From 22 to 25 June 2026, the World Organisation of Local Authorities (UCLG) held its World Congress in Tangier, Morocco. With the theme of ‘A New Generation of Universal Local Public Services’, over 3,000 delegates from around the world gathered.
The organisation brings together national associations of local authorities, as well as over 1,000 local authorities from seven regions of the world: Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and West Asia, and Latin America and North America. The UCLG therefore represents around five billion people, accounting for 70 per cent of the world’s population.
The UCLG World Congress is held every three years. Alongside the technical discussions held in numerous Barcamps and side events, and the many networking opportunities, the Congress marked the start of a new governance cycle for the international local government movement. The Presidium, which consists of a President and six Co-Presidents representing different regions, was re-elected. The delegates elected Uğur İbrahim Altay, Mayor of Konya, Turkey, as the new UCLG President for the 2026–2029 term.
Andreas Wolter, a Cologne city councillor, represents the German side on human rights issues | Photo: Connective Cities
The Congress also renewed UCLG’s governing bodies, including the World Council and the Executive Bureau. Representing Germany on the new World Council are Dr Ursula Sautter (Mayor of Bonn), Jörk Cardeneo (City Councillor, Düsseldorf) and Andreas Wolter (City Councillor, Cologne). The election process reflects UCLG’s commitment to balanced regional representation and shared political leadership within the global municipal movement.
Another milestone was the first-ever UCLG Women’s Assembly, which brought together women mayors, governors and local leaders from around the world. Discussions focused on advancing gender equality in local governance, strengthening women’s political leadership and further developing the Feminist Municipal Movement within UCLG. The Assembly reaffirmed that gender equality is a fundamental component of resilient, inclusive and future-oriented local governance. During the Assembly, Mayor Dr Ursula Sautter also proposed introducing a gender-balanced co-presidency model for the next UCLG mandate.
UCLG Women Assembly | Photo: Connective Cities
In the ‘Tangier Outcome Document – A New Generation of Universal Local Public Services’, the delegates also reaffirmed the central role of local and regional governments in providing inclusive, accessible and resilient public services. The focus was on issues such as affordable housing, climate resilience, digital transformation, social inclusion and international municipal cooperation.
We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming virtual Insight Session on ‘nature-based solutions for urban resilience’, which will take place on July 15, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM CET.
Cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Germany, and other regions are increasingly relying on nature-based solutions to address flooding, climate risks, biodiversity loss, and the associated urban development challenges. However, integrating these approaches into municipal planning, management, and implementation remains a complex task.
This Insight Session brings together research, policy and community network perspectives to present practical approaches for planning, integrating and implementing nature-based solutions.
We invite the following discussion partners:
Andreas Wolter, President of Climate Alliance Presentation: From Local Action to Collective Impact: How Municipal Networks Advance Climate Resilience
Andreas Wolter will present the Climate Alliance network and highlight its role in supporting municipalities to strengthen local climate action. His presentation will provide important insights into how city networks learn from each other, promote knowledge exchange, advocacy, and collaboration, while simultaneously helping municipalities translate climate commitments into practical measures – such as nature-based solutions to strengthen municipal resilience.
McKenna Davis Senior Fellow and Coordinator for Nature-Based Solutions at Ecologic Institute, Berlin Presentation:Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions: Insights and Practical Examples from the Urban Governance Atlas
McKenna Davis will share insights and practical examples from the Urban Governance Atlas and the Climate Adaptation Naturally project, highlighting how nature-based solutions can be integrated into municipal policy and planning.
Dr. Kirk B. Neu,Researcher in the fields of landscape architecture, landscape planning and urban resilience Presentation:Evidence-based Lessons on Planning Nature-based Solutions for Flood Resilience in Sub-Saharan African Cities
Drawing on research from Ghana and the wider Sub-Saharan African region, Kirk Enu will present practical lessons on how municipalities can use research evidence to plan and implement nature-based solutions for inclusive flood resilience.
The event offers participants the following:
practical examples of nature-based solutions for strengthening the resilience of urban flood zones;
Insights into the framework conditions for governance, policy and planning required for implementation;
Insights from the compatibility of research results with municipal decision-making processes;
Perspectives on the role of municipal networks in promoting climate protection measures; and
an opportunity to exchange experiences with practitioners and experts from different cities and regions.
The event will be held in English, with French translation provided.
We cordially invite municipal practitioners, urban planners, climate and resilience experts, researchers, development partners and other interested members of the Connective Cities network to participate.
We look forward to welcoming you to the event.
If you have any questions or require support, please contact: moses.munuve@giz.de
On July 8th, 2026, Connective Cities hold an online Insight Session to explore ways, by which urban forests can be cultivated under difficult climate conditions. Attempts to do so are notoriously difficult in dry regions with high temperatures and low precipitation, where the usage of scarce water resources has to be distributed between (urban) populations, local businesses, agriculture and industry. Planting and watering urban trees is regularly considered secondary under such circumstances, leading to unsuccessful attempts of urban afforestation due to a lack of financial support and maintenance work. The Insight Session was joined by 34 participants from 13 countries, representing a broad range of municipalities from Africa and the Middle East.
Over the past decades, the Miyawaki-method of planting tiny forests has become an outstanding success story around the globe. In this technique developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, a small dense forest is made from native trees and plants. The specifically dense way of planting a miscellany of indigenous plants accelerate the growth of flora and fauna, so that after around five years, micro forests may already be entirely self-sustaining. The forests improve air quality, reduce heat and bring back lost biodiversity, thereby stabilizing ecosystems and countering the environmental degradation as a result of the climate crisis. A videographic overview of the Miyawaki-Method can be found here.
Stefan Scharfe, speaking on behalf of Miya-Forest, a forest-planting/educating/researching NGO based in Eberswalde, Germany explained the success of the Miyawaki method through the instance, that planting trees is usually broadly accepted among a range of actors such as urban populations, housing providers and local administrations. However, the participatory approach of planting urban micro forests must be facilitated through a small group of core actors who take ownership of the project. Especially a thorough soil study can significantly increase the chances of the micro forests to become self-sustainable after an initial, intense phase of watering and caring.
Coming from the highly urbanized and biodiversically degraded context of Amman, Jordan’s Capital, Deema Assaf from the ecological research studio TAYYŪN joined the Insight Session as a second speaker, providing the participants with valuable hands-on insights from the MENA region. Mrs. Assaf elaborated on the tedious work with paleobotanists to collect evidence of indigenous species from the region, proven evolutionary resilient towards the local climate conditions. The seeds of these plants known to the soil form the base for a multi-layered ecosystem featuring canopy, sub-canopy, shrubs and ground cover tiers. Over the course of its growth, the micro forest attracts insects, mushrooms and birds. Also edible plants may be included, turning micro forests into sites of (urban) gardening.
In result, the Insight Session provided the participants with new inspiration for their own project development within the scope of the currently running Connective Cities learning processes on ‘Nature at the Heart of Municipal Resilience’ and ‘Green Corridors in the City and its Surroundings’. The potential of the Miyawaki Method to produce fast and self-reinforcing benefits through various ecosystem services and according to the local circumstances makes urban micro forests a tangible and fitting intervention in the current situation of intensifying climate crisis. However, forestry-related preparation – i.e. soil data and seedlings –, as well as institutional backing, secured funding and maintenance of the planting project are key elements for micro forests to thrive.
Connective Cities provides the network for future engagement on the topic and looks forward to share expertise among urban practitioners
From 8 to 12 June 2026, Connective Cities, in partnership with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Waterberg District Municipality, organised an international expert mission on economic transition and green industrial development at the municipal level. The mission brought together municipal representatives, researchers, and experts from industry and practice from South Africa (SALGA, Waterberg District Municipality, and the local municipalities of Lephalale and Mogalakwena), Germany (the Economic Development Agencies of the Cities of Karlsruhe and Heilbronn, as well as the Baden-Württemberg RegioClusterAgency), Namibia (Lüderitz Town Council), and Kenya (the County Government of Nakuru). Participants exchanged experiences, discussed shared challenges, and explored the opportunities that the emerging green hydrogen economy—based on the production of hydrogen using renewable energy sources—offers for local and regional development.
Visit at SALGA | Photo; Grace Karanja
The mission formed part of broader efforts for the Just Energy Transition and complemented the work of South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Municipal Council (JETMC), which is strengthening municipal readiness for a shift toward cleaner and more sustainable energy systems. Through policy discussions, technical presentations, and site visits to strategic infrastructure such as the Eskom Matimba Power Station and Exxaro Solar Power Station, participants gained valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing regions transitioning from coal-dependent industries.
Central themes of the mission were the role of green hydrogen in driving local economic development, industrial diversification, and job creation. Waterberg District Municipality highlighted the importance of ensuring that the transition is both environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. Participants learned about progress made in Waterberg District municipality in cooperation with both Lephalale and Mogalakwena Local Municipalities, including municipal skills development initiatives, governance structures, funding mobilization efforts, and partnerships supporting green hydrogen capacity building.
The Waterberg Development Initiative (WDI) presented its vision for a coordinated regional development model that aligns municipalities, industry, and communities around shared economic and sustainability goals. Discussions also featured contributions from national government representatives, development partners, and municipalities already advancing hydrogen-related projects, demonstrating growing momentum behind South Africa’s hydrogen economy.
Final workshop with stakeholders in Waterberg | Photo: Elwin Gaoseb
The mission concluded with a strategy workshop, where participants jointly developed a 36-month roadmap for regional development. The roadmap identified priority actions in infrastructure development, skills readiness, investment attraction, and partnership building to support the creation of a future “Waterberg Hydrogen Corridor.” These outcomes complemented Hydrogen Cities Working group discussions on municipal capability development, finance mobilization, and energy access, while addressing challenges such as financing constraints and uneven municipal preparedness.
The expert mission reinforced the critical role municipalities play in South Africa’s energy transition. Through international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and practical planning, the initiative demonstrated how green industrialization can drive sustainable economic growth while ensuring communities remain at the center of the transition to a cleaner, more resilient future.
Meeting with Mayor and Employees at Lephalale Municipality | Photo: Elwin Gaoseb
Language: English – French simultaneous translation
How can forests be planted sustainably in urban areas with chronically low precipitation and/or heat waves?
The Miyawaki-Method is a reforestation technique which has become popular in recent years due to its efficiency in growing vegetation in small urban spaces within a very short time period. In order to accelerate growth, the method builds on three key principles: The exclusive use of native plant species that are used to the soil; which are planted in extreme density; and form a multi-layered ecosystem featuring canopy, sub-canopy, shrubs and ground cover tiers. A videographic overview of the Miyawaki-Method can be found here.
Not only can micro forests serve as cooling green corridors in urban geographies; they may also be classified as nature-based solutions, which are essential for various ecosystem services, not least disaster prevention. According to the method’s founder Dr. Akira Miyawaki, native forests are nearly thirty times more resilient and offer protection against natural disasters compared to non-native species.
While the Miyawaki-Method has been developed in Japan in the 1970s, it only recently has become to spread globally, with many applications in India but also growing popularity in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. However, as droughts become more frequent around the globe, watering-intensive Miyawaki afforestation may also face increasing difficulties in implementation. Can Urban Micro Forests therefore be considered a suitable intervention and nature-based solution in municipalities affected by frequent drought – for instance across Africa and the Middle East?
The MIYA-forest network from Eberswalde, Germany is one recent example of civil society-led practices to spread tiny forests according to the Miyawaki-method, both in Germany and the MENA region. In this ConnectiveCities Insight session, Board Member Stefan Scharfe will present the association’s best practices, which—in addition to planting more than 40 micro-forests since 2021—also include educational and scientific work.
As our second speaker, Deema Assaf from TAYYŪN, an Amman-based research and ecological design studio, will share her experience planting Miyawaki forests. The architect pioneered the Miyawaki method in the Middle East, planting the region’s first such forest in Amman in 2018 and going on to lead multiple native forest plantings across the city. Her work spans native seed harvesting and propagation, community planting workshops, and regenerative, permaculture-based design.
How can municipalities translate strategies and local development plans into effective public services? This question lies at the heart of the Connective Cities Lab “From Challenge to Practice: How Municipalities Turn Local Plans into Public Services”, organised in cooperation with the Association of German Cities.
Municipalities around the world face similar challenges when implementing local development plans. In this Lab, municipal representatives from different regions will share practical experiences: What obstacles had to be overcome? Which approaches proved successful? And what lessons can be adapted to other local contexts?
Following a series of short case presentations, participants will engage in a moderated peer-to-peer exchange to discuss challenges and jointly explore practical solutions for effective local public service delivery.
Objectives of the Lab
Exchange experiences on challenges related to local public service delivery
Share practical and transferable implementation approaches
Promote international networking and peer learning
We look forward to welcoming municipal practitioners, experts, and partner organisations from around the world.
Participation: The Lab will take place exclusively in person as part of the UCLG World Congress 2026. All participants and speakers must register through the official Congress registration system: https://registration.uclgcongresstangier2026.com/
International Community of Practice for Sustainable Municipal Development
NEWSLETTER – ISSUE NO. 95, June 2026
Dear Readers,
Water is not only a driver of development; it is increasingly becoming a strategic resource. Falling groundwater levels, more frequent and prolonged heatwaves and droughts, as well as heavy rainfall events, are creating major challenges for municipalities around the world. At the same time, relatively modest investments in nature-based and technological solutions can help balance local water systems, protect lives, and prevent far more costly damage to urban infrastructure.
With this in mind, 16 practitioners from six countries have embarked on a two-year Deep Dive on Water Resilience, working together to develop and implement innovative, locally adapted solutions to their specific challenges. Following a three-day in-person meeting in Wuppertal, we take stock of the progress achieved so far.
Can AI-generated visualizations help make housing projects more transparent and accessible for all stakeholders, or do they risk oversimplifying complex planning realities? This question sparked an insightful discussion during a professional conference organized by Connective Cities and the German Association of Cities at the World Urban Forum 13 in Baku, Azerbaijan. In this issue, we look back at the key insights and debates that emerged from the event.
The Kenyan city of Kisumu offers a practical example of how public spaces can be made more livable: pedestrian-friendly, nature-based, and climate-conscious through the promotion of e-mobility. The initiative serves as an inspiring pilot project and a model for future urban space improvements.
We would also like to draw your attention to several upcoming events.
At the UCLG World Congress 2026 on 25 June in Tangier, Morocco, we will explore how municipalities can successfully translate strategies and development plans into concrete public services. Through practical examples, participants will discuss challenges and solutions related to implementing local sustainability and development strategies.
Sustainability will also be the focus of our next dialogue event, taking place from 20–22 October 2026 in Berlin. The event will examine the implementation of sustainability strategies in the context of major sporting events. Municipal practitioners, particularly those working in event management, sports, and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), are warmly invited to participate.
We hope you enjoy this issue and find inspiration in the experiences and ideas shared within it. We look forward to welcoming you to our upcoming events.
Yours sincerely,
The Connective Cities Team
REVIEW
Connective Cities at the World Urban Forum 13 in Baku
AI-Powered Visualisation for Affordable Housing and the Upgrading of Informal Settlements
At the 13th World Urban Forum (WUF) in Baku, the German Association of Cities, in collaboration with Connective Cities, organised an interactive academy session on how AI-powered visual tools can help local urban planners discuss housing challenges, the upgrading of informal settlements and neighbourhood development in a more concrete and accessible way. On the one hand, the AI visualisations proved very useful for making decision-making transparent, particularly in dialogue with the public. At the same time, however, they also carry the risk of oversimplifying complex planning realities or suggesting solutions before key issues have been clarified. This tension gave rise to an insightful discussion, which could well continue beyond WUF13.
The Pedestrian-friendly Redevelopment of a Commercial District
Making Kisumu a better place to live: In the city centre, the three main roads – Oginga Odinga, Ang’awa Avenue and Jomo Kenyatta Avenue – form a triangle around a sports and park area. These roads are used by over 2,200 pedestrians every day. The redesign of the so-called ‘Walkable Triangle’ into a more pedestrian-friendly space has made it safer, more pleasant and more accessible, whilst preserving and integrating the existing tree population. Furthermore, the city is promoting e-mobility in public transport through the introduction of a battery-swapping system for motorbike taxis, known as ‘boda-bodas’, and three-wheeled taxis, known as ‘tuk-tuks’.
Water Resilience – Municipalities Prepare for Drought and Heavy Rainfall
Documentation of the Connective Cities Deep Dive event held from 5 to 7 May 2026 in Wuppertal
Examining their own challenges in water resilience, learning from experiences on other continents, and finding the courage to put innovative ideas into practice – these were the key elements of the first in-person meeting as part of the Connective Cities Deep Dive, held in Wuppertal from 5 to 7 May 2026.
In early 2026, a total of 16 experts from the German municipalities of Dresden, Wunstorf and Wuppertal, as well as from Akkaraipattu (Sri Lanka), Homa Bay (Kenya), Hyderabad (India), Natitingou (Benin) and Niš (Serbia), have started a two-year long working together to analyse innovative approaches and how they might be implemented. On this basis, they are developing and implementing locally adapted solutions to their respective challenges. The meeting in Wuppertal is a first interim step.
From Challenge to Practice – How Municipalities Turn Local Plans into Public Services
Local4Action Track – Lab as part of the UCLG World Congress 2026 in Tanger, Morocco
How do municipalities succeed in translating strategies and development plans into concrete public services? The Connective Cities Lab, organised in collaboration with the German Association of Cities, will address this question as part of the UCLG World Congress 2026. Municipalities worldwide face similar challenges when it comes to implementing local development plans. In the Lab, international municipalities will share concrete practical experiences: What obstacles had to be overcome? Which approaches have proven successful? And what can be applied to other contexts?
Call for Participation – Global Green Sports: Implementing Sustainability Strategies for Major Sports Events
Invitation for Municipal Experts to the Dialogue Event in Berlin, 20–22 October 2026
How can sustainability strategies for major sporting events be embedded in policy? How are these strategies implemented within city administrations and event management? How can the public be engaged and informed about sustainable development during major sporting events? Organised by Connective Cities in collaboration with the Education for Sustainable Development Unit and the Berlin Senate Department for the Interior and Sport (SIUS), the event invites cities from around the world to exchange experiences, showcase best practices and jointly develop innovative solutions for sustainable sporting events.
Engagement Global gGmbH
Service Agency Communities in One World
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 40, 53113 Bonn | Deutschland
Contact: Sibylle Loyeau
Email: sibylle.loyeau@engagement-global.de
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36, 53113 Bonn | Deutschland
Contact: Ricarda Meissner
Email: ricarda.meissner@giz.de
The new regional learning process for Southeast Europe and the South Caucasus will kick off with a dialogue event in Tirana (16–18 June 2026). The focus will be on: “Planning for Municipal Resilience – Safeguarding Critical Infrastructure through Risk-Informed Development.”
The event brings together professionals from municipalities as well as municipal enterprises from nine countries: Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Germany, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine. Even ahead of the event, the learning process has attracted strong interest from municipal administrations and service providers, highlighting both the relevance of the topic and the growing pressure to act across the region.
Participating municipalities represent a wide range of sizes, structures and fields of municipal service delivery. These include, among others, Gjirokastër, Roskovec and Mat in Albania; Gavar and Noyemberyan in Armenia; Poti and Gori in Georgia; Drenas in Kosovo; Cetinje in Montenegro; Priboj and Kraljevo in Serbia; İznik in Türkiye; as well as Dnipro, Drohobych and in Ukraine. From Germany, participants include municipal representatives from the City of Leipzig as well as experts from Cologne’s municipal wastewater utility.
This diversity enables a highly practice-oriented exchange on different governance contexts, institutional frameworks and challenges in municipal development.
Starting point: Increasing risks to critical infrastructure
Municipalities are facing increasingly complex challenges: climate-related extreme events, rapid urbanisation, as well as technological and hybrid threats are intensifying the vulnerability of critical infrastructure such as energy, water, transport and IT systems.
At the same time, there is often a lack of structured opportunities to systematically exchange and further develop existing experiences and solutions. The learning process addresses this gap by combining municipal practice with a structured, application-oriented exchange.
Dialogue event in Tirana: From exchange to joint prioritisation
The dialogue event marks the starting point of the multi-phase learning process and lays the foundation for continued collaboration. Its objective is to deepen and compare existing risk and vulnerability analyses and to define initial priority areas for action.
The focus will be on:
exchanging existing risk and vulnerability assessments across municipalities
comparing different approaches through peer-to-peer learning
identifying key weaknesses in critical infrastructure systems
defining priority intervention areas and first concrete steps
In addition, remaining data gaps will be identified and approaches developed to address them throughout the learning process.
A structured learning process with a focus on implementation
The dialogue event is the first building block of a year-long learning process. It combines in-person formats with virtual exchange and aims to move from analysis to concrete implementation.
The methodological framework is based on an integrated approach to risk-informed municipal development, in which risk analysis is systematically embedded into planning and decision-making processes.
Tirana was deliberately chosen as the venue, as it exemplifies dynamic transformation processes in the region. The city provides an ideal setting to discuss challenges and solutions related to resilience and critical infrastructure in a practical and collaborative way.
Water is becoming a key challenge for an growing number of local authorities worldwide. On the one hand, they are increasingly exposed to heatwaves and drought. But on the other hand, heavy rain and high water levels are leading to more frequent flooding. These risks come together to not only impact public health, but jeopradize private property and public infrastructure. Global water demand could significantly exceed available supplies by 2030. Water is thus becoming a strategic resource. It is therefore critical for municipalities to strengthen their water resilience.
Examining their own challenges regarding water resilience, learning from experiences on other continents and developing the courage to implement innovative ideas – all these were the ingredients of the first in-person meeting as part of the Connective Cities Deep Dive, held from 5 to 7 May 2026 in Wuppertal. The group had already met for a virtual kick-off in March 2026. In early 2026, a total of 16 experts from the German municipalities of Dresden, Wunstorf and Wuppertal, as well as from Akkaraipattu (Sri Lanka), Homa Bay (Kenya), Hyderabad (India), Natitingou (Benin) and Niš (Serbia) have started a two-year long working together to explore and analyse innovative approaches such as sponge city concepts, blue corridors and integrated blue-green-red infrastructure, and the possibilities for their implementation. On this basis, they develop and implement locally adapted solutions to address their specific challenges.
The report describes practical examples from Wuppertal and Leipzig, outlines the planned pilot projects of the six municipalities and summarises the key takeaways from the process so far.
At the 13th World Urban Forum in Baku, the German Association of Cities and Connective Cities hosted an interactive Academy Session on “AI-supported Visualisation for Affordable Housing and Informal Settlement Upgrading”. The session explored how AI-supported visual tools can help municipalities discuss challenges related to affordable housing, neighbourhood development and informal settlement upgrading in a more concrete and accessible way.
The session built on the work of the Connective Cities Working Group on Sustainable and Affordable Housing. It was deliberately designed not as a technology demonstration, but as a practice-oriented municipal learning format based on real municipal cases. The aim was to explore how visualisation can make complex planning questions more understandable and open new spaces for dialogue between municipalities, technical departments, decision-makers and local stakeholders.
The process started from real images provided from municipal contexts. With the support of CoPlan AI, these images were translated into possible development scenarios. The AI-generated visuals were not intended as final plans. Instead, they served as discussion inputs. They allowed participants to discuss housing quality, density, public space, greenery, climate adaptation, mobility, social infrastructure and possible implementation steps in a more tangible way.
A central added value of the format was the joint work around the images. The visualisations made abstract planning questions visible and enabled a creative, yet critical discussion: What future images are being created? Which assumptions lie behind them? Which opportunities and risks become visible? Which social, spatial, environmental, institutional and financial conditions would need to be assessed before an image can become a realistic planning step?
The session was moderated by Prof. Hilmar von Lojewski, German Association of Cities. Jelena Karamatijevic, Connective Cities / GIZ, provided the conceptual framing and introduced the Connective Cities perspective on municipal practice and peer learning. CoPlan AI, represented by Damiano Cerrone and Sampo Ruoppila, supported the participatory AI-based visualisation process.
Municipal case contributions and reflections came from Nairobi, Huye, Mariental, Hebron, Berlin and the Urban Development Fund in Egypt. Contributors included Godfrey Ngugi, Richard Ndicunguye, Sunday Haimbodi, Husam Shweiki, Lars Loebner and Dr. Marwa Ahmed. They reflected on the visual scenarios from the perspective of local planning realities, implementation constraints and possible next steps.
From Berlin, Lars Loebner from the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing contributed an important perspective on the role of images in public debates on housing and neighbourhood development. Visual representations can strongly influence how new housing is perceived. Used responsibly, they can help communicate not only abstract plans, but also positive and realistic images of liveable, socially mixed and green neighbourhoods.
A methodological input was provided by Ruvi Y. Suárez Subirana, GIZ / ProUrbano, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Under the title “From AI Visualisation to Scenario Assessment”, she showed how AI-supported visualisation can be linked to scenario thinking and impact reflection. Her contribution complemented the discussion by underlining that AI images are not plans. Their value emerges when they are used to reflect jointly on impacts, trade-offs and possible implementation pathways.
The discussion showed that AI-supported visualisation can be a useful tool for making planning options more accessible and supporting joint learning. At the same time, participants underlined that visualisations must be used responsibly. They can create expectations and therefore cannot replace planning, participation, feasibility assessments, cost estimation or political decision-making.
From a Connective Cities perspective, the Academy Session provides an important starting point for a deeper exchange on affordable housing, informal settlement upgrading and implementation-oriented municipal project ideas. The added value lies not in the technology itself, but in its potential to strengthen municipal learning processes and help translate visualisation and mapping into realistic, inclusive and financeable urban development pathways.
Visual documentation: Current state / after AI-assisted visualisation
The following visualisations were developed as discussion inputs during the WUF13 Academy Session. They use real municipal images as starting points and AI-generated scenarios to support dialogue on affordable housing, informal settlement upgrading, public space, climate resilience and implementation pathways. The images are not final plans. Source: Connective Cities, generiert mit CoPlan AI.
Ruanda, Huye — suburban affordable housing area
From serviced land to a liveable affordable housing neighbourhood with public space, shade and community facilities.
Initial scenario (left) and AI-generated discussion scenario (right)
Kenia, Nairobi County — Mji wa Huruma
From an informal settlement to upgrading, safer public space and climate-sensitive housing.
Initial scenario (left) and AI-generated discussion scenario (right)
Namibia, Mariental — incremental housing approach
From incremental housing conditions to a safer street environment with basic services, shade and walkability.
Initial scenario (left) and AI-generated discussion scenario (right)
Palestine, Hebron — affordable housing in context
From an existing street section to a scenario with mixed-use edges, greenery and pedestrian-oriented housing.
Initial scenario (left) and AI-generated discussion scenario (right)
Germany, Berlin — new neighbourhood development
From open land along a road to a dense, green and mixed-use housing scenario
Initial scenario (left) and AI-generated discussion scenario (right)
Egypt, Sharqia — urban infill and affordable housing
From underused urban land to a compact housing scenario with shaded courtyards and public space.
Initial scenario (left) and AI-generated discussion scenario (right)
