Urban development challenges and the need for strong data foundationsToday; more than 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. This percentage is increasing; and it is expected to be at 66% by 2050. Cities often offer access to services such as electricity; water; and health services; as well as professional opportunities that make them attractive to many people. Nevertheless; cities are growing so rapidly that it has become more difficult to provide safe and affordable housing; basic urban services; as well as accessible and sustainable public transport. The cities that emerge from the extended rapid urbanization will be key determinants of the countries’ overall economic development and competitiveness; as well as their inclusiveness and environmental sustainability. Without strategic investments; policy interventions; and institutional capacity; mismanaged urbanization could become an obstacle to sustainable growth.Data has become the new infrastructure for cities around the world. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the pressing need for strong data foundations for cities; especially geospatial data. Cities are ready to address these challenges through better data governance. Cities need to manage their information assets more efficiently for forward-thinking analytics; smarter city management; and civic planning. Often; this data is collected; processed; and stored without being leveraged for more or greater purposes—partly due to data silos unsupported by data governance or one-stop shop technical solutions. Access to up-to-date and complete urban data is vital to those who are in charge of implementing urban services. They need them on a daily basis to manage and plan their activities. To ensure resilient urban planning; it is therefore essential that the data used by a large number of users is shared; easy to access and updated frequently. When data sets are reliable and easily accessed; stronger urban service management systems enable citizens to see an improvement in their daily lives. Project contextUrban growth in Uzbekistan presents a dual challenge: rapid urbanization alongside infrastructural deficiencies and susceptibility to natural disasters due to climate change. The government has responded with initiatives such as Uzbekistan 2030; emphasizing sustainable urbanization and infrastructure development. Supported by the World Bank; projects like the Medium-Size Cities Integrated Urban Development Project (MSCIUDP) and the Modernization of Real Property Registration and Cadastre Project (MRPRCP) aimed to bolster urban infrastructure and enhance land administration. However; gaps persist in municipal spatial data infrastructure; impeding effective urban planning and disaster management. Addressing these gaps through further development and operationalization of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is critical to fostering resilient urban growth.Despite strides made; Uzbekistan's urban areas still face challenges in infrastructure resilience and disaster preparedness. The government's efforts; supplemented by World Bank support; have targeted key areas such as infrastructure modernization and land administration. However; deficiencies in municipal spatial data infrastructure hinder informed decision-making and limit effective disaster response. To bridge these gaps; ongoing initiatives must focus on strengthening the NSDI framework and enhancing data quality and accessibility. By prioritizing the development of robust spatial data infrastructure; Uzbekistan can better equip itself to tackle the complexities of urban growth; climate change; and disaster risk management.City Planning Labs initiativeThe World Bank’s City Planning Labs (CPL) initiative is being rolled out globally and is able to provide support to selected cities. In order to enable a data-driven approach to urban planning and service delivery; CPL undertakes an ecosystem approach to operationalize Municipal Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI) in partner cities. This initiative helps manage and maintain geospatial data through interventions across its agile and scalable four-pillared IPDS framework (Institutional Arrangements; People; Data; Systems).CPL's ecosystem approach leverages data through a range of tools and processes to support civic leaders in making quicker; better; tech-enabled decisions. More broadly; it aims at facilitating the work with city partners to: 1. Assess the maturity of the city’s data ecosystem and geospatial data infrastructure with rapid municipal assessments. 2. Identify opportunities for short; medium; and long-term actions to establish a fully functioning data ecosystem and geospatial capabilities across city agencies. 3. Support the development of a roadmap with a clear action plan for implementation of the opportunities. 4. Hands-on support for the implementation of one-stop-shop data platforms and enabling systems.5. Access to agile; digital Urban Planning Tools for evidence driven decision-making; including training. CPL supports three mutually reinforcing components; namely: Component 1: Baseline assessments; analytics and roadmaps: Assess the baseline maturity of a city's data ecosystem; readiness to implement MSDI; and identify bottlenecks and opportunities. 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