A common focus of many innovative and effective ideas and approaches being worked out in cities today is a central concern with the actual process of urban environmental planning and management. Experiences in cities and towns from countries all over the globe - despite their vast differences in physical, economic, social and political situations - increasingly converge on this same viewpoint, this same framework for action.

Based on information from a wide variety of cities, a number of "guidelines" can be suggested, each of which reflects the knowledge and insights - the "lessons" - gained through many different city experiences. These guidelines identify and describe ways which cities have found to be effective in moving towards sustainable development and thus comprise a useful framework for a global approach to implementing the urban environmental agenda. For convenience, these various guidelines can be grouped under five main headings, although individual guidelines may well be relevant under more than the one heading.

• Cities Improve Environmental Information and Technical Expertise
• Cities Improve Environmental Strategies and Decision-Making
• Cities Improve Implementation of Environmental Strategies
• Cities Institutionalise Environmental Planning and Management
• Cities Make More Efficient Use of Resources for Effective Change