Urban development
Espelia advises public authorities and international donors in the design, preparation and implementation of urban development projects and policies in cities across Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin-America, and the Middle East.
Your challenges
Supporting unprecedented urban growth
Cities across the world - particularly in Africa and Asia - are experiencing fast urban growth, which leads to an increased need for housing, infrastructure, and urban services. Public authorities have an important role to play in supporting this urbanization process for ensuring a sustainable and inclusive urban development. They have to anticipate, plan and organize their territorial development, both at strategic and operational levels.
Strengthening project ownership and management
The implementation of large-scale urban projects has a strong impact on project owner's organization and finances. Supporting public authorities in structuring themselves, building their competences and improving their financial resources, contributes to strengthen their role and position, while ensuring efficient project implementation.
Planning and financing the sustainable city
To satisfy the needs of local populations while respecting public authorities' budget constraints, it is necessary to validate the projects' socio-economic relevance and to think of adequate financing mechanisms, often based on value capture and aligned with users' and citizens’ ability-to-pay. Evaluating the overall economy of a project during investment and implementation phases and measuring its impacts is a prerequisite for the elaboration of sustainable infrastructures. Selecting a procurement and implementation strategy, which depends on the public authority’s specific context, is also key for project’s success and users’ satisfaction. Several forms of public-private partnerships can for instance be used to mobilize expertise and financial resources that can usefully complement the public sector’s.
Structuring urban development and housing operations
Urban development strategies and policies are reflected in both the elaboration of planning documents and the design of urban development and housing operations. To be effective, the implementation of ambitious urban development and housing operations needs to be based on an evaluation of their economic, financial and legal feasibility and particular attention should be given to their institutional and organizational set up.
Our solutions
Our multidisciplinary experts work hand in hand with public authorities and operators to support them in all phases of the implementation of sustainable urban projects.
- Strategic diagnosis, design of public policy projects
Design or review of sectoral policies (urban planning, housing, smart city...)
Territorial diagnosis and elaboration of integrated urban development strategies
Socio-economic diagnosis and market studies
Urban programming (economic activities, housing, public infrastructure…)
- Feasibility and project development
Project's institutional, organizational, economic and financial feasibility studies
Developpement of economic and financial models
Selection of procurement options for projects, infrastructure, and services, PPP feasibility studies
Financing strategy
Manuals of procedures
- Strengthening project ownership and management
Institutional, organizational and capacity building needs assessment
Development and implementation of capacity building plans
Retrospective or prospective financial analysis (public and private finance)
- Monitoring and evaluation
What sets us apart
- A capacity to work on both on strategic issues (development of urban strategies, design of affordable housing policies, etc.) and operational issues (project development, contractualization, etc.)
- A positionning on institutional, organizational, economic, financial, legal and socio-economic dimensions
- An integrated approach towards urban development based on the group's multi-sectoral expertise
Customer case
25 years of experience at the service of public interest
Definition of a sustainable investment program for the city of Hanoi and technical assistance to the Hanoi People's Committee
Oct 9, 2024
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Feasibility study for the integrated management of urban public space and roadway dependencies around the BRT
Oct 8, 2024
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Technical Assistance for the preparation of the Tanzanian Sustainable Urban Food Investment Program (TASUFIP)
Oct 8, 2024
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Espelia supports local authorities, public stakeholders and their partners in the design, management and transformation of local public policies. A consulting firm committed to serving the public interest, Espelia mobilises strategic, legal, financial and operational expertise to help territories build sustainable and resilient solutions.
