UN-Habitat 2018-2020: Promote Sustainable cities

 Urban Planning: (Support to the preparation of Bahir Dar Structural plan, and Technical support to the Addis Ababa city) The integrated urban planning involves the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction (MUDCo) and the cities (Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa) that are  concerned by the industrial parks’ initiative. Planned urban growth driven by industrialization processes responds to the increased demand for improved livelihood through adequate housing and basic services. In terms of livelihood, an integrated urban/metropolitan planning can ensure the sustainability of the cities, especially in terms of design of the built-up area, housing needs and basic services, connectivity including sustainable transport, and efficiency, reduction of risks and environmental resiliency. Urban planning is ensuring green legacy through appropriate provision of open green public space, and response to environmental risks. For example, because of UN-Habitat support to the Bahir Dar city, the city is able to properly demarcate between the built up and preserved areas as well as the identification of public spaces (to be used for the green legacy) which in turn helps the city to better guide its future development (which includes Job creation)  without affecting the ecosystem particularly the lake and the wet land. In Addis Ababa City Administration the design guideline of the Sheger project, prepared by the UN-habitat, directly supports the green legacy.  The design guidelines emphasize the well-designed managed and used urban waterfronts for  improving urban environment, public health, ensure appropriate river buffer zone management alongside the river but also offer opportunities for job creation and income generating activities linked to urban green areas. Solid Waste Management The technical support on Solid Waste Management (SWM) to Bahir Dar city  regarding landfill sites is directly supporting improved livelihood and job creation (people engaged in the rehabilitation of the land fill site). Proper management of waste is important for safeguarding public health, protecting the environment, enhancing economic activities including promotion of circular economy and other economic activities using waste as resource. UN-Habitat is closely working with the city administration on initiating possible strategies of converting the waste to composts which could be used as fertilizers for the trees planted through the green legacy initiative. This process will create jobs through engaging organized youths in composting the waste and feeding into the trees planted to be planted.  The city administration is striving for solutions through developing modern waste management systems and construction of sanitary landfills. CityRap The City Resilience tool is supporting local administrations to identify vulnerable neighborhoods of the sub-city were selected as priority areas to strengthen resilience. The project is employing the leadership of the cities (Addis Ababa, Adama and Dire Dawa) to analyze the vulnerability assessment questionnaire provided by different department offices of the city administrations and participatory risk mapping with communities living in the selected  vulnerable neighborhoods. Through the participatory processes the government staff collectively selected key issues that need to be addressed for building the city’s resilience. Participants identified priority issues that are key to address for the resilience of cities in areas of job creation and green legacy, such as: job creation, informal settlements, roads and drainage, basic services, solid waste disposal site, public health and sanitation, environmental protection, water services, disaster risk preparedness. Participants also proposed solutions for each issue that they identified. Further development of the cities Resilience Framework for Action (RFA) based on the inputs from the review workshop is in progress.   The achieved major resluts are summarized under four areas of support  i) Capacity building for city leaders, ii) technical support for integrated urban and regional planning; iii) implementation of the City Resilience Action Planning (CityRAP) Tool iv) technical support to solid waste management and implementation of community level pilot project and v) institutional coordination in the urban sector. The achievement of the program in the areas of livelihood, job creation and green legacy to are as it follows: Capacity Building training for City Leaders: Focusing of the thematic areas such as urban governance, urban planning, land management, affordable housing and municipal finance, which are identified through a thorough training need assessment, the city leaders training enhances the capacity of the local leaders to take an informed decision to make the development of their respective cities sustainable, resilient, inclusive and livable. Cities led by informed actions are better off in improving livelihoods, creating jobs and promoting green legacy. Regional Planning (in the making) The Regional planning is working to improve the institutional capacity in urban policies and spatial development plans for balancing growth between Addis Ababa, the secondary cities and the identified urban/agro-industrial clusters and contribute to wealth re-distribution and sustainable spatial development of the country. The policies and plans create a functional rural-urban and urban-urban integrations and complementarities promoting an overall socio-economic development in the region including improved livelihood opportunities and job creation in urban centers that further support corridor and regional development. Similarly, the regional planning pays keen attention to natural resources including green legacy, particularly in areas that are protected, provide ecosystem services or climate resilience for communities.

The proposed intervention aims to improve the state of Ethiopian cities and thereby the urban livelihood by supporting the Government of Ethiopia in implementing the urban component of GTP II in alignment with the SDG 11 and the New Urban Agenda, as part of the UN-Habitat Country Programme for Ethiopia 2016-2020. Moreover, the project specifically assist the selected cities of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Adama, Dire Dawa, Hawassa and Mekele) and some regions (Amhara, SNNP and Tigray) in being better planned, more economically productive and sustainable, socially inclusive and environmentally resilient, taking maximum advantage of the on-going development of industrial parks. At the end the intervention the following major results will be achieved; Result 1: City leadership skills are reinforced to enable mayors and city managers to better face the daily challenges of rapid urbanization in their respective cities and towns Result 2: Cities concerned by the development of industrial parks such as Addis Ababa, Hawassa and Mekele, and the SNNP regional state, are able to proactively manage the urban development effects of these parks by enhancing integrated urban/metropolitan planning. Result 3: Municipal staff, communities and local stakeholders of Addis Ababa, Adama and Dire Dawa better understand human-induced and environmental risks and have identified priority actions for building urban resilience. Result 4: Coordination among urban agenda implementing partners in Ethiopia is enhanced. In general, the objective is clearly stated and found to be realistic in addressing urban challenges in the face of expansion of the industrial parks.