METHODOLOGY/GUIDELINES FOR CITY DEVELOPMENT TRATEGY AND PROPOSAL FOR CDS IN ARUA, JINJA,MBALE, MBARARA AND

KABALE MUNICIPALITIESDr. Kiggundu Amin Tamale

Makerere UniversityHotel Africa

JULY 25, 2012

INTRODUCTION• Cities across the globe have become a major

source of economic growth and a vehicle for poverty alleviation.

• A well designed City Development Strategy (CDS) should aim to safeguard these achievements and ensure that towns and cities become more resilient and adaptive to the changing global economic environment.

• CDS should also permit the different stakeholders to negotiate strategies and seek solutions collectively to prioritize issues of common concern.

THE CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY• A strategy is by implication high- level guidance and

coordination.• A City Development Strategy (CDS) is: an action plan

developed by all stakeholders to achieve equitable urban economic growth and improve the quality of life for all citizens.

• City Development Strategies have several advantages such as:

(a) CDS enables various stakeholders such as NGOs, municipal officials, the business community, the mass media, academia, Community-Based Organizations (CBO), Slum Dwellers International (SDI), Actogether, MoLG and MoLHUD to participate in the city planning process.

Continue…… (b)CDS builds and improves the capacities of

stakeholder groups to ensure good governance ©Encourages the local people to think about their

city differently from the past; (d)Helps to achieve a coordinated strategic

approach toward addressing the complexity of development;

(e)Precipitates a change in dependency attitudes and behavior among stakeholder groups

(f)Enables a city to anticipate the rate, type and physical direction of growth and develop infrastructure ahead of growth.

CDS METHODOLOGY/GUIDELINES Objective The objective of this methodology or guidelines is

to have identical standards and procedures that can be followed to prepare and develop City Development Strategies for various urban centres in Uganda including the five municipalities of Arua, Mbale, Jinja, Mbarara and Kabale.

However, there are challenges faced in preparing these guidelines:

CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING THE CDS METHODOLOGY

• Difference in the urban environment: The urban centres to apply these guidelines are somewhat different especially in areas such as topography, social systems, level of development, institutional capacity as well as the available financial resources.

• Diversity aside however, the issues to be addressed are virtually the same: urban poverty, urban governance, environmental quality, service delivery, energy efficiency, spatial form, provision of housing and transport infrastructure.

KEY PHASES• The methodology is to be implemented in five(5)

phases;• Throughout these stages the participation of

various stakeholders is quite critical;• The participation of the stakeholder groups is

critical because it creates a sense of ownership and promotes transparency and accountability

• The stakeholders are given the opportunity to negotiate strategies and seek solutions collectively to prioritize issues of common concern.

KEY PHASES IN DEVELOPING A CITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Stage 1 of CDS Process:Under stage 1 of the methodology, the following

activities are undertaken: (i) Securing the support and commitment of the

Ministry of Local Government as a way of legalizing CDS documents

(ii)Identify the key stakeholders or representatives of various interest groups

(iii)Establish a stakeholders’ committee chaired by the municipal mayor

Stage 1 Continue…..• Obtain the commitment of the stakeholders

and prioritize issues of common interest through open meetings and workshops;

• Establish a CDS coordinating office with a focal point person at the municipality level

• Prepare and agree with key stakeholders the work plan

• Initiate a capacity building programme in form of workshops and short term courses targeting municipal officials

Stage 2 of CDS Process: Needs Assessment and Analysis

Under stage 2, the activities to undertake include:(a)Undertake a baseline survey to collect

information on key urban areas: infrastructure provision, housing, environment and sanitation, urban governance, land tenure, demographic trends and business. The primary goal is to identify problems and investment gaps in the municipality.

(b) Undertake a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats) analysis of the town

Continue…. ©Benchmarking: the town is compared and

contrasted with its competitors (d)Build consensus and establish the problems

and priorities of the town

Stage 3 of The CDS ProcessThe activities to be undertaken under stage 3 of the

CDS process include:(a)Define the Vision and Mission of the town/city -A city’s Vision is a statement that indicates where a

city wants to be, say, 10 to 15 years in the future - A city’s Vision should be short and based on the

unique characteristics of a city. Examples of a Vision: (i)’An Eco-tourist centre offering transportation,

communication and commercial services to the people’ (Entebbe Municipality)

(ii)’A sustainable and prosperous city with excellence in tourism, commerce and industry’ (Jinja Municipality)

Continue Stage 3……• Examples of city Mission: ‘To improve the quality of life of all residents

through tourism promotion, commercial rejuvenation and revitalized industrial economy with equitable access and balanced service delivery in an attractive and sustainable environment’ (Jinja Municipality, 2007).

‘To serve the people of Entebbe Municipality through coordinated delivery of services articulating both national and local priorities and committed to the improvement in the overall quality of life in the municipality’ (Entebbe Municipality, 2007).

(b) Prepare themes or sectoral statements. These themes could be in form of objectives such as:

• To promote local economic development• To promote tourism and cultural development• To foster education and human development• To improve the urban environment• To improve accessibility through balanced

transportation systems© Develop strategic action plans and specify the

objectives/themes, strategy to achieve the objectives, specify activities, time frame, actors and progress/status

Example: Strategic Action Plan ( Jinja Municipality, 2007)Objective Strategy Specific

ActivitiesTime Frame Actors/

StakeholdersStatus/Progress

To promote Tourism and Improve Cultural Heritage in Jinja

Repackage the tourism industry in Jinja and strengthen partnerships with the tourism board to market as popular destination

Hold consultative meetings with the Tourism Board

5 Years Jinja Municipality, Ministry of Tourism, Uganda Investment Authority

Some private initiatives in place

Encourage private sector participation in the development and management of tourism infrastructure

Hold consultative meetings with the private sector

5 Years Jinja Municipality Not Yet

Conduct comprehensive research on the tourism potential of Jinja and its hinterland

Undertake research and disseminate findings

6 Months Jinja Municipality, Ministry of Tourism

Not Yet

(d) Prepare Strategic Investment plan (Example of Jinja’s SIP, 2007)

Sectoral issue

Sources of Funds

Tourism and Culture

Intervention/Project

Approx. Cost (Shs x Millions)

Jinja Municipality

Government of Uganda

Private Sector

Civil Society

Donor Community

Total Time Frame

Upgrading tourist sites

1,200 60 240 720 ---- 180 1,200 5 Years

Development of a Museum with a tourist centre

1,000 100 100 100 ----- 700 1,000 5 Years

Tourism promotion (Bill Boards, Website etc

230 100 ------ 130 ----- ---- 230 5 Years

Sub Total

2,430 260 340 950 ---- 880 2,430

(e) Prepare a City Development Strategy document

Stage 4 of The CDS Process: Awareness BuildingThe main activity to be undertake under this stage is: Mounting awareness campaigns through a mix of

media such as: (a) An interactive internet website (that solicits feedback) (b)Use of radio and television © Newspapers (d) Exhibitions (e) Workshops

Stage 5 of the CDS Process (a) Agree on investment plans (b) Mobilize resources by the various stakeholders ©Develop and submit project proposals to

government, private sector, form public-private partnerships and City Alliance for funding

(d) Implement high-profile low risk initiatives first and riskier ones later

(e)Monitor and evaluate CDS basing on the objectives and using specific performance indicators

NB: Throughout the 5 stages of the CDS process participation of the stakeholders is highly critical.

Structure of the City Development Strategy Development

A city development strategy document is a formal document comprising of an executive summary (2-3pages) and a main text (20 t0 30 pages). CDS document is structured as follows:

(a) Cover page(b)Acknowledgement©Table of content(d)List of acronyms(e)Executive summary(f)Summary of city profile: key problems, economic

base analysis and sector statements

Continue…..(g)Findings of the SWOT analysis(h)Vision and Mission statement, including

measurable targets or objectives(i)Outline development strategies, including cost

estimates(j)Action plans and interventions for each strategy,

including priority projects and programmes(k)Monitoring, evaluation and feedback

mechanisms(l)References

Challenges Faced in Preparing CDS• Sustaining stakeholders participation may not be

possible because of the long process involved in preparing a CDS

• Securing funding for CDS has been a problem. But under this new programme City Alliance has funds for CDS

• CDS documents continue to be prepared separately in many towns and they are not legal documents

• Lack of capacity by the municipalities to prepare CDS documents

STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES FACED IN DEVELOPING CDS

a) Sustaining Stakeholders’ participation: This can be overcome by developing an interactive website.

b) Legalizing CDS documents: This would require engaging the Ministry of Local Government and developing new planning guidelines that would allow urban local governments to move from a three year development plan to a CDS approach.

c) Capacity Building: This can be done by sending municipal officials to undertake short courses (refresher courses) on urban management and holding workshops.

ENDTHANK YOU