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Cities and human settlements play an important role in addressing the social and environmental challenges in global devel⁃ opment. As such, the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development clearly puts forward the strategic goal of achiev⁃ ing the sustainable development of cities and human settlements (SDG11), indicating that there is a model shift in the global develop⁃ ment strategy which takes cities as the main actor and object of governance. From the historical perspective, this paper reviews the pro⁃ cess of international policy⁃making regarding sustainable development, and analyzes the normative positions of human settlements and urban issues in the UN development discourse on sustainable development, which helps to clarify the ideological and paradigm changes regarding the cities and human settlements development in the global governance regime. This paper chronologically reviews the evolu⁃ tion of SDG11 in international negotiations within the UN system. Based on the UN Sustainable Development Report, this paper pres⁃ ents the progress of the implementation of SDG11, and analyzes the possible challenges during its achievement. The results show that: a historical view of the policy⁃making process regarding sustainable development reveals that the SDGs are systematic and dynamic. The emergence of a stand⁃alone urban SDG reflects the evolving conceptions of societal development and the shifting normative positions on human settlements and cities, emphasizing the central role of cities and human settlements in global development governance. Although the world has made some progress in advancing the 2030 Agenda to a certain extent, the COVID⁃19 pandemic negatively affects the progress, and the world still faces challenges in terms of data platforms, technological pathways and governance mechanisms to achieve the SDG11. This study also demonstrates the adaptability and imperative role of urban communities in adjusting to new norms. The re⁃ sults also reveal that global governance has shifted from focusing on urban development to the role of cities in global development, rec⁃ ognizing that the cities and human settlements are cross⁃cutting areas that are imperative drivers, hubs and pathways in the implementa⁃ tion of all of the SDGs and in addressing the global challenges. Establishing and improving the availability of data and statistics, promot⁃ ing the demonstration of new practices at different levels, and developing inclusive and participatory governance capabilities are all crit⁃ ical for achieving the SDG11. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]