Mongolia: City Development Strategies

PADCO and Cities Alliance assisted five cities to prepare City Development Strategies. This involved evaluating their development, analyzing strengths and weaknesses, and identifying critical issues.

PADCO worked with stakeholders to elaborate development visions for each city. These visions were translated into concrete City Development Strategies through consultation with local governments, businesses and civil society. PADCO’s approach ensured that Strategies fit the cultural preferences of each city’s inhabitants. Inter-city dialogue was encouraged through workshops and a website.

The Strategies will help promote social and economic growth, alleviate poverty, and improve governance. They are designed to improve rural-urban linkages, and will form the basis of support to the cities from donors, particularly the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).  The ADB Urban Development and Housing Sector Strategy for Mongolia for 2005-08, also developed by PADCO, includes a component to support the projects outlined in these City Development Strategies.

Major Results

• Strategic plans developed at the local level, which outline broad objectives for future urban development
• Action plans for priority projects and investments, which will form the basis for donor support to each city
• Local government staff and community leaders trained in participatory, strategic planning through "learning-by-doing" method
• Local ownership and commitment to the resulting City Development Strategy