for one the country requires a longterm urban development agenda discussed with all political forces and with the participation of civil society additionally mexico needs to improve its capacity to conduct and implement urban planning as past urban development projects have too often been characterised by an improvised trialanderror approach responding to shortterm political priorities rather than the national longterm interest to do so it will be important to strengthen the sectoral leadership promote crosssectoral planning and in the long term streamline the housing and urban development sector to do so it is critical to align local housing and urban development legal frameworks to national strategic objectives reduce transaction costs for and asymmetries of information across levels of government promote integrated urban development and management and revamp metropolitan governance arrangements