Category: Digitalisation & Communication

AI-based Visualisation for Affordable Housing and Informal Settlement Upgrading

Posted on by Lennart Kreuzfeld

How can AI-generated images help municipalities discuss affordable housing and informal settlement upgrading – without losing sight of implementation challenges?

At the World Urban Forum 13 (WUF13) in Baku, Connective Cities will contribute to the official WUF Academy programme with an interactive event on AI-based visualisation for affordable housing and informal settlement upgrading. The event will take place on 21 May 2026, from 09:30 to 11:30 Baku time (UTC+4).

Organised by the German Association of Cities in cooperation with Connective Cities and the participating municipalities, the event brings together urban practitioners from different regions to work with real urban cases and explore how digital visualisation can support dialogue, participation and peer learning.

About the event

The format builds on the recent Connective Cities working group exchange on affordable housing, including an AI-based visualisation exercise under the umbrella of the New European Bauhaus.

At its core is a practical city exchange: participating municipalities and institutions provide images of selected housing areas, informal settlements and urban transformation sites. WUF participants will work in groups with these prepared cases and use AI-generated visual scenarios as analytical and dialogue-oriented tools — not as final planning products or implementation promises.

The focus is not on the technology itself, but on the urban development questions that the images make visible. How are housing needs, affordability, density, land use, public space, infrastructure and social inclusion negotiated in different contexts? How can visual scenarios support communication between city administrations, communities, technical experts and decision-makers?

The event will also address the limits and risks of AI-supported visualisation. In the context of affordable housing and informal settlement upgrading, attractive images alone are not enough. They need to be linked to questions of financing, operation, maintenance, climate resilience, land ownership, social safeguards and clear implementation responsibilities.
The format was developed and coordinated by Jelena Karamatijevic, Connective Cities, as part of the Connective Cities peer-learning approach.

The event will be moderated by Prof. Hilmar von Lojewski, Association of German Cities. The practical AI exercise will be facilitated by Damiano Cerrone, co-founder of CoPlan AI.

In addition, the GIZ Sustainable Urban Development Programme in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, represented by Ruvi Suárez, will contribute a short methodological reflection on AI-supported scenario thinking and impact assessment.

City exercise examples

Selected examples from the city exercises show how real urban situations can be translated into AI-supported visual scenarios for discussion, reflection and peer learning.
The Academy event will include practical city examples from:

  • Nairobi City County / Kenya – Godfrey Ngugi, Director of Urban Renewal
  • Huye District / Rwanda – Richard Ndicunguye, Senior Advisor / Adaptation and Green Cities
  • Mariental Municipality / Namibia – Sunday Haimbodi, Building Inspector
  • Urban Development Fund, Egypt / Cairo – Dr. Marwa Ahmed, General Manager, International Cooperation and Community Participation Department
  • Hebron Municipality / Palestine – Husam Shweiki, Head of the Architecture Department
  • Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing / Germany – Lars Loebner

 

City exercise example: Berlin © Connective Cities
City exercise example: Nairobi © Connective Cities
City exercise example: Hebron © Connective Cities
City exercise example: Huye © Connective Cities

 

Event details and registration

 

  • Date: 21 May 2026
  • Time: 09:30–11:30 Baku time (UTC+4)
  • Format: Hybrid WUF Academy event
  • Venue: WUF13, Baku, Room AE 11-03, Area A
  • Online participation: Registration via WUF13-Zoom Webinars & Events
  • Calendar entry: download

 

Further information is available on the official WUF13 event page: WUF13 event page

Please register via the official WUF13 platform and download the WUF13 App in advance to access the event and receive the latest information.

For further information, please contact:

Jelena Karamatijevic, Connective Cities – concept and content coordination jelena.karamatijevic@giz.de

Moses Munuve, Connective Cities – Regional Coordinator Sub-Saharan Africa, organisational coordination moses.munuve@giz.de

The state of digitalisation in waste management: experiences from Germany and Lebanon

Posted on by erik

On 28 May 2025, the Connective Cities team held the online Ad-Hoc event “Waste Management and Digitalisation”. The Ad-Hoc events are online meetings, in which experts from Germany and the Global South come together in order to discuss a specific topic of common interest.

By the last event, experts discussed the state of the digitalisation in the waste management sector – and the prerequisites for the development of municipal waste management. During the event, two experts presented their experience in Germany and Lebanon. It was particularly interesting to see that in Lebanon the private social enterprise Nadeera serves as a cutting-edge example, while in Germany waste managed is bedded into a clear legal framework, which strictly regulates the collaboration between relevant stakeholders: ministries, municipalities, private companies, and the public.

Mr. Michel Mokbel explained how Nadeera manages to recycle plastic waste in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates with the support of digital tools. Using their phones, citizens have access to an app, which they can use to identify recyclable plastic waste and get informed about the correct deposit. The application recognizes e.g. bottles using artificial intelligence. Smart bins, reverse vending machines or deposit centers receive the categorized waste. For waste recycled correctly, citizens receive rewards. The playful interaction with citizens promotes their engagement and loyalty, while driving up recycling rates. More than 100 communities in the MENA region yet engage in the platform.

In contrast, PD Dr.-Ing. habil. Abdallah Nassour, who has researched the waste management sector in Germany and the MENA region for over thirty years, emphasized that sustainable waste management is driven more by policy, responsibility, and organization than by technical solutions. According to him, Germany demonstrates a successful model where municipalities play a central role, supported by a clear legal framework and a well-structured financing system. Waste fees, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and private sector involvement ensure cost recovery and operational sustainability. The country operates thousands of treatment facilities and has developed a strong workforce and educational foundation for circular economy practices. The MENA region faces challenges such as weak regulations, insufficient funding, and limited technical expertise. Landfilling remains the cheapest option, and sustainable waste strategies are often lacking. However, there is significant potential for composting, energy recovery, and refuse-derived fuel (a type of fuel produced from non-recyclable waste materials use) especially in collaboration with the cement industry. Implementing EPR systems and optimized waste collection are essential next steps. Municipalities should lead the transition, with support from the private sector and international partners. Ultimately, education, financing, and cooperation form the backbone of a functioning circular economy.

The subsequent questions and discussion revealed a great interest in Nadeera’s innovative approach. Also, many aspects of Professor Nassour’s presentation were commented and furthered. An interest in exchanging on solutions for organic waste and composting became apparent. Following the presentations, the Connective Cities team also offered two peer-to-peer consultations in which individual challenges in ongoing digitalisation projects were discussed among the participating experts. The peer-to-peer consultations highlighted two crucial challenges of the digitalisation of the waste management sector: in municipalities where decisions are centralised to the mayor, advocacy for the digital transformation plays an increasing role; when the digital transformation is ongoing, new challenges may occur and shall be overcome with the participation of every member of the team.

For more information, please contact us at connective-cities@engagement-global.de

The countrywide localization of the SDGs from the perspective of local municipalities

Posted on by erik

On 7 May 2025 at 3 p.m., an international expert exchange on the topic “Voluntary Subnational Review (VSR)” took place online. Representatives from South Africa and Germany presented their respective efforts to localize the SDGs. The aim of a VSR is to provide a countrywide overview of the Sustainable Development Goals, taking into account the differences and strengths of each municipality.

The German Voluntary Local Government Review was presented by Dr. Bettina Bunk from the Department of External Relations of the State Capital Stuttgart, Ms. Verena Schwarte from the Office for International Affairs and Global Sustainability of the City of Bonn and Mr. Oliver Peters from the German Institute for Urban Affairs. The experts have shown that the Voluntary Subnational Review can be prepared in an agile and efficient manner, if the data is available. It is particularly important to have a set of national indicators to compare with the set of local indicators. This makes it possible to highlight the unique characteristics of each municipality while providing an overall picture.

Tebogo Matlou, International Project Manager at the South African Local Government Association, also showed how the VSR can be drafted in an agile and effective manner, provided that there is proper coordination and engagement of all actors. In South Africa, the VSR was drafted during the process of drafting ten Voluntary Local Reviews. This localization of the SDGs at multiple levels also allowed for the alignment of sustainable development policies at the national level, including with a view to the national Agenda 2063. The key to success in South Africa was the provision of a digital hub for monitoring the SDGs. With a standardized structure, it was possible to draft the various reports simultaneously.

Through this meeting, participants gained further inspiration on the localization of the SDGs. In particular, the dialogue made it clear that agile drafting of the VSR is possible if there is

  • a set of common data to guide local administrations;
  • a supra-municipal organization to coordinate the process;
  • a digital platform to standardize data processing;
  • the political will to represent one’s municipality at the international level.

The meeting was made possible thanks to the willingness of a number of municipalities and associations, which joined forces with the aim of accelerating the implementation of the Voluntary and Subnational Review. By providing access to working models and presentations of results, the intention is to facilitate the process for all those who wish to draw up these sustainability reports.

For further information, please contact Francesco Schapira at francesco.schapira@engagment-global.de.

Communication is a key factor in the success of local vaccination campaigns

Posted on by erik

Stuttgart (Germany) and Bogotá (Colombia) used Connective Cities’ online expert dialogue ‘The local implementation of vaccination strategies and related communication in municipalities’ on 22-25 March 2021 to discuss with other municipalities around the world their communication strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. They also used the meeting to find solutions to their local challenges.

With pony and corgis humorously through the crisis

Posted on by erik

With Corona, there was also a crisis in public transport in the German capital Berlin: passenger numbers fell by 70% – the BVG met the communication challenge with humour. Passengers and employees were to be convinced that safe bus and train travel was possible under consideration of the Corona rules.                                                                  

The Development of Covid-19 recovery solutions at municipal level in the area of digitalisation and crisis management in the Southeast European region (SEE)

Posted on by erik

This report summarizes the activities developed under the project “The Development of COVID-19 Recovery Solutions at Municipal Level in the Areas of Digitalization and Crisis Management.” The project covered Southeast Europe and was conducted from September 2021 until December 2021.

The Report describes in detail the capacity-building processes conducted to support municipal resilience within the working groups of digitalization and crisis management over the course of several months, while also highlighting good practices that were identified and small urban initiatives that were developed together during the collaboration with urban practitioners from across the SEE region.

Additionally, the report covers processes and steps undertaken to support the expansion of the Connective Cities Network through encouraging more active and practical involvement of its current and new members.

For presentations and explanatory videos please refer also to

Development of Covid-19 recovery solutions at municipal level in the area of digitalisation 

Development of Covid-19 recovery solutions at municipal level in the areas of Crisis Management

Keeping the Community of Kibera online

Posted on by erik

We spoke to Josephine Miliza, co-founder of TunapandaNET, to find out how the NGO has scaled up its activities to ensure that people in Kibera, an informal settlement in south-west Nairobi, have a reliable internet connection – and thus access to crucial information during the pandemic.

It became apparent that the internet is one of the most important sources of information. Listen in to know how Kibera is keeping online and how this could shape digital literacy and digital municipal service design in a post-COVID-19 future!

Listen to the podcast at YouTube: https://youtu.be/oirb3zEsyXA

Digitalisation for efficient integrated risk management

Posted on by erik

Gütersloh is a city in North-Western Germany with a population of more than 100,000 people. It was essential for the city to develop lean technology solutions to deal with the uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic, to efficiently control the spread of the virus and ensure the protection of the people.

Municipal Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic – MENA region

Posted on by erik

In the wake of the Pandemic, municipalities in the MENA region in both urban and rural areas need to rethink their modes of operation and accelerate their shift towards building resilience during the recovery process. In an effort to support municipalities that are members of the Connective Cities network in the MENA region, four thematic working groups were established as part of Connective Cities program ‘Municipal Recovery from the Pandemic.’ Objectives of this working group include promoting practice–oriented knowledge exchange between municipal and urban practitioners, facilitating peer learning on sustainable and innovative approaches to build resilience in cities through biodiversity and environmental protection, digitalisation of municipal services, and promoting social entrepreneurship for circularity. The program has resulted in the development of concrete urban solutions. Another outcome was the creation of partnerships between municipalities as well as with private sector actors to articulate the proposed solutions and scale up the impact. This report summarizes the main achievements until February 2022.

Digitalisation in Madaba Municipality, Jordan

Posted on by erik

In line with the efforts in Jordan to drive economic transformation and application of international quality standards, Madaba municipality developed a vision towards achieving equitable growth and sustainability.  An integral part of this vision is the digital transformation of municipal services.