Technical assistance to Ladysmith/Emnambithi Local Municipality, South Africa (2010)
Since February 2010, IIUD has been working with KV3 Engineers in South Africa to provide technical assistance for the township of Ezakheni in the Ladysmith/Emnambithi Local Municipality. The KV3/IIUD team will develop a regeneration plan for this economically distressed township located 3 ½ hours south-east of Johannesburg. As part of the regeneration plan, IIUD will develop an urban design framework and identify key development projects to be considered for funding under the South African Government "Neighborhood Development Partnership Grant”.
The physical regeneration strategy will focus on renewal, connectivity and socioeconomic integration. The main components of this strategy include:
- Linking Ezakheni to Ladysmith with a proposed development corridor and improving road and pedestrian connections between the town’s different sections;
- Enhancing the natural setting by integrating open space networks into the urban fabric;
- Improving the image of Ezakheni with the redevelopment of its main entrances;
- Identifying and revitalizing secondary nodes for commercial, social, and institutional activities in the different sections of town;
- Developing a central economic and cultural node with a proposed mixed use development project strategically located at the intersection of the town’s two main transportation axes.
(Mona Serageldin, Alejandra Mortarini, Natalie Pohlman, Kendra Leith)
Technical assistance to Arusha District, Tanzania (2009)
IIUD is providing technical assistance to the Arusha regional, district and municipal authorities to generate an urbanization strategy and a metropolitan development plan to guide the city’s accelerated expansion. Arusha has been designated as the capital of the East African Community and has been chosen as the site of the new Aga Khan University (AKU) East Africa Campus. It is also located at the junction of two segments of trans-African development corridors, which account for its 4% annual growth rate. Phase 1 of the project, sponsored by the AKU, was completed in March 2010.
Over the course of seven visits to Arusha in the last year, the IIUD team has worked closely with the Regional Commissioner, local officials and council members to identify opportunities and constraints for growth. The team instituted a participatory planning process and met with all key stakeholders including regional, district and municipal officials; elected representatives to parliament and local councils, ward development committees and village councils. The team also held working sessions with the managers of the Arusha Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (AUWSA), the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO), and the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS). Plans and projects were assessed and agreement on priorities has been highlighted in several reports.
Throughout this process, the IIUD team has interacted with the AKU-EA facilities planning team as the project sponsor and a key stakeholder in Arusha. To make up for the lack of maps, IKONOS satellite images were acquired covering the entire study area. For the first time, officials could see the extent of development within the municipal boundaries and the spread of informal settlements around the city. The aerial images as well as the new maps generated from them have been critical in helping local planning officials understand growth patterns and issues arising from accelerated urbanization.
The Regional Commissioner established a task force to work with IIUD on this project in August 2009. This is the first time that an interdepartmental senior official group from the three levels of local governance (regional, district, and municipality) has been assembled in Arusha. The working sessions are being regularly held with the task force to discuss the opportunities and constraints on development in Arusha and setting the priorities underpinning the action plan.
In the coming months, the IIUD team will work with the task force on a development plan and action program for the northwest sector. Study team: Mona Seregeldin, Richard Kruger, Biorn Maybury-Lewis, Natalie Pohlman, Caroline Jordi, Daniel Tsai, Christa Lee-Chuvala and Kendra Leith.
(Mona Serageldin, Alejandra Mortarini, Biorn Maybury-Lewis, Christa Lee-Chuvala, Natalie Pohlman, Kendra Leith)
Technical assistance to Sedibeng District Municipality, South Africa (2009)
From March to August 2009, IIUD worked with KV3 engineers in South Africa to provide technical assistance to the Sedibeng District Municipality and the Local Municipality of Emfuleni, about one hour outside of Pretoria, to prepare plans to integrate and upgrade three to four established townships in the area housing a large number of low-income residents. Key elements of this project include:
- Identifying and designing corridors and hubs for economic, social, and government activities;
- Creating plans for upgrading of roads and pedestrian areas;
- Formulating open space plans;
- Developing a strategy to preserve and valorize local historic sites; and
- Creating an environmental management plan.
IIUD also engaged community residents in all aspects of the project by conducting meetings with key stakeholders, including community leaders, business owners, ward committees and local groups active in the townships. Stakeholders’ viewpoints were instrumental in the formulation of the neighborhood development strategies. Mona Serageldin, Alejandra Mortarini and Christa Lee-Chuvala traveled to South Africa at the start of the project in March 2009 to visit the sites, begin to work with the local team and hold community meetings.
(Mona Serageldin, Christa Lee-Chuvala, Alejandra Mortarini)
Mauritania National Urban Development Strategy
(The World Bank, 2000-2001)
Technical assistance for Mauritania involved the development of a national urban development strategy and an action plan to operationalize the major policy recommendations, including economic development strategies and action plans for the three largest cities (
