Energy Extractive Communities, Democracy, and "Economic Diversification"
FACTSHEET Urban Services in the Ger Districts of · PDF fileAs Mongolia moves into a new phase...
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As Mongolia moves into a new phase of its economic development, driven predominantly by rapid economic growth in the extractive industries, the country faces a number of significant challenges. Rapid rates of urbaniza- tion are leading to an increasingly overwhelming concentration of the population in urban centers, especially the country’s capital city Ulaanbaatar. In 1989, 26.8 percent of Mongolia’s population lived in Ulaanbaatar. Today more than half of the population of Mongolia now lives in the capital, with a total population of approximately 1.2 million. Growth in the capital city is expected to continue apace. As a result of this rapid population growth, more than half of Ulaanbaatar today consists of unplanned settlements called “ger districts,” which house more than half of the city’s residents and nearly 25 percent of Mongolia’s total population. Dealing with the ramifications of these large, unplanned settlements and effectively delivering basic urban services to all the city’s residents has been, and will remain, a massive challenge. It is a challenge made all the more difficult by the low-density settlement patterns in the ger districts and the extreme climate of Mongolia. These factors significantly increase the cost of delivering urban services such as water, electricity, waste management, transportation, and other core needs. PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES In May 2012, The Asia Foundation signed an institutional partnership agreement with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to launch various initiatives relating to good governance, health and education across the Asian region. These initiatives are designed with an emphasis on flexibility and adaptability to ensure that they are timely, opportune, and likely to achieve significant impact. In Mongolia, the ini- tiative under the institutional partnership aims to improve urban services in the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar. The Foundation is working closely with the Ulaanbaatar City Municipality to support efforts to improve the quality of services to the ger districts, and to introduce a more inclusive style of urban governance. Urban Services in the Ger Districts of Ulaanbaatar FACTSHEET PROGRAM DURATION May 2012 – May 2015 PROGRAM PARTNERS The Municipality of Ulaanbaatar city is a partner of the Urban Services in the Ger Area Districts of Ulaanbaatar program. PROGRAM SUPPORT The program is generously supported by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).
Transcript of FACTSHEET Urban Services in the Ger Districts of · PDF fileAs Mongolia moves into a new phase...
As Mongolia moves into a new phase of its economic development, drivenpredominantly by rapid economic growth in the extractive industries, thecountry faces a number of significant challenges. Rapid rates of urbaniza-tion are leading to an increasingly overwhelming concentration of the population in urban centers, especially the country’s capital cityUlaanbaatar. In 1989, 26.8 percent of Mongolia’s population lived inUlaanbaatar. Today more than half of the population of Mongolia nowlives in the capital, with a total population of approximately 1.2 million.Growth in the capital city is expected to continue apace.
As a result of this rapid population growth, more than half of Ulaanbaatartoday consists of unplanned settlements called “ger districts,” which housemore than half of the city’s residents and nearly 25 percent of Mongolia’stotal population. Dealing with the ramifications of these large, unplannedsettlements and effectively delivering basic urban services to all the city’sresidents has been, and will remain, a massive challenge. It is a challengemade all the more difficult by the low-density settlement patterns in theger districts and the extreme climate of Mongolia. These factors significantlyincrease the cost of delivering urban services such as water, electricity,waste management, transportation, and other core needs.
PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In May 2012, The Asia Foundation signed an institutional partnership agreement with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade(DFAT) to launch various initiatives relating to good governance, healthand education across the Asian region. These initiatives are designed withan emphasis on flexibility and adaptability to ensure that they are timely,opportune, and likely to achieve significant impact. In Mongolia, the ini-tiative under the institutional partnership aims to improve urban servicesin the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar. The Foundation is working closely withthe Ulaanbaatar City Municipality to support efforts to improve the qualityof services to the ger districts, and to introduce a more inclusive style ofurban governance.
Urban Services in the Ger Districtsof Ulaanbaatar
FACTSHEET
PROGRAM DURATION
May 2012 – May 2015
PROGRAM PARTNERS
The Municipality of Ulaanbaatar city is apartner of the Urban Services in the Ger AreaDistricts of Ulaanbaatar program.
PROGRAM SUPPORT
The program is generously supported by the Australian Agency for InternationalDevelopment (AusAID).
PROJECT AREAS
IMPROVING SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENTBased on an initial fact-finding exercise whichidentified solid waste management as a key areafor program development, the Ulaanbaatar CityMunicipality and The Asia Foundation are partnering in a Model Solid Waste ManagementKhoroo Project, which aims to establish an efficient and effective solid waste managementsystem at khoroo (neighborhood) level in which ger area residents, khoroo, district, and city munic-ipality authorities, and solid waste managementcompanies are actively working together toimprove solid waste management in a compre-hensive and sustainable manner. The project uses a testing and demonstration interventionlogic that combines practice, policy, innovation,and learning at the micro-level to achieve impactat the macro-level. The project combines threeinterrelated components: (1) system developmentand performance monitoring (2) infrastructure/technology solutions, and (3) behavioral change.The project is being implemented in the six pilot
khoroos of Chingeltei 16, Songino Khairkhan 26,Sukhbaatar 14, Khan-Uul 13, Bayangol 9, and Bayanzurkh.
SUPPORTING THE CITY CHARTER
In 2013, the Ulaanbaatar governor’s office startedthe initial phases of a project to introduce a newUlaanbaatar City Charter, which will comprise ofthe main charter and a comprehensive set of morethan 50 sub-charters/codes that will govern thecity’s social, economic, political, and cultural con-text. The Ulaanbaatar City Municipality alsoplans to undertake a review of the City MasterPlan 2030, the key document in guiding theirplanning and activities, to refine and clarify itscontents in order to make the document morepublicly accessible and understandable. The AsiaFoundation is supporting the city by providingdirect technical assistance for reviewing currentdrafts of the proposed charters for compliancewith the national legal framework, and in thedevelopment of a public version of the Master Plan.
The Asia Foundation
is a nonprofit international
development organization
committed to improving
lives across a dynamic
and developing Asia.
Headquartered in San
Francisco, The Asia
Foundation works through
a network of offices in
18 Asian countries and in
Washington, DC. Working
with public and private
partners, the Foundation
receives funding from
a diverse group of
bilateral and multilateral
development agencies,
foundations, corporations,
and individuals.
HEADQUARTERS465 California Street, 9th FloorSan Francisco, CA 94104 USATel: (415) 982-4640Fax: (415) [email protected]
WASHINGTON, DC1779 Massachusetts Ave., NWSuite 815Washington, D.C. 20036 USATel: (202) 588-9420Fax: (202) [email protected]
MONGOLIAOrient Plaza 3rd Floor G. Chagdarjav Str. 9Ulaanbaatar, 14210 MongoliaTel: 976 (11) 330-524Fax: 976 (11) [email protected]
www.asiafoundation.org
05/2014
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
COMMUNITY MAPPING
In partnership with the Ulaanbaatar City Municipality, The Asia Foundation conducted a community mapping initiative from June - October 2013, covering 87 khoroos in the ger districts. Working togetherwith activists and kheseg (local) leaders, the mayor’s office and the Foundation mapped each khoroo inthe ger areas, and then used that data to carry out spatial analysis to identify service levels and gaps inaccessibility and coverage of public services. Using eight indicators, the maps measure the availabilityand accessibility of services in six sectors: water, health, education, public transport, solid waste man-agement, and vulnerability and safety.
The community maps serve as an advocacy tool for citizens to engage in discussions on the availability ofpublic services in their communities; and as a planning tool for both citizens and the city for the prioritiza-tion of resources and investment and to monitor service improvement over time. The data collected helpedthe Mayor’s office prepare for the 2014 budget discussions related to the City Municipality’s five-yearinvestment plan. This was the first time that spatial analysis played a key component in political level bud-getary discussions.
In January 2014, the Ulaanbaatar City Municipality and the Foundation launched the online communitywebsite, www.manaikhoroo.mn, an interactive platform where citizens and city officials can find informa-tion on service provision in the ger areas and download community maps. The website features an inter-active Google Maps interface with various display indicators.
