successes, challenges and lessons learned on the road to a fairer, more peaceful and prosperous world and a healthy planet by 2030. SDG 11 was one of the six SDGs discussed in depth. The progress on the SDG 11 has been stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic, this Goal is increasingly less likely to be achieved in a timely manner. As of 30 April 2021, this is the progress made toward the Sustainable Development Goal 11. All the UN member states are committed to following up their progress towards implementing the 2030 Agenda and its goals and targets. Almost all the UN member states have presented their national progress towards the SDGs through Voluntary National Review (VNR). Despite the importance of cities within the sustainable development framework, only a few initiatives have emerged to assess progress towards the SDGs on a city scale. Voluntary Local Review (VLR) could be a suitable approach to advance the progress of SDG implementation through localization of global development goals and sustainable development agenda. Both the Sendai Framework and New Urban Agenda point out that urban areas are in an excellent position to take the initiative to manage several of the persistent global challenges like pollution and environmental degradation. The number of slum dwellers reached more than 1 billion in 2018, or 24 per cent of the urban population. The number of people living in urban slums is highest in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia. In 2019, only half of the world's urban population had convenient access to public transport, defined as living within 500 metres' walking distance from a low-capacity transport system (such as a bus stop) and within 1 km of a high-capacity transport system (such as a railway). In the period 1990–2015, most urban areas recorded a general increase in the extent of built-up area per person. Challenges Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic Cities in many countries have become epicentres of COVID-19. Approximately 60% of COVID-19 cases have been found in urban areas, shedding light onto the function of cities in generating and accelerating the pandemic. Population growth, combined with pull factors of cities, such as concentration of economic activities and availability of services, results in increased rates of urbanization. This urbanization is coupled with subsequent congestion and increased human mobility within cities and countries. Importantly, both congestion