Tunisia : SymbioCity

SYMBIOCITY TUNISIA

Transforming our cities improving lives

SymbioCity in Tunisia

The city projects in Tunisia is a capacity development project in the cities of Mahdia and El Mourouj and is part of the larger Global SymbioCity Approach Programme funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) The project is formalised through a co-operation with The Tunisian Ministry of Local Affairs and Environment (MALE) as well as the Tunisian local government federation (FNVT).

The co-operation has been monitored through the city councils of the respective cities to ensure strong ownership and commitment from the political leadership of the partners. Mahdia and El Mourouj have been supported to conduct urban sustainability reviews through the SymbioCity process including public participative workshops and activities.

Time period: 2018-2020

Key Achievements

Targeted cities have sustainable and inclusive urban plans and/or urban improvements projects, prepared through the SymbioCity process

Targeted cities have improved processes and increased institutional, organisational and individual capacity to address urban sustainability

Urban stakeholders in targeted cities have applied and incorporated inclusive and participatory approaches to urban development including gender perspectives and the needs of the urban poor

National institutions in targeted countries have been influenced and inspired by SymbioCity principles and disseminated learnings to other cities in the country

Mahdia

With guidance from the SymbioCity process, the city of Mahdia has identified improvement of public space as a prioritized area for improved sustainability. Selected pilot area was Avenue Habib Bourguiba, an open public space surrounded by schools with limited possibilities for recreation. Based on participative activities and workshops carried out with local stakeholders, including kids and teenagers from nearby schools, different scales of integrated solutions were identified and developed for the prioritized area. The activities included inclusive approaches to urban development such as gender perspectives and the needs of marginalised groups.

The SymbioCity project in Mahdia has also resulted in improved processes and capacity to address urban sustainability among political representatives and municipality staff and the cities have strengthened capacity to effectively coordinate sectors and local stakeholders. Mahdia has also developed urban development strategies, guidelines and tools that can support and strengthen implementation of structure plans. This has resulted in organizational, managerial and institutional changes within prioritized thematic areas/sectors.

El Mourouj

Based on their work with the SymbioCity process, El Mourouj decided to work with improvement of public space as a prioritized area. The selected pilot area is a neglected green space in the middle of the “quartiers populaires” surrounded by roads. Topics prioritized for the transformation of this space include: traffic security, better access to public transport, overcoming physical boundaries and finding innovative solutions to optimize the use of neglected urban space.

The city project in El Mourouj has also resulted in improved processes and capacity to address urban sustainability among political representatives and municipality staff and the cities have strengthened capacity to effectively coordinate sectors and local stakeholders. El Mourouj has also developed urban development strategies, guidelines and tools that can support and strengthen implementation of structure plans. This has resulted in organizational, managerial and/or institutional changes within prioritized thematic areas/sectors.