City Development Strategies (CDS) are institutional and community planning processes that contemplate a city’s possible futures, resulting in a strategy for the long term (a 10-50-year period), coordinated, cross-sector, multi-issue development of an urban jurisdiction that inform and are informed by shorter-term plans and initiatives. CDS as a concept has been championed as a critical method of reflecting on urban change for cities across the world by the Cities Alliance (www.citiesalliance.org) and the World Bank since the late 1990s. Such strategies have been adopted by South African Cities Network (SACN) since the early 2000s. South African cities have used CDS as a means of grounding medium terms plans (e.g. Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs)), and have in time gained significant experience in coordinating these processes. The purpose of this Guideline is to provide local government officials, councilors, practitioners, with a suggested methodology for implementing city development strategies based on SACN’s experience and that of its member cities. The guideline will also provide insight into CDS for the private sector, residents and communities.