80947 CITIES ALLIANCE CITIES ALLIANCE IN ACTION IN ACTION Eco2 Cities: A Model for Sustainable Urban Development Developing countries are projected to triple their built- up urban areas between 2000 and 2030, despite severe Project: The First Eco2 East Asia Programme: resource constraints. To help them manage this Proposal of Knowledge Management and Capacity Building transformation in an ecologically and economically sustainable and socially inclusive way, the World Bank– Partners: Japan International Cooperation with the support of the Cities Alliance (using Japanese Agency (JICA) funds)–developed the Eco2 Cities Initiative in 2009. It is now globally disseminating the concept and helping Duration: 2010 - ongoing several Asian countries adopt them. Financing: USD1.5 million Eco2 cities enhance their citizens’ well-being through Key Results: integrated urban planning and management that • Promoted a more holistic and strategic harnesses the benefits of ecological systems, while approach to urban development protecting them for future generations. They also • Already influenced almost USD1 billion worth of World Bank project investments enhance their resource efficiency while reducing pollution and waste. This improves their economic competitiveness and resilience, strengthens their fiscal • A one-system approach. Enables cities to realize capacity, and provides significant benefits to the poor. the benefits of integration by planning and managing the whole urban system; and How the Eco2 Cities Initiative works • An investment framework that values sustainability and resiliency. Incorporates The Eco2 Cities Initiative provides cities with a bottom- lifecycle cost-benefit analysis, the value of all up analytical and operational framework that can be capital assets (manufactured, natural, human, adapted to each city’s local conditions and needs. It also and social), and a broader scope of risk includes methods and tools that make it easier to assessments for resilience. integrate the Eco2 approach in city planning and management, and it helps cities gain access to financial resources for strategic infrastructure investments. These underpin a set of core elements that each city may transform into a unique action plan, called an “Eco2 The Eco2 framework has been structured around the pathway.� Cities may begin incrementally, by engaging following key principles: in capacity building and data management and by initially concentrating on their most critical priorities. • A city-based approach. Enables local governments to lead a process that takes into Eco2 pilot projects are currently being rolled out in account their specific circumstances; several Asian countries. The initial efforts have focused • An expanded platform for collaborative design on building capacity, designing cross-sector catalyst and decision-making. Accomplishes sustained projects, and engaging key national ministries. High- synergy by coordinating and aligning the actions ranking government officials in Indonesia and Vietnam of key stakeholders; now agree on the need for an integrated development www.citiesalliance.org approach, and Phillipines officials are considering realities, and its formal urban planning tools and applying the Eco2 framework to low-income housing municipal finance strategies. initiatives. A city’s capacity to act also depends on levers beyond its This has led the Bank to formulate a plan to lend control, such as the cooperation of national or state approximately USD400 million to three Indonesian governments, thus requiring city leadership to occur at cities to increase their capacity to carry out effective many levels, including the regional. Cities are centres of planning and management and to design and run some resource consumption, and resource efficiency is driven catalyst projects based on the Eco2 Cities concept. by how well the city is integrated into the local and regional ecologies. Lastly, to act effectively, a city may Two ongoing projects in Vietnam (whose funding need technical, administrative, and financial support, amounts to USD465 million) are also using the Eco2 including knowledge, skills, and tools. framework to design green transportation systems that promote mass transit and integrate it with the It is often appropriate to develop an overarching development of surrounding land. The collaborative planning framework, including a growth management process using the Eco2 “Design Charrette� tool has been strategy, to guide all other plans. An Eco2 pathway may revolutionary: In the case of Ho Chi Minh City, feature many different projects involving players from government departments (which typically remain the private, public, civil, and other sectors. siloed) jointly developed a design within a week. By extending the platform for decision-making to On a global basis, Eco2 Cities is increasingly focusing on include planning institutes, and by encouraging knowledge dissemination. The initiative has been alignment among stakeholders, the governance of a city presented at conferences, and a book has been translated becomes less vulnerable to the inevitable disruptions into several languages. These efforts have inspired some created by elections, political incidents, and the nations to adopt Eco2 cities initiatives as national manipulation of policy by special-interest groups. An programs and to organize Eco2 Cities workshops and expanded platform for collaboration compensates for study tours. The Eco2 Cities Guide was published, as the inherent short-term mindset often associated with well as a report on Japan’s experiences with urban and mayoral terms and the next election. environmental management. With the support of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bank also published a book about transit and land use integration. And it is helping an Asian university consortium promote sustainable urban development through their research symposia and sustainable urban development courses. Best Practices Almost all Eco2 solutions are taking place in cities with a Representatives of two government departments used the Eco2 “Design committed leadership and a citywide approach. A city’s Charette� tool to create this green transport system design concept for Ho Chi Minh City. success depends on how effectively and creatively it uses and develops the levers within its control, such as its human and technical capacity, its knowledge of local www.citiesalliance.org