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“Integrated Development Plan in Support of the Socio-Economic Integration of Former Burundian Refugees in Tanzania,” Technical Assistance, 2015

Abstract

This World Bank-funded initiative assessed socio-economic investments, land regularization, and community engagement activities to facilitate the local integration of Burundian refugees in Tanzania. In 2014, the President announced that long-term refugees would be granted Tanzanian citizenship, becoming “New Tanzanians.” Many have lived in different settlements in two regions since 1972. As newly naturalized citizens, they gained rights such as land ownership and political participation, and local authorities needed to integrate these settlements into the governance framework.

The process and product of this assessment are based on the active engagement of the villages, districts, regions, and civil society, with the consultants acting as facilitators. The report: (1) provides a methodology to undertake a participatory and rapid spatial and technical planning assessment to identify priority socioeconomic investments; (2) determines how these priorities should be sequenced and integrated into existing development planning structures and processes.

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Project Year:2015
Project Type:Technical Assistance
Geographic Regions:Tanzania
Reports:Integrated Development Plan in Support of the Socio-Economic Integration of Former Burundian Refugees in Tanzania (November 2015)
Authors:Maureen Moriarty-Lempke; John Driscoll
Sponsors:World Bank
Categories:Urban Finance
  
ID:2015_11_001

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“Belize Municipal Development Plan,” Urban Growth Plans, 2012-2014

Abstract

Between 2012-2014, the I2UD team worked to improve the urban planning capacity of Belize, by developing Municipal Development Plans (MDPs) for seven municipal governments: Corozal, Orange Walk, Benque Viejo, San Ignacio & Santa Elena, Belmopan, Dangriga, and Punta Gorda. The project was sponsored by the World Bank and the Belize Social Investment Fund.

The method of the project was based on the 2015 UN-Habitat Cities and Climate Change Initiative: Planning for Climate Change Toolkit. I2UD’s contributions outlined baseline social and economic data, used to generate cadastral and land utilization databases. The plans supported building urban planning skills among local authorities to upkeep infrastructure development plans over time, with examples from economic capital improvement programs. Key goals included:

  • To Develop comprehensive municipal development plans to improve land use planning and livability within their territories;
  • To Identify strategies that promote the development of local economic activities;
  • To Improve local revenue generation to finance public improvements through an efficient collection of locally based fees and taxes;
  • To Improve the efficiency of local financial management; and
  • To Engage the participation of stakeholders and community groups to ensure that proposed plans and investments targeted priority needs.

Documents include expression of interest, inception reports, strategy reports, workshops and presentations, progress reports, and guidance manual reports from 2012 through 2014.

Project Year:2012-2014
Project Type:Comprehensive Plans
Geographic Regions:Belize
Reports:

Supporting Documents:

Templates:

First, Second, and Third National Workshops:

Progress Reports:
Authors:Marion Cayetano; Lucien Chung; John Driscoll; David Dunbar; James Kostaras; Maren Larsen; Borja Lopez; John McGill; Jan Meerman; Ian Morrison; Juan Pablo Bocarejo; Mona Serageldin; Linda Shi; Elda Solloso; François Vigier
Sponsors:World Bank; Social Investment Fund (Belize)
Categories:Urban Planning; Urban Finance; Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2012_10_003

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“Municipal Finance of Urban Development,” Background Report for UN-Habitat Global Report on Human Settlements, 2005

Abstract

In 2005, staff at the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design prepared a research background paper, titled “Global Report on Human Settlements: Financing Shelter and Urban Development,” for the UN-Habitat Global Report on Human Settlements for 2005, Financing Urban Shelter.

The report emphasized new approaches developed by emerging economies and poorer countries, where challenges are the greatest and resource constraints are most acute. The chapter discussed the wide range of problems that faced municipal authorities in financing urban development—based on extensive research and a review of more than 40 case studies—as community leaders responded to the challenges of major shifts in their economic base resulting from falling trade barriers and a globalizing economy. Case studies document sources of municipal revenues, the evolution of spending patterns as result of decentralization, and the impact of privatization of public services.


[Excerpt]: INTRODUCTION: This report was prepared as a background paper for the UN-Habitat Global Report 2005: Financing Urban Shelter and a summary was included as Chapter 3 of the Global Report under the title: “Municipal Finance: Conditions and Trends.

“It addresses the wide range of problems that face municipal authorities in financing urban development as they respond to the challenges of major shifts in their economic base resulting from falling trade barriers and a globalizing economy. Concurrently in, the devolution of administrative and financial responsibility from central governments has forced them to finance a growing proportion of their recurring and capital expenditures at a time when, in most countries, migrants constitute a growing proportion of their population. Local authorities have had to: (1) enhance their economic competitiveness; (2) meet the demands for public services; (3) expand and diversify the local tax base; and (4) generate funding for capital investments.

“Municipalities are but one actor in the financing of urban development, but in many ways they are the pivotal one because of their statutory powers and their ability to act on all sectors in a defined geographic space. Households and private enterprises are the developers and builders of urban communities and the owners and operators of economic activities. But unless the municipality can deliver to them the support infrastructure and services they need, orderly development will be impaired.

“In emerging economies, the rapid pace of urbanization and large migratory flows have increased the pressure on local government spending for urban development. In most of these countries decentralization laws were enacted in the decade of the 80’s and 90’s amid fiscal deficits, financial crisis and political unrest, eroding local revenue and disrupting access to funds for capital investment. In this report, the emphasis is placed on emerging economies and poor countries where the challenges are the greatest and the resource constraints the most acute. They are the areas targeted by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and associated 2015 targets adopted in 2001 (The Millennium Project, 2003). Reaffirming the world commitment to address the growing disparities in income and wealth among countries and within countries, multilateral and bilateral development organizations are placing a priority on poverty reduction.

The success of these efforts hinges on democratic local governance, partnerships involving communities and stakeholders in urban development initiatives, and strengthening the capabilities and resources of local governments as the pivotal partners in the development process.” [End Excerpt]

Project Year:2004
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Global / None Specified
Reports:
Authors:David C. Jones; Mona Serageldin; Elda Solloso; François Vigier
Sponsors:UN-Habitat
Categories:Urban Finance
  
ID:2004_07_001
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“Development Corridors and Urban Development Strategies” and “Slum Improvement Strategies and Social Inclusion,” Presentations by Mona Serageldin, 11th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, São Paulo, Brazil, 2004

Abstract

Mona Serageldin authored a presentation, “Development Corridors and Urban Development Strategies,” for the 11th UN Conference on Trade and Development held in São Paulo, Brazil in June 2004. Her speech addresses the challenges affecting urban management and development at national and local levels.

Additionally, Serageldin presented a slide presentation titled “Slum Improvement Strategies and Social Inclusion” for a panel on Metropolitan Policies, Urbanization and Regularization of Informal Settlements at the conference. This presentation details a case study from South Africa, reviewing slum upgrading efforts, national expenditures, and housing patterns. Photographs depict people and neighborhoods, economic enterprises, and housing in South Africa.

[Excerpt: “Development Corridors and Urban Development Strategies,” pages 1, 2, 4-5.]

1.0 Positioning Cities in the Increasingly Complex and Competitive Global Economy
“Europe took an early lead in exploring the urban configuration that would result from unification and economic restructuring. The French National Planning Agency produced, in the late eighties, a landmark study ranking cities according to indicators of strength in the high-tech and high-value added sectors. The resultant diagram delineated the major economic regions and growth nodes in Western Europe. The main transportation corridors linking the larger centers, act as the backbone of the system, structuring networks of interlinked cities and channeling development along their alignment.

1.1 Structuring Development Corridors
Throughout the decade of the 90’s, globalization reshaped patterns of production, leading to the emergence of interlinked clusters of entrepreneurial businesses working through strategic alliances. Looking at Montpellier, France and the region around the technopole as an example shows that each economic cluster has its own pattern of spatial interconnections and dispersion based on functional, physical and virtual links. Technological innovation and fierce international competition are constantly reshaping these patterns, adding and eliminating whole categories of businesses and redirecting the flows of private investment to new and more advantageous locations.”

….

2.0 Coping with unprecedented mobility and large migratory flows
“Attempting to slow the growth of the metropolitan areas in order to divert population and activities to lagging regions is ill advised. Such policies have met with little success at a very high cost to the nation. Their wisdom is to be questioned at a time when unprecedented mobility has multiplied the capacity of the larger centers to contribute to the development of by-passed regions and economically distressed areas. Commuting from surrounding villages and towns, migration from rural areas and small provincial towns, lifts people out of poverty and contributes to channeling large flows of remittances to these lagging regions.”

Project Year:2004
Project Type:Conference
Geographic Regions:São Paulo, Brazil (Conference Location)
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2004_06_001

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“Community Based Credit for Housing, Infrastructure, and Microenterprises,” Micro-Finance Housing Shortage Study for Quito, Ecuador, 1995

Abstract

In 1995, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization (the Unit) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design researched a micro-finance study on housing shortages in Quito, Ecuador to assess the impact of USAID’s Regional Housing and Urban Development Office for South America (RHUDO/SA) Ecuadorian Credit Program.

The Unit’s research presented solutions for housing shortages in Quito, Ecuador. The study discussed mechanisms for the extension of credit to lower income households through community based credit institutions, including productive housing loans, micro-enterprise loans, infrastructure provisions, and loan refinancing to solve housing shortages in Quito.

Documents are an executive summary and the main report (1995). Supporting documents include a micro-enterprise component from January 1995, a market report by Thomas J. O’Malley “Ecuador’s Secondary Market: Findings Possibilities and Recommendations,” and a summary memo titled “Reaching the Bulk of the Housing Problem with Loans” from Gustavo Riofrío to Mona Serageldin.


[Excerpt: Executive Summary]

“The study reviewed the structure and operations of various institutions involved in housing in Ecuador. The strategic objective was the development of micro finance instruments offering lower income households credit for housing and housing related finance on terms that are affordable, convenient and responsive to their needs.

The purpose of the study was to: 1) Assess the RHUDO’s current credit program as it relates to efficient urban improvement; 2) Assess the feasibility of expanding the Program into the areas of productive housing loans, micro enterprise loans, and infrastructure provision as well as the possibility of refinancing these loans.

Microenterprise Development: The study recommends advocating the concept of a “productive house” used as shelter and as income generator as an integral component of the self improvement strategies of lower income families. It allows them to upgrade their economic conditions as well as their living environment. Home based income generating activities are particularly important in helping women address some of their financial needs. For the working poor, income generation is an integral part of housing development. Investing in the house helps establish and expand home based micro-enterprises. Building on this concept the study focuses of the following components:

– Linking micro-enterprise and home improvement finance through the credit unions.
– Utilizing the same credit channels to lend directly for housing and micro-enterprise development.
– Refinancing portfolios of productive housing loans in order to leverage capital resources.

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Project Year:1995
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Quito, Ecuador
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; David C. Jones; Sherif Lotfi; David Neilson; Thomas O’Malley; Gustavo Riofrio; Kimberley Wilson
Sponsors:USAID Regional Housing and Urban Development Office
Categories:Urban Finance
  
ID:1995_03_003

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Gallery 16: Venecuela: Caracas (1989)

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“Introduction to Local Finances,” Teaching Monographs and Case Studies on Finance Management, by Visiting Lecturer David C. Jones, 1994-1999

Abstract

Between 1994 and 1999, David C. Jones was a visiting lecturer at the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Jones lead seminars in the Unit’s International Training Programs for urban development practitioners. His contributions from I2UD’s records include the following materials:

Teaching monographs:

  • “Municipal Government and Public Utilities: Financing and Management of Public Sector Infrastructure”
  • “Financial, Economic and Social Impacts of Operational and Development Activities in Urban Communities”
  • “Cost Definition and Recovery for Infrastructure, Land and Property”
  • “Cost Measurement and Pricing of Local Public Services”

Case studies:

  • “Harvardia”
  • “Harvard Yard Development Enterprise (HYDE)”

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1994-1999
Project Type:Teaching Monographs
Geographic Regions:Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Reports:
Authors:David C. Jones
Sponsors:Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:Urban Planning; Urban Finance
  
ID:1994_07_002

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“Financing Infrastructure Upgrading Programs,” Two Urban Development Research Papers, Mona Serageldin, 1989-1991

Abstract

In 1989 and 1991, Mona Serageldin authored two related papers on financing urban development for the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design: “Financing Upgrading Programs” and “Financing Infrastructure Upgrading Programs.”

The papers assessed the exchange components of local and foreign currency as cost factors in urban development upgrading projects, using municipalities in Jordan and Tunisia as examples. Serageldin focused on three main needs to establish effectively-financed upgrading programs:

  1. Construction of new infrastructure networks,
  2. Building and improvement of community facilities like schools and health centers, and
  3. Creation of homeowner credit mechanisms to improve residential properties.



[Excerpt: “Financing Upgrading Programs, November 1989”]

“…Upgrading is widely held to be the most effective mechanism to expand the supply of housing for limited income groups and improve living conditions for the urban poor. By providing the support infrastructure, it opens up opportunities for new economic activity.”

“Despite highly publicized haranguing by U.N. Habitat, housing is no longer viewed as a priority for public expenditure by international funding organizations and bilateral aid agencies. The debt situation in developing countries implies a widening gap between urgent needs and potential resources. Demographic pressure and the economic crisis have concentrated efforts on economic development and employment generation rather than social infrastructure.”

Project Year:1989-1991
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Global / None Specified
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; USAID
Categories:Reconciliation and Development
  
ID:1989_11_001

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