Background

In 2001, a joint City Development Strategy (CDS) project under the Cities Alliance was initiated in Indonesia. The project aimed at institutionalizing poverty alleviation strategies in 8 secondary cities and was implemented jointly with the World Bank using the project management capacities created under the UN-HABITAT/UNDP Breakthrough Initiatives for Urban Development (BUILD), which included UNDP support by designating 4 of its BUILD cities as partner CDS cities.

Activities
A World Bank-supported national team comprising a BUILD urban management expert, along with sustainable development, poverty alleviation and urban governance advisers, was established in the Ministry of Settlements and Regional Development (KIMPRASWIL.). The team selected 12 pilot cities in early 2001. These were: Special Region of Yogyakarta, Denpasar, Semarang, Depok, Kendari, Medan, NTB, Bandung, Kutacane, Bandar Lampung, Makassar and Ambon. A national workshop was conducted in March to share the BUILD good urban governance process and experiences, along with other good practices from UN-HABITAT and the World Bank. City Urban Facilitators were selected and cross-sectoral city management teams were established to guide partners in local governments, NGOs, CBOs and the private sector through a participatory urban planning and management process, further building upon the BUILD experiences. City Profiles were prepared, with a strong emphasis on poverty and governance. City visions and urban development strategies were developed through focus group discussions and Urban Forum meetings. Priority issues were reviewed and strategies were developed to prepare bankable project proposals for investment funding. A policy Advisory Group facilitated the dissemination of lessons learned through a national workshop.

Results
National support and city action teams have been established and are operating regularly. The BUILD participatory urban management process was promoted in all 12 cities. City Profiles and long-term visions were prepared in a broad-based participatory manner. Issue-specific strategies were refined into development project proposals, which are now being considered for funding support through follow-up World Bank investment financing mechanisms .