IASC Guidance Note: Humanitarian coordination and planning is primarily structured around the cluster/sector system at national levels. The cluster/sector system has enabled efficient coordination of humanitarian actors at national levels, but presents shortcomings when responding to urban crises which are characterized by the existence of complex, interdependent systems and high levels of diversity and density of actors. The guidance note recommends humanitarian stakeholdersto support the operationalization of area-based coordination mechanisms operating at city and/or municipal levels, approaching coordination within a defined geographic area and adopting a multi-sectoral and participatory perspective. This guidance note provides an overview of how area-based coordination mechanisms at city and/or municipal levels align to the Humanitarian Program Cycle and complement the established cluster system.