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During the time I spent in Pikine I witnessed a wide variety of individual and collective strategies for dealing with the everpresent risk of flooding. Looking back at that experience, it is clear to me that “local knowledge, local action” does lead to resilience — social resilience that is.

But it does not appear enough to transform the institutions that govern people’s lives.

The residents I encountered do not wish for a tougher skin to be all they have gained from a decade of “self-learning” and local organizing. They want better; they want a permanent solution to the floods. And for that to happen, appropriate government intervention in the form of the construction of a drainage system, with provision for proper sanitation in the suburbs, and transparent allocation of housing to flood victims is urgently needed. Integrating local initiatives into the provision of those long term solutions is a complex endeavour, one for which I could not find any definitive models. I leave you however with these reflections.

Legitimacy and scale of intervention

Vulnerable communities are not waiting for anyone to take action for them. They are already out there, actively working for their own well-being. But what they can do is limited in time and scale.

The urbaDTK project is attempting to go beyond temporary relief; however restructuration indirectly impacts neighbouring districts with which residents of DTK have no legitimate negotiation power. On the one hand local initiatives have been the main relief to residents. On the other hand, the legitimacy of the public institutions with the mandate and capacity (thanks to international donors) to deliver long-term solutions is being eroded as they are circumvented by residents because of their inefficiency.

At the heart of the debate is financial capacity to act.

Local actors (CADDTK), once established, solicit external support (urbaMONDE) to fund their ventures. Central government agencies (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation, etc) also solicit external support (World Bank) to fund their ventures. The result: flood risk management in Dakar has become a lucrative business. Flood victims now equal both more votes and more donors.

Subsequently, the very nature of public goods, being non-excludable and non-rival, has become distorted as multiple actors compete to provide those goods and access to adequate urban infrastructure continue to be determined by where one can afford to live.

Process vs. Outcome

One of the insights from this research was seeing how local initiatives have transformed local actors into essential decision makers. While government response remains slow, a “people-centered” approach has been adopted with the inclusion of social components and a consultation process in restructuration plans of Fondation Droit à la Ville and APIX for instance.

But is it enough for local actors to have a seat at the table? Furthermore how many can be allowed at the table without impairing effective decision making?

There has been a multiplication of actors at the local level, due to injection of funds from external organizations. This makes any attempt to implement a participatory approach to flood risk management increasingly complex. Consultative platforms are being duplicated at every level of social mobilizing and political organizing, with little transformation in the function of the institutional structures these platforms were meant to affect.

A Change in Narrative

There is a saying that it is the little things that matter the most in the end. What this research has shown me is the significance of a little thing called perspective. How you think of a problem and its answers depend not so much on the “facts”, but much more on how the “stories” behind the facts are framed and the voices behind those stories.

A lot of emphasis is put on poverty as a major roadblock in less developed countries.

I saw something quite different. People, despite being poor, are resourceful even in the face of natural disasters. The barriers to effective flood risk management are not necessarily poverty, but rather institutional inertia, lack of strategic vision and overreliance on “expert” knowledge as the most “valuable” knowledge.

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I set out to Dakar in July 2012, motivated by the idea of witnessing, first hand, what “local knowledge, local action” amounts to in the context of urban disasters. Here is a short summary of my main findings, based on three weeks of meeting with community leaders, interviewing residents and attending conferences.

Residents of Pikine, a suburb of Dakar, live with the near constant threat of inundation from both annual floods and ever rising ground water levels (see “Surviving in a Floodplain” for more on the situation). To deal with this, households have developed a variety of strategies.

Some are simple, if time consuming: the daily evacuation of water using buckets or motor pumps, building walkways with sand bags or large rocks, building rudimentary open air drainage, or simply using rooftops for household chores (cooking or laundry),  for storage and as a social space.

Others require more investment of time and resources: the elevation of septic tanks, installing internal drainage systems, purchasing of motor pumps.

Then there is the temporary or permanent relocation of children or whole families when the waters prove too persistent to fight any longer.

Open air canals dug by residents, 16/07/2012

Walkways made by residents, 16/07/2012

The Dangers of Acting at the Household Level

Although initially effective, Individual and household strategies against floods are not sustainable. They can in fact increase the overall vulnerability of both individual families and whole communities.

The long hours spent evacuating water, creating passageways and elevating homes, are not only physically draining; it also takes an economic and psychological toll on households. Year round the physical, natural and financial capital of households is depleted by forces they can neither control nor escape.

Household strategies often carry a bad reputation due, in particular, to one damaging practice: “remblayage” the construction of embankments made of sand, compressed garbage and rubble to elevated homes and to fill in water holes. In extreme cases, homes damaged beyond repair are incorporated into these embankments and buried by several meters of this unsanitary mix.

Disputes between neighbors can erupt as the opposite or adjacent house finds itself not only dwarfed by the artificial elevation, but also more at risk of flooding as the stormwater flowing past House 1 (the elevated house) now naturally gravitates into House 2 (neighboring house). Furthermore the practice of building embankments has decreased the permeability of the soil, resulting in higher levels of stagnant water that last even after the rainy season is over.

While local authorities and government officials decry this strategy, the same authorities and officials provide households with the rubble needed for embankments, on top of annual donations of motor pumps. Residents and authorities know full well that the water pumped simply infiltrates the underground system and find itself, hours later, back into the very house where the water was being pumped out of in the first place!

An elevated terrace, 16/07/2012

On the left of the image, an abandoned house half buried in a mix of sand, compressed garbage and rubble. To the right, a deposit of sand for a house to soon be built over the embankment, 18/07/2012

The Positive Impact of Collective Strategies

Positive alternatives can be found, however, in collective strategies that unite multiple households. After years of unsuccessful demand for permanent solutions by the government, community based organizations (CBOs) combined efforts to create the Collectifs des Associations pour le Dévéloppement de Dheddah Thiaroye Kao (CADDTK). Since 2001 CADDTK, with the logistical support of Urbanistes Sans Frontères / urbaMONDE, has successfully mobilized public attention toward the plight of flood victims in Dakar’s suburbs. CADDTK’s efforts have crystallized into the urbaDTK project, a plan for the restructuration of DTK, after a decade of maximizing of the following strategies:

• Creation of a consultative platform for the neighborhood
• Lobbying government agencies
• Local fundraising
• Community workshops on more responsible social and environmental practices
• Centralization of information on floods in Dakar and restructuration of the periphery
• Solicitation of planning experts (urbaMONDE) for an assessment of the situation and formulation of an action plan
• Hosting foreign students from universities in Geneva and France for research that can benefit the community
• Community mapping
• Training local volunteers on mapping techniques and GIS
• Creation of a restructuration plan

UrbaDTK volunteers, on the field, verifying the accuracy of an initial map
produced from household surveys and neighborhood chiefs, 20/07/2012

Such collective efforts have had a tremendous impact on human and social capital. A process of self-learning on urban issues and the tools and skills needed in dealing with these issues has taken place. While they may not have a degree in planning or formal work experience to be considered “experts” on flood risk management, residents of DTK have contributed to the production of an actual map of their district, real gold in a context where detailed maps of neighborhoods are impossible to find. The collective process is also facilitating negotiations over relocation of households on sites that simply cannot be recovered, sites identified as non- aedificandi.

Better Communication Between Communities and Governments

Local authorities have learned from CADDTK and urbaDTK. For the past two year, the local authority has hosted a consultative platform, established with the support of a local NGO, Eau Vie Environnement (EVE). The platform, voluntarily, brings together neighborhood chiefs (chef de quartier) and other community leaders on a weekly basis to present residents’ grievances and elaborate action plans against the floods.

The platform serves an institutional mechanism for communicating neighborhood concerns to the City of Pikine. The City, in turn, is mandated to take the appropriate actions, according to the powers vested in city hall.

But Problems Persist

But the simple act of creating institutional mechanisms to voice concerns does not lead to action. The City of Pikine does not have the administrative or financial capacity, any more than the Mayor of DTK, to provide a fitting intervention.

Unfortunately, requests made to the City of Pikine usually get deferred to national agencies where an effective response is slow to come.

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The majority of my time working with IMPLAN Los Cabos has been spent planning a network of bicycle infrastructure for the city of Cabo San Lucas. This blog entry outlines the general strategy that I took to accomplish this task and examines some of the main challenges and opportunities related to the planning and implementation of cycling infrastructure in Mexico.

Planning process

The planning process followed the general steps of bicycle infrastructure planning, as outlined in a resourceful publication of the Mexican arm of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP Mexico) known as Ciclociudades . Adapted to the local context, this process can be divided into four main stages:

1. Diagnostic: The first step of the process is a diagnostic of the current situation of the city of Cabo San Lucas. Painting an accurate picture of the current situation from different angles is crucial in understanding the reality in which the project is being developed. Of course, mobility is a crucial aspect of the analysis as it reflects people’s travel preferences, which are based on people’s origins, destinations and mode of travel. Origins are usually homes and destinations are locations where people work, study, recreate and shop. Based on this information and on other relevant considerations (timeline, resources, political and social acceptability) a study area is identified.
2. Route analysis and design options: Next, an analysis of land uses, demographics, street characteristics, and key destinations as variables is performed for the study area. These factors are used to compare different route options with the most appropriate design for each case.
3. Route selection: Based on this comparative analysis, the best routes are selected to create a bicycle infrastructure network. The overall architecture of the network influences the route selection. This means that each route is chosen not on an individual basis, but rather in relation to the overall “fit” with the network. The basic criteria that should define cycling infrastructure, as mentioned in the Ciclociudades publications, are directness, safety, coherence, attractiveness and practicality.
4. Design options selection: Lastly, design options for each section of the network are proposed based on the above mentioned criteria.

The general approach taken in this study was to try to only use segregated bicycle lanes (Image 1) when on-site conditions required their use, and to try to use the concept of a “shared street”, also known as bicycle boulevards (Image 2), whenever possible. This general strategy ensures the best use of the limited financial resources, given segregated bicycle lanes are more expensive to build than shared streets. The shared street concept implies traffic calming and design measures that create conditions in which cyclists have the priority over vehicles and can ride safely with minimal infrastructure investment.

Image 1: Segregated bicycle lanes (Source: ITDP. Ciclociudades. 2011).

Image 2: Bicycle boulevards (Source: ITDP. Ciclociudades. 2011).

The result of this work produced a network of approximately 17 km (Image 3), 4 of which are dedicated bicycle lanes and 13 of which are shared streets. The network covers the downtown area, the resort area (beaches, hotels, bars) and key destinations (schools, universities, convention centre, shopping centre, etc.).

Image 3: Map showing the network of bicycle infrastructure for the city of Cabo San Lucas

Challenges and opportunities

Challenges and opportunities are closely related, given that in every challenge lies an opportunity.

Political support

Political support is an essential element to the realization of the project. Fortunately, for Los Cabos, the current mayor seems supportive of cycling as a more sustainable and affordable transportation mode, and has given support (at least verbally) to its realization.

Social acceptability

As one would expect, pooling revealed a very high degree of support for the implementation of bicycle infrastructure in Los Cabos: 99% of 209 people answered they supported the implementation of bicycle infrastructure in the city, and 90% of 164 people answered they would use the cycling infrastructure network. This speaks to the latent demand for more transportation options and for safer ways to go around on bicycles.

Lack of bicycle culture

In Mexico, as in many places around the world, there is no bicycle culture. This is something one sees in countries with high usage of bicycles for functional transportation. In and around Los Cabos, there are very few cyclists on the roads (most of them are competitive cyclists), which results in car drivers not being accustomed to sharing the streets with cyclists, and not knowing how to behave respectfully towards them.

Somewhat related to this lack of bicycle culture is the ignorance of professionals (mostly engineers) on appropriate street design for cyclists (and pedestrians), which results in dangerous road design, particularly at intersections.

In addition, car ownership is still very much an expression of social status. For most people, bicycles are second rank vehicles.

All these aspects can be addressed through education, social marketing and advertising campaigns. The opportunity is particularly interesting amongst youth, for whom bicycles mean freedom and liberty of movement. Youth are most likely to adopt cycling as a mode of transportation. This being said, campaigns directed at individuals, taxis, and public transport drivers are needed to create an appropriate culture of respect towards cyclists. This doesn’t preclude the need of campaigns aimed at cyclists to teach proper urban cycling behavior in relation to other road users, including pedestrians.

Obesity and cycling

The fact that Mexico is second to the US in general obesity and first in child obesity gives cycling an incredible appeal as far as public health is concerned. Someone who decides to walk, cycle and take public transport (which includes a part of walking or cycling) increases their activity level, which is in direct correlation with obesity issues and its related health problems.

The positive impact of cycling on health should play a major role in marketing and educational campaigns given the direct and personal impact on mobility choices.

Cost of transport and income

In Los Cabos, the motorization rate of 3.25 persons/car is still below those of Canada or the U.S., but it follows the national tendency of a low-density, sprawling urban development, which encourages car use. Vehicle ownership is correlated with household income: as people get richer, they own more vehicles. Inversely, low income impedes vehicle ownership. In Los Cabos, using public transport implies a significant cost relative to what lower paying jobs may provide. Providing a safe way to use a bicycle as a way to get to work or to school is therefore more beneficial to lower-income groups, which increases social equity, keeping in mind that there is still much more money spent on car infrastructure than on walking or cycling infrastructure.

Success?

My overall experience on this project has been very interesting professionally, and taught me a great deal about the way things are done in Los Cabos. The question of whether the project is a success or not doesn’t ultimately depend on the planning process, although it is an essential part of the whole story. The success depends largely on the level of municipal and key stakeholders’ commitment, and on the appropriation of the infrastructure by the population. This 17km network has been planned to address mobility needs of the population, and to add to the touristic potential of Los Cabos. Ultimately, I will deem the project successful when I see children, mothers, workers and tourists using the infrastructure.

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City planners and sustainable development practitioners often advocate for creating dense urban areas as a component of developing more sustainable cities. They cite studies that indicate the reduced costs and environmental benefits achieved through energy efficiency, possibilities for improving public transit, and the reduction of urban sprawl. In Vancouver, Canada, a city consistently rated one of the most liveable in the world, and with a stated goal of being the greenest city in the world by 2020, a dense urban growth strategy has been incorporated into their sustainable development plans. But is this dense urban development positive for the community at large?

A 2012 report released by the non-profit organization, Vancouver Foundation, suggests that dense urban areas may not be working for certain groups of Vancouver residents. This report was a follow up to a 2011 poll that revealed Vancouverites’ top social concern in the city being a lack of connection; a surprising result given the city’s visible challenges dealing with homelessness and drug abuse. A 2012 follow up survey and report revealed that some of the contributing factors to this lack of connection in Vancouver are dense high-rise apartment life-styles, our fast-paced modern society, and citizens’ general lack of interest in getting to know one another. The study reported that 25% of young people feel lonely more often than they like, and a lack of connection and engagement was attributed to poorer health. In response, the City of Vancouver, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Foundation, and everyday citizens have been coming together to learn how to they can help create community and connection in a Vancouver on its path to sustainability.

Vancouver Foundation 2012 Survey: Connections and Engagement

The Vancouver Foundation survey, Connections and Engagement (available here), surveyed a diverse cross section of 3,841 residents of Metro Vancouver, examining people’s connections with friends, neighbours and the community at large. The survey found:

• 25% of the city’s residents feel alone more often than they would like
• 33% find it difficult to make new friends
• People living in higher density dwellings, people renting, and 25-34 year olds reported higher rates of loneliness, disconnection, and a lack of knowledge about their neighbours than home owners.

The survey also linked people’s lack of connection to the community with a lack of civic engagement. This appears troubling not only from a health perspective (as studies have shown loneliness can lead to a variety of life-shortening physical and mental health effects), but also because a united and engaged community has been shown to have a greater ability to affect positive change and communicate and advocate its needs to civic leaders.

City of Vancouver’s Response

From 2009 to 2011, Vancouver City Council consulted with over 35,000 Vancouver residents and 170 organizations in the creation of the city’s Greenest City 2020 Action Plan. According to Vancouver City Councillor Andrea Reimer, this extensive public consultation process is the largest of its kind ever undertaken by the City of Vancouver.

Urban densification is listed, among other green initiatives such as green building, improved public transit, and compost collection, as a building block of the city’s greenest city strategy. The findings released by the Vancouver Foundation point to the importance and benefits of addressing urban isolation and urban densification planning simultaneously. Ms. Reimer believes that the city can and should help to create community connection and civic engagement, and in an October 2012 city council meeting, Reimer proposed a motion to assemble a citizen’s task force charged with examining what is working, what needs improvement and what is missing in civic engagement in Vancouver. The ‘Engaged City Task Force’ motion passed, and the task force will be composed of 22 citizens, Ms. Reimer and Mayor Gregor Robertson.

Being passionate about active civic engagement and participative democracy, Reimer believes it is important for the city to take a role in helping to facilitate community connections and engagement. “You’re hard pressed to find an example of a high functioning democracy that does not have a high level of citizen engagement,” she says.

Addressing criticisms of City Council taking a role in helping to create community and address urban isolation, Reimer notes that helping facilitate citizen and community engagement fits in well with the city’s mandate. “The safest and most resilient neighbourhoods are where people know each other’s names and where residents see each other and get together,” says Reimer, “These are the neighbourhoods where people are the most trusting and able to work together to tackle issues of concern.”

She additionally pointed to numerous studies that have demonstrated a positive correlation between strong social connections and an individual’s state of health and well-being. This same correlation is echoed in the Vancouver Foundation report, which connected loneliness to an overall lower state of health. But still, when it comes down to creating a truly sustainable city, Reimer believes that it depends on individual and collective action. “We can provide bike lanes, compost services, and high speed transit. We can try to provide these opportunities, but ultimately it’s up to you to do it.”

Vancouver Foundation and Simon Fraser University’s Community Summit

Simon Fraser University (SFU) partnered with the Vancouver Foundation and put on its inaugural SFU Public Square Community Summit titled Alone Together: Connecting in the City, from September 18th to September 23rd, 2012.

“This was our inaugural Community Summit”, says Shauna Sylvester, Executive Director of the SFU Public Square. “We hosted eleven events in six days that explored how to strengthen engagement across communities and cultural divides and how to develop strategies to overcome civic disconnection in Metro Vancouver. Among other things, this six day long September community summit included presentations from the former Chief Planner for the City of Vancouver, a youth conference, community discussion panels, artistic displays and performances, and events providing opportunities for the public to discuss and engage with issues pertaining to urban isolation with city politicians, business people and policy makers.”

Eric Brown, former Youth Led Development Officer for Sustainable Cities International (SCI), was a part of the team that organized this Community Summit’s youth conference. Commenting on youth and urban isolation, Brown said, “Youth also experience isolation but in different ways.” He continued to explain that the youth component of this inaugural event was intended to educate youth around the idea of urban isolation, to help facilitate youth connections, and to work with youth to find out what solutions would work to engage young people and help mitigate effects of urban isolation. Speaking to SFU’s Public Square program and the involvement of SCI, Brown noted, “SFU Public Square was established to facilitate dialogue on issues of public concern and Sustainable Cities was interested in supporting this initiative to tackle important issues like community connection and engagement, particularly among youth.”

UN study Advocates for Urban Density

A recent UN Cities and Biodiversity Report (available here) forecasts a continued migration into urban centres and a global urban population reaching 4.9 billion in 2030; a 40% increase over 2010′s urban population level.

The report expressly mentions the importance of coordinating the voices of elected officials, businesses, and citizens to meet the challenges of rapid urban population growth, and spoke highly of the economic and ecological benefits of maintaining strong regions of biodiversity in and around existing urban areas. Its authors further noted, “Urban expansion and habitat fragmentation are rapidly transforming critical habitats … of value for the conservation of biodiversity across the globe.”

The report lends insight to the importance of developing urban areas in a sustainable manner that recognizes and protects these economic and ecological benefits, and highlighted urban density as a strategy with knock on benefits of protecting prime agricultural land and helping to minimize threats to biodiversity from the encroachment of urban development.

Conclusion

The City of Vancouver, like many cities around the world, is planning for and encouraging a denser urban population, a strategy that is in line with numerous studies and population reports, and that is being employed to help meet its sustainability goals. However, being consistently rated one of the most liveable cities in the world has not made Vancouver immune to the effects of urban isolation, and the well publicized Vancouver Foundation survey appears to have sparked a collective action in Vancouver. Many sectors and citizens have come together to engage with each other, develop a deeper understanding of how to create connections, and understand the social impacts of urban design and denser communities. And people are talking about it.

The City of Vancouver’s reaction to the Vancouver Foundation survey has been to create dialogue between citizens and develop a deeper understanding of how to connect, engage, and create community in the city, resulting in the city’s Engaged City Task Force. The Vancouver Foundation and SFU have partnered to launch the Public Square initiative. Even bus drivers are getting into the swing of things, with Vancouver bus driver, Brian Revel, encouraging social interaction on his routes and organizing, “Say ‘Hi’ on the Bus” days.

Cities can be encouraged and inspired to work together, like Vancouver, to understand and manage urban isolation and to create community. Engaging citizens and businesses in discussions to inform decision making and public and private initiatives is a great start, and Vancouver is an example of a city learning to do just that. Local government and inter-sectoral partnerships have helped to facilitate that process, engage citizens in dialogue, and learn how to create healthy, vibrant communities; citizens, like Brian Revel, can help by stepping up and creating community within their own circles of influence.

Vancouver is a city planning for sustainable development, growth, and community, and is a case study that can be learned from. After all, wouldn’t we all like someone to say, “Hi,” to us on the bus?

Note: Following the link for Vancouver Foundation’s Connections and Engagement survey you will find a series of mini-reports listed below the main report link that break out areas of the survey that in greater detail including, “The Effect of Apartment Living on Neighbourliness”

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One of the most fundamental concepts to any multi-stakeholder process is the enormous contribution that citizens can have. The people who live, work, and play in and around public spaces possess expert knowledge as to how these places function as a whole, and often can inform and assist planners in the design and restoration of urban parks, plazas, gardens, and sports fields. By including the neighbour’s of urban parks in their redesign, the participatory approach to planning simultaneously improves public gathering places within a community and fosters greater interaction between people. This approach not only incorporates the physical, material aspects of development, but also incorporates interiority, the emotional, cultural, and spiritual values that we all share. Participatory planning facilitates the creation of vital public destinations where people feel a strong stake in their communities, and make life better for the community as a whole.

In Los Cabos, Mexico, community participation in public space design is a relatively new concept. Famous for it’s warm weather, sandy beaches, and 4-star golf courses, “Cabo” is one of the country’s top tourist destinations. Traditionally based on fishing, the southern tip of Baja California Sur’s economy now thrives on the tourist dollars that flow in waves from mostly Canadian and American “snow-birds”. Luxurious resorts dot the coastline in between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, and development is increasing exponentially. Unfortunately these gigantic hotels and exuberant getaways seem to take precedent over local development projects, and the hearts of both cities have become abandoned and their public spaces left in states of depreciation.

The project

El instituto municipal de planeación (IMPLAN) has partnered with Sustainable Cities International and began a pilot project that considers participatory planning as a tool for public space re-design. SCI intern Daniel Ross developed, and implemented a community engagement process for the restoration of an urban park located on the border between the communities Pablo L. Martínez and Ampliación Guaymitas. The engagement initiatives began with a qualitative diagnostic investigation of the community, introductory meetings with park neighbours, community leaders, and different municipal stakeholders. The following phases involved facilitating formal dialogue, group visioning, community asset mapping, and developing a community vision. Daniel worked closely with members of the community from the project’s inception to the end of the internship on discussing common needs and visions, as well as to collaborate in responding to the community’s pertinent concerns.

The Phases

I.      Make a presence in the community through frequent visits and informal interviews (establish a relationship based on trust)

II.    Identify and establish working relationships with local stakeholders

III.   Format and distribute surveys of space use and perception

IV.    Implement qualitative observations; behaviour mapping and entrance tracking

V.     Organize and promote community participation (posters, flyers, social media and word of mouth)

VI.    Organize the community meetings, workshops, and mapping activities

VII.   Implement and lead the meetings, workshops and mapping activities in the community

VIII.   Interpret and analyze the findings and results

IX. Use the findings and results to influence the technical architectural design and concepts

X. Maintain presence in the community with updates and a final event to present the final design and to celebrate the successes of the participatory process

Phases I-IV

The initial stages of the process consisted of qualitative and quantitative research in the community of study through the use of informal interviews, behaviour mapping and entrance tracking within the park itself, stakeholder meetings, and finally surveying. Interviews with interested community members laid a solid foundation for a relationship based on trust and mutual understanding, and also was an opportunity to learn about community values and dynamics.

Phases V-X

The first workshops held in the park were values-based, community-asset mapping activities. Instead of directly focusing on problems and necessities, concentrating on positive areas and characteristics of the community fosters the creation of a newfound community identity.

Participants sharing their very own asset-maps with the entire group during the first round of asset-mapping workshops (Image Source: Daniel Ross)

Two young girls thinking about what physical, natural, and social aspects they value within their community (Image Source: Daniel Ross)

The second round of workshops held in the public space were vision mapping activities. Residents were asked to think spatially about the locations of the physical equipment, conserving the assets and the nature of the space. Questions such as “What do you envision as the identity of the park? As a public space or a vital public destination?’ helped guide the workshops.

A plan for the urban park in Ampliación Guaymitas, designed by community members, for the whole community to enjoy (Image Source: Daniel Ross)

One family from Ampliación Guaymitas creating a vision map of how the imagine their local park to look like in the future (Image Source: Daniel Ross)

The ideas, suggestions, and values of the communities Ampliación Guaymitas and Pablo L. Martínez have helped influence the first architectural plans for the new public space.

Planting the seeds for the community engagement process through reforestation activities (Image Source: Daniel Ross)

People of all ages and backgrounds took part in the asset-mapping and community-visioning workshops (Image source: Atención a la Juventud, Municipio de Los Cabos)

Citizen Participation and Interiority

Often times the interior aspects of development, such as cultural understandings, values and social relationships are not only as important as the material needs, but also supportive of stabilizing physical interventions in the long term. For example when the neighbours of public spaces are involved in their design, they become intrinsically linked to these spaces and take ownership of them, preventing the all-too common slip into states of abandonment. When local residents in Pablo L. Martínez and Ampliación Guaymitas participated in the asset-mapping and community visioning workshops, they expressed their thoughts, memories, emotions and values towards the future of their community and in doing so contributed towards the future design of the neighbourhood.

All humans possess “agency”, or relative identity, as well as “communion”, insofar as we all belong to a larger context, much like as citizens we all belong to a community. We all have exteriority or physicality as well as interiority, or thoughts, feelings and perceptions. Living in communities, each individual interacts with the greater community whole through “feedback” mechanisms, as interconnected pieces of a great puzzle. In the context of community planning, proper design cannot be attained without the participation of the very people who make up the community. It is fundamental to include aspects of interiority when planning sustainable communities.

Participatory initiatives have the potential to integrate both the exterior needs and interior needs of a particular community. The engagement process that began in Los Cabos in July, 2012 is a primary witness to the power of incorporating interiority in the community planning process through the use of asset-mapping, community visioning, and cross-community events. The result was a striking demonstration of community members mobilizing through shared learning, the expression of perceptions and beliefs, and the appropriation of once degraded and abandoned public spaces.

Painting a living witness; a community mural to ‘mark’ the legacy of the 5-month participatory planning process. In the future when local residents pass by the work of art, they will remember that they played a valuable role in shaping the future of their community (Image Source: Atención a la Juventud, Municipio de Los Cabos).

The call for cities to engage in best practices for sustainable planning has increased. Sustainability is no longer a buzzword but a reality that must be addressed by cities all over the world.

Sustainable city planning is a relatively new concept that many cities have embraced. However, many still struggle combining or adapting their strategic plans to incorporate the sustainability aspects. Some cities have opted for having a new department for sustainability, whereas many others have decided to take a more holistic approach and integrate a strategic, sustainable plan for their cities.

Whatever the approach taken by a city is, the challenge still remains in translating those plans into tangible actions and setting up indicators that will reflect their progress towards success, considering the specific conditions and socio-cultural environment of the city.

With that in mind, we have done research in 12 cities across the globe to examine how they have established sustainability indicators to monitor the success of their sustainability plans. The paper reviews the methodologies or frameworks that these cities are using, outlines the indicators that each city is using and provides an analysis looking for commonalities and key findings that can support other cities that are in the same path.

In summary, we found that GHG emissions and the environmental aspects of sustainability are top priorities for most cities, on the other hand we found that indicators related to food issues (food security, access and use) were hardly addressed at all. We also found that projects that are more “visible” to the public take precedence, meaning infrastructure projects such as green space areas, roads, green buildings and bike paths. The paper also identifies that actions such as using backcasting in the planning process, creating public/private partnerships, institutionalizing the process and the plan, and engaging stakeholders were key success factors to advance and measure their sustainability planning efforts.

SCI would like to thank all the volunteers that were involved in producing this paper. We hope it will be a useful resource for your city. If you want to learn more about what SCI offers to support cities in their planning process or indicator setting process visit our website or contact Edna Aguiñaga (edna-at-icsc.ca) or Pat Gordon (pgordon-at-icsc.ca)

This paper was made possible with financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Click here to download the document

At the end of October 2012, our contract and funding provided by the Canadian International Development Agency came to an end. Since then, we have spent some time taking stock of achievements, assessing progress and discussing future opportunities.

We can confidently and proudly say that the success of this project exceeded all of our expectations. Active in Dakar, Senegal, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Durban, South Africa, many dedicated people worked together to develop stronger processes and outcomes for improving the quality of life for local citizens.

Focusing on the promotion of good governance, environmental sustainability and the transfer of knowledge gained, this project brought cities from around the world together in an alliance that formed lasting bonds and friendships, ignited potent cross-cultural exchanges, and affected all of those involved for the better.

We wish to thank all of our staff and interns, our partner agencies, which include all the local government authorities, Kesho Trust, MILE, Imagine Durban, and the Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine (IAGU).

Well done, everyone!

cardboard recycling project in Durban (with local NGO Asiye eTafuleni)

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“People today have an urge – an impatient urge – to participate in the events and processes that shape their lives”. UNDP

Participatory development and design can take on many forms and applications in both a local or international context. A participatory approach to development has become a widely accepted model in urban sustainability planning and practise, one form being the purposeful representation of landscapes we’ve all come to know (and for some of us, love) –maps! Untangling local knowledge and community conceptions of place, participatory mapping has emerged as a dominant paradigm in inclusive approaches to sustainable design for cities.

Mapping urban sustainability in eThekwini, South Africa

eThekwini Municipality’s Imagine Durban project has led the development of the eThekwini Green Map – an interactive tool that showcases the sustainability features of the municipal area. Community-oriented in design, the Green Map is a form of participatory development that uses mapmaking as the medium to produce community-asset maps featuring sites of sustainability. eThekwini joins the Green Map system in this global initiative. A universal set of 170 icons are used as the language to visually depict the sites on the Green Map. The online Google platform of the map presents this resource as an open-knowledge sharing platform on localized social and environmental sustainability issues and assets.

Online eThekwini Green Map

The eThekwini Green Map “will involve all citizens in building and enjoying a more sustainable city” says Bongumusa Zondo, Senior Manager of Imagine Durban. Providing an opportunity for locals and visitors to view eThekwini through a sustainability lens, the Green Map offers a new perspective of the municipal area and visually communicates a sustainability portrait of the communities within eThekwini.

By reaching out to a wide range of communities, Imagine Durban seeks to build the Green Map to represent and celebrate all the Municipality’s diverse community assets that support and promote social and environmental sustainability. A print version, published quarterly, is also available to reach an inclusive audience given the digital divide within eThekwini.

eThekwini Green Map, 1st edition print version

Youth community-asset mapping in eThekwini

Championing inclusive participation in development, Imagine Durban led two community-asset mapping pilot projects in the communities of KwaNdengezi, and another in KwaMakhutha. The youth participated in a series of workshops where they were exposed to the concept, practice, and applicability of ‘sustainability’ in a local and global context; explored, located, and photographed sustainability features of their community; and shared them on the Green Map. The project aimed to empower the youth with skills, and develop a sense of community identity and pride, as well as an ethos of caring for the natural environment.

Imagine Durban team and KwaMakhutha youth

The participatory approach of the Green Map is a pillar for the materialisation of the map to inclusively engage the public as anyone can suggest an asset for the map. According to Wendy Brawer, Founding Director of Green Map system, “The ability for all ages and backgrounds to get involved is one of the most important social changes that Green Maps leverage… Green Maps will help shed light on the journey that each community undertakes, and illuminate the initiatives and innovations that make sustainability happen in a meaningful, actionable way.”

From Finland to Colombia, Green Maps locate and inspire

Green Maps can take various forms, processes, and have tangible benefits that can be approached in different ways.

The Colombian non-profit organisation Fundación GeoVida guided a project that used Green Maps as an instrument for communicating environmental concerns of low-income youth in Pereira, Colombia.

“The mapmaking process is a very rich learning opportunity to understand about our local environments and community resources; improve our communication skills through the use of the Green Map icons” says Carlos Martinez who co-founded Fundación GeoVida, and played an instrumental role in the implementation and coordination for Pereira Green Map project. He continues, “Participants gain new skills such as eco-literacy, new media and technology; participants also learn about leadership and community empowerment, and the possibilities to make change in their own communities.”

As many good things do, the Helsinki Green Map began in a coffee shop. A group of volunteers came together as the Helsinki Green Map team and crowd-sourced people’s favourite green sites in the city. Engagement with Aalto University and the public provided the opportunity to begin organizing sites into themes relevant for Helsinki business, research, and culture. This led to the Helsinki Green Map using themes of Sustainable Mobility, Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Design, and Sustainable Building as guiding pillars to communicate, and stimulate discussion on the city’s visible and not-so visible green sites.

“Helsinki is now experiencing a vibrant ‘pop-up culture’, where grassroots innovators are organizing all kinds of fun community building events. One role for Helsinki Green Map is to help link these people, places and activities; another crucial role is to help link the cultural, commercial and research arenas through mapping” says Cindy of the Helsinki Green Map team.

The Green Map is a tool that promotes sustainable development through community participation, fosters dialogue on all aspects of sustainability, and celebrates ‘the local’ initiatives. There are challenges when operating from an approach to development that aims for inclusivity, yet along the journey the Green Map provides a participative framework for multi-stakeholder engagement in urban sustainability.

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Disposal of increasing quantities of urban solid waste is a major challenge for municipal authorities. With over half of the world’s population living in cities, municipalities are challenged to manage the physical growth of their cities in a manner that will enable cities to deliver the critical services of water, waste, education and transportation in the most cost-effective ways possible.

As one of the world’s fastest growing cities, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, has reached its tipping point with new arrivals. Many people are setting up homes in hastily erected shacks leaving approximately 70 percent of Dar es Salaam’s population living in informal (unplanned) settlements according to UN estimates.

Like many developing cities, “Dar es Salaam has gone 20 years without any guidance on planning, and now badly needs a master plan”, says Joe Boyle, in a BBC News article entitled Dar es Salaam: Africa’s next megacity. Sustainable Cities International – Network CIDA Africa Program and Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association (BORDA) have been working closely with Kisiwani Environmental Group (KEG), a local community group, for the last two years on waste separation and composting. This project provides unique solutions and best practices for the City of Dar es Salaam by improving waste collection in Ilala Municipality, employment for marginalized youth, reduced waste transported to the dumpsite through recycling and composting and the compiling and gathering of data on the residents served by KEG.

This picture speaks to the need and desire for many to find work; KEG transfer site

With the success in waste recycling and composting; KEG is seen as a leader in solid waste management serving the unplanned areas in the Buguruni Ward. Kisiwani sub-ward produces 20.4 tonnes of solid waste per day, and KEG collects 15 tonnes per day from 2,870 households (approximately 8,000 people) as well as businesses and institutions by using hired trucks and trolleys (pushcarts). The waste collected is then transported to a transfer station where it is sorted into: organic waste (food and garden waste) comprising of 60 percent; recyclable waste (plastics, metal, paper and cardboard, bones, textile and glass) comprising of 16 percent; and finally residual waste comprising of 24 percent which includes: hazardous, rubber and leather, ceramic, and stones, and remaining other types of waste. This reduces the amount of waste being transferred, by Ilala Municipal Council, to the dumpsite by approximately 76 percent, according to a report by Dr. Mgana on KEG’s Solid Waste Recycling and Composting Project.

The photo below was taken in an unplanned settlement in Dar es Salaam. The image itself can often be viewed as evidence of extreme poverty and often referred to as ‘the slums’ when in reality it has just as much to do with urban planning and excessive population growth as it does poverty.

A common sight in many unplanned areas in Dar es Salaam

Many neglect to see the challenges that developing countries face while trying to keep up with a city that continues to grow at a dramatic rate with population doubling from two million to four million in two decades and a projected eight million in the next (Boyle, 2012. Dar es Salaam: Africa’s next megacity ). The staggering population increase has many people settling into unplanned areas with no electricity, running water or waste management.

Important questions to ask when looking at this photo are: what would you do with your waste if you didn’t have someone picking it up on a regular basis? Would you burn it? Would you discard it where there was available land, illegally? What if there was no available land? This is one of the many issues that municipalities are faced within a growing and developing city.

Dr. Mgana, of Ardhi University’s report on KEG’s solid waste recycling and composting project highlighted that “solid waste management has received scant attention in developing countries resulting in insanitary conditions in most of the towns and cities.” However, this is changing with growing realisation about the threat solid waste poses to urban residents. In Dar es Salaam solid waste collection is now one of the nine issues that were prioritised for Dar es Salaam during the preparation of the UN- Habitat sponsored Strategic Urban Development Plan in 1999.

Overall, the city’s waste collection is very limited and leads to serious health and environmental hazards from decomposing waste, particularly in unplanned areas. Currently, in Dar es Salaam municipal trucks can only reach 30 percent of the population as unplanned areas are inaccessible to trucks. The municipalities also require a means of tracking and collecting fees to support such services in the city. With most of the population living without valid addresses it makes it very challenging for the municipality to compile a database to track revenue collection and measure service needs.

The city also struggles to keep up with the waste management within city boundaries due to a lack of resources. “Municipal Council in Dar es Salaam collect less than half of the solid waste generated”, says Dr. Mgana. According to the Dar es Salaam Infrastructure Development Program Report out of 4,200 tons produced per day, only 37% is collected and disposed of. Collection in planned areas is contracted to private companies and to community groups in unplanned areas.

The success of KEG’s waste recycling project has seen its experiences presented by the Dar es Salaam Mayor, Dr. Masaburi, at a conference on the Green Economy in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. KEG has presented their best practices and challenges in many stakeholder workshops in Dar es Salaam and showcased their compost during the last National Agriculture exhibition in August 2012.

Solid Waste Management Stakeholder Meeting July 2012

KEG produces one hundred 50 kilogram bags of quality tested compost per month. The SCI Network Africa Program and BORDA are working with KEG to establish a strong market for compost to local landscapers, sports clubs, embassies, and flower producers in Dar es Salaam as well as pineapple farmers in Bagamoyo. Recyclables, making up sixteen percent, are collected and sold to an agent who buys the plastics for processing. These two revenue streams combined with the collection fees collected each month has allowed KEG to expand operations and raise the salaries of those employed by 33 percent.

With the municipality’s assistance and invested interest in this project KEG has been able to improve the collection of service fees from residence and business owners through the creation of a database; the database has allowed KEG and the municipality to identify those that should be paying business rates vs. residential rates as well as tracking those whom fail to pay their waste collection fees. This was previously not possible. The municipality is also committed to supporting KEG in securing a land agreement for their transfer site. KEG continues to work hard to educate the public on waste management and plans to lead a waste separation and environmental education campaign.

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Like most urban sustainability initiatives, citizen participation is an essential component for the success of management of the river systems in Colima, Mexico. For this reason, el Instituto de Planeacion para el Municipio de Colima (IPCo) has recognized the need to involve the public in the improvement of the river systems and has identified the Colima River as the first project to be realized in this process.

For the size of the Colima River and the lack of information, IPCo has decided to start with a Pilot Project called “Friends of the Colima River” which involves the collection of information from residents and application of activities in the neighbourhoods of Barrio la Atrevida and Jardines de la Corregidora. These residents are a sample of the total population of Colima and the information gathered will guide future steps towards the recovery of the Colima River.

Survey Area: Jardines de la Corregidora (A/B) and Barrio la Atrevida (C/D)

Study area

In the selected region for the pilot project, we separated the two neighbourhoods into four zones. Zone A and B are situated in the neighbourhood of Jardines de la Corregidora, while Zone C and D are situated in the neighbourhood of Barrio la Atrevida. The Colima River runs through the two neighbourhoods in between Zone B and C. The map above shows two green spaces in Zone A and B that represent the public space that is available to use. In Zone B there is also a small section of walking space along the side of the river. The lack of green space shown in Zone C and D is representative of the lack of public space that exists in this neighbourhood. Additionally, it is important to note that there is no open access to the Colima River in Zone C and D.

With regards to the pilot project we chose these two neighbourhoods for their location in the city, their proximity to the river and for the difference in resources (financial, space etc.). Jardines de la Corregidora (Zone A and B) has more public space, less people and more resources (with bigger and more secure houses) than that of Barrio la Atrevida (Zone C and D).

As a first step in the pilot project “Friends of the Colima River,” quantitative and qualitative data was collected through the application of surveys in order to demonstrate the perception the residents had of their neighbourhood in addition to their connection and interaction of the river that runs through their neighbourhood.

Statistics

Combined, Jardines de la Corregidora and Barrio la Atrevida have a population of 1593 residents. In total we conducted 146 surveys within the two communities giving us an 8% margin of error and a 95% level of confidence.

More than half the people surveyed were adult women between the ages of 25-59 years old. Additionally more than half of the people surveyed stated an occupation of “Housekeeper” or “Retired.” With regards to the level of education a significant difference can be seen between the education levels of each community. In Jardines de la Corregidora, the more affluent neighbourhood, 57% of the population hold a college degree or higher in comparison to Barrio la Atrevida where only 18% of the population obtain post-secondary qualifications

The goal of these surveys was not only to better understand the relationship that residents have with the river and their community but also to learn the differences in perceptions between the two communities with respect to the difference in resources/socio-economic status. Below is highlighted a few examples of what similarities/differences we have found:

Differences:

As mentioned above Jardines de la Corregidora is a more affluent neighbourhood with more public and private space than that of Barrio la Atrevida. One fifth of the population in Jardines de la Corregidora do not see opportunities to enjoy themselves in their neighbourhood while more than half of the people can say the same in Barrio la Atrevida. The access to public space as well as the direct access to the river no doubt has an influence on the amount of opportunities to enjoy one’s neighbourhood.

Residents from Jardines de la Corregidora had a higher preoccupation with the level of insecurity in their neighbourhood. This could potentially be linked to the river, as many residents have stated that the lack of vigilance around the river has provided a space for delinquents to participate in vandalism and drug and alcohol use. With the close proximity of the neighbourhood to the river it is possible that the bad use of the river space could filter into the community itself.

Similarities:

Despite the feeling of insecurity in Jardines de la Corregidora, both communities value the tranquility of their neighbourhood. Additionally they do not see the Colima River to be a threat to their safety and very few have actually experienced a mishap related to the river (for example flooding, sickness etc.). While less than half the population interacts with the river (and those who do, do so only with short walks), two-thirds have an interest in participating more in activities related to the Colima River.

Residents are interested in connecting with the Colima River

The surveys have provided us with some important information to understand what sentiments the people hold towards the river and for what reasons. However, the major finding that we should keep at the forefront is that people are interested in connecting more with this natural resource that runs through their community.

The graph below shows the activities that people are ready to participate in.

Half of the people are interested in walks and garbage collection. Of the few groups that are working with the Colima River already, two groups are doing walks and garbage collection as their primary activities. These activities are therefore easier and more realistic to implement within the community.

Conclusions

• At the start of this project, we assumed that the difference in resources between each community (for example, financial, space etc.) would provide us with drastically different opinions creating a necessity to approach each neighbourhood with different activities and information catering to the needs of each community. What we found was that while the opinions of the residents varied with regards to the perception of the neighbourhood, the two communities mirrored one another in their perception and interaction with the Colima River itself. This signifies that perhaps we don’t need to approach each neighbourhood with different efforts but rather we should ask how we can unite the two neighbourhoods in their interaction and desires for the Colima River.
• In line with the findings there are certain questions we must ask. If the people are open to participating in more activities with the river, how can we use the river as an opportunity to provide enjoyment and increase tranquility within the residents’ community? It is important to remember here that over half the people surveyed identified as housekeepers or retired thus providing us with a population that may have more opportunity or time to interact within their community. Additionally, as there is little vigilance around the river allowing for the bad use of space, how can we promote to the people that more positive use can help restore vigilance and safety within the neighbourhood? Finally, an important question to consider is, will people be more motivated to take care of the river if there is a perceived threat to their health and/or safety? Or is it through more opportunities to interact and create a connection that will inspire people to be more responsible and/or aware?

Next Steps for “Friends of the Colima River”

1.   Improve the surveys for the pilot project “Friends of the Colima River”:

• Adapt the surveys for the younger people. Pursue a better representation of children/adolescents and adult/senior males
• Focus the surveys for the houses that are situated directly beside the river in order to see the level of security they have living directly beside to the river

2.   Share the findings of the surveys with the residents of both neighbourhoods

3.   Start activities in the community (walks, garbage collection)

4.   Form a committee of people dedicated to the improvement of the river and also the improvement of the involvement of the residents with the river

5.   Spread the information and activities to involve people outside of the pilot project area