Metrocable | WRI Ross Prize For Cities

GUIDE TO THE APPLICATION

Welcome to the WRI Ross Prize for Cities Guide to the Application.

Please take note that the application cannot be saved and continued later. We recommend completing the questions offline, and pasting in responses.

Please be sure to fill out all fields. Note that some questions incorporate word limits on responses. You will have an opportunity to upload/share additional resources in the last section of the application.

We do not require proof of eligibility at this stage. We do assume that the submission of an application constitutes self-certification of eligibility to receive the prize.

BASIC INFORMATION

Project Name – Project name
Project Location – Main city and country where your project took place. If it is a neighborhood project, please mention the area.
Project Start Date – YYYY MM DD
Website (if available)

DESCRIPTION

Why should we consider your project for the prize? How has it been transformative for the city?

“Elevator Pitch” – Provide a succinct and persuasive description of the project to quickly distill and convey what is exciting and important about the project. You will also have a chance to elaborate upon some of the key details of the project in the full application, but this is a chance to make a strong first impression. As you craft your elevator pitch, aim to:

capture your project in a short, simple and clear way
be specific
use language that is engaging, but not filled with jargon
convey the impact and importance of the project, again using succinct, clear, and compelling language.
keep your response at or below 3,500 characters.

IMPACT

Please describe your project's economic, social and/or environmental impacts, including both positive and negative impacts. Please make sure to mention the implications of the project, if any, for equity and on poor and marginalized populations. In providing evidence of impact, we are interested in both quantitative and qualitative indicators that give a sense of the nature and scale of the project’s impact. Please provide specific measures and illustrations. We have not established a minimum threshold of impact for any given project to be considered "transformative," but those that have created deeper, more extensive change will be more competitive than others.

In describing impact, please clarify which impacts are directly attributable to the project and which impacts are more indirectly linked to the project, through replication, the impact of the project on leveraging additional investments, and/or other responses to the direct project outcomes.

For example, your project might have directly resulted in the development of 10,000 new housing units that are accessible to public transportation, including 4,000 units that are designated as affordable housing. This would be the direct impact. A subsequent partnership between the city, community-based organizations, and developers to extend an existing urban greenway to connect to these new housing units would be considered a leverage investment. The impacts of this leverage investment, for example if the greenway extension includes 25 community gardens, ensuring that half of the plots available are prioritized for low-income residents, would be an indirect impact.

Please indicate methods for evaluating impact and attach supporting evidence at the end of the application. It is desirable, but not required, for projects to have a positive impact on all three areas.

Economic impacts: Economic transformation can encompass various forms of change, including growth or contraction of the city or neighborhood economy, shifts in the distribution of resources, assets and opportunities and transitions from historic occupations to job opportunities linked to emerging sectors. Our focus is on finding projects that have contributed to more vibrant, inclusive and robust urban economies.

Social impacts: How has the project contributed to systematic changes – positive and negative – in peoples’ lives and wellbeing, both as individuals and as communities? Positive impacts might mean improvements in physical safety and security, housing security, or food security. They might also mean expanded freedom of expression and civil and human rights. Projects might strengthen social networks or improve social cohesion or expand representation and civic engagement, particularly from typically marginalized communities. A project could also reduce social and economic inequalities and/or create new opportunities for the upward social mobility of poor and/or marginalized groups.

Environmental impacts: We are interested in understanding both the short- and long-term effects of a project on the state and dynamics of the physical environment. We are also interested in impacts on relationship between the city and the air, water, land, bio-diversity, and other resource systems it interacts with. Project impacts may include both mitigation of environmental change as well as adaptation or building resilience to environmental change. We also consider impacts on both remediation of pollution as well as mitigation.

Positive Impacts – We are looking to identify and recognize projects that have contributed to large-scale transformational change.
- Economic – 4,000 character limit.
- Social – 4,000 character limit.
- Environmental – 4,000 character limit.
Negative Impacts – It is common for projects to generate negative impacts, some of which might be unintended or unanticipated. We understand that projects are part of a broader change journey that a city is going through and that change happens in cycles – some representing more positive shifts and others more negative. Please discuss your approach, if any, to mitigate negative impacts. We seek to understand the negative project impacts and mitigation strategies taken in part to understand the durability of the positive changes in the city.
- Economic – 4,000 character limit.
- Social – 4,000 character limit.
- Environmental – 4,000 character limit.
Scaling – In the assessment of economic, social and environmental impacts (above), we seek to understand the scale of impact in terms of number of people benefitting and size of environmental benefits. We are also interested in whether and how the initial project has been replicated elsewhere, and if it has leveraged additional resources (financial, human, technical)—or the scaling-up of the project. We consider replication and leverage to be additional indicators of impacts in the three domains. These are considered evidence of the value that others see in the project.
- Replication – The project has been replicated in other geographies. Please describe where the project was replicated and indicate the process that led to replication. 4,000 character limit.
- Leverage – The project has mobilized other resources (financial, human, technical), expanding the original scope of impact. Please include specific indicators that show the type and magnitude of the additional leverage and briefly describe what led to this expanded resource capture. 4,000 character limit.
Project Beneficiaries – Please indicate the number of people that directly benefitted from this project (direct beneficiaries) as well as the number of people that have indirectly benefited (indirect beneficiaries) with a brief description of these groups served. Explain how the project served these populations (both directly and indirectly). Be explicit in your answer. For example: 4,000 new units of affordable housing were created that were connected to public transportation. Please attach supportive or explanatory documentation on how you arrived at these beneficiary numbers.

SUSTAINABILITY OF IMPACT – The process of transformational change is inherently cyclical with periods of large positive strides marked by setbacks, followed by new gains. We are seeking to identify projects that have built on dynamism and momentum to generate significant shifts that are able to be sustained over time. Many projects generate a large splash, but fail to deliver impact that endures over time.

The WRI Ross Prize for Cities is primarily awarded based on demonstrated impact and the sustainability of transformation. Across WRI’s portfolio of work in cities, we have found there to be a higher chance that impacts will be sustained over time when the following factors have been part of the project design and implementation: 1) the existence of collaboration and demonstration of support from diverse stakeholders; and 2) information about the project has been clearly and transparently shared and discussed with the wider public.

Please explain, as specifically as possible, why the project impact is sustainable and will be sustained and/or amplified over time.

Collaboration and Transparency – Project has provided opportunities for all types of stakeholders to engage and provide input. Mechanisms that further enable access to information and engagement with the project have been included. Measures to use a collective decision -making approach have been used. Please describe these opportunities, mechanisms and measures, and include discussion of the different stakeholders involved and information shared. 4,000 character limit.
Timeline – Please tell us about key events over the lifetime of the project, such as the start of implementation, scaling milestones, important shifts in the direction of the project, additional partnerships initiated, etc. Please provide dates (YYYY/MM) followed by actions taken. For example: 2012/06 - First stakeholder engagement meeting, vision and project goals discussed

Primary Contact Information

Contact Name – Name of primary contact
Contact Email – Email of primary contact
Contact Phone Number – Enter contact number starting with country code
Position – Relationship to the Project
Organization – Associated organization of primary contact

Project Team – Include all organizations and the key individuals within the organization who have been responsible for conceptualizing, initiating and implementing the project. If multiple individuals within an organization have been involved, separate their names with commas. If an individual has acted in their own personal capacity to contribute to the project – that is, without substantial support from any organization and not as a part of that person’s job responsibilities – note the organization as “N/A” and provide that person’s name. The names entered are considered as the project team and thus the recipients of the WRI Ross Prize in the event that the project wins. Please note that while the prize honor can be awarded to individuals, direct financial disbursements can only be made to organizations (See Terms and Conditions).

Please be sure that your responses are comprehensive. The application team is responsible for including all significant contributors to the project, and a finding of omission of substantial contributors during semi-finalist and finalist review may result in disqualification of the application.

Organization, Key Individual(s)
Organization, Key Individual(s)
More Organizations – Please use this field to identify additional organizations and key individuals. Separate by semi-colons.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please upload, provide links to, or expand upon any relevant supporting information.

Space for five uploads, up to 8 MB each. Allowed file types: gif jpg jpeg png txt pdf doc docx ppt pptx xls xlsx
Space to share three external URLs
Additional Information – 4000 character limit. How did you hear about the WRI Ross Prize for Cities?

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

By selecting "Yes," I certify: 1. That I have the authority to make this application; 2. That I have read and agree to the WRI Ross Prize for Cities Terms and Conditions; and 3. That the information I have submitted and will submit is true and correct in all respects.

Terms and Conditions

The following are the Terms and Conditions issued by the World Resources Institute, 10 G Street NE, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20002, USA, ("WRI") for the WRI ROSS PRIZE FOR CITIES (the "Prize"). By submitting an application to be considered for the Prize, an applicant agrees to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Definitions

Project:
Throughout the course of this document, WRI uses the term “project” to refer to a specific activity or programmatically linked set of activities in the city that have contributed to transformative change. Programmatic linkages may be by design, for example being part of a common, documented strategy; by virtue of common financial support, common oversight, or shared implementation teams; or by documented commitment to shared goals. A project could refer to a number of types of activities, which fit into a range of categories, including social, technological, and/or institutional innovation, training or awareness raising activities, policy or regulatory reform, and infrastructure creation or modification.

Applicant:
The applicant may be a single organization or a group of organizations or a group of organizations and individuals with at least one organization among the group. See Part 2. (Application) and 4. (Eligibility) for further details. A member of the Applicant is each individual or organization that is included among the named contributors to the Project.

Transformative Project:
Transformation is defined as “a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance.” A transformative project should change the neighborhood and ideally the city in which it is implemented. Evidence of transformative projects include, though are not limited to:

Institutional legacy, for example, lasting platforms for bringing together diverse stakeholders in a cohesive way and establishing a foundation on which to collaborate, make decisions and move forward.
Spillover effects, or tangible impact beyond the initial project site or focus area, affecting other parts of the city or even other cities.
Replication and leverage: By demonstrating a new possibility or overcoming a long-standing bottleneck, inspires similar projects and/or prompts new support from different stakeholders.

1. The Prize: There will be one Prize of $250,000 for a project that has contributed substantially to transformative change toward a more sustainable city. Four other projects which are designated finalists will be publicly promoted by WRI as transformative, innovative steps toward more sustainable cities. The decisions by the jurors are final and not subject to review.

Three dimensions of transformation will be considered by the jurors, each of which can manifest and be measured in various ways:

Economic, for which indicators of change include but are not limited to increased vitality of surrounding neighborhoods, a change in city revenues, new or different jobs – e.g. a move from “sunset” sectors to “new economy” opportunities, accelerated investment rates, new or different businesses, or more inclusive labor markets.
Environmental, for which indicators of change include but are not limited to Increased resilience (to flooding, extreme weather, heat islands, for example), lower emissions and greater resource efficiency, cleaner air and water, increased biodiversity and more green space, climate change mitigation and quality of life.
Social, for which indicators of change include but are not limited to improved quality of life, health, and education outcomes, new and active networks and coalitions for urban improvement, more social cohesion, safer communities, improved representation and civic engagement.

2. (a) Application. It is the responsibility of the Applicant to provide a fully completed application, including a confirmation of its understanding of and agreement to be bound by the provisions of these terms and conditions, as well a representation that

(i) all information submitted at any time, orally or in writing in support of the application (the "Submissions") is original, true and correct,
(ii) all significant contributors to the project have been included in the application, and

(iii) Applicant includes all parties substantially responsible for initiating and implementing the project. If more than one application is received with respect to a project, those applying will be requested to combine their applications. Each application shall designate the lead organization/entity Each application shall designate the lead organization/entity whom WRI will interact with and which will receive and disburse the monetary award (the "lead organization").

(b) Review. The Applicant is expected to work collaboratively with the WRI team to supply REQUESTED additional information required for vetting semi-finalist and finalist applications, including but not limited to documentary verification of eligibility, impacts, and collaborating in creating a video and other materials for Jury review. WRI and/or its designated media partner will be working with each finalist team to produce materials for the Jury in order to ensure a level playing field among finalists in access to communications and presentation resources.

(d) Deadlines. All applications and the initial Submissions in support of such applications must be received by WRI on or before 11:59 PM, EDT, July 31, 2018, to be considered received and eligible for the Prize.

Please note we have extended our submission deadline from June 30 to July 31, 2018. You will receive a confirmation email within two business days of your submission if your application was received successfully. If you do not receive this email, please contact ross.prize@wri.org with the name of your project and the email of the project contact.

3. Prizes Awarded.

(a) WRI will select five (5) finalists, from which the jurors will choose the winning Applicant. The winning project will be announced on April 10, 2019.

(b) WRI shall publicize the five (5) finalist projects and applicants through the media, including the Internet.

i. The winning Applicant must not include any individuals or organizations that are noted on the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List as on April 10, 2019. It must also not be an excluded entity as identified on the U.S. Government System for Award Management (SAM.gov) list as on April 10, 2019.
ii. As a condition of eligibility to be a finalist, the Applicant must provide written instructions for the distribution of the $250,000, signed and notarized by an authorized representative of each organization or individual included in the Applicant. The Applicant must certify that all named contributors to the project shall have agreed upon, and that there are no significant contributors to the project that are not included in the Applicant or prize consortium. This step must take place before the finalist can be confirmed and publicly announced. If the Applicant is unable to produce this plan they shall be ineligible to be a finalist.

(d) Two representatives of each finalist project, designated by the Applicant, will be invited to attend the presentation gala at the expense of WRI.

(e) WRI will work within all legal restrictions on foreign currency and gifts in the United States and in the Applicant’s home country. No commitment made over the course of the Prize shall supersede any legal restrictions in the United States, in the home country or countries of the entities and individuals included in the Applicant, or in relevant international laws.

(f) The individuals and organizations included in the Applicant are solely responsible for any taxes or levies due on the Prize amount in their home country.

(g) In the case that no member of the winner is permitted to receive all or a portion of the $250,000 prize from a U.S. entity, WRI will seek reasonable and legal alternative means of paying the Prize amount or benefits of equivalent value to the winning Applicant. If WRI, in its sole discretion, determines there is no reasonable means of paying the Prize, the Applicant may designate an eligible organization that has contributed substantially to transformative change as a substitute recipient.

(h) WRI and the Prize Jury shall have sole and absolute discretion to determine the methodology used by WRI and the jurors to render their decisions, declare the winner of the competition and award the Prize. Decisions of WRI and the jurors are final.

4. Eligibility.

(a) All types of organizations/entities from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors are eligible to apply for the Prize. Organizations in charge of leading all types of projects and initiatives - including built projects, changes in legislation, policies, programs or initiatives (other than organizations or projects subject to sanctions) are invited to apply, if the projects have led to demonstrable transformative change in a city.

(b) All organizations and entities included in the Applicant must be in in good legal and regulatory standing in the jurisdiction in which the project is located and must not be named on the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List as on April 10, 2019. Organizations and entities must also not be an excluded entity as identified on the U.S. Government System for Award Management (SAM.gov) list as on April 10, 2019.

(c) Applications may be for projects anywhere in the world commenced after January 1, 1998, which meet the criteria set forth in section 1 above.

5. Conflict of Interest: Every applicant shall notify WRI at the time of the application or thereafter when it becomes known to applicant of every relationship or connection it or any member of the Applicant has with WRI, any individual employed on a full-time basis by WRI after January 1, 2018 ("WRI affiliate"). If any member of the Applicant has any relationship or connection with a WRI affiliate, the WRI affiliate cannot share in the Prize. All jurors must notify WRI of any relationship or connection to any of the 5 finalists projects or Applicants within a month of the selection of finalists. The juror must then recuse him or herself from judging among the finalists. WRI shall, at its sole discretion, identify an alternate juror.

6. Indemnification. By submission of an application, Applicants automatically agree to fully indemnify, defend, and hold WRI and its affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees, shareholders, partners, and agents, and the advisors and jurors (collectively the "WRI parties") harmless from and against any and all claims, losses, costs, and expenses (including attorneys' fees) incurred by any WRI party in connection with any Submissions, any dispute as to the authority of the applicant to submit the application, and any dispute as to the entitlement of an organization/entity to all or any part of the $250,000 Prize award.

7. License. By submitting an application and Submissions, applicant grants an irrevocable, royalty-free, nonexclusive license to WRI to use, disclose or make available to others any and all Submissions (other than material marked "Confidential"). Such disclosure to be in connection with (a) determination of the winner and four finalists; (b) promotion of the Prize; (c) promotion of transformative change toward more sustainable cities; and (d) research projects, including published papers/reports and non-commercial collaborations with other organizations. Applicant represents that it has the right to grant this license.

8. Acts. If, subsequent to the grant of the Prize, the lead organization, participant in the winning project or the winning project is accused of corruption or other criminal acts, or is brought into public disrepute, WRI shall have the right to withdraw the Prize from such project forthwith by notice to the lead organization and thereafter the lead organization and other members of the project team may no longer claim to have won the Prize. However, the $250,000 need not be returned.

9. General. WRI reserves the right to revise these terms and conditions as it, in its sole discretion, deems necessary or desirable.

10. Other. These terms and conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia, USA. By accepting these terms and conditions, applicants agree that any action or proceeding between WRI and applicant for any purpose concerning the Prize or these terms and conditions, or the parties' obligations hereunder shall be brought exclusively in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction sitting in the District of Columbia, USA, and applicants consent to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of these courts. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these terms and conditions, will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision thereof.

Reinvigorating a river and a city

2018-19

THE BIG IDEA: Interweaving green spaces and efficient transport networks creates a more livable and resilient urban area.

LIFE-CHANGING IMPACT: Improved daily life for residents by providing greater access to green space and sustainable transportation while significantly boosting the economy.

RIPPLE EFFECT: Catalyzed further investments and initiatives, including the city’s first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan.

Redefining the city in the eyes of residents and visitors, the extensive Eskisehir Urban Development Project created a network of natural infrastructure that has restored a highly polluted river and enhanced public green spaces on a grand scale while integrating seamlessly with a new electric tram network.

Two decades ago, the Porsuk River served as a glorified dumping site for Eskisehir, a university city in the hills south of Istanbul. Industrial and residential waste had accumulated for years and the river was classified as one of the region’s most polluted bodies of water. Rapid population growth also caused a rise in cars and congestion in the urban center.

The project led to a major revision of the city’s Transportation Master Plan in 2004 that added a new electric tram service. Further updates and extensions of the tram system were finished in 2014, connecting key services to prime green spaces, including the newly developed Sazova Science, Art, and Culture Park and Kentpark. The city’s Transportation Master Plan was expanded upon with a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan in 2015.

The Eskisehir Urban Development Project is among a pioneering class of ecological restorations in urban areas and a model for Turkish and global cities alike. Combined with revisions to Eskisehir’s Transportation Master Plan, it is a declaration of the city’s dedication to sustainable urban development.

The city took an innovative approach to create a more sustainable and livable place, moving past outdated conceptions of how nature must be kept separate from urban space. Here, nature is an asset and has helped achieve positive economic, social and environmental impacts.

In their own words: “The Eskisehir Urban Development Project made the city more livable, clean and modern while maintaining a sense of tradition and ancient values. Eskisehir has become an attraction not only in Anatolia, but in all of Turkey, with domestic and international tourists coming to see the new modern city.”

By the numbers: The restoration and establishment of parks along the Porsuk Rover, as well as the pedestrianization of its riverbanks, has led to a 215 percent increase in green space per city resident. Thirty-nine kilometers of electric tram lines move more than 130,000 people per day. The city saw a fivefold increase in tourism from 2011 to 2015. The project has also structurally impacted city policy as reflected in new building energy efficiency codes and a new Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, which affect how all residents and visitors experience the city.

Photo Credits: Used with permission courtesy of the Eskisehir Metropolitan Municipality.

Shifting the boundaries of urban opportunity

2018-19

THE BIG IDEA: Connect geographically isolated, marginalized communities with the city center via innovative aerial transit that redefines residents’ conception of the city’s borders.

LIFE-CHANGING IMPACT: Reduced crime rates, cut daily travel by two-thirds, dropped the costs of commuting and attracted new businesses and investments.

RIPPLE EFFECT: Provided a powerful symbol of inclusion and integration of marginalized populations into a modern city and served as a model for other Latin American cities.

As Medellín has grown out along the sides of the Aburra Valley, its poorer neighborhoods have become more disconnected, separated not only topographically but socially and economically. To knit the city closer together, Medellín created the world’s first aerial cable car lines fully integrated into a public transport system, establishing a powerful physical and symbolic link between hillside neighborhoods and the city center.

Medellín’s hillside “comunas” are among the poorest of the city’s many dense neighborhoods. The higher up the valley, the more informal the buildings become. Communities have been built with little planning and even less integration with basic city services, like water, sanitation, education and transport. Here, among the stacked-up homes and shacks, exclusion is an effect of geography.

While two metro lines have serviced the city center since the 1990s, residents of the hillside comunas were left to walk or wait for the bus to make the trip downtown. Residents often experienced commute times of more than 90 minutes and had to pay multiple entrance fees across different modes of transport.

In 2004, the city’s transit operator, Metro de Medellín, came up with an innovative solution: the world’s first aerial cable-cable car system to be fully integrated into public transport. Connecting to metro, bus, and bike stations, the first line of Metrocable, Line K, soared above congested and dangerous streets, immediately cutting commute times by as much as 60 minutes and eliminating double charging by feeding directly into the existing transit system.

The municipal government saw the positive impacts of the first Metrocable line and began developing a second line, supporting three-quarters of the financial burden. The city also developed a third line to the popular tourist destination, Arvi Park, to generate revenue for the municipality. Two more lines are under construction today.

Beyond bridging the physical separation of the poorest comunas, Metrocable has helped combat social isolation and stigmatization. Through the city’s formal metro system, hillside residents have access to more opportunity, and each Metrocable station has become a magnet for investment and commerce.

Land values around Line K increased some 50 percent and more than three dozen new businesses were created in just the first three months of operation. Homicide rates have been declining across the city, but areas in the Line K corridor saw even greater declines, as well measurable increases in trust in the justice system and social cohesion. Hiring local workers and consulting with community members brought prosperity and built civic pride.

Metrocable is indicative of a larger shift in the mindset of the city government. Following the path paved by Metrocable, successive mayors have launched additional public investment into hillside slums, including adding libraries, parks and schools.

Metrocable has redefined residents’ conception of Medellín’s borders, of who counts and who does not, integrating the city in more ways than one.

In Metro de Medellín’s own words: “Change reached the heights of Medellín, giving back a lost citizenship to these people; their rights were recognized but they were also committed to their obligations.”

By the numbers: Line K is estimated to benefit 150,000 people directly, with 350,000 indirect beneficiaries. Real estate values along the corridor increased 50 percent in some areas. Homicide rates fell from 188 per 100,000 residents in 2003 to 30 per 100,000 residents in 2008. Line J is estimated to have directly benefited 120,000 people. By replacing diesel-fueled buses, Metrocable is estimated to avoid the use of more than 1.7 million gallons of diesel fuel each year. Aerial cable cars have since been integrated into urban transport systems in other cities, including Bogotá, Santo Domingo and Rio de Janeiro.

Photo Credits: Kyle LaFerriere/WRI.

School Area Road Safety Assessments and Improvements

2018-19

THE BIG IDEA: Roadside infrastructure interventions create safer trips to school for children in high-risk areas of African megacities.

LIFE-CHANGING IMPACT: Low-cost and simple changes measurably reduce road traffic injury and death rates for students.

RIPPLE EFFECT: Demonstrated to governments in more than a dozen countries that lifesaving infrastructure improvements around high-risk schools are effective, popular and affordable.

Amend’s School Area Road Safety Assessments and Improvements (SARSAI) program is driving a shift to child-centric urban design to protect one of the most at-risk groups of pedestrians in the world: children going to and from school in Africa. Starting small, but growing quickly thanks to a simple and effective approach, this street redesign and behavior change project has had an outsized impact that will affect generations to come.

A child in sub-Saharan Africa is twice as likely to die in a road crash as a child in any other region of the world. With just 2 percent of the vehicles, the region accounts for 16 percent of the world’s road deaths, or more than 200,000 people a year. That number will increase as the region urbanizes at a furious pace. The nonprofit Amend has stepped up to the challenge of reversing this rising tide.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the vast majority of children walk to school, often over long distances and on roads with little provision for pedestrians. By focusing on the children’s routes to school, SARSAI has reduced injury rates by as much as 26 percent.

Starting with a two-school pilot project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Amend has developed a simple, data-driven approach that they have replicated in more than 50 school areas in nine countries across sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and other nonprofits that Amend has trained on SARSAI are currently implementing the program at another 10 school areas in two additional countries.

SARSAI interventions follow a basic methodology: partner with local government, identify the schools with the highest rates of injury and death, implement safety infrastructure around those schools, and work with the students themselves to teach safer behavior, like how to cross the street.

The approach is simple – separate children from traffic and lower vehicle speeds – but SARSAI stands alone in the scale of its impact on children’s road safety in the region.

Perhaps most impressive is the quick timeframe and low cost of each implementation. Within a few months of arriving in a city, Amend is typically able to install basic infrastructure such as zebra stripes, signs, bollards, sidewalks, speed humps and moving school gates. The upfront cost for a school area assessment plus the implementation of new infrastructure is $20,000 on average.

To date, SARSAI has had the greatest impact in Dar es Salaam, where it has worked in 30 high-risk school areas. Prior to SARSAI, an average of a dozen students per school were injured or killed each year in a road accident; now rates have dropped to fewer than eight students per school and injuries that do occur are less severe because of lower speeds.

SARSAI’s impact goes beyond the numbers, helping children understand that their safety, mobility and freedom in the city matters via a tailored road safety education program that is delivered at every school.

Beyond their immediate efforts to save lives, Amend also has longer-term policy goals. In partnership with governments and other nonprofits, they have worked to raise the profile of road safety in cities across sub-Saharan Africa. These efforts have helped establish a Pedestrian Action Plan in Accra, Ghana; influenced World Bank lending agreements; led to an official partnership with the city of Lusaka, Zambia; and led to a legal reduction in speed limits around all schools in Windhoek, Namibia. Further, in partnership with UNICEF and the FIA Foundation, Amend has given workshops on SARSAI in Jamaica and Morocco.

In Amend’s own words: “SARSAI is using proven solutions to save the lives of children, today, at schools with the highest rates of road traffic incidents, in the most at-risk cities, in the most at-risk countries in the world, while advocating for the long-term, sustainable implementation of such measures in partnership with governments.”

By the numbers: The SARSAI program has proven highly replicable, growing from an initial grant of $100,000 in one city to directly benefiting 70,000 primary school students in more than 50 high-risk school areas across nine countries since 2014. A study conducted with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found SARSAI results in a 26 percent reduction in injuries among children, on average, and a reduction in the severity of injuries that do occur. Speeds in school areas were reduced by up to 60 percent. SARSAI has also demonstrated wider policy impact through work with city and national governments, development banks and other non-profits.

Photo Credits: Edward Echwalu and Sala Lewis with permission courtesy of Amend.

Integrating informal workers for cleaner streets

2018-19

THE BIG IDEA: Efficiently bridge a municipal service delivery gap by formalizing some of Pune’s most vulnerable workers.

LIFE-CHANGING IMPACT: Door-to-door waste collection extended to two-thirds of the city, including informal settlements that previously had none.

RIPPLE EFFECT: A model for organizing waste collection and formalizing informal workers in fast-growing cities that has inspired replication and national legislation.

Against the backdrop of overflowing landfills, India's first worker-owned waste-pickers cooperative provides doorstep collection of segregated waste and waste processing services that is both expanding coverage and improving the lives of workers. By organizing workers and negotiating with the city, SWaCH is helping to improve service for little cost while increasing reuse and recycling.

Waste pickers are among the most marginalized of all urban residents, culling through landfills and trash heaps for recyclables and re-usable items. Most operate under informal status, a condition common to more than 80 percent of India’s workforce that makes their livelihoods precarious, their earnings erratic, and their visibility among decision-makers nearly non-existent.

In Pune, however, a cooperative of more than 3,000 waste pickers is helping to change this paradigm. By providing waste collection services through a formal contract with the city and providing benefits to members and better service to residents, SWaCH Pune Seva Sahakari Sanstha has helped Pune’s waste pickers go from outcasts to valuable service providers.

SWaCH is owned and operated by its members, most of whom are women and Dalits, formerly known as “untouchables.” A representative council makes decisions about collective bargaining, ensures members have access to basic safety equipment, provides benefits and workspaces, acquires licenses, and negotiates with the Pune Municipal Corporation. User fees are collected directly by members, providing transparency on pricing and allowing for better worker conditions.

SWaCH members report more disposable income and more time for family, education and leisure. At the same time, SWaCH’s decentralized service delivery model encourages better sorting, more comprehensive collection and greater service coverage. Members not only collect waste from relatively wealthy households but have extended services to an estimated 450,000 slumdwellers – residents whom more traditional service provision schemes often ignore.

SWaCH is a leading example of how to integrate informal workers into a modern hybrid economy and how to expand core services in ways that can keep up with rapid growth – two challenges that are key to the future of cities.

In their own words, “The SWaCH story is one of transforming lives and of transforming the conscience and consciousness of a city – a transformation that has been led by an organization of the most marginalized and excluded for the greater public good.”

By the numbers: More than 3,100 members provide door-to-door waste collection services to more than 2.3 million residents in the greater Pune urban area, including more than 450,000 slum residents. Members collect more than Rs. 483.6 million (more than $6.8 million) in user fees each year and recycle more than 50 million kilograms of waste, cutting greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 32,000 passenger vehicles off the road. SWaCH’s success led to the city of Bangalore adopting a similar approach to municipal waste collection and inspired the passage of national legislation that provides broad direction for the identification and integration of informal waste pickers into cities.

Photo Credits: Kyle LaFerriere/WRI.

Co-creating a more inclusive city

2018-19

THE BIG IDEA: Change the symbolic and physical blueprint of Durban through the co-creation of public space by formal and informal institutions.

LIFE-CHANGING IMPACT: Improved the livelihoods and capacities of informal vendors and increased access to affordable goods while creating a city that is more culturally responsive to its residents.

RIPPLE EFFECT: Influenced other cities where informal markets and public spaces are a backbone of local commerce to find an inclusive path to a modern hybrid economy.

Facing pressures to privatize, commercialize and securitize urban public space, Asiye eTafuleni helped informal vendors become active participants in the design of one of Durban’s most vibrant market areas. Together with the city, they forged a new path that preserved and incorporated the area, creating a more inclusive city.

Every day nearly half a million people flow through Warwick Junction, an extensive area bounded by three major roadways and a train station in South Africa’s third most populous city. In the midst of this transport hub is also the largest series of outdoor markets in the city. Vendors sell food and goods at nine historic marketplaces nestled under elevated expressways and alongside train tracks. Between 6,000 and 8,000 of these vendors are informal workers.

Informal workers are the backbone of many cities. By some accounts they represent 50 to 80 percent of urban employment globally, and yet they are largely excluded from public space and public policy – essentially invisible. Over 10 years, Asiye eTafuleni (AeT) has helped change this in Durban by empowering informal workers to take part in municipal decision-making processes. Formerly the backdoor to the city under apartheid, as the black entrance to an all-white city, Warwick Junction is becoming the new gateway to a more inclusive city.

AeT’s engagement began by supporting a campaign to prevent a fresh produce market from being torn down and turned into a shopping mall in 2007 and has spread across other spaces in the market area since.

Through collaborative design, training and advocacy, AeT works to shape the market and its people. The Kanyenathi Project equips informal workers with the skills to lead design conversations themselves. A partnership with South Africa’s Legal Resources Center provides in-house legal expertise and has improved legal literacy among informal workers, giving them the skills and knowledge to successfully engage in negotiations with the municipality.

When the city proposed a new design for the Bovine Head Market, cooks asked AeT to help advocate for a different plan that better reflects their needs. The redesign was accepted and a new facility with much safer and cleaner drainage and greatly improved sanitation and environmental standards is under construction.

Recycling schemes have become a means by which informal workers can earn a living and clean up the city. By providing training and trolleys, streamlining the selling process and negotiating higher seller prices, AeT has streamlined informal recycling processes and helped Durban achieve the highest cardboard salvage rate in South Africa.

Meanwhile, by partnering with various international agencies, philanthropies and visiting university researchers, AeT simultaneously brings global expertise to bear on local challenges and spreads lessons learned outward.

In helping Durban empower some of its most vulnerable residents, the Warwick Junction project is showing cities across the world a better way to give informal workers access to public space by supporting their negotiations with local government.

In AeT’s own words: "Our design and advocacy efforts have contributed to the workers’ capacity, interest and confidence to engage with formal institutions, thus contributing to a more equitable (though not yet equal) power dynamic between the municipality and informal workers."

By the numbers: Eight projects proposed by informal workers have been approved by the city of Durban to date. Efforts have directly affected 6,000-9,000 daily traders plus their families, people who sell to them, employees and customers, reaching perhaps as many as 120,000 additional people. The market receives approximately 450,000 daily visitors from a combination of commuters, tourists and shoppers. An estimated 30 tons of cardboard are recycled and sold every day in the inner city. The effort has led to a series of knowledge exchanges and consultations between Durban and other market projects in African cities, including in Isiphingo, Bester, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

Photo Credits: Kyle LaFerriere/WRI.

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