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strategic urban development

STRATEGIC URBAN DEVELOPMENT a knowledge management program of the Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration December 2009

THE MARSEILLE

CENTER FOR MEDITERRANEAN INTEGRATION CMI The Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration was launched in October 2009 with the mandate of creating a platform for integration in the Mediterranean region through high-level policy dialogue, dissemination and knowledge management in key development areas which are of primary importance for the Mediterranean region: urban and spatial development; skills, employment and labor mobility; environment and water; transport and logistics; knowledge economy, innovation and technology. Founding members are the Governments of Egypt, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia as well as the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. Other members are likely to join the Center in the near future.

the center for mediterranean integration

FOCUS COUNTRIES The Center for Mediterranean Integration makes its knowledge management services available to the countries of the southern and eastern coast of the Mediterranean.

Mediterranean integration is intended as an opportunity for further linkages and exchanges between both rims of the Mediterranean region, as well as within its southern part.

PROGRAM PARTNERS The Strategic Urban Development program is promoted, financed and implemented by two of the CMI partners: the Caisse des Dépôts, a French public financial institution, and the World Bank. They have committed to a three-year partnership to combine the policy and technical exper-

tise resulting from their international and national work, the staff and the financial resources necessary for the success of the program. A joint team is operating simultaneously out of Marseille, Paris and Washington, and is liaising actively with the official counterparts and centers of excellence in the focus countries as well as in Europe and elsewhere.

OTHER PARTNERSHIPS Key to the success of the program is the active involvement of centers of excellence, public institutions, university and research centers, city governments and municipal associations from the member countries, from the European Union and elsewhere, so that each program activity will result in a rich interaction

among different stakeholders at regional scale. To date, the following have committed to contribute to the activities supported by the program: AFD, Blue Plan, Cities Alliance, City of Marseille, Euroméditerranée, Medicities. This list will be regularly updated as the program builds up its network of partnerships in the Mediterranean region.

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strategic urban development

STRATEGIC URBAN DEVELOPMENT The countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean are experiencing a very high rate of urbanization, which is expected to reach 67% by 2030, with a 58% increase of their urban population compared to 2005. This represents additional 85 million urban inhabitants. Such urbanization trends pose tremendous challenges, as well as opportunities. Spatial imbalances and lagging regions are present in many countries, and territorial development plans are rare. Urban planning often lags behind informal urbanization driven by demographics and housing demand; urban renewal operations need complex management tools, which are often lacking. The program will collaborate with national and local institutions and agencies in order to address some of these issues.

REGIONAL & URBAN PLANNING The program will provide analytical work leading to the assessment of the current spatial structure, regional imbalances, and forecasts of urbanization at the 2030 horizon of selected countries

in the region. This work will be carried out by making use of combined statistical forecasting and satellite imagery, to predict the size and shape of major cities, and of international analytical methodologies. Advisory work will also

the center for mediterranean integration

be carried out for the review of the urban planning instruments of selected main urban agglomerations, to enhance their coherence with coastal zone management, where appropriate, and with energy, water, and transport planning.

Mediterranean and European experiences in urban planning will be reviewed and compared, with the purpose of facilitating a process of modernization and simplification of the planning instruments adopted by the countries in the region, in view of improving the quality of urban development.

URBAN LAND MANAGEMENT The program will provide a review of urban land management policies for the purposes of facilitating formal real-estate

transactions and access to secure land tenure, of lowering the incidence of illegal subdivisions, and of accelerating the process of urbanization of periurban rural land. Land-based financing of urban development will be explored, in view of ensuring that the costs of providing trunk infrastructure may be recovered from the landowners and developers due to the increased value of land, and of self-financing urbanization. The institutional dimension of land management will be equally addressed, comparing various experiences with the creation and functioning of Land Management Agencies, either as part of the public administration or as separate entities set up under the tutelage of sector Ministries. The status of public

land reserves and their utilization and replenishment will also be examined as a priority concern.

URBAN EXPANSION & RENEWAL Governments in the region are extending existing urban areas, creating satellite communities and new towns, and facilitating the rehabilitation of obsolete

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strategic urban development

or degraded urban areas, including a number of up-scale urban projects and real-estate operations, often fueled by foreign direct investments. Such ini-

tiatives require special legal arrangements, institutional and administrative set-ups, the availability of large tracts of land, and the mobilization of significant national and international financial resources, in order to be successful.

The program will explore the technical, institutional and financial aspects of such urban projects across the region, facilitating exchanges and bringing to bear the innovations that have been tried out elsewhere. In

particular the possible forms of partnership of the public and private sectors will be explored, from dedicated public sector developers to public-private corporations, to foreign direct investment and inter-communal investment agencies.

the center for mediterranean integration

PROGRAM

DELIVERABLES POLICY WORKSHOPS The program will deliver a number of policy workshops per year, where the main issues covered will be reviewed on the basis of national reports, case studies, and specific technical and policy contributions that would facilitate the exchanges and integration across the Mediterranean region. They will bring together policymakers, practitioners and academicians, will be preceded by preparatory research work, and followed up with the dissemination of the recommendations, outcomes and materials. The impacts expected from the policy workshops are awareness-raising, contributing to the definition of reform processes, and providing access to updated knowledge by key practitioners.

GUIDANCE MATERIALS The purpose of the CMI, and therefore of its urban programs, is to be part of the debate on key development and integration policy topics, and to become a pivotal part of the existing regional networks. The program will produce and disseminate guidance materials and information on the issues of strategic urban development in the Mediterranean region, resulting from the networking, the policy workshops, the studies and technical advisory services. The program also inherits knowledge materials from the Europe-MENA urban knowledge hub which operated in Marseille from 2004 until 2008.

STUDIES & ADVISORY SERVICES The program will provide resources and opportunities to conduct studies and provide small-scale technical assistance on the topics covered, on a selective basis, to the national and local Governments and cities of the region. This will enable CMI to support its clients in a more detailed exploration of some of the issues, innovations proposed, and approaches suggested. Advisory services will be provided by the regional centers of excellence and expertise and by specialized consultants and consulting firms. The program will also facilitate direct, decentralized cooperation among cities on all sides of the Mediterranean for technical and policy exchanges.

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Program Direction Anthony G. Bigio, World Bank Pascale Chabrillat, Caisse des Dep么ts

CONTACT INFORMATION Olivier Lavinal olavinal@worldbank.org (+33-4) 91 99 24 48 Pierre-Marie Villette pierre-marie.villette@caissedesdepots.fr (+33-1) 58 50 11 34

Center for Mediterranean Integration Villa Valmer, 271 Corniche Kennedy, Marseille, France 13007