Author:

Fernanda Del Lama Soares, Dr. Manfred Poppe, Eva Prediger

Publisher:

Connective Cities

Description:

The Connective Cities / MILE Learning Exchange & Practitioners’ Workshop “Re-thinking urban upgrading – The urban NEXUS approach to promote green and inclusive settlements” took place in Durban between June 21st and 23rd of 2016 and counted with the presence of approximately 50 practitioners representing 14 cities from Ethiopia, Germany, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The event was hosted by the eThekwini Municipality, Area Based-Management Unit and co-organized by the Municipal Institute of Learning (MILE). In this workshop, Connective Cities incorporated the Urban NEXUS Approach into its methodology in order to facilitate participants to identify synergies between actors and sectors, to improve their urban upgrading strategies in an integrated manner, according to their local context.

During the three days workshop, the practitioners presented good practices, participated in peer-to-peer advisory sessions tackling concrete challenges of urban upgrading in their home cities and developed action plans based on the Urban NEXUS Approach which aims at improved integration between actors, sectors and levels of urban development.

Key take-home messages are: 

i) Urban development is a dynamic process and therefore needs laws and policies that are flexible

ii) Citizens, especially urban upgrading beneficiaries, should become agents of change through stable partnerships instead of only taking part in short-term participatory measures

iii) The mainstreaming of innovative technologies, designs and delivery models for housing and basic services requires political will and community support, and

iv) Communication between stakeholders should be improved to allow practitioners to identify NEXUS opportunities to enhance their projects´ performance

Language:

English

Page count:

30