Ger-area Upgrading Strategy and Investment Plan for Ulaanbaatar
Status
completed
City
Ulaanbaatar
Main actors
City Government, National Government
Project area
Neighborhood or district
Duration
2006 - 2020
The objective is to shift from a central planning paradigm to an approach which reflects economic realities for development investment.
Ulan Bator Municipality (MUB) is confronted with a huge population explosion due to rapid rural-urban migration, threatening government, and international efforts to sustainably manage the city's growth and development. A Cities Alliance funded City Development Strategy CDS for Ulan Bator injected vision into preparations for the 2020 Master Plan, and leveraged significant follow-up investment; the supporting legal and administrative framework to manage urban growth and development nevertheless remained firmly rooted in traditional urban design and regulatory approaches.
The overall objective of Cities Alliance support to the MUB is to help in shifting from a central planning paradigm to an approach reflecting economic realities and market demand for development investment.
In particular, it gave MUB a better understanding of its role as an enabler and not controller for the urban economy.
The first community-led Ger (yurt or felt tent) area upgrading project was initiated and completed. The goal was to improve the quality of life for approximately 50,000 Ger area residents in Ulan Bator.
Sustainable Development Goals
In recent years, the MUB has undergone rapid expansion due to high-levels of rural-to-urban migration. Inward migrants settled in Ger areas which developed on the MUB periphery. The population growth exceeded the capacity of the planned urban core area resulting in the Ger settlements with low levels of infrastructure and service provision. The Mongolian government and the MUB actively engage in addressing upgrading issues in Ger areas. With technical assistance from UN HABITAT, the MUB prepared a city-wide pro-poor Ger area upgrading strategy of Ulan Bator, which was completed in 2007 and approved by the Citizens Representative Council through UN HABITAT Technical Assistance for Ger area upgrading strategy and implementation plan (GUSIP). As a step towards implementing the strategy, the community-led Ger area upgrading in Ulan Bator project was developed. The project was implemented in the following two years.
Based on characteristics and development issues, there was the immediate need to conceptualise 3 types of Ger areas:
- central Ger areas, located near the built-up urban core of the city, with potential high level of access to infrastructure and services
- middle Ger areas, relying on tinkered water supply, pit latrines, poor roads, and level of waste collection and
- peri-urban Ger areas, characterised by day-to-day spatial expansion at the urban periphery with little or no access to infrastructure or services.
Implementation activities included developing a city-wide pro-poor Ger area upgrading strategy in the MUB, with urban development guidelines focusing on the three types of Ger areas mentioned above empowering Ger area communities through social mobilisation and organisation. Community-based assessment and prioritisation of local needs for Ger area upgrading and improving the quality of life by using community-led processes were further centrepieces.
An investment programme for upgrading three types of Ger areas in the MUB was planned and realised through preparation and implementation of Ger area Improvement Action Plans. The project also developed and implemented an institutional strengthening strategy with the involvement of Mongolian institutes and universities. For this purpose, knowledge-sharing and policy learning mechanism for national replication was formulated und implemented.
Project implementation was documented and monitored in order to continuously evaluate its progress and study progress steps in urban governance in the MUB. There the project management structure for this project included a Ulan Bator mayor-led inter-ministerial Policy Advisory Group PAG, with the participation of three deputy ministers of Finance, Construction, Urban Development, Social Welfare; an MUB-led Coordinating Working Group CWG, with heads of all departments and the Secretary of Ulan Bator Regional Council; and three Ger area upgrading issue-specific working groups IWG, with representatives from public and private sectors, civil society organisations, and international aid / donor agencies. Finally, the project was supported by a management team located at the MUB offices.
The project implemented four major components which related to project objectives:
1. empowerment of Ger area communities through social mobilisation and organisation;
2. community-based assessment and prioritisation of local needs for Ger area upgrading through community action planning CAP, a process developed by UN HABITAT;
3. improving the quality of life by using community-led processes;
4. documenting and monitoring project implementation progress and project evaluation, study of urban governance in MUB.
A time-line and detailed list of project activities is given below:
1. Setting up a strategy for Ger area upgrading was based on analytic study and conceptualisation of three types of Ger areas - central Ger areas; middle Ger areas; and peri-urban Ger areas
2. Official recognition by MUB and Mongolian government
3. City-wide pro-poor Ger area upgrading strategy:
• information inventory and sharing
• information collection, review and analysis
• setting strategy scope and Framework
• consultative preparation
4. From strategy to Policy:
• approved by the MUB Mayoral Council
• approved by Citizens’ Representative Council which advised the Mayor to implement
5. Detailed guidelines:
• redeveloping central Ger areas
• comprehensive upgrading in middle Ger areas
• incremental upgrading in peri-urban Ger areas
6. Community-led Ger area upgrading:
• social mobilisation and organisation
• community action planning
• community contracting
Both projects combined had costs for personal, technical, and financial expenditures amounting to about 500,000 USD.
The required CDS / public consultation approach and CAP methodology were introduced and prepared Ger area upgrading guidelines, and an institutional strengthening strategy was carried out.
Furthermore, a Ger area information system for Ulan Bator (GAISU) was developed with participation from relevant agencies / departments / divisions / companies in the MUB. Mongolian Association of Urban Centres jointly organised and supported a training course on city management for Mongolian city mayors. With the help of the MUB Mayor, an information sharing protocol was also established which includes 31 MUB agencies / departments / divisions / companies freely sharing data with the GUSIP project in preparing project outputs.
The project led to well-organised Ger area communities and establishment of Community Development Councils CDC and CDC federations, with community-based assessments, identifying, and prioritising local needs for Ger area upgrading. Community Action Plans were developed by CDCs in partnership with local government, line departements, i.e. those responsible for finance, land administration, basic urban services, infrastructure, and other relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, institutional capacity was strengthened at various levels, including Ger area communities, MUB (sub-district, district and municipal levels) and Mongolian Ministry of Road, Transport, Construction and Urban Development, through developing Community Action Plans.
Last but not least, the quality of life improved in the selected sub-districts through investment in developing local infrastructure, providing basic urban services and studies on urban governance, capacity building for the MUB staff, experience, and lessons learnt were shared with various Mongolian local governments.
Documented and reported problems are those associated with Ger area haphazard expansion and with limited understanding of Ger area morphology.
On the policy side, there was an absence of urban planning inputs and focus on the rule that Ger areas are not urban settlements. Additionally, environmental problems occurred (forests, groundwater, and hazardous areas). There also was a lack of basic infrastructure and services causing a poor quality of life and urban poverty.
Furthermore, nomadic culture with poor social cohesion in the urban context had to be understood.
There were challenges involving managing natural environment and resources, i.e. forest cover receding rapidly, ad hoc attempts to increase tree cover, fragile steppes ecosystem, and threatened ground water resources - over 90 per cent water supply comes from groundwater (Ger area residents use pit latrines).
The project gave the MUB a better understanding of its role as an 'activator' for the urban economy that will improve the living conditions of the poor. This project was specifically targeted at supporting the MUB in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, more specifically, goals related to shelter upgrading, water supply, and health. It also included mechanisms to address and consider gender issues.
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