Future Megacities 4: Local Action and Participation

• Urumqi 

Casablanca • Tehran-Karaj • 

• Hefei 

Hyderabad • 

Addis Ababa • 

• Ho Chi Minh City 

Lima • 

Gauteng •

Index 

5 

Preface 

Elke Pahl-Weber, Bernd Kochendörfer, Lukas Born, Carsten Zehner 

Introduction 

13 

17 

Local Action and Participation in Urban Development 

Ulrike Schinkel, Angela Jain, Sabine Schröder 

Theoretical Departures 


Eight Case Studies 

27 

43 

62 

78 

93 

110 

135 

Urban Agriculture in Urban Development: Methods of Awareness-raising and Knowledge 

Transfer (Casablanca, Morocco) 

Juliane Brandt, Natacha Crozet, Ahmed Chahed 

Community Participation for Energy-efficient and Sustainable Housing (Ilitha, South Africa) 

Bertine Stelzer, Bernd Heins 

Challenges of Interdepartmental Collaboration to Foster Energy Efficiency in Public 

Buildings (Gauteng Province, South Africa) 

Johannes Rupp, Michael Knoll 

A Citizens’ Exhibition as a Communicative-participative Approach in Hashtgerd New Town 

(Iran) 

Sabine Schröder 

Hyderabad—Community Radio for Local Empowerment: Participation and Organisational 

Sustainability 

Alva Bonaker, Raban Daniel Fuhrmann 

Local Action in and on Urban Open Spaces of Hyderabad 

Angela Jain, Tobias Kuttler 

Lessons Learnt from a Community-based Adaptation Project in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 

Ulrike Schinkel 

8

155 

Addis Ababa—Participatory Development of Carrying Devices for Recyclable Material 

Collectors 

Daniela Bleck 

Outcomes 

175 

Findings and Lessons Learnt 


Appendix 

187 

206 

208 

The Projects of the Programme on Future Megacities in Brief 

Authors 

Imprint 

9

GAUTENG: Building inspection [Zehner]

INTRODUCTION

GAUTENG: Convincing people to use better stoves can only be successful with local action. [Zehner]


Local Action and Participation in 

Urban Development 

Policymakers and planners frequently overlook the significance of bottom-up approaches 

that have been initiated by civil society and the contribution of these approaches to urban 

development and climate-change adaptation and mitigation. Moreover, they underestimate 

the importance of the local level as the level for implementing concrete projects and/or 

climate change–related policies. The complexity of the challenges that need to be addressed 

in urban environments today requires a multi-level governance approach, which distributes 

competences and decision-making powers among different decision-making levels and which 

integrates all stakeholders as partners. But local communities and their organisations are not 

yet fully recognised as actors who shape their own living environments and who contribute to 

urban development as a whole. 

This book Local Action and Participation: Approaches and Lessons Learnt from Participatory 

Projects and Action Research in Future Megacities highlights the potential of bottom-up, 

or grassroots, approaches. It traces participatory projects and local-action initiatives for 

climate-change adaptation and mitigation, which have been initiated within the scope of 

research projects undertaken in Morocco, South Africa, Ethiopia, India, Iran, and Vietnam. 

By bringing together experiences gained in pilot projects and action research, the volume 

narrates the stories behind individual activities and co-operative processes, and it frankly 

illustrates results and lessons learnt. Finally, it formulates overarching conclusions and recommendations 

for future participatory research and development projects. 

International co-operation often focuses on implementing new technologies, which have 

been developed in the environment of industrialised countries and are then transferred to 

the global south in order to improve the situation there. The strategic concepts for technology 

transfer, however, mostly underestimate and undervalue the effort needed to embed 

new technologies or organisational innovations into the local technological, political, and 

socio-economic environment. In order to fill this gap, the contributions of this book look at 

local governance structures, specific constellations of local actors, and practices of communication 

and co-operation. Within their projects embedded in the research programme Future 

Megacities: Energy- and Climate-efficient Structures in Urban Growth Centres, the authors of 

this book are working at the interface of theory and practice. Through action research and the 

implementation of demonstration projects, they have put into practice theoretical approaches, 

and their results enrich the research discourse on participation and local action. 

This book mainly addresses researchers and practitioners who deal with bottom-up approaches 

to development and planning. It can be regarded as a compilation of the experiences 

that we have gained from research projects. This compilation highlights hurdles, obstacles, 

and stumbling blocks for participatory and local-action projects; it provides recommendations 

on how to avoid or overcome them, and it points out how one can foster favourable conditions. 

13

Fig. 1 

Awareness-raising for sustainable lifestyles, Hyderabad [Steinbeis India] 

Particularly interesting for those who have limited practical experience with participatory 

projects is the fourth thematic field, which discusses the occurrence of unplanned and unforeseen 

impacts of participatory interventions and the options for dealing with these impacts. 

The fifth thematic field examines the changing role of the external researcher and practitioner 

in participatory projects and local-action initiatives that aim at empowering locals to 

take responsibility for decision-making and for implementing such initiatives. 

The last thematic field summarises the variety of tools and approaches applied and, 

based on the different authors’ experiences, offers critical reflections on which methods and 

tools best suit which contexts. 

16 INTRODUCTION


Theoretical Departures 

Participation and Local Action 

There is a wide range of definitions for the terms participation and local action. Thus, finding 

clear designations for these terms—designations relevant to all development contexts and 

ones that can be applied in this book—presents a challenge. In fact, the book’s contributions 

reflect a variety of conceptualisations and interpretations of participation. Nevertheless, we 

can offer here a theoretical framework for these terms, in order to put the book’s contributions 

into conversation with each other. In this volume, the distinction between participation and 

local action is neither absolute nor strict; on the contrary, both concepts may partially overlap. 

However, here, a distinction between the terms will help to highlight qualitative differences. 

Participation 

The term participation can be differentiated into a) public participation, civil society’s participation 

or people’s participation as an approach to legitimise political and planning decisions, 

b) community participation, which predominantly fosters joint decision-making and information 

gathering, or c) stakeholder participation as an effort to integrate relevant stakeholders 

from the political, the private, and the civil society sector into decision-making and 

to establish unconventional coalitions to initiate change. Regarded from a more academic 

perspective, participation can be both a means to strengthen democracy, grassroots democracy 

in particular, and an ends, as it may be the output of democratisation processes [Tandon 

2008 in Ledwith/Springett 2010]. 

In contrast to participation, local action evolves from the community level and is thus 

demand driven. Local action initiates from the bottom-up and encompasses an entity of 

self-help activities and self-organisation, which aim to solve local issues where there is lack 

of governmental interest or capacity to act. 

Sherry R. Arnstein developed possibly the most famous theoretical conceptualisation of 

participation in the late nineteen-sixties (1969) in order to classify citizen participation in the 

United States of America and other developed countries. Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation 

distinguishes between real citizen participation (citizen power), which involves the 

re-distribution of power from the power-holders to the powerless, and forms of tokenism and 

non-participation. Thus, Arnstein’s Ladder describes eight steps of citizen participation in 

formal planning and decision-making processes, which are grouped into the three categories 

mentioned above [Figure 1 •] [Arnstein 1969]. 

As a response to Arnstein’s work, Marisa Guaraldo Choguill [1996] educed her own Ladder 

of Community Participation for Underdeveloped Countries in the mid-nineteen-nineties, 

which takes into account the limited resources and capacities of governments to address 

the entirety of local development issues. However, Guaraldo Choguill considered community 

participation not “just … a means to enable the people” to satisfy their basic needs in the 

17

CASABLANCA: Local action for peri-urban tourism takes place in this landscape. [Born]

Juliane Brandt, Natacha Crozet, Ahmed Chahed 

Urban Agriculture in Urban 

Development: Methods of 

Awareness-raising and Knowledge 

Transfer (Casablanca, Morocco) 

Urban Agriculture as an Integrative Factor of Climateoptimised 

Urban Development 

The Urban Context: Local Conditions 

Casablanca, currently the largest and most populated urban region in Morocco, has grown 

within a century from a small settlement of 20,000 inhabitants to a metropolis that is 

estimated to have 5.1 million residents by 2030. 22% of the national urban population lives in 

Casablanca. 60% of industry in Morocco is concentrated in this agglomeration. The city faces 

many different challenges—including considerable spatial and population growth, fragmented 

spaces, an increasing divide between rich and poor, a lack of adequate housing, inadequate 

environmental and living standards, and difficulties maintaining technical infrastructure—as 

well as the challenges posed by climate change and limited resources. 

In 1907 the city covered a small area of only 50 ha. In 1997 the Greater Casablanca region 

was created, comprising 121,412 ha and eight prefectures. Previously rural communities with 

agricultural areas have been and are still being urbanised, which consumes valuable open 

space. As a result of the current development processes, which are specific to megacities, 

urban agriculture (UA) as a spatial dimension can present new hybrid and climate-sensitive 

forms of interaction between rural and urban space. An underlying hypothesis of this project 

is that such reciprocal urban–rural linkages contain the potential for a qualified coexistence 

that can be the basis for forming sustainable, climate-optimised, multi-functional, open 

spatial structures, which can serve as productive landscapes that, in turn, make a long-term 

contribution to the sustainability of cities and the quality of inhabitants’ lives. It is to be assumed 

that UA will only be able to coexist in the long term and in a qualitatively meaningful 

manner with other, economically stronger forms of land utilisation when synergies between 

urban and agricultural uses arise. 

Within a period of eight years (2005–2013) the inter- and trans-disciplinary research 

project Urban Agriculture as an Integrative Factor of Climate-Optimised Urban Development, 

Casablanca/Morocco (UAC) focused on four different challenges represented by four research 

questions: 

1) To what extent can urban agriculture play a significant role in adaptation to climate-change 

consequences, in climate protection, and in energy efficiency, which are 

amongst Morocco’s greatest economic and ecological challenges? 

27 CASABLANCA

Nevertheless, one of the main results of the project and especially of the support of the INDH 

is that through this official funding organisation, the authorities now recognise the women’s 

activity. While it is still not officially formal, the support of a national organisation is a first 

step towards a legalisation of their selling activity. 

Participatory Approach and Methods to Implement Urban 

Agriculture Practices in an Informal Settlement 

Initial Situation 

Poverty drives many people to leave the countryside and migrate to Casablanca, whereas it 

drives others to leave Casablanca because they cannot bear the rising costs in the quickly 

growing city. Looking for affordable housing, most of the migrants settle down in informal 

settlements close to the city, like Ouled Ahmed. This village, with 2300 inhabitants and 

traditional infrastructure—for example, a hammam (public bath) and mosque—was identified 

as an appropriate location for the pilot project Urban Agriculture and Informal Settlement (UA 

+ Informal Settlement). 

The majority of the inhabitants are illiterate. Furthermore, many young people stop 

attending school early without graduating. Instead, they set out in search of jobs in Casablanca. 

The existing social networks are based on kinship, friendship, and peer groups. The lack 

of governmental support, interventions, and activities creates a need for dwellers to care for 

themselves in order to solve the most pressing problems. Thus, they initiate associations in 

order to improve the village’s infrastructure. Despite their efforts, many deficiencies remain. 

For example, an adequate sewage infrastructure is needed, especially to avoid flooding of 

streets, dwellings, and public institutions like the primary school; flooding risks are not only 

caused by heavy rainfall but also by insufficient draining of the hammam’s wastewater. 

Waste disposal is not available. Additionally, theft, vandalism, and a lack of appropriate 

farmland hinder urban gardening activities. 

Objectives of the Activities 

Within a pilot project on urban agriculture integrated into informal settlements (UA + 

Informal Settlement), the goal was to explore, demonstrate, and apply small-scale urban 

agriculture, including affordable access to water to irrigate green spaces. Furthermore, it was 

intended to find out whether such activities could contribute to improving the livelihood of 

the dwellers. 

Methods to Implement Urban Agriculture Practice in Informal Settlements 

To create a participative process, it was important to start with integrating the training of 

locals to disseminate knowledge into the development and implementation of activities 

and not to start with a fixed set of urban agricultural measures. The Moroccan and German 

Project partners considered the bottom-up approach with participative action to be both 

appropriate and necessary for acting under such informal conditions. What is needed is the 

awareness and enthusiasm of local actors who involve themselves in small-scale urban agri- 

36 EIGHT CASE STUDIES

Fig. 5 

Fig. 6 

(left) Fermented chili: New processed products of the association (pilot project 3) [UAC Project] 

(right) School garden (pilot project 2) [UAC Project] 

culture in the settlement. The intention was to make inhabitants aware, to involve them, and 

to awake their creativity in order to invent suitable forms of micro-gardening and to empower 

them to initiate processes even after the end of the project. 

After an intense process of consultation with the Moroccan colleagues, the informal 

settlement of Ouled Ahmed was deemed advantageous to serve the pilot project goals. The 

inhabitants of this settlement had already formed a network of associations to successfully 

realise “public” tasks, such as the construction of a road or the support for the school 

building. Moreover, our Moroccan partners had personal contacts to local stakeholders. In the 

beginning a pilot project committee was formed. German and Moroccan researchers came 

together to initiate and assist the implementation process. Several meetings with members 

of the associations and the schoolteachers led to the idea of a school garden where pupils can 

be trained in urban gardening and take this knowledge into their households; in this sense 

they act as multipliers of knowledge in their families and neighbourhoods. The meetings were 

organised by the Moroccan partners in co-operation with the Union of Associations in Ouled 

Ahmed and took place in the recently built primary school. Thus, it was possible to meet 

many stakeholders, members of the associations, the school staff, and interested inhabitants. 

This approach—a basic local action—generated many further steps. 

The idea of the school garden was supported by all local actors. The garden itself was 

planned and installed under the guidance of a teacher who recognised the necessity of such 

an action to improve the learning conditions for the children [Figure 6 •]. Further, the president 

of the Union of Associations of Ouled Ahmed proposed involving the local women, who rarely 

leave the village, in the pilot project. He provided a plot of land near the school to create the 

solidarity farm, where women can be trained in urban agriculture and use the acquired knowledge 

to improve their livelihood. The training was organised by the local NGO THM, which organises 

the pilot project UA + Healthy Food Production in the UAC project and is experienced 

in working with illiterate people [Figure 7 •]. 

Furthermore the local actors asked the pilot project committee for a solution to stop 

the permanent flooding in the school garden and the nearby solidarity farm. A constructed 

wetland was proposed as low-cost technology for treating the hammam’s wastewater for 

irrigation purposes; it would serve as a practical demonstration, which could be further adopted 

and disseminated. The constructed wetland was installed and is maintained by the local 

actors with the supervision of German and Austrian experts, who met the hammam’s owner, 

37 CASABLANCA

GAUTENG: Proper housing is one of the big challenges in many parts of Gauteng. [Zehner]

Bertine Stelzer, Bernd Heins 

Community Participation for Energyefficient 

and Sustainable Housing 

(Ilitha, South Africa) 

Introduction 

Since the apartheid regime’s collapse in 1994, low-cost housing in South Africa has remained 

one of the most important topics on the political agenda of the African National Congress 

(ANC). Rapid economic progress and the abolishment of migration control have resulted in 

steady population growth in urban centres like Johannesburg [Guy et alii 2013]. Fuelled by the 

promise of employment and a better life, poor and rural populations within South Africa, as 

well as workers from neighbouring countries, are moving into South African cities. In order 

to meet the increasing demand for affordable housing for the poor, in 1994 the government 

introduced an ambitious housing programme, aimed at providing free and appropriate shelter 

for those who cannot afford to buy a house [ANC 1994]. 

While this Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) delivered many buildings, 

many of them lacked basic standards of quality, leading to the rapid decay of new housing 

structures. Although South Africa has introduced a series of quality and energy-efficiency 

building standards, only recently have these standards become mandatory for RDP housing 

developments 1 . However, the large-scale standardised housing approach and the financial 

constraints of government funds have created a low-cost housing industry, in which the 

market is dominated by the mass implementation of mostly unified, inflexible, low-quality, 

low-cost houses with only minimum features for infrastructure and sanitation. 

Fig. 1 

Informal housing in Alexandra, Johannesburg 2012 [Stelzer] 

43 GAUTENG

2009]. At the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Johannesburg, we gained 

insight into the thermal characteristics of different materials commonly used for low-cost 

housing construction, including brick, adobes, fired brick, and cement blocks. Also, we could 

examine roof tests, different types of wall insulation, and construction techniques with the 

aim of studying their impact on insulation and energy performance. During meetings with 

construction specialists and researchers at the University of Johannesburg, we discussed 

different locally available and recyclable building materials that could contribute to alternative 

low-cost building construction. Based on what we learned, INEP developed an initial 

SLH-Technical Concept [INEP 2012]. The technical concept compares and assesses locally available 

material options and their thermal characteristics to internationally available technologies 

with the objective of highlighting differences and material potentials. Another field visit 

in 2009 aimed at exploring different urban and rural project sites of standard low-cost settlements 

throughout provinces in South Africa. Among these examples was an energy-efficient, 

low-cost settlement project located in the township of Atlantis, close to Cape Town [Ndzana 

2009]. Work sessions with the South African EnerKey project partner PEER Africa, a local 

organisation that conducts sustainable housing projects, confirmed our emphasis on an integrated 

housing approach, which not only accounts for the basic necessities for a decent living 

(shelter, water, electricity), but which also incorporates a social dimension. They identified 

acceptability, accessibility, education, and financing as the most crucial social components for 

sustainable low-cost housing in South Africa. Further, four model houses at the University of 

Witwatersand were visited, which demonstrated the impact of passive solar energy and other 

sustainable development interventions including waterless toilets, solar water heating, and 

energy-efficient lighting [Ndzana 2009]. 

Moderated Brainstorming Session 

In May 2009, preliminary brainstorming sessions were held in East London, Ilitha, and 

Stutterheim in order to develop a framework and topics for a local workshop in Ilitha [Hoffmann-Dally 

2009]. Participants in the brainstorming sessions included the project coordinator 

in Ilitha, other representatives from the church communities in Ilitha and Stutterheim, social 

workers and representatives from NGOs and civil organisations, as well as researchers from 

the universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch. During the brainstorming session, the group 

emphasised the need to address the issue of housing and HIV/AIDS in the workshop. In order 

to learn more about the needs of people affected by the disease and their housing situation, 

a survey about HIV/AIDS perceptions in the community of Ilitha was prepared. The survey 

aimed at obtaining the views and feelings of the general public towards the following topics: 

· How they define their level of HIV/AIDS awareness 

· How ready they are to speak about HIV/AIDS 

· How they feel about the establishment of an energy-efficient house that would address 

HIV/AIDS issues 

Youth representatives of the church community in Ilitha conducted the survey from 19–28 

July 2009. In total, thirty-eight people participated in the survey, with balanced male and 

female representation and within an age range of nineteen to sixty-nine. A majority of participants 

acknowledged HIV/AIDS as a problem in Ilitha, expressed interest in supporting the 

church to help people with HIV/AIDS, and answered affirmatively to the question of whether 

they would like the quality of life in Ilitha to be improved [Hoffmann-Dally 2009]. 


Tab. 1 

Scorecard for sustainable low-cost housing: Ilitha community workshop, July 2009 [INEP 2010] 

Energy supply/consumption 

Water management/sanitation 

Materials/resource management 

Health 

Solid-waste management 

Construction and maintenance 

Environmental management 

Poverty education and social well-being, HIV/AIDS prevention 

• • • • • 

• • • • 

• • • • 

• • 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Workshop 

At the end of July 2009, a multi-day workshop was organised in East London by INEP in 

collaboration with the Ilitha project coordinator with the purpose of developing and planning 

the housing project. The workshop was held under the title Ideas and Strategies for a 

Better Livelihood in Ilitha. The first workshop was centred on an intensive brainstorming 

exercise with fifteen church members and local residents present at the workshop. The 

brainstorming session’s questions focused on housing challenges and aspirations of the 

community with respect to quality, affordability, construction, energy, and health. Next, 

the workshop aimed at discussing the HIV/AIDS situation in Ilitha. Ideas were brainstormed 

concerning how a sustainable housing project can address HIV/AIDS and other 

diseases and health problems. During the course of the workshop INEP developed a simple 

scorecard that listed the key concerns and ideas identified by residents in Ilitha. These 

included energy access, water access, and a lack of infrastructure and social development 

opportunities. The scorecard allowed the participants of the workshop to vote on the 

most important issues that they wanted to address within the housing project. A stable 

renewable energy supply, as well as material and resource options, was chosen as the 

most important. 

In an open dialogue during the workshop with South African housing researchers, 

participants could raise questions and suggest answers about how the scorecard priorities 

can be achieved. This included discussions on possible construction materials and 

other concepts introduced in the initial SLH-Code. The open dialogue session helped the 

participants to link their scorecard priorities to the material and construction options for 

the model-house development in Ilitha. The dialogue process supported the idea of using 

high-insulating materials to reduce energy demand for heating and cooling. Also, the 

community embraced the use of renewable energy sources for electricity generation, in 

order to keep operation costs for the house low. Community members further pointed 

out that the look and shape of the model house should be similar to other residential 

houses in the community in order to find acceptance among other community members. 

At the end of the workshop, an agreement was made between the Ilitha church 

community and INEP to construct a residential stand-alone model house based on a 

sandwich-panel construction. 

51 GAUTENG

Initially, these activities created a sense of ownership and empowerment in the community 

members involved in the construction. After three days the house was built and could be 

opened to the public with a community celebration. 

“And the way … the house is constructed, it’s unbelievable. I mean, it is a 62-m² house. 

That was an eye opener to all of us. I would have never thought this could be done and to end 

up with a product that is so nice.” 7 

The model house introduces basic energy-efficient features, such as an improved wall and 

roof insulation through the sandwich panels, as well as a rooftop overlap that provides shade 

to windows during sunny hours. One side of the house with a large window front faces north, 

which allows for a lot of daylight but little heating during intensive sun hours. The inside 

structure of the house can be changed with the help of modular wall elements. This allows 

community members to set up different room structures and facilitate various uses of the 

house, for example, for workshops, childcare activities, or community meetings. An additional 

room was integrated for either added sanitary installations or as an equipment room. Further, 

the house structure supports the installation of a future rooftop solar-energy system, 

which could supply a kitchen and multi-media technology with electricity for workshops and 

education sessions. 

“I would say we got more value than we thought. I mean the value that you will see 

in the house, it is nice, it is beautiful, it is warm. You cannot default that this is a quality 

standard house.” 7 

After its construction, residents in Ilitha were invited to visit the community house during 

different times of the day to experience the building and its inside climate. While there were 

mixed reactions to the building envelope and look of the house, most visitors reported their 

surprise at how “nice and cool” the house was inside. In a later interview with the project 

coordinator in Ilitha, he described his own impression of the house and stated: 

“I cannot believe how normal this house is and how well it corresponds to the needs of the 

people. For example, the heating of the house is much more advanced than the local structure. 

The only challenge is that the people here are not used to this infrastructure.” 7 

Ever since its construction, the population in Ilitha have been highly accepting of the new 

community house. The community’s constant usage and maintenance of the house reflects 

this acceptance. The church community uses the space to take care of children during church 

services. Also, the community offered its first sanitary health and HIV/AIDS education training 

at the community house during 2010. 

Ilitha is making a constant effort to convince visitors and politicians of the value of the 

house. In order to further promote alternative building approaches for low-cost, low-energy 

housing, the community often opens the house to the local government, NGOs, and businesses 

for inspection and field trips. Most recently, the community has invested in the installation 

of a kitchen in order to be able to host longer workshops and meetings at the house. In 

2013 INEP supported the installation of a home solar-power system. 


Fig. 6 (left) Ilitha church members and the new photovoltaic system on the community house [INEP 2013] 

Fig. 7 (right) Women taking care of children at the community house during church service [INEP 2010] 

Conclusion and Recommendations 

Challenges and Opportunities of the Community Participation Approach in Ilitha 

The concept of participatory design in the project process kept the overall level of community 

involvement in Ilitha high. The local population’s ideas and priorities directly impacted the 

planning and construction of the sustainable model house for the community. With reference 

to Choguill’s [1996] ladder of community involvement, measures and methods used for community 

engagement in Ilitha provided a basis for conciliation, consultation, and finally also 

empowerment of the community. Empowerment was reflected most strongly in the wish for 

and eventually the implementation of a community house instead of a residential housing 

unit. The partnership approach, which divided responsibilities and tasks during implementation, 

resulted in a strong sense of responsibility and ownership in the community towards the 

house during and after its construction. The regular use of the house and feedback from the 

church community proves the local population’s acceptance and trust concerning the house’s 

quality, energy performance, and functionality. 

The high level of participatory decision-making power also challenged the project’s timeframe 

and available resources. The decision of the Ilitha community to change the building 

permission application to a community house after agreed deadlines for decision-making 

was the most impactful example of their decision-making power. Therefore, timely communication 

between project partners was the most challenging part of community participation 

within the whole project. While communication and the exchange of ideas between the 

German and South African project partners were generally strong during face-to-face meetings, 

it was difficult to maintain the intensity of exchange during periods when there were no 

opportunities for face-to face meetings. Reasons for the slowdown of communication could 

have been rooted in the fluctuating accessibility of local representatives via email and other 

communication tools. 

While the representative from Ilitha is a well-known, established church-community member 

and strongly facilitated the church community’s interest, engagement, and trust in the 

project, he simultaneously represented several organisations and his church community within 

the Eastern Cape region. The multitude of his responsibilities often collided with the pressing 

55 GAUTENG

Fig. 2 

Final energy consumption by sector in Gauteng 2007 [Tomaschek et alii] 

workshop agendas during the project period because these buildings are in the government’s 

immediate sphere of influence. In addition, the energy performance of public buildings, such 

as office buildings, is a first indicator of whether a government takes its own goals seriously. 

Here, the spectrum of possible interventions includes complex, cost-intensive investments in 

the building envelope, as well as training or low-cost behaviour-influencing measures. 

For decades Gauteng’s government neglected to improve the energy performance of its 

building stock. There were two core reasons: South African energy prices have been and still 

are low compared to international markets, and the maintenance of public buildings has not 

been identified as a high political priority. However, since energy prices have increased and 

maintenance has not been improved, the government’s total expenditure for energy has 

increased significantly. At the same time, the lack of maintenance in many public buildings 

has led to a poor-quality working environment. In some cases, employees have to shiver in 

winter and sweat in summer due to broken heating systems, ineffective electric heaters, 

or non-functioning air-conditioning systems. Also, in many buildings only a few central 

light-switches exist, which causes lights to remain on all day. 

Finally, awareness for this situation was raised among governmental officials. The retro - 

fitting of public buildings and the sensitising of staff to energy issues are now concerns. However, 

if Gauteng Province wants to claim strategic leadership in energy and climate-change 

issues, then it needs more than rhetoric. Energy-efficiency interventions in public buildings 

is a starting point, although the government’s share in the Gauteng Province’s total energy 

consumption is 1%, which is almost negligible compared to energy-intensive users [Figure 2 •]. 

Energy efficiency and energy saving in public buildings symbolise good governance and have 

to be seen as a valuable example. 

Provincial targets for the public sector defined in the Gauteng Integrated Energy Strategy 

include an energy-efficiency improvement in the electricity supply of 13% by 2014 and 25% 

by 2025. These targets can be partially easily achieved by advocating low-cost and no-cost 

technical and behavioural changes. Changing behaviour is quite simple: mobilise employees 

to switch off lights when not needed, open curtains to use natural light when ever possible, 

and leave doors open when rooms are overheated instead of turning on the air conditioning, 

for example. Furthermore, some cost-effective technical interventions that are easy to 

implement include replacing light bulbs and inefficient ballasts, 7 improving the placement 

of switches, and using bright colours for walls and ceilings. Beyond these low-hanging fruits, 

further technical potential can be difficult to implement; this includes measures such as the 

installation of control systems; the introduction of alternative heating and hot water sys- 


tems, energy-efficient ventilation, and air-conditioning systems; and improvements of the 

building envelope through thermal insulation. The latter needs a higher financial investment 

and also stronger coordination and co-operation among relevant stakeholders within the 

provincial government. 8 

The case study below, carried out within the EnerKey project by IER, 9 shows the energy-and 

cost-saving potential of one of the highest energy consumers within Gauteng’s public 

building stock, the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg [Box A •]. 

Best-practise Example Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital 

The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is the world’s largest hospital. It has approximately 

3,200 beds and 6,760 staff members. It functions as an academic hospital, attached 

to the University of the Witwatersrand. 10 As a result of the hospital’s size, it is a large 

consumer of energy with a complex energy-supply structure. 

Preliminary results assume an annual final energy consumption of approximately 456 

TJ or roughly 10% of the final energy consumed in public buildings in Gauteng Province. 

Process heat and lighting are the most important applications, using two thirds of the 

final energy consumed by the hospital [Figure 3 •]. Coal is a key energy carrier to generate 

steam and electricity, which results in high greenhouse gas emissions [Eskom 2011]. In 

order to improve energy performance and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, well-founded 

energy planning is necessary. A retrofit of the lighting system, which would include 

replacing the existing 25-watt fluorescent lights with LEDs in corridors, could reduce the 

final energy consumption by 19 TJ. This would result in an annual saving of 0.6 million 

Rand. Also it could be feasible to undertake a lighting retrofit in offices and patient 

rooms and save an additional of 37 TJ. However, this measure would not be economically 

viable due to less daily hours of light-use. 

These results are based on an initial study, which gathered data for the development 

of a comprehensive assessment tool based on the TIMES model. 11 By applying this 

model, it is possible to determine robust, least-cost measures with the aim of reducing 

the final energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and dependency on imported 

energy for the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. 

Fig. 3 

Final energy consumption by end-use in the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital [Taiwo] 

67 GAUTENG

Sabine Schröder 

A Citizens’ Exhibition as a 

Communicative-participative 

Approach in Hashtgerd New Town 

(Iran) 

Introduction 

This paper discusses the communicative-aesthetic method of a citizens’ exhibition and 

its adaptation to the Iranian context; this project was carried out in the framework of the 

German-Iranian research project Young Cities. The research project Young Cities—Developing 

Energy-efficient Urban Fabric in the Tehran-Karaj Region focused on developing and applying 

energy-efficient planning and management concepts, as well as developing solutions for 

building and infrastructure. The project’s main aim was to reduce CO 2 

emissions, but also 

to conserve natural resources like water and soil. Furthermore, the project sought to find 

planning and building solutions and methodologies to adapt to climate change. The project’s 

main locational emphasis was the new town of Hashtgerd as a case study, which lies in the 

growth corridor to the west of the emerging megacity of Tehran. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran has experienced a massive population growth during the last 

few decades. Its population almost doubled from 33.7 million in 1976 to 60 million in 1996. Since 

then the population has grown to more than 75 million in 2011. This development occurred 

alongside a rapid urbanisation process, which follows the global trend of urbanisation. In 2011, 

71.4% of Iran’s population lived in urban areas [Statistical Center of Iran 2011]. Throughout this 

period the megacity of Tehran experienced drastic growth and has grown in all directions along 

traffic arteries [Madanipour 2005]. Like many other countries all over the world, Iran counteracted 

this development with the strategy of building so-called new towns on the periphery of urban 

agglomerations to relieve the rapid urban growth. The goal of establishing new towns was to 

create better and healthier living environments than bursting megacities, while simultaneously 

counteracting their uncontrollable growth [Madanipour 2005]. However, this approach has not only 

had positive results. Negative consequences include the loss of green, natural areas, intensified 

social segregation, and a slow development in many new towns towards the status of a multi-functional, 

independent city. In many cases, the new cities initially lack necessary infrastructure 

and sufficient public transportation, as well as jobs [Ghalehnoee /Diab 2005]. 

Hashtgerd New Town is, measured by its geographical size, the largest of the new urban 

settlements. The planning of the new town began in 1990 and was intended to relieve the 

quickly growing capital of Tehran, as well as the city of Karaj, west of Tehran. It was placed 

north of the already existing town of Old Hashtgerd and circa 30 km west of Karaj. Although 

the city was initially planned for 500,000 residents, it has only an estimated population of 

approximately 20,000 people today. Hashtgerd New Town has not yet met the expectations 


Fig. 1 

Impressions of Hashtgerd New Town: Shopping street in the first building phase, half-built neighbourhood 

in building phase four, construction of Mehr housing, main street [Nasrollahi] 

put on it, due to the lack of jobs, shopping facilities, cultural offers, and other infrastructure. 

Most of the residents of Hashtgerd New Town do not work within the new town, but 

commute to Hashtgerd Old Town, Karaj, or Tehran [Schröder et alii 2013]. The commute to other 

cities for work and social, cultural, and shopping purposes causes a considerable consumption 

of energy for transportation. This is mainly carried out with private cars due to the lack and 

inefficiency of public transport. 

As Iran has some of the largest oil and natural gas resources in the world, those are the 

country’s main sources of energy, while the renewable energy supply is negligible [Ministry 

of Environment 2009]. The extensive fossil resources and increasing energy consumption have 

made Iran one of the largest CO 2 

emitters in the world with CO 2 

emissions rising steadily in 

the last few decades, with the exception of the nineteen-eighties due to the Iran-Iraq war 

[Marland/Boden/Andres 2012]. Furthermore, the high subsidisation of energy until only a few 

years ago led to distorted energy prices and reduced the motivation to save energy. 

Therefore, the project focused on the development and application of energy-efficient 

planning and management concepts and energy-efficient building and infrastructure solutions 

with the aim of reducing CO 2 

emissions. Specifically, the project focused on developing 

an integrated planning framework and detailed plans for a 35-ha mixed-use residential area 

as a pilot project, the Shahre Javan Community, in the south of Hashtgerd New Town; it was 

planned for approximately 8,000 inhabitants. The planning framework and the plans integrate 

energy-efficient and resource-saving methodologies and utilise a design that minimises 

technical complexity and costs and builds on the regional traditional knowledge of ener- 

79 TEHRAN-KARAJ REGION

Fig. 4 

Fig. 5 

(above) Posters of the citizens’ exhibition in Hashtgerd New Town [nexus Institute Berlin] 

(below) Opening of the citizens’ exhibition [Quitzow] 

of holding focus group discussions, and an NGO partner was found to facilitate the focus group 

discussion in Hashtgerd New Town, it was ultimately not possible to obtain the necessary official 

permission for the focus group discussions from the responsible superior authority, which 

was a prerequisite for conducting them. Therefore, yet another path of conducting discussions 

on the plans and concepts of the project for mobility had to be found. It became apparent that 

the administrative authorities viewed with less scepticism the idea of discussing the concepts 

with experts rather than with citizens of Hashtgerd New Town. 


Therefore, qualitative interviews were held with experts in urban and transportation 

planning from Tehran and Hashtgerd New Town in fall 2012 in order to obtain feedback on 

the mobility concepts of the Young Cities project. The results were evaluated and served as 

preparation for an expert workshop, which was held in March 2013. In this Expert Workshop 

on Innovative Transportation Planning for Iran’s Urban Agglomerations with Special Focus on 

the Results of the German-Iranian Young Cities Project, the planning concepts of the Young 

Cities project for Hashtgerd New Town were again discussed with experts from the fields of 

urban and transportation planning, from Hashtgerd Municipality, Hashtgerd City Council, 

and Tehran Traffic Organization. At this expert workshop, the citizens’ exhibition, which had 

been revised and extended since its last display, was also displayed to give the experts an 

impression of the viewpoints of the citizens of Hashtgerd New Town as an impetus for their 

discussion. Furthermore, at an international conference on transport in Tehran shortly after 

the expert workshop, a presentation on participative approaches in transport planning was 

held by a nexus Institute researcher. This presentation was received with great interest by 

the audience, and the audience perceived that it is especially important to consider cultural 

aspects within planning concepts through participative approaches. 

Conclusion 

The implementation of participative approaches within the Young Cities project had to be 

pursued under quite difficult circumstances in an environment that was not favourable to 

participative practices. On the one hand, that was due to the lack of participation practices and 

traditions in Iran, which caused much scepticism regarding participative approaches. On the 

other hand, the implementation of participative approaches was seen as important but not the 

main goal within the project itself. Participation was one of many work packages of the project, 

and was defined as a supporting dimension to the main dimensions of building and infrastructure 

planning. However, especially in contexts that are highly formalised and regularised like the 

Iranian one, the support of the partners is especially important for the success of participative 

approaches and needs a lot of trust building. While the inhabitants of Hashtgerd New Town 

were willing to participate in the interviews, give information, and express their opinion, the 

obstacles for implementing participatory approaches were found on the side of administration. 

Generally, it must be said that the effects of a citizens’ exhibition and the activation of 

stakeholders may normally not directly be determined. It is not to be expected, although possible 

in exceptional cases, that individuals or groups will directly be stimulated to start some kind of 

visible activity after visiting the citizens’ exhibition; it is also not the method’s main purpose. 

Activation is a process and can best be realised by offering many of these and similar activating 

events or instruments. However, the citizens’ exhibition offers the opportunity to illustrate for 

the public the opinions, attitudes, and knowledge of the involved actors and thus start a process 

of dialogue and opinion formation. As mentioned above, the interviews with citizens of Hashtgerd 

New Town showed that energy-consumption behaviour and the motivation to save energy 

are closely linked to the state of urban infrastructure and buildings. The citizens’ exhibition 

promised to be a good opportunity to use inhabitants’ voices to bring into the public’s awareness 

this connection and the need for change regarding the living conditions in Hashtgerd New Town. 

The local opening of the citizens’ exhibition can at least partly be considered a success in 

the sense that—despite the fact that the partners initially did not consider interviews to be 

89 TEHRAN-KARAJ REGION

Tarnaka, Tarnaka Consumer Council, Tarnaka Times Committee, Child Labour Committee, 

Police-Maithri (Telugu for ‘friendship’) & Security Cell, Watchmen Training, Games & Sports 

Cell, Education, Library & Cultural Cell, Legal Cell, Technical Quality Committee of Works in 

Tarnaka, Telephone, TV Cable & Internet Cell, Water & Drainage Committee. These are only 

a sampling of the multitude of actors, topics, interests, and forums that are, in some way, 

orchestrated by SCOTRWA. 

Yet what does this organisational structure mean for the chance of building up a community 

radio in and for Tarnaka? Are all these actors already the basis—as consumers, producers, 

sponsors, and advertisers—of the community radio’s broadcasting programme? Also, is 

the organisational setup of SCOTRWA robust enough not only to run and coordinate these 

already existing associations and committees but also now another, new and perhaps even 

more challenging and laborious project? In order to answer these questions, we must analyse 

the character of the organisation, its sustainability after the introduction of the community 

radio tool, and the specific case in Tarnaka. 

Community Radio as a Communication Tool in India 

FM Radio has staged a comeback in India’s households and automobiles. In our context, 

the main purpose of setting up a community radio is to enable and empower local communities 

to use and run information and communication media that can support social, 

economic, and cultural community developments. This participatory grassroots communication 

tool empowers local communities to voice their problems and needs; therefore, it 

enables them to participate in decision-making processes. The audience becomes part of 

the radio programme through their participation in all aspects—management, fundraising, 

and programme production. 

UNESCO and Louie Tabing define community radio as “operated in the community, for 

the community, about the community and by the community” [Tabing 2002, 9]. Up until now, 

community radio has been a rather rural phenomenon. After the pirate radio movement in 

Europe in the nineteen-sixties, especially in the UK, France, and Italy, the idea of community 

radio spread in Africa during the nineties, where it was used for development and empowerment 

purposes. The movement’s dispersion in Asia was a bit delayed but has recently gained 

strength. With a wide range of goals from community development to communication, from 

exchange to the spread of information, a community radio tradition can even be found in 

Australia and North America [Pavarala/Malik 2007]. 

By the end of 2006, after a decade-long struggle of the country’s community-radio 

movement, India’s government announced a new community-radio policy [Pavarala/Malik 2007], 

which was the motivation for an increasing number of community radio projects that have 

been initiated in India. 

However, of course a community radio programme is not the answer to all problems as 

it—like other tools of social empowerment—has limitations and poses important questions, 

such as that of inclusion and exclusion in the citizenry [Bailur 2012]. Nonetheless, the experiences 

of other community radio stations in India show that this medium has great potential 

for empowering, educating, and entertaining people [Aleaz 2010, Walker 2009, Pavarala 2003]. 

In the case of a community radio station of Adivasis in central India, the medium seems to 

have the intended effect of strengthening the community and giving a voice to marginalised 


Fig. 2 

Fig. 3 

(left) In the SCOTRWA office [N. Fuhrmann] 

(right) “Bol Hyderabad”, the community radio at Hyderabad Central University [Bonaker] 

people, especially women [Walker 2009]. Similarly, due to programmes of a community radio 

station in a village in Jharkhand, community members demonstrate an increased awareness 

of diseases, appropriate treatments, and precautions. Villagers even report that they see a 

correlation between the programme and an improvement of their well-being, for example, 

due to less alcohol consumption [Pavarala 2003]. 

The Tarnaka Community Radio Initiative 

The 2006 statutory change served as a trigger for the Tarnaka initiative, too. The Tarnaka 

community radio—for which the licence is still pending—intends to serve the whole public 

and all residents as a communication platform for announcing, sharing, and discussing 

issues of public interest that focus on environmental awareness and sustainable solutions 

to the challenge of climate change in a wider sense. For Tarnaka’s Residents Welfare Associations 

(RWAs) the radio will offer a platform for problem-solving through social dialogue, 

invitations to meetings, festivities and other events, et cetera. The aim of the community 

radio is to build on existing community structures and strengthen, as well as complement, 

them through the joint project. The fact that the community members are themselves 

responsible for raising funds, purchasing equipment, and creating the programme should 

enhance their commitment. 

A wide range of groups and their specific issues will be targeted in the programmes. The 

main target audiences identified so far are senior citizens, working women and housewives, 

children and youth, job seekers and employers, and RWAs. Beyond those defined groups, 

the community radio shall serve the whole public and all residents as a communication 

platform for announcing, sharing, and discussing issues of public interest that focus on 

environmental awareness and sustainable solutions to climate-change challenges in a 

broader sense. 

The community radio group was formed in an initial workshop in 2010. As required by 

the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s (MIB’s) guidelines for the application for a 

community radio licence, the community was polled with MIB survey questions in the next 

step. This survey, which covered 1,000 households, assessed a range of information about the 

97 HYDERABAD

Fig. 4 

Many different kinds of users and uses compete for the little available space [Kuttler] 

Local Action: Steps Towards Participatory Planning 

The intervention should reactivate and widen the existing debate about how to deal with 

the scarcity of space and especially the role of traffic and transportation in Begum Bazaar. 

By putting the participants into the position of local experts, the project team sought 

to enrich the debate with new perspectives and stimulating solutions. The intervention 

should have a mediating and activating character. In other words: the project team wanted 

to stay as neutral as possible towards the involved actors and their standpoints. The intervention 

process should basically function as a communication platform open to all actors. 

However, despite the articulated neutrality towards the actors, we intended to intervene 

into the area’s existing structures of power in order to push back the dominant discourse 

about traffic and parking in the area. 5 Thus we particularly aimed at involving groups of 

actors that formerly had no voice in the discussion. 6 

As the public event should focus on the significance and characteristics of street space 

and the conflicts and negotiations around it, we wanted the event to take place in the 

street itself. This decision was also driven by our desire to design the process to be as open 

and inclusive as possible; we considered an event in the street to be more visible and accessible 

than it may be in an enclosed function hall. We assumed that, depending on the type 

of location (for example, public building or community hall), a certain part of the population 

might always feel inhibited or unwelcomed in such a setting. By conducting an event in the 

middle of this busy commercial area, we also wanted to point out that the street is always 

a sphere of interaction and debate, whether we regard it as “public space” or not. 


Based on these early considerations the project team envisioned an intervention in two 

phases: First, a communication process with individuals or small groups of actors was organised, 

which was then followed by a public event in street space that gathered the perspectives 

and summarised the results. 

In the first phase of the intervention we intended to learn about all possible perspectives 

on the conflicting uses of street spaces through (qualitative) interviews. Therefore we 

decided to select the interviewees from occupational groups or groups of activities: Business 

owners, street vendors, residents, rickshaw drivers, lorry drivers, waste pickers, and others. 

The information we gathered from these actors should provide the input material for the 

public event. The conversations and discussions with the actors did not only aim at understanding 

the problems and collecting solutions; the communication process should also 

create an atmosphere of respect, reliability, and mutual trust between the local actors and 

the project team, thereby establishing the necessary ambiance and support for a public event 

taking place in the market area. 

The second phase should comprise the event itself. Within the scope of this event the 

participants who took part in the first phase should get the opportunity to articulate their 

concerns to a larger audience. The different and sometimes conflicting perspectives should be 

discussed among the participants and other actors from Begum Bazaar, as well as representatives 

of the city authorities, NGOs, and CSOs. By bringing together the various stakeholders 

and their viewpoints, we wanted to create awareness and a deeper understanding of the fact 

that spatial conflicts cannot be solved by simple solutions imposed from above; instead, 

the multidimensional character of these conflicts should be recognised. Thus, the aims and 

objectives of the event were as follows: 

· To raise awareness for perspectives of others and interdependencies between actors 

· To create and disseminate knowledge among local actors to support common local claims 

towards the city authorities 

· To create coherence across social barriers by addressing a topic that does not interfere with 

politics of caste and religion 

· To foster the freedom of public speech 

· To unite people physically from different backgrounds in a situation beyond their daily 

working and living relationships 

According to the criteria set above, the project team decided to conduct a citizens’ exhibition 

as a public event. A citizens’ exhibition presents local people’s views and attitudes in the form 

of excerpts from interviews in a public exhibition, accompanied by photographs of the participants 

and their living and working environment. The presentation of the excerpts on a poster 

allows for condensing the argumentation given by a participant and making it comprehensible 

for the visitors. The exhibition can contribute to a stronger identification of the participants 

with their own standpoints, while at the same time increases understanding of others’ viewpoints. 

The major strength of the approach is the aesthetic and emotional power of pictures in 

combination with the relevant quotations [Schophaus/Dienel 2003]. Along with pictures and the 

excerpts of the interview, personal attributes such as name, occupation, and place of origin are 

stated on the poster. Thus the participant approaches the visitor in a direct and personal way. 

On the posters we wanted to represent the perspectives of different actors in Begum Bazaar 

on conflicts that are related to the street space. Each poster should represent the viewpoints 

of one person [Figure 8 and Figure 9 •]. The communication process and the exhibition 

were not intended to be a representative survey that gave a complete picture of every group 

119 HYDERABAD

Fig. 11 

Fig. 12 

Fig. 13 

Fig. 14 

(above left) The audience waits for the guests of honour to arrive [Zimmermann] 

(above right) Tobias Kuttler of the project team inaugurates the exhibition [Zimmermann] 

(below left) Posters in Telugu and Hindi [Zimmermann] 

(below right) Visitors write down their feedback on the exhibition [Zimmermann] 

kirana shop (small retail shop) owners association, also present on the dais, did not deny 

that this practice is prevalent and causes inconveniences, but emphasised that there are 

also many other causes of traffic jams, for example, street vendors, parking vehicles, and the 

poor condition of the street pavement. Persons from the audience started to interfere in the 

discussion, one climbing the stage and grabbing the microphone. He and others—who turned 

out to be shopkeepers from surrounding businesses—accused both who had spoken before as 

liars and tricksters. 

Although the project team was prepared for discussion, as it was indeed our intention to 

activate the discussion, unfortunately it could not be adequately moderated when it turned 

emotional. The discussion was first held in English, but then abruptly switched to Telugu and 

Hindi when it became heated. Translation was needed first, thus the possibility of moderating 

the discussion was lost. 

Clarifying talks after the ceremony confirmed what has been indicated in several conversations 

during the communication process: that the controversy about the right to use street 

space for the respective purposes, which had been ongoing for years, had resulted in deep 

animosities between local politicians, business owners, and street vendors. The conflict, of 

course, could not be solved during the inauguration and in the two days of exhibition. However, 

it was made more transparent to the inhabitants of Begum Bazaar. 


Achievements and What We Have Learnt 

The communication process and the final event—the exhibition—were perceived positively by 

the participants. Some of them adopted a reserved and almost shy conduct at the inauguration 

ceremony and were reluctant to climb the platform. Nevertheless, when the guests 

of honour handed over the mementos, they expressed their happiness and pride, which they 

repeated in personal conversations after the event. After the official opening they proudly 

showed their posters to friends and relatives. Concluding from these experiences we consider 

the collaboration a good experience and a personal success for every participant. 

The guests and visitors expressed their feedback in conversations and also in a book 

provided for commentaries. This feedback was very, sometimes overwhelmingly, positive 

towards the exhibition and the whole communication process. The emotional discussions 

among the guests and with the project team showed how deeply the public is concerned 

about the topics that were covered in the exhibition. Several persons expressed their wish to 

have such a participation process in their part of the city, and at the same time lamented the 

inability or unwillingness of the authorities to take up the initiative by themselves. 

Could our goals be achieved by this approach? A review of the methodology reveals that 

the instrument of the citizens’ exhibition in combination with an intensive communication 

process was effective to achieve most of our goals. With the opening ceremony and the 

discussions during the exhibition, the already-existing debate has been reactivated and new 

awareness has been created. The communication process and the statements in form of the 

posters embraced new actors and perspectives that enriched these discussions. A considerable 

number of people visited the exhibition, around 200 in two days. The groups of visitors 

were heterogeneous; among them were goods-vehicles drivers, rickshaw drivers, waste 

pickers, and employees, many of whom normally have difficulties accessing public events 

because of their socioeconomic status and position in the caste hierarchy. Also many interview 

partners who did not want their opinions published on posters visited the exhibition. It 

shows that the intensive communication process and the efforts in creating an atmosphere 

of respect and trust had been necessary and fertile. The decision to conduct the event in open 

space and design it “barrier free” was supportive of achieving a heterogeneous mix of visitors. 

Thanks to the audio version of the exhibition text on an MP3-player, illiterate individuals and 

persons who were impaired in their mobility and thus could not climb the stage were able to 

experience the exhibition. However, the majority of bypassing pedestrians on the street did 

not seem to feel drawn to the exhibition. 

Furthermore, many external guests visited the exhibition, representatives of various 

NGOs, civil society organisations, students, and other supporters and concerned citizens. 

Staff of the local press was also present and most local Telugu and Hindi newspapers, as well 

as one English newspaper, covered the event in the following days. 

The project team’s emphasis on neutrality was maintained during the exhibition: whenever 

asked for our own opinions, we referred to the statements and proposed solutions given 

by the participants on the posters. While interacting with the visitors we encouraged them 

to compare their own viewpoints with those presented on the posters, thereby encouraging 

them to critically self-reflect. 

In conclusion, some important aspects of the goals could not be achieved. During the 

communication process we realised that specific groups of actors were difficult to reach by 

approaching them on the street, in shops, or offices—for example, labourers of the shops and 

127 HYDERABAD

Fig. 3 

The different levels that affect CBA [Schinkel] 

National Programmes on 

Climate Change 

Adaptation & Mitigation 

Integration of 

Bottom-Up 

Approaches 

Inclusive 

Urban & Rural 

Planning 

Capacity 

Building 

Policy 

Dialogue 

Scietific 

Results 

Advocacy 

Civil Society Organisations 

Physical Adaptation & 

Resilient Livelihoods 

Community Action Plan 

CBA 

Local Adaptive Capacity 

Mobilisation 

Special Target 

Programmes 

Facilitation 

Awareness 

Raising 

Strengthening 

of Local 

Institutions 

Researchers & Experts 

Technical 

Support 

Community 

Local Government 

Institutional 

Support 

Financial 

Incentives 

Support 

Supportive 

Policies 

Policy Framework 

areas, the application of small-scale protection and adaptation measures that are immediately 

affordable, and the development of warning systems and evacuation plans [Schinkel 

et alii 2011]. Moreover, a recovery strategy helps to organise mutual self-help activities that 

support the re-establishment of community life after a disaster. 

While communities develop their own measures and strategies, their efforts can be significantly 

supported and guided by external actors, such as researchers, experts, practitioners, 

civil society organisations, and local government agencies. The expertise of these different 

actors should be utilized according to the communities’ requirements and the project foci. 

Most importantly, as CBA fosters community-led initiatives, external actors have to partner 

with communities and the other actors involved: at local level, they act as facilitators who 

respect the local community’s self-determination; at the same time they are “change agents” 

who engage in advocacy, foster policy dialogue, and support the integration of CBA into formal, 

top-down planning procedures. 

Researchers and scientists are important partners in CBA initiatives, as they provide 

scientific input, such as long-term predictions for future climate trends, which can support 

raising awareness among the community and the other actors, and which may influence 


the development of adaptation strategies. Experts and practitioners, such as community 

architects or builders, may provide technical support and advice during the planning and implementation 

phases of physical measures and technical solutions. The engagement of these 

kinds of experts will help minimise the risk of mal-adaptation and avoid the development of 

resource-erosive response strategies, which prove to be unsustainable in the long term [Reid 

et alii 2009, Brooks/Adger 2005, Reid et alii 2010, Ahmad 2010]. 

Another important group of actors are civil society organisations that directly support and 

guide community processes during all stages of CBA. The capacities of civil society organisations 

are manifold: they may act as community mobilisers and workshop moderators; they 

may support the development of community action plans, their implementation, monitoring, 

and evaluation. Civil society organisations may also contribute as mediators between all 

involved stakeholders. They may sensitise policymakers to local-level concerns and promote 

the incorporation of locally adaptive capacities into policies and large-scale adaptation plans 

and projects. Additionally, civil society organisations may “translate” public policy to communities 

and clarify their meaning [Iati 2008]. 

The third group of external actors important for CBA are local government agencies 

and planning departments. In CBA projects, they can provide institutional support and 

information on planned future developments that may have an impact on the community 

and their living environment. Moreover, local government agencies should consider how 

to integrate locally adaptive capacity and CBA initiatives into larger-scale development 

plans, projects, and policies. 

Implementing successful and sustainable CBA activities also depends on an enabling policy 

environment that fosters bottom-up approaches to planning and climate-change adaptation. 

CBA activities need to be linked to top-down planning procedures and project and policy 

development; they require incentives, guidance, and institutional support. 

The Importance of Local Action and Participation in the 

Context of Vietnam 

Historical Roots 

In Vietnam, participation and local action as discussed in this book are relatively new approaches, 

which have proceeded rather hesitantly during the past two decades. Before Doi 

Moi, the politics of renovation, the government of Vietnam regulated nearly every aspect 

of people’s lives: “policy makers and the government at all levels were assigned the task of 

thinking for the people, thinking in place of the people and acting for the people” [Thai 2001, 2]. 

People were organised in mass organisations of the Vietnamese Communist Party, which left 

little space for individual initiatives. In the course of Doi Moi, when subsidies for social services 

were reduced, the Vietnamese people were asked to (financially) contribute to education, 

housing construction, and upgrading and to actively participate in development projects, in 

participatory research, and resettlement planning [Bolay/Thai 1999, Thai 2001]. 

Public participation was officially stimulated and regulated by Decree No. 29/1998/ 

ND–CP concerning “Regulations for Implementing Democracy at the Commune Level” in 

1998; that was replaced by Decree No. 79/2003/ND-CP on “The Exercise of Democracy in the 

Communes”, the so-called “Grassroots Democracy Decree” in 2003 [Socialist Republic of Vietnam 

139 HO CHI MINH CITY

ADDIS ABABA: Waste collector on a dumpsite [Born]

Daniela Bleck 

Addis Ababa—Participatory 

Development of Carrying Devices for 

Recyclable Material Collectors 

Context 

Point of Departure 

Waste management is one challenge emerging megacities in developing countries and countries 

in transition face. Solid waste disposed in streets and streams, as well as in open dumpsites, 

causes environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and public health concerns. 

Space for final disposal is often limited. Addis Ababa is a fast-growing city and often called 

the diplomatic capital of Africa, hosting the African Union, the headquarters of the UN 

Economic Commission, and a large number of international organisations. Despite rapid modernisation 

with many road and building construction activities, the solid-waste management 

system is still insufficient. In addition, unemployment and poverty are increasing problems. 

Scope of the IGNIS Project 

The research project IGNIS: Income Generation and Climate Protection by Valorising Municipal 

Solid Wastes in Emerging Megacities in a Sustainable Way—Exemplarily for the City of Addis 

Ababa, Ethiopia was funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) 

within the research programme Research for Sustainable Development of the Megacities of 

Tomorrow—Energy- and Climate-Efficient Structures in Urban Growth Centres. The project 

was carried out by a bi-national consortium consisting of the Association for the Promotion 

of Socially and Environmentally Appropriate Technology (AT Association), the University of 

Stuttgart, the Institute for Future Energy Systems (IZES), the Federal Institute for Occupational 

Safety and Health (BAuA), ENDA-Ethiopia, Addis Ababa University, and the Addis 

Ababa Environmental Protection Authority (Addis Ababa EPA) between June 2008 and May 

2013 under coordination of the AT Association. 

The IGNIS project strived to develop a new concept for the improved management of municipal 

solid waste in order to protect the local environment while generating new workplaces, 

increasing general welfare, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

Within IGNIS a coherent database on waste quantity and quality, socio-economy, and land 

use was established. Solid waste–management pilot projects were introduced and scientifically 

analysed. These pilot projects targeted waste collection, composting, biogas production, 

soil erosion prevention, charcoal production, and paper recycling. They were supposed to contribute 

to sustainable waste management and to generate income opportunities for groups 

of youth and women or other people who were interested in starting a business. 

155 ADDIS ABABA

Fig. 5 

Prototype version 1a (left) and 1b (middle and right) [Bleck] 

Second Design Meeting 

The second design workshop took place in April 2010. As the korales had not found any material 

that they considered appropriate for their backpack, we had to make a suggestion. We 

proposed plastic straps formerly used for tying bulk merchandise. The idea was discussed and 

decided upon. During the following weeks an informal craftsman produced a first prototype 

based on our specifications. 

First Field Test 

Testing the first prototype [1a in Figure 5 •], we found out that it was difficult to carry when 

filled and that it required major modifications. The second version [1b in Figure 5 •] met 

expectations and was introduced to a field-testing period wherein all three korales used the 

backpack during their daily work, and were followed at a distance by IGNIS team members 

who observed the working procedures from a scientific perspective, and also observed the 

reaction of the population. 

Third Design Meeting 

After field-testing, we held a third design workshop to exchange experiences in January 2011. 

According to the korales, the backpack could improve their working conditions and they would 

consider buying it themselves. They had received various positive, as well as mocking, comments 

from the population but expected that people would get accustomed to the sight after 

a while. Further adjustments were discussed and implemented in the subsequent weeks. 

During the workshop we had had the impression that the korales felt obliged to demonstrate 

a positive attitude towards the equipment and to comment according to what they had 

considered were our expectations despite our encouragement to express their honest opinion. 

Moreover, the korales had shown reluctance to develop their own ideas and had expected us 

to present solutions. 


Second Field Test: Surprising Results 

In February 2011 the korales tested the adjusted backpack in the field. This time we decided to let 

a student not involved in the IGNIS project join the korales in hope to get more realistic feedback. 

After this testing session the korales indicated that they were reluctant to use the new backpack. 

They considered the material too heavy and the handling too different from their habitual 

work. Exposure to the scrutiny of the population was obviously a higher concern than expressed 

before. When the student asked for suggestions to solve these problems, they repeated their 

request for solutions to be found by us, the IGNIS team. 

Revision of Pilot Project Strategy 

At this point of the proceedings, we had to acknowledge that the korales of the first pilot project 

group had been rather reticent during the entire design process. We were still convinced 

that the korales had to feel a sense of ownership to adopt the equipment and that this 

feeling could only be evoked by active participation in its development. Since the first pilot 

project group did not show the required proactive attitude, we revised the project strategy. 

In two meetings, we critically discussed potential constraints preventing the korales from 

participating. Our questions were as follows: 

Was a change really desired? What was the real motivation of the korales to engage in 

the project (or not)? Were the physical burdens maybe the least of their pressing problems? 

Why were the korales not convinced enough to participate proactively? Was it a question of 

mentality, expectations, or our chosen approach? 

Taking these thoughts into consideration, we elaborated a new pilot project strategy and 

consulted an Ethiopian moderator of participatory processes to obtain an external professional 

perspective on our approach. As a result, we decided to increase the size of the pilot 

project group, assuming that a higher variety of personalities and a higher korales–IGNIS team 

member ratio would give the korales more security and enable them to share their opinions 

more openly during the workshops. Potential pilot project group members had to be absolutely 

certain about their proactive role in the pilot project. As a means of assembling a new pilot 

project group, we decided on an awareness-raising workshop on work-related problems. 

With the new pilot project group we followed the same approach as before, a sequence 

of design workshops and testing periods [Figure 2 •]. Contrary to the work with the first pilot 

project group, the first design workshop was facilitated by an external moderator to start a 

brainstorming process that was unbiased by our previous experiences. We, the IGNIS team, 

decided to remove ourselves even more from the negotiations. We invested in more design 

workshops and a larger number of prototype versions to give the korales the opportunity to 

find all design deficits themselves and come up with solutions. Our role was to ask the relevant 

questions to guide the process. 

Awareness-raising and Group Assembly Workshop 

Our main workshop goals were to find out if the korales really felt the need to improve their 

occupational health situation or if other work-related problems had higher priorities, to raise 

awareness of occupational safety, and to assess and overcome any constraints hindering the 

individuals in proactive participation. 

163 ADDIS ABABA

CASABLANCA: To convince farmers in Mediouna not to sell their fields for urban extensions is a challenge. [Born]


Findings and Lessons Learnt 

In this chapter, we summarise the findings by returning to the three guiding questions initially 

raised. The first general question is: how can participatory approaches and local action contribute 

to sustainable development, climate-change adaptation, and its mitigation? The second 

more detailed question is related to the individual contributions presented in this book: what 

are the success factors, limitations, obstacles, and institutional barriers of the different development 

approaches and research activities identified? The third question then asks: what 

kinds of tools and approaches are suitable to activate the potential of participation and local 

action, to guide and strengthen local initiatives, and to overcome institutional barriers? 

Potentials of Participatory Approaches and Local Action 

Local Information, Capacities, and Resources: Through their experiences and day-to-day 

observations, communities are experts regarding their local environmental conditions, and 

they can retrospectively monitor climate and environmental changes over time quite well. 

Moreover, communities can provide local information that is not otherwise accessible and give 

valuable insight into their local lived reality. These experience-based assessments have the 

potential to supplement often lacking data and to enhance the quality of computer-based 

research on climate change. Furthermore, communities, even though they might belong to a 

low- or even the lowest-income group, have motivation, capacities, and resources available 

to improve their own living conditions if they see a realistic chance to do so. As proven by the 

pilot projects and research activities presented in this book, local communities have the ability 

to make collective decisions as seen in the community consultation process initiated in Gauteng, 

to participate in design processes, fostered by the IGNIS project in Addis Ababa, and to 

implement community-based adaptation initiatives as proven by the model project in HCMC. 

Sustainability in Project Design and Implementation: Local partners, such as administrations, 

policymakers, civil society organisations, researchers, and communities are valuable 

partners in the design of development projects and research initiatives. Still, all of these local 

partners have clear priorities. If a research or development project does not meet these priorities, 

but binds their capacities and resources—and time is also a valuable resource—it is likely 

to be unwanted, unneeded, and ultimately not sustainable. 

But where climate change, as an example, has a strong impact on people’s lives and 

livelihoods, adaptation and mitigation can become top priorities. This is especially true if the 

connection between the rather abstract issue of climate change in general and its concrete 

impacts on their everyday lives at local level is understood by the people or can otherwise 

be adequately communicated to them. Still, where poor communities are not (yet) directly 

affected by climate-change impacts, other issues, such as income generation and poverty 

alleviation, might be of a much higher priority. With regard to mitigation and energy efficiency, 

people belonging to middle- and higher-income groups, as well as actors from the 

175

and projects that are going to start. Moreover, launching ceremonies may help to make the voice 

of marginalised groups heard and to activate individuals and groups reluctant to participate. 

Those events can bring representatives of different stakeholder groups together—for example, 

local people, their associations, and the municipal government—and foster awareness-raising, 

formal commitment, and the exchange of experiences. 

Community Consultation Workshops (Ilitha, Gauteng) 

Community consultation workshops were organised within the scope of the EnerKey project 

in Ilitha, Gauteng, in order to identify the local community’s priorities regarding the design 

and construction of an energy-efficient community house. Community consultation workshops 

are viable and useful tools when the rough project design is pre-determined by donors 

or researchers. Here, the leeway for the community in decision-making is limited and there is 

little flexibility if the community does not react as expected. 

Community Radio (Hyderabad) 

A community radio is a fabulous tool to exchange information and to mobilise citizens to 

show engagement for their own living environment. The example from Hyderabad has shown 

that the implementation of such a pilot project is strongly dependent on the approval of 

decision-makers. It therefore shows the necessity of thinking through alternative solutions. 

In the end, the success is even more dependent on creating a long-term perspective for a 

self-managed and self-financed organisation or action group. 

CBA—Community-based Adaptation—and Action Planning (HCMC) 

CBA is an approach to enable local communities to develop strategies for climate-change 

adaptation they can implement themselves based on their own resources and capacities, as 

seen in the HCMC model project. While communities are the core actors at local level, the approach 

itself requires attention from external actors who facilitate those local processes. The 

government should provide support through policies and favourable structures or, in the absence 

of political will, at least tolerate CBA activities at community level. Thus, CBA requires 

long-term engagement; a short-term pilot project may only act as a trigger for replication 

projects and for raising awareness among governments and policymakers. 

Training and Skill Enhancement (Casablanca) 

For groups who live or work at the edge of society, trainings and other related measures can 

help to improve job opportunities, job security, and self-confidence. The Casablanca case 

study explained different capacity-building measures, which focused on the thematic fields 

of urban agriculture, healthy food production, and peri-urban tourism. The training helped 

jobless and un-trained farmers, as well as saleswomen, enhance their skills and their organisational 

capacities and improve their own situation through networking activities. 

186 OUTCOMES

PROJECTS 

IN BRIEF 

On the following pages all nine participating cities of the research programme on Future Megacities 

are presented. They were funded between 2008–2013. Details are collected about the context and 

challenges for the projects, their objectives, and approaches. A short overview of the most important 

outcomes and solutions is provided. More information on these solutions can be found in the 

Products and Tools Data Base at www.future-megacities.org. 

• Urumqi 

Casablanca • Tehran-Karaj • 

• Hefei 

Hyderabad • 

Addis Ababa • 

• Ho Chi Minh City 

Lima • 

Gauteng • 

Featured in this volume: 

Adaptation Planning in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) 

Energy and Climate Protection in Gauteng (South Africa) 

New Town Development in Tehran-Karaj Region (Iran) 

Urban Agriculture in Casablanca (Morocco) 

Solid Waste Management in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) 

Governance for Sustainability in Hyderabad (India) 

Featured in other volumes: 

Transportation Management in Hefei (China) 

Water Management in Lima (Peru) 

Resource Efficiency in Urumqi (China)

Authors 

Daniela Bleck worked as scientific associate at the Federal Institute 

for Occupational Safety and Health Germany towards 

developing sustainable solutions to increase occupational 

safety at waste management workplaces in Addis Ababa, 

Ethiopia. Her special interest is to combine environmental 

and occupational safety with increased process efficiency. 

Alva Bonaker has an M.A. degree in South Asian Area 

Studies. She studied in Berlin, Delhi, and London with a 

focus on contemporary social developments and challenges. 

From 2010 to 2013 she concentrated on the South Indian 

metropolis Hyderabad as part of the nexus team within 

the BMBF-funded project “Sustainable Hyderbad” and the 

FES-funded project “Governance and Participation in the 

Telangana Region with Focus on Future Scenarios for Local 

Irrigation Management”. Her focus areas included rural-urban 

linkages in the region, local resource management, and local 

capacity building in the planning process of the community 

radio pilot project. 

Juliane Brandt works as a scientific assistant at the Department 

of Landscape Architecture, Technische Universität 

Berlin. She studied geography in Greifs wald with a focus on 

urbanization and planning. Since August 2012 she has done 

the project management in the research project Urban Agriculture 

as an Integrative Factor of Climate-Optimised Urban 

Development, Casablanca/Morocco (UAC). The project is part 

of the Future Megacities Research Programme funded by the 

German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Within 

the research project she wrote her diploma thesis, “Urban-rural 

linkages in Casablanca”. 

Ahmed Amine Chahed is a scientific assistant at the 

Centre for Scientific Continuing Education and Co-operation 

(ZWEK)/Co-operation and Consulting for Environmental 

Questions (kubus) of the University of Technology, Berlin. He 

studied energy and process technology at the same university. 

Since April 2011, he has worked for the “urban agriculture 

Casablanca” project with a focus on the coordination of the 

pilot project 3 “urban agriculture and informal settlement” 

and decentralized low-cost wastewater treatment systems 

for micro-gardening. 

Natacha Crozet is a scientific assistant at the Department of 

Communication and Extension in the Agricultural Sector of 

the Hohenheim University, Stuttgart. She studied agricultural 

sciences in Lyon with a specialization in organic farming. 

Since November 2009, she has worked for the “urban agriculture 

Casablanca” project with a focus on the coordination of 

the pilot project 3 “urban agriculture and peri-urban tourism”. 

Simultaneously she completed her PhD (defended in December 

2013) entitled “Integrating peri-urban small-scale farmers 

into urban-rural dynamics and regional planning: A case study 

of the Oued el Maleh valley outside of Casablanca”. 

Raban Daniel Fuhrmann works since 1997 as researcher 

and lecturer, consultant and facilitator in developing new 

governance and organizational development techniques and 

applying them to improve social and political innovations. 

He studied economics, politics, sociology and philosophy at 

the Universities of Heidelberg and Konstanz and got his Dr. 

rer pol. at the University of Witten/Herdecke on “Prozedurale 

Politik”. He researched at the Universities of Leipzig, 

Bielefeld and Boston, developing a procedural theory for 

tools of governance, organizational development and public 

participation. At the TU Berlin he also consulted entrepreneurial 

teams. 

Bernd Heins is the Scientific Director of the International 

Institute for Sustainable Energy Management, Policy, Risk 

and Social Innovation (INEP). He developed the Sustainable 

Life House concept and the SLH-Code. As a board member 

of the German Society of the Club of Rome, former director 

for environmental protection at the Industrial Union “IG 

Chemie-Papier-Keramik” and as associate professor at 

University of Oldenburg and University of Clausthal, Bernd 

Heins brings into his work a wealth of professional experience 

and knowledge on local and international sustainable 

development. 

Angela Jain studied environmental and urban planning and 

attained her PhD in 2004 from Humboldt University, Berlin. 

In 2005 she joined the nexus Institute for Co-operation 

Management and Interdisciplinary Research as head of Unit 

Infrastructure and Society. From 2006 to 2013 she managed 

the work package communication and participation strategies 

of the international project Climate and Energy in a Complex 

Transition Process towards Sustainable Hyderabad, funded 

by the German Federal Ministry BMBF. Her areas of expertise 

include the following: sustainable city development in 

emerging countries, citizens’ participation, climate change 

awareness, and local governance. 

Email: jain@nexusinstitut.de 

Michael Knoll has an education as “Industriekauf mann” 

(Industrial Management Assistant) with several years of 

experience in industry. Michael studied political science at the 

Universities at Frankfurt/Main and Berlin. He was a research 

assistant at SOEP (Socio Economic Panel) at the German 

Institute for Economic Research (DIW). Since 1989 he is 

researcher and co-ordinator of the Energy, Climate Protection, 

and Air Pollution Control Unit at IZT – Institute for Futures 

Studies and Technology Assessment, Berlin. Michael has ex- 

206 AUTHORS

tensive experience in the fields of energy and transformation 

processes, as well as technology assessment, futures studies, 

and evaluation. 

Email: m.knoll@izt.de 

Tobias Kuttler holds a degree in geography and european ethnology 

(HU Berlin), and is a master’s student in urban and regional 

planning (TU Berlin). His focus is on social and cultural 

aspects of sustainable urban development and participatory 

approaches to urban planning. He has completed study and 

research visits to Spain, the United States, India, and Korea. 

His master’s thesis elaborates how negotiations about access 

to street space in Indian cities can be conceptualized as social 

practices of urban commoning. The results shall contribute to 

a better understanding of the challenges to governance and 

spatial planning in growing megacities of South Asia. 

Bertine Stelzer (M.A. Sustainability Economics and Management) 

is a research fellow at the Institute for Sustainable 

Energy Management, Policy, Risk and Social Innovation 

(INEP). Since 2011 she has coordinated the implementation 

and adaptation of the African Sustainable Housing Code 

within the EnerKey Project for INEP. Bertine has been working 

in the field of sustainability and renewable energy for the 

last 4 years, focusing in her research on social implications of 

renewable energy implementation on a community scale. 

Johannes Rupp has worked in the EnerKey project on stakeholder 

integration and socio-economic drivers at the Institute 

for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT), Berlin. 

Since February 2013 he works at the Institute for Ecological 

Economy Research (IOEW) in Berlin. Johannes gained first 

working experiences in two environmental consulting companies, 

dealing with sustainable local and regional development 

and municipal energy management. His research focus 

comprises local and regional energy and climate protection 

concepts, including acceptance and participation for sustainable 

energy and climate-friendly solutions, both on a national 

and international level. 

Email: johannes.rupp@ioew.de 

Ulrike Schinkel is a researcher and lecturer affiliated with 

the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg. 

Based on her background in architecture and urban 

planning, she has developed research interests in incremental 

strategy development, bottom-up planning processes, 

as well as people-centred development approaches in 

socialist and post-socialist countries. Within the Future 

Megacities research programme, she was integrated into the 

Megacity Research Project TP Ho Chi Minh and responsible 

for the field of urban regeneration and community-based 

adaptation. 

Sabine Schröder is a Dipl.-Geographer from Hum boldt University 

of Berlin and is working as a scientific associate at the 

nexus Institute for Co-operation Management and Interdisciplinary 

Research in Berlin. She is engaged in different 

national and international research projects focusing on 

participation and participative processes in the fields of urban 

development, mobility, sustainability, and climate change 

including the moderation and facilitation of participative 

processes. 

207

Future Megacities 4: Local Action and Participation

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