Managing Cities In Asia- Ulaanbaatar Urban Renewal And Affordable Housing

The city of Ulaanbaatar supported by ADB and together with development partners is planning a number of policy, technical and research initiatives to design and deliver on the objectives of the Ulaanbaatar Master Plan and developmental programmes under the CDIA. UN-Habitat will be ready to engage with technical and policy support towards the delivery of the four overall objectives specified above; and most immediately engage on the urgent need on affordable housing provision.

The Affordable Housing Challenge There are two main types of housing in Ulaanbaatar, (i) fully serviced apartment buildings and (ii) under serviced gers and individually built detached single-family houses in ger areas (currently amounting to a total of approximately 200,000 households or 680,000 people). The affordable housing shortage is getting worse as the cost of housing has been rising faster than average incomes and is exacerbated by the lack of affordable financing solutions and available land for development. Most newly constructed apartments are purchased by high and upper middle income households using either their own funds, funds from family members living abroad, and/or high interest mortgage loans (the low interest rate mortgage subsidized by the GoM is still at 8% APR).

There are four distinct kinds of affordable housing demand in Ulaanbaatar: firstly, the demand from ger area residents who are keen to upgrade their living conditions, obtain access to heating, running hot water, regular electricity, and indoor plumbing (this also includes very low-income households living in risk-prone or unsanitary areas). Second, the demand from young adults within urban households who wish to move away from crowded multigenerational living conditions in order to buy or rent affordable housing. Third, the demand from new migrants (around 35,000 persons per year) from the countryside with very low incomes who now settle in areas exposed to disaster risk or in the far periphery of UB; and fourth, the elderly and other vulnerable  population which require specific equipment.

Objective 1): support the MUB to translate and consolidate the existing affordable housing strategy and urban redevelopment plan into concrete and implementable investments and institutional reforms with strong community engagement and clear financing mechanisms,

Activity 1A: Affordable Housing Pre-Feasibility Study– Community Participation and Social Development.

Tasks under Activity A:

1. Collaborate with the districts/khoroos  in establishing contacts with key persons in the communities who can spearhead the mobilization and organization of the communities;
2. Conduct project orientation to selected pilot area residents and initiate community mobilization and organization;
3. Carry on survey process of profiling the affected communities to establish baselines, assess needs, affordability  and willingness to participate;
4. Conduct training on community organization, needs assessment, and community action planning;
5. Facilitate of a consultative process with all key stakeholders to develop and build consensus concerning housing/affordable strategy and land redevelopment for each population group of targeted areas;
6. Develop an initial social action plan and gender action plan that will be featured in the physical, institutional and financial components of the proposed Project;
7. Serve as moderator between the activity team and the community groups for the latter's sustained involvement in the local planning, planning of sub-centers, land use planning, access to finance and affordability of household plot investments and tariff planning, and defining investment projects; and
8. Conduct regular coordination meeting to resolve issues arising in the communities. 

Activity 1B: Affordable Housing Feasibility Study – Social Development and Community Mobilization

Tasks under Activity B:

1. Design comprehensive community participation and mobilization plan to identify the socio-economic, socio-demographic, and socio-cultural characteristics of potential beneficiaries, as well as their preferences  for land acquisition and resettlement, affordability, and willingness to participate in the project;

2. Develop a methodology and implement an identification process for identifying cluster of households willing to participate in the redevelopment process;

3. Conduct project orientation to selected pilot area residents and initiate community mobilization and organization; conduct regular coordination meeting to resolve issues arising in the communities.

4. Lead the community participation, consultation, and engagement process with all key stakeholders  to develop and build consensus concerning housing/affordable strategy and land re-development for each population group of targeted areas;

5. Conduct a poverty and social analysis (PSA), as well as community consultations in accordance with ADB requirements;

6. Identify the main population groups that may be affected  by the project (positively/ negatively, directly/indirectly); conduct follow up interviews/consultations and other participatory activities (mapping, focus group discussions, etc) with relevant subgroups that may be affected differently (women, ethnic minorities, migrants, and other vulnerable groups) on projects impacts and benefits, participation mechanisms, and procedures, etc. 

7.  Carry out survey process of profiling the affected communities to establish baselines, assess needs, affordability and willingness to participate in the project;

8.  Develop eligibility criteria for household to access affordable and social housing;

10. Formulate and implement a framework and methodology to identify cluster of households in ger areas willing to participate to the project;

9. Collaborate with the districts/khoroos in establishing contacts with key persons in the communities who can spearhead the mobilization and organization of the communities;

10. Work with each identified cluster of households to incorporate community needs, aspirations, ideas, and suggestions in the final URU designs to be implemented in their area;

11. Work on each URUs types and each targeted cluster of households on socioeconomic baseline, target and performance;

12. Formulate most suitable financial and institutional arrangements and mechanism to establish sustainable housing finance mechanisms, such as micro-mortgages, rent-to-own schemes, contract savings schemes, subsidies, and grants, and support access to affordable and social housing;

13. Conduct training on community organization, needs assessment, and community action planning;

14. Serve as moderator between the activity team and the community groups for the latter's sustained involvement in the local planning, planning of subcenters, land use planning, access to finance and affordability of household plot investments and tariff planning, and defining investment projects; and

15. Prepare, through participatory approach, a comprehensive community participation plan (CPP) and project communications strategy (PCS) for community and stakeholders involvement and public awareness on urban planning, affordable housing, environmental protection, and public health based on the 2012 Guidelines on Participation and 2011 Public Communications Policy;

16.   Provide inputs for PAM, RRP, and DMF.