Urban-LEDS I Newsletter #8 2016 The Urban-LEDS project officially comes to an end on 31 March 2016. This final newsletter wraps up four years of project implementation. We are delighted to present the milestones achieved by the project team, the cities and our partners!

The Urban-LEDS project, launched in March 2012, promotes low emission urban development strategies in emerging economy countries. Jointly implemented by ICLEI and UN-Habitat and funded by the European Union, it helps 29 local governments in 4 emerging countries to pursue low-carbon,sustainable development with the support of 8 European project cities.

While the project partners and its implementers across Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Europe are busy compiling four years of evidence of trailblazing Low Emission Development initiatives, we offer you the latest news about the project resources that are available to all and snapshots of some of the project’s highlights. Stay tuned for an exciting final project report coming soon!
REVIEW & LESSONS: NATIONAL SPATIAL STRATEGY. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2016 The study seeks to provide evidence-based inputs for the review of the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The methodology is based on three criteria that assesses the content (relevance), process (integration) and results (effectiveness) of the NSS. The review is informed by lessons learnt from international experiences which are available in Annex. Five case studies on national spatial frameworks were analyzed, namely, Republic of Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Morocco and China. The key challenge identified is the insufficient uptake of the NSS due to lack of a coordinated approach as well as lack of awareness. To increase the uptake of NSS by relevant ministries, utilities and the regions,
the study advocates for more dialogue and integration among urban stakeholders across sectors and spatial scales. The development of a fully-fledged National Urban Policy emerges as the way forward to address the root causes of integration challenges faced in NSS uptake and implementation.
The State of European Cities 2016: Cities leading the way to a better future 2016 The State of European Cities report was prepared jointly by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to support the Urban Agenda for the EU and the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat III).
Safety in Afghan Cities 2016 Policy and programme experiences from different countries have shown the correlation between government legitimacy, stability and peace. The Afghanistan Urban Peacebuilding Programme (AUPP) addresses this complex relationship between governance and peace. The “Safety in Afghan Cities” report, developed from the programme’s baseline survey, presents public perceptions on urban safety in eight of Afghanistan’s most strategic cities, including Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Herat, Kunduz, Nili, Bamyan and Farah. It describes people’s opinion on safety and stability by highlighting four dimensions of the issue:

1. Current perceptions on the state of urban safety.
2. Awareness of rights and engagement with local authorities.
3. Provision of municipal and police services, particularly for vulnerable groups.
4. Changes needed to improve safety in cities.
Guidelines for Urban Planning (Prepared for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar) 2016 UN-Habitat supports city, regional and national authorities to improve and adopt policies, plans and designs for more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change. As Myanmar is pushing for a sustainable approach to urbanization, it increasingly needs planning capacity. This document is intended to support such development of technical planning expertise.
Climate Profile Myanmar (Climate Variabilities, Extremes and Trends in Central Day, Coastal and Hilly Zones) 2016 This study is undertaken to provide evidence to support community exercise and perceptions on climate variabilities, extremes and observable trends in select priority areas in different climate zones for evolving better understanding of past, current and potential future climate opportunities and risks.
Urban Development Initiative (UrDI) For the Canaan Area of Port-Au-Prince, Neighbourhood Plan: Canaan V, 2016 2016 Canaan V is one the smallest neighbourhoods in terms of area. Located in the centre, just north to Canaan III, this neighbourhood has 7,695 inhabitants. Due to lack of information, the calculation of the population was done by multiplying the number of houses by 4 persons. The topography around the periphery is steep, and we can only see some large plateaux in the centre where possible development can actually take place.
Evaluation of the Open UN-Habitat Transparency Initiative 1/2016 2016
UN-Habitat Support to Sustainable Urban Development in Kenya - Volume 4 2016 This is the fourth in the series of reports titled UN-Habitat Support to Sustainable Urban Development in Kenya. The reports addresses the topic of urban informality and reports on a capacity building session conducted by UN-Habitat for informal settlement leaders, which was also attended by county technical officers, members of county assemblies, national government officers, development partners, and civil society organizations.
Egypt Housing Profile 2016 The profile addresses topics including housing policies, housing stock and housing production in Egypt, as well as estimating housing needs until 2030, housing demand and affordability, as well as other critical topics such as housing financing, urban planning, housing provision and many other issues related to the housing sector.