Category: Public space

Greater Climate Protection and Quality of Life: Green Corridors in the MENA Region

Posted on by burkhard

On April 7, 2026, the new Connective Cities learning process on “Green Corridors in the city and its surroundings” was officially launched. The event was organised by Connective Cities in cooperation with the GIZ project Capacity Building through Urban Infrastructure Development (CBUID II) and was offered simultaneously in Arabic, French and English

The workshop was attended by around 70 representatives from eight countries: Algeria, Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia. Municipalities and partner institutions from the MENA region as well as the German city of Erlangen were represented. In addition to the official participants of the learning process, an extended circle of municipal representatives was further involved in the virtual exchange.

The kick-off served as technical and methodological introduction to the learning process. The aim was to set initial thematic priorities, to make municipal challenges visible and to create a common basis for further cooperation. At the same time, the event served to prepare the next steps in the process, in particular the in-depth phase and the planned face-to-face conference in Egypt.

AI-supported Visualization as Innovative Tool for Urban Planning

A central element of the kick-off was the joint AI visualization exercise on green corridors and green neighborhoods, implemented via the CoPlan AI platform. Based on images from urban contexts in the participating cities, spatial development future scenarios for climate-resilient, greener and more usable urban spaces were developed.

Around 550 images were produced as part of the exercise. The visualisation served not only to illustrate spatial changes, but also as a methodological tool to stimulate discussion about the feasibility of green corridors. In this sense, the exercise proved to be a suitable introduction for bringing together perspectives from administration, planning and local government practice.

Key Workshop Findings

The kick-off showed that green corridors and green neighborhoods in the participating cities are envisioned predominantly in urban districts and less in the cities’ surroundings. The focus is accordingly not on planning in undeveloped areas, but on the gradual further development of existing urban spaces in which housing, mobility, public use and social functions are already closely intertwined.

In that sense, it also became clear that green corridors have to fulfil several functions at the same time. They contribute to climate adaptation, for example through shading, cooling, better air circulation and water absorption. But they also contribute to the upgrading of public spaces by improving the quality of life and encounters within the city. Especially in dense neighborhoods, green corridors must therefore always be considered as social spaces of mobility and connection.

Another central aspect was the importance of participation and local acceptance. Since identified spaces are usually already intensively used, the involvement of the population is an essential prerequisite for successful implementation. This applies to the usability for distinct groups such as children, families and residents as well as the question of how green measures can be integrated into the everyday urban life.

Contribution from the Urban Development Fund (UDF)

The Urban Development Fund (UDF) underlined the importance of institutional approaches for integrated and climate-resilient urban development in Egypt. The examples presented showed how strategic urban development, upgrading of existing districts, heat reduction and public space can be more closely linked. The UDF thus not only contributed concrete experience from Egyptian practice, but also an important perspective on scaling, institutional anchoring and long-term implementation capability.

Contribution of the City of Erlangen

The city of Erlangen’s contribution illustrated that green corridors must be implemented in conjunction with traffic, accessibility and conflicts over the use of urban space. In their presentation of the local project ‘From two quarters to one campus’, Erlangen representatives demonstrated how a green boulevard, tram, bicycle, pedestrian and motorised traffic, and an existing pedestrian bridge could be brought together within one coherent planning task. Thus, the contribution from Erlangen provided important impetus for an integrated planning approach to green corridors.

Example Cities and Good Practices

During the kick-off, several municipal and institutional examples were presented that are of particular relevance for the further learning process:

  • Erlangen (Germany): integrated planning approach to green corridors in existing urban space, with a focus on Green Boulevard, multimodal mobility, land use and conflicts of use.
  • Aswan (Egypt): Development of the Heat Action Plan for El-Sail Elgadid, including cooling stations, shaded recreation areas and specific offers for children and women.
  • Port Said (Egypt): Approaches to climate-adapted urban development and the upgrading of urban spaces under the specific climatic conditions of a Mediterranean city.
  • Telal Al-Fustat Park, Cairo (Egypt): large-scale greening approach in historic Cairo with positive effects on cooling, air quality and biodiversity.
  • Reviving Historical Cairo (Egypt): Upgrading historic urban areas as a combination of urban renewal, public space and historical identity.
  • Al-Asmarat (Egypt): Participatory upgrading of public spaces in the residential environment as an example of the linking of green and social functions in existing neighbourhoods.

Outlook

Some of the participants at the launch event

The digital kick-off has created a reliable technical basis for the next steps of the MENA learning process. It became clear that the added value of the format lies particularly in synergy effects between concrete municipal examples, institutional perspectives, inter-municipal exchange and visual methods. In the coming phases, the identified topics will be further deepened, approaches between the cities will be further developed and jointly concretized during both online and face-to-face exchanges.

Results of the Connective Cities Deep Dive process ‘Heat in the city’

Posted on by erik

How does your city deal with increasing heat? What can you do to protect the urban population from the impacts of heat burden in cities?

We would like to invite you to learn from the intensive exchange of expertise between the cities of Aswan in Egypt, Heidelberg and Lüdenscheid in Germany, Mombasa and Nairobi in Kenya and Lviv in Ukraine. The experts jointly identified and analysed challenges and developed locally-adapted solutions in the form of pilots that were implemented in their respective cities. We would like to present and discuss the results of the two-year deep dive process ‘Heat in the city’ on 12 June 2025, from 9:00 – 12:00 am:

You will have the opportunity to ‘dive’ into the projects and understand which key elements are important for successful implementation and upscaling in the future. In Lüdenscheid, efforts began with forming a multi-departmental core team to guide the development of a comprehensive heat action plan tailored to the city’s needs. Meanwhile, in Aswan, an integrated heat action framework was developed to address the unique challenges of the region’s hot climate. In Mombasa, initiatives focused on raising awareness and mapping urban heat island hotspots to inform better both stakeholders and citizens. Similarly, in Nairobi, schools became the focus of heat mitigation efforts, using temperature data to guide the strategic planting of shade-providing fruit trees, complemented by awareness programs aimed at students and educators. Meanwhile in Lviv, the participatory initiative of pocket parks was successfully launched in three different sites. Heidelberg is planning both to create a climatological database for all public spaces and outdoor areas and to develop up to three best practice examples for urban heat mitigation in public spaces.

The event is aimed at municipal experts from Germany and around the world as well as at potential donors and financial institutions who may be interested in supporting the projects. We look forward to welcoming you!

The working language of the event is English. In order to attend the meeting, subscribe here.

For more information, please contact Sibylle Loyeau sibylle.loyeau@engagement-global.de

The Haus der Statistik

Posted on by erik

A new district for administration, housing, social affairs and culture is being built on the large site of the former administrative building for the Federal Statistical Office – Haus der Statistik – in the center of Berlin. A civil society initiative had prevented the demolition of the existing building from the 1960s and, together with the administration and other stakeholders, developed the concept for the conversion – a beacon for alternative approaches to urban development.

Expert exchange on the interim use of public buildings

Posted on by erik

Are you an expert in the interim use of buildings? If so, we would be delighted to welcome you to a Connective Cities expert meeting, where participants in the Connective Cities learning process ‘2nd Hands on Public Buildings’ will learn about the work of ZwischenZeitZentrale Bremen and Transiträume Berlin e.V. and discuss examples of their projects with experts in this field. The exchange of expertise will take place online on March 12, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. via WebEx (alternative date as the meeting in February was cancelled).

For ecological and, increasingly, economic reasons, the reuse or conversion of buildings from the 1960s and 1970s is of interest to municipalities and their building stock. The Connective Cities dialogue event in cooperation with the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing from 24 to 27 September 2024 was dedicated to this paradigm shift. Around 30 municipal experts from Germany, Kenya, Montenegro, the Palestinian Territories, Zambia and Ukraine exchanged views on solutions and challenges for the sustainable reuse of public buildings and jointly developed project ideas. The ongoing one-year learning process of Connective Cities on the reuse and repurposing of modernist buildings offers further insights into the topics discussed in Berlin and the opportunity to develop concrete solutions through exchange and study tours. On March 12, 2025, we will focus on the topic of ‘interim use’, which arose during the event, particularly for participants from Nairobi. All objects and project examples provided by the participants can be found in this publication.

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested: marcella.sobisch@engagement-global.de.

Deep Dive: Heat in the City

Posted on by erik

The Deep Dive celebrated another milestone in the two year long process, with the latest workshop being held in Aswan – Egypt from 21st to 23rd January 2025. The workshop marked the transition from the phase of piloting of solutions towards optimization and upscaling. Participants representing the cities of Nairobi, Aswan, Mombasa, Lüdenscheid, Heidelberg and Lviv (virtually) discussed the results of implementing their pilots. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to learn about projects and initiatives implemented in Aswan governorate that are relevant to sustainable urban development and urban climate action.

Program

The workshop activities were carried out over three days, and included peer advisory activities, presentations and a technical input from Prof. Jürgen Kropp from the  Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in addition to an excursion in Aswan. A series of peer-to-peer exchanges between the participants who are working in different local conditions was facilitated.  During the first day, the participants discussed their key learnings from the implementation of their pilots and elaborated on the measures taken to ensure co-creation with relevant stakeholders and the sustainability of the pilots’ results. Furthermore, a keynote from the deputy governor of Aswan, Mr. Amr Lashin, shed light on efforts to transition towards human-centric urban development in the governorate. The introduction also included a presentation from UDF’s general manager for international cooperation and community participation, Dr. Marwa Soliman, which delved into the role of the Urban Development Fund (UDF) and its numerous projects on integrated urban development and urban climate action.

This was followed on the second day by a series of exercises that guided the participants into identifying areas for optimization in their pilots and methods for upscaling including 1) standardization of design and replication, 2)planning  incremental upscaling, 3) financial and human resources allocation,  4) redefining the anticipated risks given the wider scale of implementation, and 5) monitoring of progress including the definition of key performance indicators.

The final day incorporated a session on reflections from the participants on their experiences throughout the implemented stages of the Deep Dive in addition to a hybrid session with Prof. Kropp, who addressed their questions on various technical topics including 1) using artificial intelligence in climate research and devising of solutions, 2) channeling climate finance to implement measures for mitigation of urban heat, 3) existing affordable solutions that are of high impact, 4) cities and local governments position in international climate talks such as the COP29, and 5) building climate-resilient health systems. These topics will be the focus of a series of virtual sessions that will be held in the upcoming months with Prof. Kropp and PIK.

Connective Cities at WUF12

Posted on by erik

Under the notion ‘initiate change from home: locally, together, and now’, WUF12 was convened in Cairo- Egypt on 4  – 8  November 2024. Connective Cities and its network members have organized and participated in several activities with various thematic focus areas.

As a thriving knowledge-sharing network, Connective Cities was showcased during an intellectual panel that included representatives of the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation, VNG International, the Arab Urban Development Institute, and Metropolis. The discussion delved into examples of utilizing digital tools and innovative approaches for growth and collaborative knowledge-sharing to advance inclusive and resilient urban development on a global scale.

Handing Over Ceremony for the Climate-Sensitive City Development Strategy for Garowe

Posted on by erik

On September 25, 2024, the Garowe Municipality officially received the Climate-Sensitive City Development Strategy (CSCD), developed in collaboration with GIZ and the RACCA Working Group. This strategy offers practical solutions to pressing climate challenges in areas such as mobility, waste management, water resources, and green spaces.

Event Highlights:

  • Presentation of key sectors for climate-friendly urban development in Garowe.
  • Discussion on sustainable measures to improve urban infrastructure.
  • Formal handover of the strategy plan to the municipality, promoting the implementation of climate-friendly projects in Garowe.
  • Expert exchanges and collaborative discussions aimed at ensuring a resilient future for the city.

The ceremony marked the transition from planning to implementation, empowering Garowe in its efforts to become a sustainable and climate-resilient city.

We invite you to read the full publication and documentation of the event to explore the insights and strategies discussed in detail.

Urban Thinkers Campus in Amman, Jordan

Posted on by erik

Connective Cities co-organized the Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) that was held for the first time in Amman-Jordan. It aimed at generating insights and discussions to inform urban policies and strategies, fostering sustainable and inclusive urban development. Topics under focus were affordable/adequate housing, green infrastructure, and sustainable mobility. With representation from Jordanian and German municipalities, the Ministry of Transportation, NGOs, and academia, the UTC served as an inclusive forum for meaningful dialogue among urban researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, aimed at fostering constructive urban change.