Page 42 - A U4SSC deliverable - Guidelines on tools and mechanisms to finance Smart Sustainable Cities projects

understood by investors, knowing that they are looking for financial return on, and other benefits
from, their investment.

Investors are normally eager to finance or fund transformational projects. At the same time,
however, they often lack an understanding of how they will get their money back, and what non-
material benefits they can get from investing in city development projects. While financial return
on investment is an essential part of the investor’s interest, other long-term benefits can also be
obtained. These long-term and non-financial benefits can be easily articulated using the language
of SDGs.

Box 10: Attracting investment using the SDG development framework

Recommendation 3: visualize the way to the future

Start by evaluating a baseline of where the city or region stands today, that is, “as-is”. This may be
done by assessing the city’s profile using the U4SSC KPI Collection Methodology. Once there is
an understanding of the areas in need of intervention, visualize what the city or the region of the
city will look like by 2030 if all the needs and ambitions of the community are met. Use the SDG
framework as a tool to define the objectives to be achieved. This will create a future that is “to-be”
(a scenario representing the city’s vision). Once this vision of the future is understood, the city
should draft a list of necessary transformational projects. This will comprise a sustainable pipeline
of projects, which will take the city or territory from where it is today to the envisaged future. Each
project should support the achievement of one or more of the SDGs. Once the full list of projects
is drafted, the municipality should prioritize them. The rest of the projects from the pipeline can
be realized following completion of the first priority projects, or independently (not necessarily
depending on the first prioritized project).

24 U4SSC: Guidelines on tools and mechanisms to finance Smart Sustainable Cities projects