Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund

TA 4632: Preparing the Urban Development Housing Project – Mongolia
Cofinanced by Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund

Project Summary

The TA will prepare a project that will assist the Government to provide sustainable and affordable infrastructure and services for the urban poor; promote community participation in project preparation, implementation and post-project operation and maintenance activities; and improve urban planning and management and the capacity of government agencies to provide and operate urban services. The TA will carry out an assessment and, if necessary, prepare mitigation measures/plan and include in the project design.

The resulting project is expected to comprise two parts: Part A-Ger Area Development, and Part B-Institutional Development.

For Part A, the TA will undertake the following:

1. investigate alternative technologies of infrastructure, considering environmental impacts, costs, affordability, and institutional arrangements;
2. review the ongoing pilot ger area neighborhoods restructuring that aims to introduce a grid-based circulation system and provide neighborhood-financed and managed infrastructure and services, propose improvements, and prepare detailed guidelines;
3. review the proposals for economic, infrastructure, and housing development prepared under the city development strategies (CDS), and prepare packages suitable for ADB financing;
4. prepare indicative subproject components for developing ger areas, and formulate guidelines to help local governments prepare subproject proposals to ensure broad consistency in the types of subprojects and visible development impacts in the target ger area communities;
5. assess the affordability and effective cost recovery mechanism, and determine the optimum institutional relationship, funds flow mechanism, and effective targeting to support low-income families improve urban services, and purchase new plots, build or improve houses; and
6. identify target cities other than Ulaanbaatar based on criteria including level of poverty and economic viability.

For part B, the TA will undertake the following:

1. i. review the revised planning, zoning, and building codes and standards, design a dissemination program, and propose effective measures for implementation;
2. ii. review the existing CDS reports and prepare a program to improve urban planning approaches through an expansion of the CDS approach;
3. iii. develop education and training programs for government agencies and local communities to increase awareness on public health, environmental management, and alternative technologies for urban infrastructure and services;
4. iv. develop capacity development plans for local public urban service organizations (PUSOs) that are responsible for providing and maintaining urban infrastructure and services;
5. v. review past and ongoing housing area development schemes, propose improvements, and revise existing guidelines, with emphasis on public-private partnership;
6. vi. assess the need for further support in developing laws and regulations required for a functioning mortgage market; and
7. vii. recommend a long-term sustainable institutional setup for both the private sector mortgage market and public sector housing finance to deliver housing loans for low-, moderate-, and middle-income groups.

• TA Report