The I2UD Digital Library is dedicated to the people of the Institute, and in memory of our late President François Vigier and late Vice President Mona Serageldin, for their considerable leadership in the field of international urban development and vibrant mentorship of the I2UD team.
In honor of our mentors’ enduring commitment to improving quality of life in urban settings, we welcome researchers to browse their work, in hopes of inspiring new efforts for infrastructural uplift in communities around the world.
Dr. François Vigier was a vital support toward the realization of the I2UD Digital Library, as the president of the Institute for International Development until his passing in March 2020. His contributions to the study and practice of urban development began in 1962, with his Harvard faculty membership and with his Chairmanship for the Department of Urban Planning and Design from 1992 to 1998. Vigier was also the Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he directed the School’s Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) from 1987 to 2005.
As President of the Institute for International Urban Development, Vigier was responsible for numerous planning and design projects in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. His international activities focused on building local capacity to manage a sustainable urban environment.
Dr. Vigier was also an expert in the preservation of the non-monumental cultural heritage, notably the rehabilitation of historic districts in the Medina of Fez, Medieval Baku, and Old Damascus. He pioneered the creation of an interactive database on the Old City of Jerusalem in 1998, and supported the contemporary document identification and record digitization project culminating in the I2UD Digital Library. His presence and expertise is missed.
The records of the Vice President Mona Serageldin (1938-2018) are an integral part of the Library project, and comprise the core of I2UD’s legacy collection of documented urban development sites, projects and international relationships.
Mona Serageldin was Vice President of the Institute for International Urban Development from 2005 to 2018. Her degrees in Architecture from Cairo University and Master’s and Doctorate in urban planning from Harvard University led to her rich academic career as Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design from 1985 to 2008.
For 35 years, Dr. Serageldin worked in Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean engaging local and global partners in local development, strategic planning, social inclusion, and policy and program assessment.
Dr. Serageldin focused on action research and technical assistance in developing countries, and her fieldwork informed her teaching, conference interventions, and publications. She made a significant impact through promoting sustainable urban development on the ground, through her work in academia, and in fostering policy development. She led Institute projects sponsored by the UNDP, UN-Habitat, the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and various foundations. In 2003-2004 she served as one of the experts on the Millennium Project Task Force 8 on Improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. In 2008, she served on the Higher Council in Urban Planning and Development in Egypt.
In September 2018, Dr. Serageldin became the first woman to be posthumously awarded a UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour award, one of the world’s most prestigious awards, historically presented to those working on urbanization, focusing on initiatives providing housing and highlighting the plight of the poor or displaced.
