This was the final of three events in support of the Call to action on sustainable urbanisation in the Commonwealth.
The pace of urbanisation in many Commonwealth Countries in Asia and Africa is without precedent. However, there is a critical shortage of reliable, easy-to-use, data-driven planning and mapping tools to support planning decision-making. Cost-effective, user-led, data-driven products and services have the potential to significantly improve the capacity of local governments and communities to make planning decisions and strategic infrastructure investments that are evidence-based and in line with sustainable and equitable development principles. A challenge prize holds potential to drive innovation in this space. This event explored the points where a prize could have significant leverage, including a dive into the nature of the problem, current barriers, using and scaling data-driven tools, and strategies to engage innovators, cities and stakeholders to accelerate innovation.
This event was attended by over 147 participants from over 36 countries.
Chair: Kathy Nothstine and Olivier Usher, Nesta Challenges, UK
Opening and closing remarks: Peter Oborn, Senior Vice President, Commonwealth Association of Architects
Panellists:
- Patrick Lamson-Hall, Research Scholar, New York University Marron Institute of Urban
- Management, USA
Manuel de Araujo, Mayor of Quelimane City, Mozambique - Dr Shipra Narang Suri, Chief, Urban Practices Branch, Global Solutions Division, UN-Habitat
- Kilion Nyambuga, Programme Officer, Slum Dwellers International, Kenya
Key messages
- A challenge prize could spur the creation of cost-effective, data-driven, scalable, locally relevant planning tools to better inform decision making in rapidly urbanising cities and human settlements.
- There is a need to discuss further with partners and funders who have an interest in supporting in solving this problem, as well as exploratory conversations with potential host cities and other partners.
Resources
- Sign up for the Nesta Challenges newsletter (select ‘Cities’ as your interest area)
- Presentation slides
