Nay-Pi-Taw 5 July 2016-- Last week in Nay-Pi-Taw, Myanmar, UN-Habitat handed over the Guidelines for Urban Planning for the Union of Myanmar to the new Minister for Construction, U Win Khaing. The guidelines are a key output of the 100-day plan of the Ministry of Construction. As a tool for sustainable urban planning, the Guidelines provide a step-by-step approach to planning for urban growth, with specific recommendations for streets and public spaces.

The guidelines were developed through a series of workshops with Yangon City Developing Committee (YCDC), Ministry of Construction, Arcadis, UN-Habitat’s country team in Myanmar and UN-Habitat’s Urban Planning and Design Lab.

Myanmar stands at a defining point in its recent history. Since 2011, the country has witnessed a general trend towards social and economic liberalization and a more market oriented economy, inevitably leading to increasing urbanization. In anticipation of this growth, the Guidelines for Urban Planning were developed to provide technical guidance for the preparation of plans for over 200 cities. UN-Habitat also met with the secretary of Yangon City Developing Committee to discuss the planned city extension in Yangon.

This extension is one of the seven extension areas that the city of Yangon has defined to accommodate an expected urban growth from 5.1 to 10 million inhabitants by 2040. The plan will be an example of how to plan for urban growth. It will apply the planning guidelines and urban sustainable principles, as well as strategies to develop an implementable plan.

The extension plan has been developed by a team of international planners who are part of the Urban Labs projects. The Urban Labs project, part of the Global Network of Urban Planning and Design Labs, is a joint initiative of UN-Habitat and Creative Industries Fund NL that brings together international expertise and local planners to work on implementable planning assignments. The Urban Labs project is also operating in Mexico, Palestine, Ghana and Philippines.