Environmental and geopolitical crises in Africa and the Middle East regions increasingly drive migration flows to less vulnerable areas. Since 2008, as per the UN Refugee Agency’s estimation, an average of 2.5 million people are forcibly displaced every year because of weather-related events like floods, storms, wildfires or extreme temperatures. Cities attract significant parts of population flow for a variety of reasons: they offer more job opportunities, but also are usually better equipped with key infrastructures. Education, healthcare, and other essential services are sought after by newcomers, directing them to urban areas instead of rural ones. But rapid population growth poses important challenges to cities, which can include increased demand for housing, transportation, and public services, as well as environmental and social problems. Hence, supporting municipalities with their urban planning is crucial to improve the well-being of their inhabitants and work towards the local integration of refugees and internally displaced persons on economic and social fronts.
Recognising the need to mainstream migration challenges into spatial urban analytics and urban infrastructure investment planning, the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) with financial support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) started the ‘Urban Planning and Infrastructure in Migration Contexts (UPIMC)’ in 2021, to run for three years. UPIMC aims to support municipalities hosting displaced populations in three countries to improve the living conditions and management of existing and new human settlements through integrated development and planning, good governance and institutional development and developing financing.
As most settlements are conceived to be temporary, mobilising infrastructure investments that require long-term amortisations or commitments still remains a key barrier in responding to the needs of refugees or internally displaced people (IDPs) holistically and in a timely manner.
In late 2022, BASE started supporting UPIMC’s country offices with project prioritisation, reviewing information on municipal financing, and developing investment cards to engage donors to implement the identified sustainable infrastructure (SI) projects in the pilot cities targeted by the programme, namely Douala IV in Cameroon, Amman and Irbid in Jordan, and New Damietta and Kafr El Battikh in Egypt.
BASE brings its experience in climate finance for sustainable infrastructure to help link urban planning and financing considerations. A set of best practices is being developed, taking into account the needs and perspectives of all stakeholders, from users to financiers, at every stage of projects’ lifecycles. Mainstreaming gender, ensuring overall inclusivity and shared prosperity as well as reducing spatial inequalities, are key elements that need to be reflected in all the building phases. Because strategically planning the development of such installations is key to maximising their viability and desirability, this project aims to equip them with the best possible chances to rise from the ground and truly benefit the neighbouring communities with a low impact on the environment.
The “Urban Planning in Migration Contexts” programme aims to improve the capacity of selected cities to respond to the impacts of displacement by better coordinating humanitarian recovery and development investments through urban planning support. The program has four expected outcomes which include a comprehensive spatial understanding of existing situations, strategic visioning and implementation scenarios for financeable investment opportunities in sustainable infrastructure and building capacity among stakeholders. The improvement in linking spacial planning with financial planning and addressing SDGs is a cross-cutting objective.
