Executive Training Course 2006: “Strategic Planning for Sustainable Infrastructure Development,” Workshop Curriculum with Case Studies, Pretoria, South Africa, 2006

Abstract

In November 2006, the Institute for International Urban Development (I2UD) organized a week-long Executive Training Program on “Strategic Planning for Sustainable Infrastructure Development” for local leaders and municipal officials in Pretoria, South Africa. The workshop covered four main topics:

  1. Sustainability of infrastructure projects;
  2. Impact of migration on housing and service delivery;
  3. Infrastructure and municipal finance; and
  4. Infrastructure and the millennium development goals (MDGs).

Case studies from past I2UD projects used as background reference in the workshop profile the cities of Southwark, London, UK; Szczecin, Poland; Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil; Saint-Denis, France; Ahmedabad, India; Middledrift, South Africa; Cuenca, Ecuador; Cotonou, Benin; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Bogotá, Colombia; and Barcelona, Spain. Documents include presentation slides, with a workshop overview, schedule, and bibliography – followed by case studies.

[Excerpt: Sustainability Presentation:
Discussion Topics]


INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PLAN

REVITALIZATION OF SMALL TOWN CENTERS

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

SUSTAINING MUNICIPAL FINANCE




Workshops defined inter-linkages between topics:

– Finance

– Local economic development

– Social inclusion

– Partnerships

– Sustainability

– Institutional framework

– Management for performance indicators

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:2006
Project Type:IEP; Education
Geographic Regions:Pretoria, South Africa (Workshop Location)
Reports:

Case Studies:
Authors:Barry Shaw; Clare Wright; Mona Serageldin; Raj Rewal; Suzanne Kim; Sameh Wahba
Sponsors:Institute for International Urban Development (I2UD)
Categories:International Education Program; Executive Training Program; Education
  
ID:2006_11_001

Related I2UD Projects

Beginning in 1982, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design hosted International Training Programs (ITP), an annual series of 2- to 4-week summer seminars designed to strengthen the decision-making skills of senior professionals in public and private agencies responsible for urban development.

The I2UD Digital Library holds curriculum materials for ITPs from 19881991199419951997, and 1998:

The tradition of ITPs continued after 2000, when the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) (a re-organization of the Unit) continued training seminars as International Education Programs (IEP) from 2000-2004:

Programs included inter-linked modules, lectures, case studies, interactive computer simulation models, site visits to urban projects, discussion groups and networking with professional counterparts from international metropolitan regions. Sessions had a modular format and structured team teaching, taught by a team of senior faculty and guest lecturers. Programs ended with a synthesis presented through a project evaluation exercise. Participants used case projects to examine strategies from the viewpoint of both public and private partners — to assess the feasibility and potential impacts of policies and projects on the community and the city. Presentations by guest speakers, representing U.S. and international agencies, NGOs, and community groups, were also integrated within the pedagogic framework of each module.

IEP 2003: “Infrastructure and Partnerships for Local Economic Development” in Pretoria and Bloemfontein, South Africa, International Education Programs, 2003

Abstract

Curriculum components from the 2003 IEP (International Education Program) “Infrastructure and Partnerships for Local Economic Development,” which was held in Pretoria and Bloemfontein, South Africa in August and September 2003.

Documents include agendas, case studies, project summaries, and reference materials. Noted work by Mona Serageldin includes “Decentralization and Urban Infrastructure Management Capacity,” a background paper for the 2001 Third Global Report on Human Settlements.

Additional contextual documents include: The “Best Practices 2001” submission for Middledrift, Eastern Cape, South Africa; an executive summary from May 2000 for the “Housing Microfinance Initiative”; a presentation of indicator reports by CUDS “Neighborhood Improvement Program, Neiva, Colombia”; and “Participant Evaluation and Comments” forms for the 2003 seminar participants.

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:2003
Project Type:IEP; Education
Geographic Regions:Pretoria and Bloemfontein, South Africa (Program Locations) / Brazil / Boston, Massachusetts, US / South Africa / Bogotá, Colombia / Southwark, London, UK / Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers, France / Ahmedabad, India / Adjamé, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire / Szczecin, Poland
Reports:
Authors:CUDS Team
Sponsors:Center for Urban Development Studies, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:International Education Program; Education
  
ID:2003_08_001

Related I2UD Projects

Beginning in 1982, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design hosted International Training Programs (ITP), an annual series of 2- to 4-week summer seminars designed to strengthen the decision-making skills of senior professionals in public and private agencies responsible for urban development.

The I2UD Digital Library holds curriculum materials for ITPs from 19881991199419951997, and 1998:

The tradition of ITPs continued after 2000, when the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) (a re-organization of the Unit) continued training seminars as International Education Programs (IEP) from 2000-2004:

Programs included inter-linked modules, lectures, case studies, interactive computer simulation models, site visits to urban projects, discussion groups and networking with professional counterparts from international metropolitan regions. Sessions had a modular format and structured team teaching, taught by a team of senior faculty and guest lecturers. Programs ended with a synthesis presented through a project evaluation exercise. Participants used case projects to examine strategies from the viewpoint of both public and private partners — to assess the feasibility and potential impacts of policies and projects on the community and the city. Presentations by guest speakers, representing U.S. and international agencies, NGOs, and community groups, were also integrated within the pedagogic framework of each module.

Design Studio 1994: “A New Urban Center for Adjamé, Abidjan, Ivory Coast,” Seminar Curriculum

Abstract

Professors François Vigier and Mona Serageldin led the Spring 1994 Design Studio, an annual seminar hosted by the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. The topic that year focused on urban development in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

The document, “Designing for Urban Growth: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire” (January 1994), discussed the housing compound profiles, land allocation, household demographics, and design conditions of Abidjan’s housing regions. The report details designs for dealing with environmental impacts such as organic and industrial effluents, solutions for reducing public subsidies for housing, reforms the housing production, and, in particular, suggestions for readdressing the respective responsibilities of the public and private sectors.

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1994
Project Type:Urban Design Studio
Geographic Regions:Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Reports:1994 Design Studio: Abidjan Designing for Urban Growth (Report, Vigier and Serageldin)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; François Vigier; Samir Abdulac; Howard Trett; Randa Tukan; David Neilson
Sponsors:Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:Design Studios; Education
  
ID:1994_01_001

Related I2UD Projects

“The Use of Land and Infrastructure in the Self-Improvement Strategies of Urban Lower Income Families,” Paper by Mona Serageldin, UN-Habitat Fourteenth Commission Report, May 1993

Abstract

A landmark paper by Mona Serageldin, “The Use of Land and Infrastructure in the Self-Improvement Strategies of Urban Lower Income Families,” was included in the the Fourteenth Commission UNCHS/Habitat Report and presented to the Commission in Nairobi, Kenya in May 1993.

This work presented the self-improvement strategies of families dealing with challenging living conditions as an “intricate and dynamic” part of urban development, conditions which planners should respect. Serageldin’s report drew on her long history of research on urban development in cities globally, using short narrative examples and photos to illustrate specific households in: Abidjan, Amman, Cairo, Jakarta, Karachi, Kinshasa, Quito, Mexico City, Rabat, Surabaya, Tunis, and Boston. The report was sponsored by USAID’s Family and Development Program and Office of Housing and Urban Programs.

Another essay on the same topic was published as USAID Seminar Brief No. 4, “How Urban Families use Infrastructure and Housing in their own Development,” in June 1992. This document summarized Serageldin’s seminar presentation for the USAID Family and Development Initiative Series in April 1992, relaying her indication of trends toward informal housing developments emerging in reaction to rapid urbanization in city populations and housing shortages increasingly becoming a critical issue for low-income families.


[Excerpt: USAID Seminar No. 4. “How Urban Families use Infrastructure and Housing in their own Development,” June 1992.]

Keeping Families Together: Dr. Serageldin’s longitudinal research in Cairo illustrated the importance of a house as an asset that keeps families together. Vertical expansion of buildings provides space which can be used to house less fortunate family members, such as the elderly, at advantageous terms to all parties. In one case, the rental income saved by a widowed mother living on a relative’s top floor was spent on her children’s school fees while the income generated by this family member from a ground floor shop covered the family’s living expenses.”

Project Year:1993, 1992
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire / Amman, Jordan / Cairo, Egypt / Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia / Karachi, Pakistan / Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo / Quito, Ecuador / Mexico City, Mexico / Rabat, Morocco / Tunis, Tunisia / Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; John Driscoll; María-Luisa Fernández
Sponsors:UN-Habitat; USAID
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:1993_05_001

Related I2UD Projects

“Regularizing the Informal Land Development Process,” International Case Studies for the USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs, Mona Serageldin, 1990

Abstract

In 1990, team members at the Unit for Housing and Urbanization (the Unit) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design authored a report on urban development case studies, “Regularizing the Informal Land Development Process,” for the USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs.

The report focused on organizational disconnects between informal housing and formal planning development for urban communities, considering case studies on land development and legal considerations for nine urban municipalities across Asia, Africa, and the Americas: Navi Mumbai, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; Bangkok, Thailand; Mexico City, Mexico; Caracas, Venezuela; Cairo, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Conakry, Guinea; Kinshasa, Congo; and Lusaka, Zambia.

Case studies discuss three points for each city region:

  1. Informal land development processes;
  2. Regularization of informal land development; and
  3. Legal and institutional frameworks for land regularization.

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1990
Project Type:Land Development Case Studies
Geographic Regions:Navi Mumbai, India / Jakarta, Indonesia / Bangkok, Thailand / Mexico City, Mexico / Caracas, Venezuela / Cairo, Egypt / Amman, Jordan / Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire / Conakry, Guinea / Kinshasa, Congo / Lusaka, Zambia
Reports:Regularizing the Informal Land Development Process: (Mona Serageldin, October 1990)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; John Driscoll; María-Luisa Fernández; Laurent Perrin; Randa Tukan; Phoebe Manzi
Sponsors:USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs
Categories:Urban Planning
  
ID:1990_10_001

Related I2UD Projects

“The Abidjan Experience”- Four Research Reports on Community-Based Urban Development in Adjamé, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 1990-1995

Abstract

Between 1990 and 1995, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization (later the Center for Urban Development Studies, or CUDS) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design prepared four research reports on the commune district of Adjamé in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). As a collection, these materials present a detailed analysis of urban housing trends in Côte d’Ivoire from the 1990s, covering economic, historical, architectural, financial and socio-geographical elements.

First, in September 1990, the Unit produced a major research endeavor, “Urban Infrastructure on Municipal Revenues and the Integration of Informal Sector Activities: The Abidjan Experience.” The report was produced for the USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs in Washington D.C.

Second, in January 1994, Mona Serageldin and François Vigier wrote “Designing for Urban Growth, Abidjan Ivory Coast,” covering the socio-geography of Abidjan/Côte d’Ivoire in 5 detailed sections on National Context, Landscape, The Urban Landscape, Housing Typologies, and a detailed condition analysis of the Commune of Adjamé.

Third, in September 1994, the Unit presented “Community Based Development Lessons from Experience Across Cities” for a forum on “Enabling Sustainable Community Development” at the 2nd World Bank Conference. The presentation built on the Unit’s previous research on Adjamé among other cities, sponsored by the USAID’s Office of Environment and Urban Programs.

Fourth, in October 1995, Mona Serageldin and CUDS wrote a Working Paper, “Successful Institutionalization of Community Based Development of Adjamé, Abidjan.” The paper built off all previous research on Abidjan, covering six international case studies from Abidjan, Boston, Cairo, Lima, Lublin, and Tunis, selected because of their innovative character.


[Excerpt: “Community Based Development: Lessons from Experience Across Cities,” for the 2nd World Bank Conference, September 1994, Introduction, by Mona Serageldin for the Unit, 09/1994]/

“The ESD Conference, just completed yesterday, saw a remarkable unnamity on two points of relevance, to a discussion of cross-cutting lessons.

First, that community involvement is paramount for any meaningful action to reduce poverty and improve the urban environment; and Second, that there is no single formula to do it. The diversity of cities and their local context entail that concepts be adapted to the particularities of the local context.

Yet, there is a lot to be learned from the sharing of experiences. In spite of the diversity, there are common threads. The issue of empowerment was eloquently discussed this morning. Other issues have been discussed by the previous speakers. My presentation will highlight principles which structure interfaces between communities and municipalities in order to foster community based development approaches.”

Project Year:1990-1995
Project Type:Urban Development Research
Geographic Regions:Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (also Boston, United States; Cairo, Egypt; Lima, Perú; Lublin, Poland; and Tunis, Tunisia)
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; François Vigier; Samir Abdulac; Howard Trett; Wafaa Abdalla; Jeanine Anderson; Nader El Bizri; Janne Corniel; John Driscoll; Denis Lesage; Sherif Lotfi; David Neilson; Tarek Sweilim
Sponsors:Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; World Bank; USAID
Categories:Urban Planning
  
ID:1990_09_001

Related I2UD Projects