Result of Service

Updated participatory urban plan for Al-Tor City’s city, advancing the city economic, social, environmental and urban potentials to achieve long-term goals and visions for sustainable urban development.

Work Location

Cairo, Egypt

Expected duration

10 months

Duties and Responsibilities

Organizational Setting UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. It is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system. Introduction The project Strategic Urban Planning for Small Cities was initiated in 2010 between the General Organization for Physical Planning and UNHabitat Egypt Country Programme. The first and second phases of the project took place between 2010 – 2021. Phase I and II implemented strategic urban plans (SUP) for 70 cities located in 13 governorates in Egypt and included technical support to GOPP local units on SUP. The third and final project phase being implemented between 2021-2024 focuses on implementing and updating SUPs for small cities and cities of a special nature (cities with a distinctive geographic location, e.g. cities bordering on coasts or with a distinctive urban character or history…etc). Phase III aims to strengthen the national capacity for sustainable urban development and management, as well as establish improved inclusive urban planning processes and methodologies for the preparation of SUP. Currently, GOPP seeks to align the state’s efforts on achieving Egypt’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Sustainable Development Vision 2030, including achieving social justice and improving the quality of life and urban environment through preparation and updating of impactful urban plans in Egyptian cities. In line with this objective, GOPP works on updating the previously prepared cities’ General Strategic Urban Plans (with reference to law 119 f year 2008), to ensure that the strategies and projects proposed remain effective and respond to the social, economic, environmental and spatial current contexts and challenges. These plans take also into account any changes and national directions in projects and their impact on urban agglomerations, most importantly the New National Urban Policy and new urban upgrading approaches key directions. As such, the GOPP and UN-Habitat are working together to update al-Tor City’s Strategic Urban Plan (SUP) (target year 2045) and promote the City’s unique character and natural resources in accordance with; the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), National Urban Agenda (NUA), Egypt Vision 2030, and results of the Egypt National Urban Policy (NUP), and the regional development plan for South Sinai. This alignment will further complement proposed regional and international projects that may impact the city. The plan shall consider the city’s unique character, to enable the city to fulfill its national and regional roles effectively, provide an improved quality of life for its current and future residents and respond to the city’s local potentials and anticipated population growth. In this context, as a part of updating the SUP for al-Tor City, this task aims to study, analyse and propose priority sector specific projects in coordination with the Regional and Local Economic Development consultant for the investment plan for projects identified with regards to the city’s urban context and associated fields. This will encompass urban surveys, studies, needs assessment and analysis with regards to urban aspects, demographics, social issues, housing, public services, and institutional management. See annex 1 for the comprehensive ToR that includes all sector related deliverables for alignment. The consultant will also coordinate and compile outputs from both the infrastructure consultant as well as the regional and local economic development consultant. Study area: Al-Tor City is the capital of South Sinai Governorate and includes the most significant administrative centers and services in the governorate. It is located in South Sinai approximately 265 km from the Martyr Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel on the Gulf of Suez. The city is surrounded with prominent tourist destinations such as, Dahab, Sharm El-Sheikh, St. Catherine, Ras Sidr and Ras Abu-Rdis cities. Additionally, it is particularly known for its significant historical and touristic character with natural attractions and historical monuments from both the Mamluk and modern era. Moreover, it is known as a medical tourist destination given its many attractions that include Hammam Musa and Ras Raya beaches, which are characterized by their coastal nature. Reporting Line The Consultant will work under the supervision of the UN-Habitat Program Manager and in coordination with the Programme Manager at the General Organization of Physical Planning (GOPP). Duties and Responsibilities This study aims at contributing effectively to the updating Al-Tor City’s strategic plan for urban development SUP. The urban planning consultant will be responsible for leading and coordinating the overall study, focusing on the following sectors; demographics, social issues, housing, public services, and institutional management as well as updating the GIS for the city. This should align with the objectives and methodology specified in Annex 1 and relevant tools in Annex 2. Task 1: Project preparation and introduction: • Identifying the relevant development partners and stakeholders (including local administration, government agencies involved in City planning, local community representatives, residents, grassroots leaders, universities, businessmen and active entrepreneurs, including major investors active in the city’s economy, non-governmental organizations, and trade unions), (See annex 2 for use the relevant stakeholder identification and analysis tools); • Preparing a sector specific action plan including detailed tasks and timeline, and a detailed timetable including workshops together with their dates, locations and targets; • Identifying relevant available sector specific studies, data and information on existing or ongoing services and projects, or those for which an allocation decision has been issued by governors, and the required City surveys; • Forming a local team from the different relevant authorities; • Leading the introductory meeting with the Governorate for the specified sectors mentioned above in coordination with both the Regional and LED consultant as well as the Infrastructure and Environmental consultant to contribute with their specified sectors. The meeting will be coordinated by the GOPP with the presence of sector specific representatives from the GOPP and the project lead consultant, as well as representatives from the governorate and the corresponding local authorities and key stakeholders. The meeting will aim to discuss the objectives, phases and project results as outlined in the ToR; • Holding an introductory meeting at the city council to introduce the project to introduce the project, discuss with development partners, and identify existing sector specific capacities and expectations (from all entities whether financial, institutional, or technical in addition to existing lands available for development). Task 2: Sector specific situational analysis of the city 2.1 Regional framework and review of previous studies: The Strategic Urban Plan is developed according to the development policies and other relevant plans, whether those previously prepared for the city, its direct regional and international surroundings, or any other project that may have an impact directly on the city or indirectly on its regional role. This task will identify and evaluate the city’s development guidelines within its broader regional scope (district and governorate). It will also provide recommendations of previous studies on all main sectors, through the following: • Identifying and analyzing new changes or developments at the local or Governorate level affecting the city; • Reviewing and analyzing the city’s identified roles in light of the recommendations of the new National Urban Policy (NUP) and the Egyptian system of cities. This will focus on the identified gaps and anticipated visions for the region and the city, and how the city can play its effective role in the anticipated system of cities to achieve the NUP vision at the local level. Annex 2 will be used as a reference to identify the main policies according to the general policies for agglomeration cities and the special policies of the group of cities related to the city being studied, which will be reviewed and verified in later phases; • Reviewing most recent satellite images of the city (see tool 2: tools that illustrates the technical specifications of satellite image) and maps available by the specialized administrations in governorates and the Spatial changes Unit; • Reviewing all current and future government sectoral plans and strategies related to the development of the city and its regional surroundings (urban aspects, demographics, housing, public services, and institutional management); • Studying the location of the city, spatial relations, urban linkages and functional connections between the city and district, or between the city and the new urban development areas, whether new cities, villages, reclamation areas, desert hinterland, or any major regional project that includes the governorate where the city is located. This will be done in close coordination with the Regional and LED consultant; • Studying sector specific neighboring development projects and their direct and indirect impact on the city. • Reviewing previous studies and the approved General Strategic Urban Plan of the city and identifying the list of projects and sector specific programs proposed in the urban plan (urban aspects, demographics, housing, public services, and institutional management); • Identifying implemented and ongoing projects, together with sector specific projects that were not implemented and proposed in the previous plan and the reason for not being implemented. This should take into account Haya Karima Initiative projects (if located within the development area of the city), through field visits to the city. 2.2 Situational analysis and the identification of sector specific issues for updating • Situational analysis to identify sector specific changes or new developments that took place since the preparation of the approved General Strategic Urban Plan (urban aspects: land-use, urban structure, urban extensions and agglomerations, demographics and populationsocial issues, housing, public services, and institutional management); • Determining the impact of new sector specific changes on the city’s approved General Strategic Urban Plan and the issues that will be addressed in the updating process at the level of the whole city or parts of the city, the SUP can also remain unchanged with only a few minor modifications. Sector-specific changes should be mapped to feed into the updated Strategic Urban Plan. There should be a focus on identifying changes related to the updating process, cross-cutting issues, and the inputs from healthy cities; • Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify sector specific main strengths, opportunities, challenges and threats; • Updating the urban and social maps and basic urban, social and institutional data including: o Conducting urban surveys and update the city’s urban structure, existing land use budget, building conditions, building heights, population densities and typologies, basic services and utilities, urban governance and institutional set up, land ownership and land prices; o Identifying and classifying urban development and updating areas according to the prepared Guideline (Annex 2: tools) based on field surveys, satellite images and meetings with partners In addition to the identification of potential and challenging areas in the city. o Updating the city’s demographic data including the population in urban extensions and neighboring areas (inside and outside the approved urban boundary). In accordance with the expected role of the city, new local and regional inputs, analysis of population growth in the City (immigration, normal increase, birth and death rates, residents, and generated employment), and the projected population increase using a 5-year plan projection up to the target year (2045); o Updating the city’s housing study and listing empty and occupied housing units and occupancy rates; o Updating and developing the city’s social study including social characteristics and challenges, standard of living, issues related to poverty, marginalized groups, women’s status and women’s participation in urban activities, rate of unemployment, the inclusion of the healthy cities concepts and criteria, and any other social issues. o Reviewing the study and analysis of current regional services provided in the city, which serves the District and Governorate such as, universities, training centers, technical institutes, general and specialized hospitals, police stations..etc.; o Reviewing the study and analysis of all local urban services available in the city (education, health, culture, security, sports, green and public open spaces etc..), and issues related to community service (funding, institutional capacities, and human resources) for various directorates, and estimating existing deficit in these services in the city and surrounding areas; o Coordinate closely with the infrastructure, regional and LED consultants to ensure close alignment of data and projects among the various sectors and in accordance to the TOR annex 1 to identify the most important recommendations and necessary strategic interventions which would be used to help direct urban growth patterns of the city. o Identifying and analyzing the city’s current and future land resources with a focus on the lands available for development within the approved urban boundaries (the type of ownership and the responsible authority) as well as, the lands proposed to be included in the approved urban boundary when needed. This is following a study that examines the capacities for integrating urban development areas and new urban communities in the Governorate and Region. o Evaluating the local administration (human resources, institutional capacity, authority, etc.) and the role of civil society institutions (private sector, NGOs, etc.). • Updating the City’s geographic database (Annex 2: tools, shows the situational analysis data to build a GIS for the city and new extension), in accordance with the information system and spatial databases structure approved by the GOPP. • Defining city’s sector specific indicators in coordination with the Regional and LED consultant and the infrastructure and Environmental consultant to support evidence-based decision-making at the city level and reporting on the progress towards achieving the SDGs (especially Goal No. 11). Implementing the New Urban Agenda and developing healthy cities through the Q&A implemented with different stakeholders and data collected from previous studies as well as, reports prepared by all involved entities (city, governorate or region, and in some cases central bodies). Provided that these indicators complement the results of the updated and collected sector specific data (referred to in Annex 2). 2.3 Proposed directions for updating the City’s Strategic Urban Plan (SUP) • Updating sector specific objectives provided in the city’s approved General Strategic Plan and updating the city vision in coordination with the Regional and LED consultant as well as the Infrastructure and environmental consultant and comparing them with sector specific data from the current situational analysis. To align the update of the SUP based on the identification of urban development areas and priorities, and specifying the developmental role of the city in light of reviewing the current circumstances and the National Urban Policy (NUP); • In coordination with the Regional and LED consultant and the Infrastructure and Environmental consultant, the Urban Planning consultant will study relevant proposed policies for the city in light of the National Urban Policy (NUP) as a main input in updating the SUP for the city. in case of proposed changes to the role of the city or relevant policies determined previously. The consultant will present the proposed changes including all necessary information before they are used in updating the SUP; • Assessing the situational analysis results and proposing method(s) for tackling the city’s current and expected issues in coordination with the Regional and LED consultant, by tackling at least the following topics: o Areas of urban extensions and conjunction with surrounding villages/communities (if any); o The level at which current urban boundary can accommodate (with the possibility of making minimal modifications); o The approach to tackle the deficit in community services (if any), executing it, and proposing funding sources; o Classifying and determining the urban development areas and identifying their role in the development of the city and proposing priorities and policies/mechanisms for dealing with them (Annex 2); o Proposals for management approaches in urban development; • Updating the main decisions and the proposed initial directions (updated) for the specified sectors; • Coordinating with the Regional and LED consultant as well as the Infrastructure and Environmental consultant to achieve integration between different uses and activities at the city level. Task 3: Updating the City’s General Strategic Plan: 3.1 Urban Development Plan: Updating the city’s previously approved General Strategic Urban Plan in specified sectors provided that it includes at least the following: • The city’s proposed development boundaries (including urban boundaries/areas and satellite communities) based on the city’s projected populations up to the target year, in light of the developments taking place in the city; • Updating land use; • Updating the proposed housing and services program up to the target year, including identifying current and future needs and setting a timeline for priorities for the proposed projects up to the target year; • Identifying the state’s public property places in terms of location, current use, and area, if available; • Determining urban development areas and zones in the city, their priorities and the associated policies; • Identifying the sector specific current and future needs and setting a timeline for priorities for the proposed projects up to the target year; • Identifying sector specific regulations and specifications. 3.2 The investment plan and implementation mechanisms at the city level (Annex 2: tools) Identifying and localizing sector specific priority projects in close coordination with the Regional and LED consultant and analyzing their impact on the city’s projected population and their initial impact on the environment and local economy, as follows: • Urban development programmes and projects, urban development areas in support of healthy and sustainable cities; • The plan for the city’s housing programmes and projects; • Community services and social development projects; • Programs and projects for institutional development, financing and capacity building for local units (Urban Management in Development). 3.3 Indicators for Monitoring Implementation: Identification of the main monitoring indicators for the implementation of programs and projects in the Strategic Urban Plan in specified sectors as well as data collection frameworks, where the most important are listed as follows: • Monitoring indicators for the implementation of programmes and projects for urban development and urban development areas; • Monitoring indicators for the implementation of housing and service programmes and projects; • Monitoring indicators for the implementation of programmes and projects for institutional development, and capacity building for local units; Important Considerations This task will be conducted in close coordination with key identified stakeholders including: • The General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP); • The Regional Center of the General Organization for Physical Planning; • Local administration: governorates and city councils; • Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and international cooperation. • The directorates representing each ministry in the governorate of the city in question; • National institutions and companies (incl. water and sanitation, electricity, communications, gas, etc.); and • Civil society institutions and representatives. • Regional and LED consultant as well as, Infrastructure and environmental consultant. As explained in annex 1: comprehensive ToR, it is necessary to work in effective and practical partnership with all parties participating in the planning process. This is as per the General Planning Law No. 18 of 2022, which emphasizes linking sectorial plans with spatial plans and obliges the ministries and concerned authorities to do the same.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in urban and/or regional planning, architecture, or a related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. 5 years of relevant experience in the field of urban and regional planning is required. Previous experience in preparing urban plans/designs is required preferably in Egypt. Previous experience in urban project management is required preferably in Egypt. Previous experience with international organizations and relevant governmental entities in Egypt is desirable.

Languages

Fluency in oral and written Arabic is required, basic English working knowledge is desirable.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.