Today, Research Affiliate Maja Horvat presented the findings from an I2UD research project on the Croatian response to the European Refugee Crisis today at the conference “Camp, Train Station, Border: Microstudies of Refugees in Contemporary Croatian Context” in Zagreb, Croatia. This conference is organized by the Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Citizenship and Migration (CEDIM), the Center for Peace Studies (CMS), the Welcome Initiative & the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research. Ms. Horvat presented on the research project was carried out by I2UD from January to May 2016 with generous support from International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) focusing on local authorities’ and communities’ involvement in the crisis. If you’re in Zagreb, you can still catch a discussion of comparative politics of integration tomorrow from 11:00 – 13:00. The conference program and abstracts of each speaker are available at the link to the left.

The I2UD team, composed of Maja Horvat, Maren Larsen, and Elma Demir explored the actual and potential role of municipalities and urban areas in the response to the refugee crisis in Croatia in light of increasing interest among humanitarian practitioners to collaborate with local authorities to enhance effective assistance. A full working paper will be published this summer and explore concepts such as de-localizing the crisis through centralized response and de-territorializing response through the establishment of transit centers. While local authorities were relatively marginal actors in the Croatian response, the authors outline the greater role that they can play as Croatia begins to resettle asylum seekers and refugees transferred to the country.

Ban Jelačić Square, Zagreb

I2UD is in Zagreb, Croatia this week, conducting interviews with different local and humanitarian actors as part of a research grant from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to assess the role of local authorities and communities in managing the transit refugee situation, which began in Croatia on September 16th, 2015.

In the second half of the week, the I2UD team will be visiting several municipalities in Eastern Croatian near the border with Serbia, as well as the site of the Winter Reception and Transit Centre (which is being dismantled this week) in the City of Slavonski Brod. Coverage of what is being referred to in many circles as “Europe’s refugee crisis” has tended to focus on conditions in countries of entry (namely Greece) or in destination countries (such as Germany). I2UD’s research seeks to elaborate the specific needs of refugees in transit and how Croatian authorities, international and local humanitarian organizations, and the early affected communities assessed and met those needs through effective coordination and cooperation.

The report describing findings from this field research will be published by IIED this coming summer. The project team includes Research Associate Maren Larsen and regional Research Affiliates Maja Horvat and Elma Demir in cooperation with the local NGO Center for Peace Studies.

The dam section of Cañaveralejo River which regularly floods, is used as a recreational space by the residents from the adjacent informal settlements

Santiago de Cali, “Cali”, is the third largest city in Colombia and is located in the Cauca Valley in the south of the country. Cali is crossed by several rivers, including the Cañaveralejo River, which descends from the Farallones Mountains and empties into the Cauca River. The river flows through a range of neighborhoods, from informal settlements at the base of the mountains to middle income residential areas and higher income gated communities, sport facilities and stadiums. During periods of heavy rainfall, the Cañaveralejo River overflows its banks, flooding adjacent housing and disrupting local businesses. The city has attempted to reduce flooding by canalizing several sections of the river. A dam was also previously constructed with a flood gate to control the flow of water, but overtime the flood gate has been taken apart by residents.

Community members map vulnerable areas along the Cañaveralejo River

Senior Fellow Jim Kostaras and Research Associate Barbara Summers traveled to Cali last week to undertake a site assessment, and participate in a community workshop and forum introducing green infrastructure and land value capture mechanisms. The workshop brought together community leaders for an initial discussion and mapping of vulnerable areas along the Cañaveralejo River including areas that regularly flood, illegal solid waste dump sites and areas contaminated by household wastewater, as well as areas of encroachment by informal housing along the river banks. After an introduction to some examples of green infrastructure and their benefits, the workshop participants also mapped potential inventions along the study area. The week concluded with a forum including a panel made up of local experts and the I2UD team to introduce the local context and examples of land value capture instruments to an audience of local officials, representatives from local NGO’s, community members, and students.

In the coming months several additional workshops will be held to identify and design interventions with the community in the Cañaveralejo River corridor to reduce the impacts of flooding as well as create recreational and green spaces for the community. The project team will also assess the multiple benefits of green infrastructure projects including risk reduction and evaluate land value capture as a potential finance source stemming from these benefits.

For an in depth graphic of the project please click here:LILP poster press quality

Under the leadership of Vice President Mona Serageldin, I2UD has been working with UN-ESCWA* and UN-Habitat ROAS** to prepare the Habitat III Regional Report for Arab States. This report reviews and takes stock of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda since Habitat II in 1996 and identifies new issues affecting sustainable urban development in 22 countries in the region.

Last week, Mona Serageldin and Maren Larsen travelled to Cairo to present a draft version of the report and received valuable inputs from invited experts. The Habitat III Regional Report for Arab States seeks to inform the preparation of the outcome document to be endorsed by member states at the conference in October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador.

I2UD has also contributed to the preparation of the Habitat III National Urban Policy Unit’s review of NUPs in Arab States and facilitated a Habitat III Youth Consultation at Boston University in November 2015.

*Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

** Regional Office for Arab States

The Institute’s ability to carry forth it’s mission of promoting sustainable and inclusive urban development depends in large part on the generous donations of our Board of Directors, friends, and supporters. These gifts enable the Institute to support urban planning practices in cities and communities seeking to reduce poverty and ensure access to basic services for all. The Institute delivers this support through direct technical assistance in urban and regional planning, as well as capacity building and training modules to enable municipal staff and citizens to plan for their own development. Our work in the last ten years has had an impact in cities in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the island of Ireland.

Shopping through Amazon Smile this holiday season and selecting the Institute as your preferred charity helps us to continue to produce high quality inputs to global publications, most recently contributing to such publications as the IOM’s 2015 World Migration Report and the World Bank’s Inclusive Cities Approach Paper. Gifts also supplement grant-funded independent research, such as an investigation of climate change adaptation strategies for informal settlements in Latin America recently published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Spanish.

We thank you in advance for thinking of I2UD this holiday season and supporting sustainable urban and regional planning practices and research.

Photos by Mona Serageldin in Lublin Poland, 2004 (left) and Arusha, Tanzania, 2013 (right).

Historic District of Santo Domingo

The escalating incidence and severity of climate change related events is increasingly affecting cities and their residents, particularly the urban poor. Rapidly growing cities are often overwhelmed by the process of providing basic services and can neglect the long-term impacts of climate change. Responses tend to be remedial when emergencies arise rather than part of a strategic approach to prevent, resist, accommodate, and recover from shocks. Given these changes and challenges, I2UD’s work has increasingly focused on building the capacity of local authorities to plan for and adapt to climate change. One of our most recent and dynamic projects is our work with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) as a Resource Partner in the Planning for Climate Change Adaptation (CLIMA-Plan) program as part of the larger USAID-funded Dominican Republic Urban Resilience Climate Change Program.

The Dominican Republic is considered one of the ten most vulnerable countries to climate change, particularly due to its location in the hurricane belt. During the hurricane season, storms cause flooding, soil erosion, and landslides. Coastal cities and the country’s tourism industry face threats from rising sea levels and the continued loss of coral reefs, mangroves, and wetlands that protect the beaches from storm surges.

Stakeholder Mapping Session in Las Terrenas

The four year CLIMA–Plan program involves initially working with four municipalities (Santo Domingo National District, Santiago de los Caballeros, San Pedro de Macoris and Las Terrenas) to create a municipal-level land use planning process that incorporates climate change adaptation strategies and public input. The project will result in integrated land use and climate change adaptation plans for eight municipalities. The three key objectives of the project are to improve the technical and management capacity of municipal planners, incorporate climate change adaptation considerations into the municipal planning process, and support the scaling-up of climate resilient land use planning best practices to other municipalities in the Dominican Republic.

In October, Senior Research Affiliate, Oriol Monfort traveled to the Dominican Republic on a preliminary mission to meet with the local ICMA team, hold meetings and interviews with the project team and stakeholders to develop an understanding of the operational deployment of the program, and conduct site visits in Santo Domingo National District and the Municipality of Las Terrenas. As a Resource Partner in the Planning for Climate Change Adaptation Program, I2UD’s work will focus on:

• Advising on methods on raising awareness and increasing community participation in the planning process;
• Providing strategies for the engagement of the private sector in land use planning and climate change adaptation;
• Facilitating an exchange between municipal officials in Boston and the Dominican Republic; and
• Developing a case study on how a community based NGO in East Boston that is working with residents and the City of Boston to increase the neighborhood’s resiliency to potential climate events.

Partners from NALED review the Agenda for the workshop held from October 13th - 16th in Tirana

I2UD’s work in urban and regional planning is underpinned by a commitment to development that is accountable and responsive to the needs of citizens, including the most vulnerable populations. Fostering citizen engagement and establishing two-way dialogue with communities is critical to ensuring the sustainability of urban areas. In South Eastern Europe, accountable local governance and citizen-informed policy making in cities has the potential to transform the urban environment and increase the quality of life in a region of the world that continues to reconcile complex political and economic transformations.

Under the World Bank – Austria Urban Partnership Program (UPP), I2UD is working with longtime friends and partners Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development to deal specifically with these issues through the Social Sustainability and Citizen Engagement (SSCE) Project. The project, which lasts until December 2016, had its first Technical Workshop last week, bringing together the Co-PLAN/I2UD consortium, the World Bank team, and Local City Teams from across South East Europe to discuss methodologies and activities to be carried out through the project cycle. The activities of the project range from comprehensive research to determine levels of vulnerability, opportunities for citizen engagement, and transparency of local government to the formulation of “Action Plans” to improve social sustainability at a municipal level by leveraging ICT.

Participants at the Technical Workshop are introduced to partners from MANS

The workshop was hosted by Co-PLAN at Polis University in Tirana, Albania and moderated by Co-PLAN Project Manager Aida Ciro and I2UD Research Associate Maren Larsen. The SSCE project builds off of the first phase of the Urban Partnership Program’s Social Sustainability Audit, which I2UD and Co-PLAN undertook in collaboration with the Coalition for Sustainable Development (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Archis Interventions Prishtina (Kosovo), and the U.S. Alumni Association in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The consortium looks forward to continuing Phase II with colleagues from these organizations and expanding the regional scope and partnership to include Citizens Organization to Oversee Voting (GONG) in Croatia, the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) in Serbia, the Network for the Affirmation of the NGO Sector (MANS) in Montenegro, and the newly established Association for Research and Social Innovation (ADT) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The city of Arusha lies at the base of Mount Meru, a dormant volcano

The resiliency of an urban area relies on a complex web of factors – from institutions and processes, to infrastructure and livelihoods – that prepare citizens to survive and thrive through a myriad of shocks and stresses (natural, economic, or otherwise). Defining, understanding, measuring, and building resiliency has become a popular development approach in urban areas and a priority topic for I2UD. Last month, Research Associate Barbara Summers worked with partners from Arup to pilot a comprehensive and innovative framework to increase resiliency in Arusha – a rapidly growing African city in northeastern Tanzania.

The team spent three weeks in Arusha piloting the City Resilience Index (CRI). Arusha is one of five cities to participate in the CRI pilot program to test the feasibility and utility of the Index in different contexts around the world. The City Resilience Index (CRI) is being developed by Arup’s International Development non-profit branch with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. It builds on extensive research undertaken to establish an accessible, evidence-based definition of urban resilience, which has culminated in the publication of the City Resilience Framework (CRF). The City Resilience Index operationalizes this Framework by providing the means to measure and assess to what extent a city is achieving its resilience goals. Arusha is the first city in Africa to complete a comprehensive resilience assessment using the CRI at the city-scale.

I2UD and Arup worked with local authorities to assemble a task force that collected important information related to the four dimensions of resilience: health and well-being; economy and society; infrastructure and environment; and leadership and strategy. Some of the initial findings of the Arusha CRI pilot are highlighted below:

The Arusha Municipal Fire Department showcases one of the city's two trucks

• There is a robust awareness of urban resilience, as well as, the shocks and stresses facing the city across a wide variety of disciplines and departments in Arusha City and Region;
• The inability of utility systems and services to keep up with rapid growth challenges the city’s ability to provide water, sanitation, electricity, education, and health services to residents, particularly those in peri-urban areas;
• Disaster management and emergency planning services are primarily reactionary rather than preventative;
• There is a strong sense of community, including well-established community groups that support community security and assist in providing finance to small-scale entrepreneurs;
• Policies exist to protect the natural environment and control development, though there is little enforcement or acknowledgement of these regulations; and
• Budgetary constraints limit the capacity of the local government to implement resilience building projects, particularly when there are unforeseen issues, such as compensation for landowners to construct roads and infrastructure.

The information collected through the CRI pilot provides a baseline for understanding the current state of resilience in Arusha and will serve as a starting point as the city embarks upon developing a strategic urban resilience plan as part of its participation in the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) network. Arusha was selected in the second round for the 100 Resilient Cities network in December 2014 and recently held an Agenda Setting Workshop to officially launch the program. The outputs of the CRI pilot will also be incorporated into a master plan, which is currently being completed by a Singaporean firm selected by the Ministry of Lands. The assessment can be repeated over time to understand and measure the progress being made to improve the resilience of Arusha.

This work builds on over five years of I2UD engagement and partnership in Arusha, including organizing an Urban Resilience Forum in February 2015, providing technical assistance to the city as they prepared their application to the 100 Resilient Cities network, and preparing a participatory Urbanization Strategy and Urban Development Plan with Arusha from 2009-2013, sponsored by the Aga Khan University.

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