I2UD Builds on Local Partnerships to Foster Resilience in Arusha

The Institute focuses on building long-lasting local partnerships and connections with the municipalities, universities, and community organizations where we work. Our work in Arusha exemplifies this approach, as we began working in 2009 with local authorities to generate an urban management strategy and a development plan to guide the region’s rapid growth.

Sponsored by the Aga Khan University-East Africa Campus (AKU-EA), I2UD worked closely with the Regional Commissioner, the district commissioners, local officials, council members, ward development committees and managers of the water, sewerage, electricity and transport authorities to prepare a metropolitan urbanization strategy and a development plan for strategic sites including project proposals. The accomplishments of this project include:

• A task force was established by the Regional Commissioner to work with I2UD on this project. This was the first time that an interdepartmental senior official group from the three levels of government (regional, district, and municipality) had been assembled in Arusha.
• With satellite images of the city purchased by AKU-EA, officials could assess for the first time the extent of development within the municipal boundaries and the spread of informal settlements in and around the city. These images and the plans generated by I2UD have helped local planning officials visualize growth patterns and tackle issues arising from accelerated urbanization.
• I2UD initiated 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.

Through five years of work in Arusha, these local partnerships have led to I2UD’s particular focus on building community resilience. This includes our current work with the Maasai Women’s Development Organization (MWEDO) organizing Urban Resilience Forums to be held in January 2014 focused on engaging both local authorities and community members in the development of strategies to build community resilience.

We are happy to congratulate Arusha on joining the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Network. Our long history working in Arusha has allowed for I2UD staff to build a deep understanding of the issues and needs of different stakeholders and utilize this knowledge and experience to strengthen the city’s ability to adapt to both chronic stresses including drought water shortages, aging infrastructure and high unemployment as well as acute shocks such as flooding, terrorism, and disease outbreak. We look forward to continuing our work with our partners in Arusha on building their city’s resiliency in the upcoming years and witnessing the proposals becoming a reality.