The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a transformative global commitment to a more inclusive and sustainable future. As rapid urbanisation and population growth continue, cities stand at the forefront of this transition. However, translating the SDGs into specific actions and policies is challenging. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) offers a structured approach to integrating environmental considerations into decision-making processes. This research explores how the integration between SEA and the SDGs can be improved, explicitly addressing the urban context through the place-based conceptual framework SEA for Sustainability. This framework addresses the shortcomings in the literature regarding the integration between the SDGs and SEA. It emphasises governance and community empowerment as crucial to changing the decision-making paradigm. To achieve this change, the framework promotes enhanced cross-sector collaboration, practitioner capacity building, stakeholder engagement, and knowledge exchange as key to fostering a sense of ownership among practitioners and improving knowledge and awareness throughout the SEA process. The platforms provided by the public participation processes in SEA urban planning are relevant to this effort and can be explored to create space for experimentation. This will enable new avenues for advancing the integration of sustainability, the SDGs, and SEA, provide new methodologies, and ensure the necessary alignment of policy frameworks, translating the high-level targets to local implementation needs.