [5.9].

Influenced by the 2016 HABITAT III Regional Report and the 2017 Geneva Ministerial Declaration, in 2019 UNECE identified sustainable urban development as a “high-impact nexus area” that plays a key role in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an integrated manner [5.1, 5.9]. It recognised that ‘sustainable and smart cities’ could support countries to address multiple SDGs all at once. To advance this policy agenda, Golubchikov was commissioned to work with UNECE and coordinate their “flagship” [5.1, 5.9] framework publication. This work was co-funded through an ESRC Impact Acceleration Award (£13,185, June 2019).

Golubchikov formulated and wrote the framework based on his own research, as well as interviews and input from the UNECE Secretariat and Member State Governments. The draft, published in October 2020, provides UNECE and its Member States with an evidence base “to better orient policies in designing integrated, cities-based solutions for SDGs” [5.1]. It draws on Golubchikov’s research through:

• providing an overview of current trends, challenges and opportunities for promoting more liveable and sustainable cities in the UNECE region, with a particular attention to post-socialist countries;

• presenting good practices and recommendations to support policy-makers on how cities can activate their potential for sustainable development and SDGs;

• emphasising a spatially nuanced, socially just and people-smart (inclusive) approach to international policy for liveable and sustainable cities [5.9].

Paola Deda, Director of UNECE Forests, Land and Housing Division, confirmed that the framework – “the first of its kind for the UNECE” – provides “a new vision and mechanisms for breaking siloes and working across different ministries and department… on urban matters” [5.1]. It is important to guide UNECE and its Member States, as it “draws the attention to a range of policy challenges and options” and further develops the approach initiated through the New Urban Agenda in working towards SDGs [5.1].

In summary, Cardiff’s research identified the challenges faced by countries with economies in transition and filled key policy gaps, as urban issues are often neglected in these countries in favour of policies focussing on economic reforms and other sectors. This research placed policies addressing such challenges more firmly on international and national agendas by underpinning UN policy-shaping and policy-implementation mechanisms, National Action Plans in individual countries and the first UN policy framework on ‘people-smart sustainable cities’.