Group Members: PIA: Urban Assistance Client: Cities Alliance Silvana G. Barboni Allison Castaldi Louise M. Daniels Allie Esslinger Mark Farrell-Javits Daniel Liswood Cinthya Marquez Marc Mousky
Global coalition of cities and their development partners Launched May 1999 by the World Bank and UN-Habitat to: improve quality of urban development cooperation and urban lending to strengthen impact expand resources reaching the urban poor increasing coherence of existing programs scale-up successful approaches
Members 18 National Governments City governments Multilateral Organizations: Asian Development Bank, European Union, UNEP, UN-HABITAT and the World Bank Slum Dwellers International (SDI) Funding Over $110 million to date, linked to over $8 billion Provides matching grants in support of two main strategies: Slum Upgrading (SU) City Development Strategies (CDS)
Slum Upgrading (SU) Citywide and nationwide upgrading of low-income settlements to improve the livelihoods of the urban poor Physical, social, economic, organizational and environmental improvements Multiple, simultaneously integrated projects rather than onesector interventions
City Development Strategies (CDS) Action-plan for equitable urban growth Partnership of multiple stakeholders Objective assessment of city s situation Limited number of customized actions Themes: Livelihood Environmental sustainability Spatial form and infrastructure Financial resources Governance
Need/ Rationale for Project Over half the world s population lives in cities: 3.3 billion By 2030 5 billion 43% of world s urban population lives in slums: 1.4 billion 1 of out 6 people on earth lives in a slum 120,000 new arrivals to urban areas in the developing world every day
Need/ Rationale for Project Failure to adequately address worsening global urban poverty Lack of long term evaluation of urban upgrading programs Knowledge & advocacy challenge: Availability and dissemination of data and best practices
Need/ Rationale for Project Lack of involvement of universities and their resources Too much focus on western standards and design Insufficient attention to urban realities: inequality informal settlements
Purpose Support Cities Alliance objectives: Slum Upgrading and CDS Scaling-up and systemic change: From retail to wholesale Improve urban practice: start capacity building at university level Tap into the comparative advantage of academic and research institutions
Purpose Curriculum formation: influence way people are trained to think and work on urban problems Increase scope and dissemination of urban knowledge Impact analysis and a resulting influence of urban policy Assist under-resourced cities in implementing appropriate policies
Process: From Network to Initiative Initial technical note presented to Cities Alliance (pre-pia) NURAD- Network for Urban Research Action and Development February 13: Billy Cobbett comes to GPIA Generate proposal and presentation NURAD Headquarters, GPIA room 609; Ingrid Rosario
NURAD Goes to Washington
and Returns as UURI: the University Urban Research Initiative March 6: Meeting at Cities Alliance headquarters New course: Initiative to advance Cities Alliance goals UURI is born Draft revised Technical Note The process continues UURI Headquarters, GPIA room 609; Ingrid Rosario
What is UURI? UNIVERSITY URBAN RESEARCH INITIATIVE Objectives: Strengthen assessments of past and current Cities Alliance work Promote applied research Disseminate knowledge products Build capacity among urban actors
How Does UURI Work? by building relationships between universities and other urban actors Modalities: Small Grants Innovative Website Advisory Group
What Will UURI Produce? Deliverables: Assessment of Cities Alliance project portfolios Slum Upgrading City Development Strategies (CDS) City Profiles Improvement, adaptation, and creation of new knowledge products
Slum Upgrading Initiatives Cities Alliance s Slum Upgrading Assessments are used to: Inform Policy Contribute to Adaptation and Replication of Best Practices Promote Systemic Change Facilitate Scaling Up
Slum Upgrading Initiatives Assessment Priorities Housing Policies and Land Tenure Regularization Policy Frameworks for Upgrading: Collaborative Approach Participatory Model Capacity Building Financial Sustainability of Projects Local Financing Mechanisms
Slum Upgrading Initiatives Knowledge Gaps Long-term Impact of Upgrading Practices Impact of Affordability by Households Effects of Resettlement Employment Environment Project Preconditions for a Successful Intervention Nature and Modality of Systemic Change
Slum Upgrading Initiatives UURI s Contributions Universities Dual Role: Research and Develop Knowledge SU Assessments Needs Assessments Mapping Data Collection Build Capacity Among Local Institutions and Local Actors Identify Key Players Provide Training Promote Community Involvement
City Development Strategies Cities Alliance has awarded 100 CDS matching grants since 1999.
City Development Strategies Weaknesses of Previous CDS programs A High-Quality CDS Consistent Challenging Successful Measurable Adaptable Priorities Reflected in Actions Superficial and/or limited interaction among CA members Failure to encourage domestic investment: --Capital --Resources Neglect of environmental considerations in CDS Programs Failure to meet urban poverty goals
City Development Strategies: The UURI Way UURI Offers: Assessment of the impacts of strategies Simultaneous research and evaluation Dissemination of information via the Initiative
City Profiles A easily navigable, user friendly, coherent and cohesive online city database Providing an arena for the comparison and analysis of cities
City Profiles: The Need Several databases compile information at the country, regional and global levels: UN Data (http://data.un.org/) World Bank Statistics Some have tried: Global Urban Observatory (UN Habitat) Urban-age (London School of Economics) No cohesive, searchable, up-to-date, online city database exists!
City Profiles: The Look Examines various indicators over several time periods Indicators: Demographic/Social (population, health, slum data, etc.) Economic (Performance, Poverty, Inequality) Physical/Built Environment (Infrastructure, housing, spatial) Environment Governance
Knowledge Products Shared Knowledge Products 65 listed knowledge products 11 available in second language 20 Cities Alliance products, 45 shared resources from Cities Alliance collaborators (16 are PowerPoints) Regions of focus: Africa (10), Asia (7) and Latin America (6).
Knowledge Products Areas for Improvement Dissemination Accessibility Local capacity building Documentation Horizontal learning Consultancy required Community engagement
Knowledge Products UURI Objectives: The UURI Way. Out of the office and into use Increase classroom use Increase accessibility Increase municipal and general use Improve the quantity and quality of urban indicators Perform monitoring and evaluation of Cities Alliance projects Generate new knowledge products Increase local and UURI capacities
Projections (Marseille & Beyond)
Phase 1: January 2010 December 2012 Commence urban capacity building locally Expansion of the initiative and decentralization Website and database expansion Development of new support materials Monitoring Grants awards and evaluation (6 month intervals) Annual Global Meeting The development of Phase 2
Challenges and Lessons Q & A