Rapid Planning - Introducing new approaches to planning and financing urban supply and disposal infrastructure

The New Urban Agenda, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals are making a strong reference to the improvement of access to basic services like water supply, sanitation, solid waste management and energy. The provision of these basic services is linked to overarching questions of poverty reduction, sustainable urban development, climate change mitigation and resilience. And it can only be achieved in the context of adequate urban planning on one hand, and financing on the other. This networking event serves as a step in the establishment of an implementation-oriented network featuring cities, development financing institutions, and experts and practitioners. A Rapid Planning methodology is going to be presented, which specifically aims at planning of supply and disposal infrastructure in rapidly growing cities. It features a new approach to strategic planning of supply and disposal infrastructure in the context of rapid urbanization, citywide planning, informal settlement upgrading and urban transformation. The methodology is being developed by UN-Habitat together with a consortium of 11 universities and research institutions. The event is going to critically discuss the role of the methodology in the context of strategic urban infrastructure planning, but also from the viewpoint of developing and fast-tracking bankable projects. It aims at exploring the question what role the methodology could play in the context of planning, developing and financing sustainable urban supply and disposal infrastructure in rapidly growing or dynamically changing cities, especially located in the global South. Thematic areas covered will include questions of data gathering and reliability, the development of tangible strategic scenarios and technological options, cost-benefit considerations, as well as the requirements in the engagement of local governments in the related planning process. Moreover, the critical importance of these aspects for the development of bankable infrastructure projects and their impact on the required lead-time will be explored, too.