Outline of the Project

Title

The Project on Capacity Development in Urban Development Sector in Mongolia

Country

Mongolia

Date of Agreement

January 19, 2010

Project Site

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Technical Cooperation Period

From June 1, 2010 until March 31, 2013

Counterpart Agency

Ministry of Road, Transport, Construction and Urban Development, Ulaanbaatar City

Background

Ulaanbaatar City has a continually increasing population. In 1998, it has around six hundred fifty thousand (650,000); it grew to over one million by 2007— an average annual growth rate of 3.0%.

Generally, rapid population growth leads to urban problems, and Ulaanbaatar City is no exception; housing supply has lagged behind. About 60% of the city's population lives in "ger" areas, the residential areas that do not have basic infrastructure and services. The city's ger areas have continuously expanded as large number of the nation's nomadic population have steadily moved into the city. As a result, urban sprawl has become a concern in Ulaanbaatar. The situation is even worsened by air, soil, and water pollution, which is basically caused by coal, the fuel commonly used for heating. Complicating the problem is the lack of a sufficient sewerage system.

Under such circumstances, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted "The Study on City Master Plan and Urban Development Program of Ulaanbaatar City (UBMPS)" from 2007 to 2009. UBMPS laid down the socio-economic framework and urban development vision for the city. It projected that the share of Ulaanbaatar's population in Mongolia's total population would increase by 55.5% by 2030, a substantial jump of 37.7% from its 2007 figure, indicating a higher concentration of people in the city. Anticipating the various issues and problems that may be brought about by rapid population growth, UBMPS proposed an urban development system which includes development projects and zoning to realize an ideal urban environment for Ulaanbaatar City.

UBMPS likewise pinpointed and analyzed issues in urban planning laws and other legal tools related to the pursuit of sustainable urban development, as well as emphasized that solutions to Ulaanbaatar's urban problems and issues require the urgent implementation of urban development projects. Some of the major issues in the legal system UBMPS identified are the following:

• lack of consistency among the laws on land, urban development, housing, and construction, as well as the insufficient stipulations in each law that render them inappropriate or insufficient for implementation;
• detailed implementing rules and regulations, as well as technical manuals on urban development, are lacking and should thus be developed to apply the above laws.

Realizing the importance of the above issues, the government of Mongolia requested Japan to help it develop a legal system on urban development. Based on this request, JICA agreed to provide a technical assistance grant to Mongolia in the form of this project entitled "The Project on Capacity Development in Urban Development Sector in Mongolia" (MUGCUP), which started in June 2010.

Overall Goal

Implementation of urban development projects in Ulaanbaatar city promotes to realize land use and the improvement of living environment according to the Ulaanbaatar urban master plan.

Project Purpose

Implementation capacity of development projects of planned areas to realize urban redevelopment according to the Ulaanbaatar urban master plan is enhanced.

Output

1. Draft outline of legal and administrative system for urban development will be formulated.
2. New and revised laws, enforcement regulations (implementation guidelines), and technical manuals for urban development will be drafted.
3. Role and responsibility of each agency which deals with urban development according to the above draft laws, regulations and technical manuals will be clearly defined and the institutional capacity will be improved.
4. Operational capacity of urban development system of staff in charge will be enhanced.

Activity

Inputs

Japanese Side:

• Experts: Long-term expert (Chief Advisor/Project Manager), short-term experts (Urban Planning, Urban Redevelopment, Land Readjustment, Real Estate Appraisal, Development Finance, Training Planning and Management)
• Counterpart Training in Japan
• Operating cost (training cost, seminar hosting cost)

Mongolian Side:

Office space, counterpart personnel