Paramaribo 05 May 2016 –During the 6th Caribbean Urban Forum (CUF6) in Paramaribo, Suriname, the capital city of Belize, Belmopan, signed a cooperation agreement with UN-Habitat to tackle the effects of rapid urbanization. The Memorandum of Understanding was the result of a year of deliberations culminating in the first Planning Lab conducted jointly by urban planning and climate change experts from UN-Habitat’s Urban Planning and Design Branch. Under this collaboration, the Urban Planning and Design Lab will help Belmopan City develop a climate friendly city wide strategy with a long term vision.

The Lab will follow a “learning by doing process” to build local capacity to identify and implement concrete planning projects at the city wide scale. It was signed by Mr. Ralston Frazer, Councilor of Belmopan and Mr. Rogier Vanden Berg Manager of the UN-Habitat Urban Planning Lab. During the session, a first concept on the city wide strategy for Belmopan city was presented. The ensuing discussion highlighted public spaces, density, and climate resilience as priority issues. The concept plan proposed a planned city extension as an option to accommodate the rapid growth of the city of Belmopan. At the ceremony, Belmopan City Council and UN-Habitat made a commitment to mobilize local and international resources for implementing the strategy.

The collaboration with Belmopan was initiated last year during the 5th Caribbean Urban Forum (CUF5) that was held in Castries, St. Lucia. Following CUF5, UN-Habitat’s Urban Planning and Design Lab conducted various interactive stakeholder meetings in Belmopan to understand the local planning challenges and priorities. The collaboration with Belmopan was initiated last year during the 5th Caribbean Urban Forum (CUF5) that was held in Castries, St. Lucia. Following CUF5, UN-Habitat’s Urban Planning and Design Lab conducted various interactive stakeholder meetings in Belmopan to understand the local planning challenges and priorities.