Regional: Strengthening Urban Infrastructure Investment Planning in the Pacific

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban policy, institutional and capacity development

The TA will provide assistance to Pacific DMCs on a demand-driven basis to better plan and prioritize urban investments that promote the development of inclusive, environmentally-sustainable and economically-competitive urban centers in line with ADB's Urban Operational Plan, 2012-2020. The TA will finance the development and/or updating of urban development strategies in target Pacific DMCs, as the basis for identifying priority urban sector investments. The TA will also leverage support from the Cities Development Initiative of Asia (CDIA) in those Pacific DMCs which already have urban investment plans in place, or National Infrastructure Investment Plans prepared with assistance from the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility (PRIF). CDIA support will be used to prepare pre-feasibility studies for priority urban investments.

The TA will also finance outreach activities in Pacific DMCs to link countries to CDIA. Pre-feasibility studies can then be used to potentially secure follow-on PPTA assistance. The TA will support peer-to-peer capacity development of Pacific DMC urban managers through a regional urban twinning program, which will link recipient local councils with high performing local councils in the Asia-Pacific region.

Finally, the TA will finance regional knowledge-sharing events, or side events at regional conferences such as the Pacific Commonwealth Local Government Forum or Pacific Urban Forum, to disseminate good practices and lessons learned through the implementation of the TA.

The Pacific region is rapidly urbanizing, with 20% of the population now living in urban areas. In the region's smallest countries like Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Palau, at least three out of every four residents are already urban dwellers. The Pacific's most populous countries, including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste have the highest urbanization rates. Urban growth in the majority of Pacific DMCs has been taking place in a largely unplanned manner, resulting in inadequate urban infrastructure services, a shortage of affordable serviced land and housing, growing informal settlements, degradation of the surrounding environment, and increased exposure and vulnerability to natural hazard and climate change risks.

In Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu, the bulk of urban growth is taking place in informal settlements, particularly in peri-urban areas located on customary land, outside of town boundaries, and in risk hazard zones such as flood-prone areas and steep slopes. In tourism-dependent economies such as Cook Islands, Fiji, and Palau, the lack of adequate urban infrastructure to manage growing volumes of solid and liquid wastes is contributing to the degradation of the surrounding natural environment. Small low-lying atoll countries including Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu face extreme risks from high tides/storm surge, drought and sea-level rise. These risks are compounded by rapid population growth and overcrowding in Majuro and Tarawa, limited coverage and poor quality of basic urban services, and rising poverty levels.

The limited capacity to plan, manage and coordinate urban development, inadequate revenue streams to finance urban investments and service delivery, and poor accountability for the quality of urban services delivery contribute to the challenge of promoting more sustainable urban development in Pacific DMCs.

Urban development strategies approved and adopted by the target DMC governments

Capacity development and institutional strengthening for urban planning and project development delivered