As part of the Capacity Development for Local Government (CDLG) project, funded by the European Union’s STRIDE Programme to promote reconciliation, multiple local stakeholders and institutions were strengthened to adopt a bottomup approach to support public engagement and strengthen local government service delivery and infrastructure. The project aims to improve local planning and service delivery by identifying capacity development needs of the local government authorities to develop tools to enhance environmentally friendly, participatory, gender responsive and accountable service provisions.

One key component of the project was to support four selected Local Authorities (LAs) to develop Green City Master Plans which provides a framework for the LA to identify, analyze and prioritize the locality’s environmental challenges and to integrate blue-green development concepts to support a sustainable future for cities and their residents. The Green City Master Plan provides an outline for the LA to ensure city service delivery and operations are people and ecosystem friendly and transform the city into a more livable place. Further, it integrates environmental policies that will improve the wellbeing of residents and ensures the sustainable management of environmental resources, focusing on issues related to energy, greenery, green economy and spatial planning. As part of the Plans, LAs had an opportunity to explore how to reduce unnecessary expenditures on water and energy consumption or waste management for example to generate revenue for the LA that can be further invested to improve public services and provide a good physical environment for residents. The Green City Master Plan provides a general framework from which LAs can select and implement key priority interventions to improve the living conditions for residents, enhance public service delivery and ensure environmentally friendly and attractive cities.