The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present a complex system of 17 goals and 169 individual targets whose interactions can be described in terms of co-benefits and trade-offs between policy actions. We analyse in detail target-by-target interlinkage networks established by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) SDG Interlinkages Tool. We discuss two quantitative measures of network structure; the leading...

While the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are broadly framed with 17 goals, the goals and their targets inherently connect with each other forming a complex system. Actions supporting one goal may influence progress in other goals, either positively (synergies) or negatively (trade-offs). Effective managing the synergies and trade-offs is a prerequisite for ensuring policy coherence. This is particular relevant at the rive...

Urbanization and concomitant challenges pose a great threat to sustainable development. Urban and rural development interacts through the flows of people, materials, energy, goods, capital, and information. Without building sound urban–rural linkages, achieving development in one area could compromise it in another area. Achieving sustainable development needs customized policy prioritization and implementation in both urban a...