It is now widely accepted that the ongoing urbanisation process is unstoppable, irreversible, and is taking place largely in the developing world. Cities in the developing world, therefore, hold the key to sustainable development of our planet.

The Nairobi 2010 Congress of ISOCARP, focusing on the theme ‘Sustainable City/ Developing World’ takes its departure from the aforementioned premise. Planning strategies for sustainable development in cities of the global south will be discussed according to the type of intervention through which they can be best addressed, for example, urban policy and financing, urban form and design, urban planning instruments, and urban governance. The workshops will be structured along these sub-themes and are elaborated below.

WORKSHOP 1: Effective policy-making for sustainable urbanisation

Introduction: Urban policy formulation encompasses not just spatial planning but also issues such as housing and service delivery; economic development, infrastructure and privatisation; environmental and natural resource management; and, social inclusion. Furthermore, policy-making for sustainable urbanisation is not restricted to the urban level alone. National and provincial urbanisation and economic policies, regional development priorities, and strategies to combat climate change, among others, impact significantly on urbanisation and urban development patterns. While urban local governments are powerful actors in many developed countries, in the global South they are often weak and face a battery of constraints, including those of technical knowledge, human and financial resources. There are examples, however, of innovative municipal finance mechanisms and public-private partnerships in the area of infrastructure development and service delivery. How can all these policies and financing arrangements be harnessed to build sustainable cities?

The papers in this segment should address the following issues:

1.1 How can infrastructure policy and investments be made more strategic, and more inclusive, so that they benefit as many people as possible, and do not in any way exacerbate existing inequalities (rural-urban, inter-urban, or intra-urban)?
1.2 Examples/case studies from developed as well as developing country cities, where housing/infrastructure provision has benefited the population at large, effectively addressed both formal and informal development, and resulted in not only environmental but also socio-economic sustainability.
1.3 How can the urban economy – both formal and informal – be managed in a manner as to ensure sustainable and inclusive development?
1.4 How do developing country cities contribute to climate change, and how are they affected by the changing climate? What is the impact of climate change on the different population groups in cities of the North and the South, for example the urban poor? What policies that address comparable situations can be shared? What policies could be non-replicable?

WORKSHOP 2: The impact of spatial planning, urban design and built form on urban sustainability

Introduction: Spatial planning is undoubtedly the main preoccupation of a majority of planning professionals. Indeed, spatial planning and urban design have far-reaching implications for sustainable urbanisation, whether in terms of mitigating spatial fragmentation, avoiding gentrification and social exclusion; supporting environmentally sensitive development, protection of fragile urban lands and eco-systems; or, promoting a built environment which is resilient to the increasingly frequent and intense natural/ man-made disasters.

The papers in this segment should therefore address the following issues:

2.1 How can spatial planning contribute to socially inclusive development? How can spatial and strategic planning be effectively combined?
2.2 How can the spatial development pattern, urban built environment, services and infrastructure be improved in order to ensure ecologically sustainable development? City experiences/ best practices would be particularly useful in this regard.
2.3 How do natural disasters, both climate- and non-climate-related, impact urban sustainability? How can the urban pattern/built form help in mitigating the impact of disasters? Are there any experiences/ examples from the cities of the developed world which can be usefully adapted or replicated in developing country cities?

WORKSHOP 3: Urban planning instruments for sustainability

Introduction: In most developing countries, as well as a large number of transitional and developed nations, urban planning continues to rely on instruments such as master plans which specify in some detail land use, provide for segregation of uses through zoning regulations, and impose (usually rigid) building bye-laws and standards. Although innovative planning approaches are also coming to the fore, and these instruments are also being reformed, yet, there is a long way to go before entire planning systems can be transformed from being control-oriented to supportive of contextually-relevant forms of development. For instance, the predominance of informal housing and economic activity in many developing country cities is illustrative of the contradiction between reality and the ideal urban scenario envisioned by colonial-era legislation. Often, such laws and planning instruments can serve to further exacerbate socio-spatial divisions within cities, sometimes even resulting in violent social unrest (e.g. in Zimbabwe). How can urban planning instruments such as master plans, zoning regulations and building codes be reformed in order to promote social, economic and environmental sustainability, should be the overarching question addressed by the papers in this segment. Specifically:

3.1 How can land use planning, zoning, building and service standards be revised and reformed to enhance urban sustainability in all its dimensions?
3.2 What kind of indicators could be included in urban planning instruments to assess their impact on urban sustainability?
3.3 How can national planning associations and educational institutions be instrumental in bringing about change in outdated planning instruments? What is the role of international bodies such as ISOCARP in this context?

WORKSHOP 4: Improving governance for sustainable urban development

Introduction: Improvements in the quality of governance, assessed on the basis of principles such as participation and civic engagement, transparency and accountability, subsidiarity and rule of law, among others, can help in improving the decision-making processes in cities and making development responsive to the needs of the people. Urban planning is a central instrument of urban governance, and needs to take into account all these factors.

The papers in this segment should address the following issues:

4.1 How can improved urban governance, including (but not restricted to) urban planning processes, procedures and regulations, help in ensuring sustainable and inclusive urbanisation?
4.2 How can disaster and conflict-affected cities and towns be reconstructed and revived in a sustainable manner?
4.3 How can planning education, training and capacity-building be restructured/ adapted in order to build sustainable cities?

WORKSHOP 5: Regions and Hinterland Looking Toward Liveable Environment

Participants in this session will closely explore strategies, solutions and relevant issues of developing liveability on a regional scale. These case studies shall focus on larger spatial entities, like urban clusters, networks of cities and towns, metropolitan regions, specific regional areas with cultural, natural or environmental values, or any other spatial category that exceeds the scale of a single city or town, and hold liveability as the key component in developing their policies, plans and projects.  This workshop will examine workable concepts and solutions for creating and/or keeping regional liveability, and will provide a basis for further improvements and refinements of actions that regions are already undertaking to solve their problems. Case studies presented and explored here will make a catalogue of ideas and strategies planners can use when dealing with liveability on a large scale.

Participants will develop their discussion around the following questions:

5.1 What do we mean when we talk about liveability at a larger scale? What are the principle issues of liveability on a regional level? Have we successfully incorporated into our practices questions of resource use, reduction/eradication of pollution, low-carbon development, accessibility of natural and man-made heritage assets? How successful have the regions been in strengthening and making their local liveability visible, and have they created added value on a sustainable basis to their towns, villages and hamlets? How successful have they been in managing and promoting sustainable products and inducing more sustainability measures into existing ones?
5.2 How does the ongoing urbanization process affect liveability on a regional scale, what is the future for small settlements, hamlets and villages in the urbanizing regions? How can the balance be maintained or re-established, or, indeed, is it relevant at all?
5.3 How can we concretise and make the goals and objectives of liveability operational and combine them with development strategies of different industries present in the region? Shall we stay strictly focused on physical environment, or should we approach the issue comprehensively taking together the socio-cultural and economic aspects as well? Do we already have all the answers we need, or, are we approaching an area where insufficient knowledge and uncertainty shape planners work?
5.4 To what extent does geography matter? What are the specific problems and solutions for small island countries, coastal towns, tropical zones or urban settlements in arid areas and how are they meeting the challenge?
5.5 What is the role of strategic spatial planning and how should it collaborate with the project approach commonly used in solving regional problems? What are the impacts on planning methodology? Who is/should be in charge? Is it the state, regional bodies (if any), or ad hoc created inter-regional organizations? Who are the stakeholders, and how are their interests positioned vis-à-vis those of the general public? How should planners cope with public interest on a large scale?