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Dear Reader,
Our latest CDS newsletter covers 2 topics:
1. Mentoring Activities of CityFuture.
2. Commission on Strategic Urban Planning
1. Mentoring
In the spirit of Each One Teach One, cities support each other by identifying needs, opportunities and steps to set up a local CDS processes. It is crucial that cities, association and institutions who have valuable development experience share these lessons with their regional and global counterparts. The CityFuture Mentorship enables cities and association to find advice and partners inside the UCLG network. UCLG supports mentor-cities to share their urban planning experiences and provide hands on advice to cities who are seeking to implement CDS. In the final phase of CityFuture cities and associations now prepare their CDS proposals and count on strong direct support from partners in the regions.
The mentor cities, Rosario, Johannesburg and Durban not only draw from rich knowledge, but also demonstrated strong commitment to enrich the regional and global cooperation processes.
Lilongwe – Johannesburg
Johannesburg is assisting Lilongwe in its effort to prepare a City Development Strategy. The cities have initiated a cooperation including technical advice and personnel exchange, already resulting in the capacity development and a tight city partnership. Johannesburg’s experiences with legal planning frameworks and with technical planning work can serve as a role model for development in Malawi. The enabling environment is crucial for the success of local initiatives, therefore Lilongwe not only will advance its internal planning capacity, but also to influence the national planning legislation.. Local Governments are to increase coordination by proposing local strategies and public policies that unlock the process of decentralization. The Local Government Association of Malawi (MALGA) intends to build on the Lilongwe initiative and raise the experiences with the CDS methodology to the national level. Johannesburg and the South African LG Association help to facilitate a positive working relationship in this regard. The request of Lilongwe has already been approved and the grant is ready to be reimbursed.
Rosario – Ciudad Sur
In Latin America, similar processes have started. Cooperative events have brought about mutual exchange for strengthening urban strategic planning, with significant positive impacts on the capacity of local governments to understand and plan their common development issues. Ciudad Sur received valuable input and first hand practical experiences on initiating strategic planning. political legitimization and transparent management. Rosario itself has a reputable track record of implementing strategic plans and Ciudad Sur highly profited from the shared lessons. As part of the proposal, they are likely to intensify the exchange.
New processes are emerging at the moment; the Local Government Associations in Namibia (ALAN) receives mentorship by the LG associations of Canada (FCM), Kenya (ALGAK) and South Africa (SALGA), and in addition also by the city of Durban. During the Windhoek workshop in June, the already existing “sistership” of ALAN and SALGA was refreshed by supporting their advocacy processes, and concrete in-house training was envisaged. Regarding the proposal to Cities Alliance, small municipalities of Namibia want to take the lead in bringing more innovation to the evolving city development sector in the region. The cities’ main concerns are employment opportunities. Tailored advice by the city of Durban will enable to set lessons into context. The mentorship of Durban is envisaged to continue in form of punctual nationwide capacity buildings.
The National Association of Municipalities of Mozambique is our most recent participant and intends first to lead a pilot experience in Nampula towards a countrywide CDS proposal for developing an analytic state of the cities report for all 27 major urban areas in the country.
The lessons of the CityFuture mentoring activities demonstrate that south-south, peer-to-peer learning and cooperation can be extremely and mutually effective. Direct city partnerships help to address common regional problems and capitalize on common regional potentials. Such cooperation needs to be more accessible to cities in the south. UCLG continuosly promotes these experiences to cities and their development partners in order to strengthen a sustainable cooperation culture. Villa El Salvador and Sao Paolo are likely the next powerful city partnership.
2. Commission on Strategic Urban Planning
The commission is welcoming its new members; The European Association of Mediterranean Cities (MEDCITIES), the City of Durango (Mexico) and Cologne (Germany). We would like to take this opportunity and introduce the Member, MEDCITES:
MEDCITIES is a network with a clear focus on sustainable urban development and environment. The Mediterranean city network mobilizes decentralized co-operation between its members and strengthens the exchange and impact of CDS work. MEDCITIES is also a contact point for the commission with its member cities Sfax, Barcelona, Rome, Marseilles, Lyon, Aleppo, Larnaka, Limassol and Tangier. Some are already engaged in CDS cooperation, like Tripoli, Sfax, Aleppo, Barcelona, Rome and Marseilles, while others intend start CDS processes soon. The network has also been active in channeling support to local processes from international Partners, such as Cities Alliance, World Bank, UNDP, UNEP and AFD.
Medcities is planning to enhance the commissions’ policy dialogu through a Mediterranean event on CDS to promote and deepen cooperation between cities and international development institutions where members of the commission will be invited. Medcities encourages the commission to focus on state-of-the-art discussions on territorial economy and spatial development, themes also focused by the 2009 World Development Report.
Your UCLG CDS Team
