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Urban economic development in Africa: A case study of Nairobi city

Subscribe to africa in focus, jacob nato , jn jacob nato policy analyst - kenya institute for public policy research and analysis @jacobnato1984 humphrey njogu , hn humphrey njogu principal policy analyst - kenya institute for public policy research and analysis @humnjogu rose ngugi , rn rose ngugi executive director - kenya institute for public policy research and analysis aloysius uche ordu , and aloysius uche ordu director - africa growth initiative , senior fellow - global economy and development @aloysiusordu ede ijjasz-vasquez ede ijjasz-vasquez nonresident senior fellow - global economy and development , africa growth initiative @ede_wbg.

February 17, 2023

Below is a viewpoint from the  Foresight Africa 2023 report, which explores top priorities for the region in the coming year. Read the full chapter on Africa’s cities .

In most countries, urbanization leads to substantial productivity gains supported by scale, density, and agglomeration. Better connected people and firms lead to savings in transport and logistics, technological and information spillovers, and more efficient labor markets. However, Africa’s urbanization has not realized the full potential and benefits of such agglomeration. The economic transformation and benefits of urbanization, observed in other regions, are yet to be achieved in sub-Saharan Africa.

To understand the barriers, and unlock the economic opportunities of urbanization, the Africa Growth Initiative (AGI) at the Brookings Institution developed an “ Urban Economic Growth Framework for African cities .” The framework focuses on the three primary constraints limiting a city’s ability to benefit from agglomeration and generate productive jobs: Accessibility, the business environment, and public sector governance. The framework provides specific indicators and ways to identify these three critical constraints, with a view to inform and guide policymakers on specific actions and appropriate policies.

As a start, the AGI framework was applied to the city of Nairobi (Kenya’s capital), to analyze Nairobi’s key challenges and possible solutions for growth and employment.

Unemployment and underemployment in Nairobi are a top concern, especially as youth makeup 48 percent of the total unemployed workforce (15 to 64 years). While the labor force in Kenya has been growing at an average annual rate of about 3 percent, Nairobi needs to generate many more (and better) jobs to offer improved livelihood opportunities to its large youth demographic. At the national level, Kenya has registered good progress in creating jobs, especially in the digital and gig economy. The report recommends two areas of focus. First, in coordination with the national government, Nairobi City County needs to support the gradual formalization of the large number of informal jobs and enterprises by easing business registration and motivating registration through targeted support programs. Second, better education and skills in targeted economic sectors are required to enhance productivity and earnings. Nairobi city should ensure that tertiary institutions provide training and skills consistent with emerging technologies.

[Nairobi] city has enormous potential to achieve the benefits of urban agglomeration and create productive jobs by paying particular attention to its challenges in accessibility and infrastructure, business environment, as well as public sector governance and finance.

Furthermore, enterprise data in Nairobi shows that businesses are likely to transition from micro- to medium-, and to large enterprises as the owners’ levels of education attainment rises.

Accessibility within the city: Accessibility is vital for connecting workers to firms and firms to markets. Despite the excellent progress made on infrastructure development, there is a high concentration of unpaved roads in Nairobi’s high-density informal settlements.

Consequently, as shown in the report, most jobs are not accessible within one hour of public transport commute i.e., commuting time by bus, matatu (shared taxi), or foot. The city also has a mismatch in zoning and land use. Nairobi therefore needs a new approach to urban planning that considers population growth, infrastructure, housing, and land use. Equally important is updating the land appraisal system and creating more public spaces.

Business environment: Many businesses in the city face several challenges, including complex processes to access licenses and permits, insufficient finance, expensive land, rigid labor regulations, inefficiency in tax administration, and crime risk. For example, a business takes about 92 days to secure an electricity connection. A firm loses about KSh 2.3 million per year due to power outages on average. These are critical areas for Nairobi to enhance its business environment. Furthermore, it is essential to coordinate the implementation of business policy reforms between the national and county governments.

Public sector governance and finances: The devolution process in Kenya has given Nairobi City County a total of 14 constitutional functions. The city faces important challenges in terms of financing, despite the commendable increase in revenues and fiscal transfers from KSh 9.51 billion in FY 2013/14 to KSh 19.42 billion in FY 2020/21. Still, the city faces several financing shortfalls, from high levels of pending bills and fiscal deficits, to delays in receipt of equitable fiscal transfers. These challenges call for proper budget planning, improved budget execution, and higher levels of the city’s source revenue.

The application of the AGI Urban Economic Growth Framework to Nairobi City County shows that the city has enormous potential to achieve the benefits of urban agglomeration and create productive jobs by paying particular attention to its challenges in accessibility and infrastructure, business environment, as well as public sector governance and finance.

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Uniquely urban: case studies in innovative urban development.

07:14 am | 03 November 2023

Cities in the Asia and the Pacific face challenges to provide adequate infrastructure and services to their growing population. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has long recognized that cities need large scale investment to develop and maintain infrastructure and services.   

This report presents case studies that highlight how ADB's teams are working together to design innovative urban projects across the Asia and Pacific region that leverage its value-added services and support sustainable economic growth. The report is based on interviews with teams in countries including the People's Republic of China, India, Viet Nam, and Uzbekistan.

• Introduction
• How Upstream Programmatic Interventions Drive Industrial and Urban Transformation
• How People-Friendly Urban Mobility and Green Sponge Infrastructure Is Transforming a City
• A First in Viet Nam Water Sector: Utility Transitions to Nonsovereign Lending
• Nonsovereign PRC Loan Demonstrates Broad Integration of Smart Water Technologies
• Beyond Slum Upgrades: How Affordable Housing Projects Build Resilient, Thriving Households
• ADB’s First Blue Loan Intercepts Plastics from Landfills, Oceans through Recycling, and Reuse of Ubiquitous PET
• Private Sector Team in Georgia Expands Green Bond Market in Asia, Urban Water Sector
• Integrating Urban Design, Nature, and Heritage for Tourism in a Cold-Climate Country: Preliminary ADB Lessons from Mongolia
• The Making of a Market-Based Mortgage Sector

Published February 2023. Source: Asian Development Bank

Download  (7.72 MB)

ASEAN Taxonomy Defines Sustainable Activities in Transport, Construction Sectors

Asia-pacific trade facilitation report 2024: promoting sustainability and resilience of global value chains, reuse of electric vehicle batteries in asean, asean finance ministers take on pivotal role in climate action, asian economic integration report 2024: decarbonizing global value chains, related articles, how cities can embrace nature and meet their net-zero goals, why cities need better connectivity, asian cities to build climate-resilient infrastructure with adb support, how artificial intelligence can help build smart cities, how the cloud helps cities become sustainable and inclusive.

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Urban Agriculture: Findings From Four City Case Studies

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6 Urban Design Projects With Nature-Based Solutions

• Written by Camilla Ghisleni | Translated by Tarsila Duduch
• Published on July 24, 2022

Extreme natural events are becoming increasingly frequent all over the world. Numerous studies indicate that floods, storms, and sea-level rise could affect more than 800 million people worldwide, ultimately costing cities $1 trillion per year by the middle of the century. This suggests that urban survival depends on addressing urban vulnerability as a matter of urgency to protect the city and the population.

Given the background, many urban design projects started to introduce nature-based solutions (NBS) to provide sustainable management of ecosystems to tackle different environmental challenges. These solutions can reconnect the population with nature, mitigate air pollution, improve thermal comfort in the cities, reduce the effect of urban heat islands, and manage stormwater runoff, among many other benefits to the environment , and to the physical and mental health of urban dwellers. Moreover, NBS can also contribute towards creative designs that can cost much less than traditional solutions.

Below, we have selected six urban projects that embody nature-based solutions addressing different challenges of the contemporary world.

Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, Singapore

Nature-based solutions require stepping outside the comfort zone, trying creative non-obvious alternatives, and close collaboration between many different work fronts. This process is challenging, but not impossible, as we can see in the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in Singapore .

A few decades ago, the city decided to channelize the Kallang River creating a linear fenced canal that was a clear dividing line between the park and community. In dire need of an upgrade, the concrete canal could be redesigned but Singapore's national water agency decided to naturalize the river by restoring the original riverbed and floodplain. The 2.7 km straight concrete drainage channel was torn down and transformed into a meandering 3.2 km long natural river.

The result is a blue-green infrastructure project that provides flood prevention and improved water quality, increasing the benefits of the canal to the community. Combining natural materials, civil engineering techniques, and plants that can filter and absorb water was essential to stabilize the riverbanks and prevent erosion.

The National University of Singapore carried out a cost-benefit analysis that reported that rebuilding the concrete canal would cost about US$94 million (133 million SGD, Singapore dollars). Naturalization, on the other hand, cost just under US$50 million (70 million SGD) and further contributed to expanding and reconnecting the park areas to the city.

In other words, besides all the environmental benefits from the improved flood management and water quality, and the positive impact on people's physical and mental well-being by bringing them closer to nature, this NBS has also generated significant financial savings, achieving great results for a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions.

Green Corridors, Colombia

Over the past few years, city authorities of the Colombian city of Medellín have transformed the verges of 18 roads and 12 waterways into a green paradise. The Green Corridors project consists of planting trees along thoroughfares to mitigate the effects of urban heat islands caused mainly by the overuse of concrete and asphalt.

For example, the Avenida Oriental, one of the busiest roads in the city, was remodeled and had over 2 kilometers of paving on the pedestrian island and sidewalks replaced by gardens. More than 600 trees, palms, and thousands of smaller plants of carefully selected species have been planted, allowing the native wildlife to return to the area. Today we can see many different birds, such as parakeets and parrots, also butterflies, and even squirrels traveling through the city.

The initiative focused on areas that most lacked green spaces and managed to reduce air temperature by more than 2°C. The Green Corridor project won the 2019 Ashden Award for Cooling by Nature Award, supported by the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program.

Rain Garden, Brazil

Similar to the previous project, this one also addresses the issue of impermeability of the urban landscape. Rain gardens are specifically designed to reduce the flow rate, total quantity, and pollutant load of stormwater runoff. This practice is used to treat urban runoff using plants, stones, and other natural or engineered elements. Suspended solids are filtered out of the water as it moves down through the soil and interspersed plant roots. These gardens can be executed near sidewalks, roads, flowerbeds, or even inside lots.

In 2019, the first rain garden in the city of Rio de Janeiro was installed at the Fundição Progresso Cultural Center , kicking off with an action called Dia da QuebrAção (Wrecking Day) in which the concrete sidewalk in front of the building began to be removed, to be replaced with 200 square meters of green space. Cecilia Herzog and Daniel Gabrielli, who were in charge of the project, say that bringing nature back to urban life and learning from it, cooperating with all species, and using nature's techniques for the benefit of the city, is a major paradigm for the 21st century.

Lineal Gran Canal Park, Mexico

Like the green corridors in Medellín, this linear park in Mexico City is based on environmental regeneration, through reforestation of the urban fabric and restoration of soil permeability, which has resulted in an increase of 16% in the relative humidity of the air and a reduction of up to 5% in temperature, mitigating the effect of heat islands.

The park provides many environmental benefits, but furthermore, it symbolizes the reclaiming of a neglected space. It was built over the capital's historic Grand Canal structure, integrating more than 70,000 square meters of land that used to be divided by this harsh line in the urban fabric. The intervention focused on recovering the native vegetation and riparian forest of the old canal, transforming the area into a 100% permeable public space.

Stormwater Wetland Park, China

This park is located right in the middle of the city, in an area that is listed as a protected regional wetland. The site is surrounded by roads and dense development on four sides, so water sources were being cut, and the wetland was under threat. The architects' strategy was to transform the dying wetland into a ‘green sponge,’ an urban stormwater park which not only rescues the disappearing wetland but also provides multiple services for the new urban community.

The project follows four guidelines. First, the central part of the existing wetland was left untouched, allowing it to evolve and transform naturally. The second strategy was to create a ring of ponds and mounds surrounding the former wetland using simple cut-and-fill techniques, which creates a buffer zone for the core of the wetland and a welcoming landscape filter between nature and the city. Third, a network of paths and urban furniture on ground level, allowing visitors to experience walking through a forest. And finally, the fourth strategy was to create elevated walkways that connect the scattered mounds with platforms and viewing towers that frame different perspectives of the natural landscape.

This nature-based solution has transformed the wetland into a multifunctional stormwater park that collects, filters, stores rainwater, and infiltrates the aquifer while being productive and pro-life, providing new recreational and aesthetic experiences for the city. The park has greatly contributed to the survival of the natural environment while also acting as an effective drainage green infrastructure for the area, which was frequently affected by floods from June to August.

Urban Farming in several countries

Urban farming has been a growing practice in many cities around the world through independent or governmental initiatives. The city of San Francisco, for example, is giving tax breaks for allowing communal urban farming on empty lots. In Tokyo, five rooftop community vegetable gardens located on top of train stations were inaugurated in 2014. In Barcelona, independent initiatives run by retired people created large vegetable gardens in abandoned peripheral areas.

Meanwhile, the 'Quintais Susentáveis' (sustainable backyards) initiative in the state of Roraima, northern Brazil, stands out because it combines sustainable production based on agroecology, food & nutrition security with income-generating activities for vulnerable people, promoting social and labor inclusion. The program educates families in sustainable production and also encourages them to sell their products in local markets. This allows many possibilities, including the production of seedlings and organic compost.

The project also relies heavily on collaborative activities. The plant species are selected with community participation through a survey carried out to understand the family's eating habits so that everyone feels included in the process.

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CASE STUDY LINKS/REFERENCES

Australia Award for Urban Design An award for Australian urban design initiatives and projects that demonstrate excellence and innovation, and contribute to a wider appreciation of, urban design.

Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment A resource with publications and case studies of excellent buildings and spaces, United Kingdom.

Good Design Case Studies Case studies of residential, reuse and infill developments in Melbourne demonstrating design solutions for balancing growth with sustainability, liveability and community needs (Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development, 2012).

Healthy Spaces & Places—A national guide to designing places for healthy living A resource providing guidance and case studies on creating healthy communities (Planning Institute of Australia, Heart Foundation & Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2009).

International Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Association An international association promoting the use of CPTED principles and strategies and provides access to resources, international case studies and books on CPTED.

Project for Public Places An international resource with information on best practice public place case studies from around the world and guidance on how to create great public places.

Streets for People—Compendium for South Australian best practice A compendium presenting key principles to shape pedestrian and cycling friendly street designs in the South Australian context and best practice case studies (South Australian Active Living Coalition).

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About Streets

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Street Transformations

• Street Design Strategies
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• Example 1: 18 m
• Example 2: 10 m
• Pedestrian Only Streets: Case Study | Stroget, Copenhagen
• Example 1: 8 m
• Case Study: Laneways of Melbourne, Australia
• Case Study: Pavement to Parks; San Francisco, USA
• Case Study: Plaza Program; New York City, USA
• Example 1: 12 m
• Example 2: 14 m
• Case Study: Fort Street; Auckland, New Zealand
• Example 1: 9 m
• Case Study: Van Gogh Walk; London, UK
• Example 1: 13 m
• Example 2: 16 m
• Example: 3: 24 m
• Case Study: Bourke St.; Sydney, Australia
• Example 2: 22 m
• Example 3: 30 m

Case Study: St. Marks Rd.; Bangalore, India

• Example 2: 25 m
• Example 3: 31 m
• Case Study: Second Ave.; New York City, USA
• Example 1: 20 m
• Example 2: 30 m
• Example 3: 40 m
• Case Study: Götgatan; Stockholm, Sweden
• Example 1: 16 m
• Example 2: 32 m
• Example 3: 35 m
• Case Study: Swanston St.; Melbourne, Australia
• Example 1: 32 m
• Example 2: 38 m
• Case Study: Boulevard de Magenta; Paris, France
• Example 1: 52 m
• Example 2: 62 m
• Example 3: 76 m
• Case Study: Av. 9 de Julio; Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Example: 34 m
• Case Study: A8erna; Zaanstad, The Netherlands
• Example: 47 m
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• Example: 40 m
• Case Study: 21st Street; Paso Robles, USA
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• Example: 21 m
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• Example: 20 m
• Case Study: Jellicoe St.; Auckland, New Zealand
• Example: 30 m
• Case Study: Queens Quay; Toronto, Canada
• Case Study: Historic Peninsula; Istanbul, Turkey
• Existing Conditions
• Case Study 1: Calle 107; Medellin, Colombia
• Case Study 2: Khayelitsha; Cape Town, South Africa
• Case Study 3: Streets of Korogocho; Nairobi, Kenya
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The reconstruction of this one-way street addressed several major challenges, including inadequate design and planning, poor maintenance standards, and inefficient utility management.

The project took a comprehensive, multidimensional approach under the program Tender S.U.R.E.: break once, and fix once and for all. This approach promotes upfront investment in quality materials and construction to increase durability.

• Balance existing uses.
• Enhance user experience, increase pedestrian safety, and calm traffic.
• Reduce disruptive construction practices by investing in upfront, quality
• construction for long-term durability.

Key Elements

Enhanced and extended sidewalks.

One-way protected cycle tracks.

Consistent travel lanes.

Dedicated and paved bus, auto rickshaw, and parking bays.

Landscaped strip between the motorized and non-motorized paths.

Protection and enhancement of existing trees with pits and guards.

Reconfiguration of underground utilities with the creation of access chambers for utility lines.

Keys to Success

• Interagency coordination.
• Public participation and involvement from the early stages of the project.
• Documentation and verification of existing utilities as part of planning and design process.

Involvement

Public Agencies Government of Karnataka, Bangalore Municipal Corporation (BBMP), Bangalore Development Authority, KPTCL, Traffic Police, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), BESCOM

Nonprofit Organizations Jana Urban Space, Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy

Designers and Engineers Jana USP (Designer), NAPC (Contractor)

Project Timeline

Adapted by Global Street Design Guide published by Island Press.

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• Published: 08 July 2022

A critical examination of a community-led ecovillage initiative: a case of Auroville, India

• Abhishek Koduvayur Venkitaraman   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8515-257X 1 &
• Neelakshi Joshi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8947-1893 2  

Climate Action volume  1 , Article number:  15 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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Human settlements across the world are attempting to address climate change, leading to changing paradigms, parameters, and indicators for defining the path to future sustainability. In this regard, the term ecovillage has been increasingly used as models for sustainable human settlements. While the term is new, the concept is an old one: human development in harmony with nature. However, materially realizing the concept of an ecovillage is not without challenges. These include challenges in scaling up and transferability, negative regional impacts and struggles of functioning within larger capitalistic and growth-oriented systems. This paper presents the case of Auroville, an early attempt to establish an ecovillage in Southern India. We draw primarily from the ethnographic living and working experience of the authors in Auroville as well as published academic literature and newspaper articles. We find that Auroville has proven to be a successful laboratory for providing bottom-up, low cost and context-specific ecological solutions to the challenges of sustainability. However, challenges of economic and social sustainability compound as the town attempts to scale up and grow.

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Introduction.

Scientists have repeatedly argued and emphasized for an equilibrium between human development and the basic ecological support systems of the planet (IPCC 2014 ; United Nations 1987 ). Human settlements have been important in this regard as places of concentrated human activity (Edward & Matthew E, 2010 ; Scott and Storper 2015 ). Settlement planning has responded to this call through visions of the eco-city as a proposal for building the city like a living system with a land use pattern supporting the healthy anatomy of the whole city and enhance its biodiversity, while resonating its functions with sustainability (Barton 2013 ; Register 1987 ; Roseland 1997 ). In planning practice, this means balancing between economic growth, social justice, and environmental well-being (Campbell 1996 ). However, the concept of eco-cities remains top-down in its approach with city authorities taking a lead in involving the civil society and citizens to implement the city’s environment plan (Joss 2010a , b ).

Contrary to the idea of eco-cities, ecovillages are small-scale, bottom-up sites for experimentation around sustainable living. Ecovillages resonate the same core principles of an eco-city but combine the social, ecological, and spiritual aspects of human existence (Gilman 1991 ). Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland is one of the oldest and most prominent ecovillages in the world and has collaborations with the United Nations and was named as a best practice community (Lockyer and Veteto 2013 ).

Another notable example is the Transitions Town movement that started in Totnes, United Kingdom but has now spread all over the world (Hopkins 2008 ; Smith 2011 ). The movement focuses upon supporting community-led responses to peak oil and climate change, building resilience and happiness. Additionally, it emphasizes rebuilding local agriculture and food production, localizing energy production along with rediscovering local building materials in the context of zero energy building (Hopkins 2008 ). Ecological districts within the urban fabric are also termed as ecovillages (Wolfram 2017 ).

Ecovillages are intentional communities characterized by alternative lifestyles, values, economics and governance systems (Joss 2010a , b ; Ergas 2010 ). At the same time ecovillages are located within and interact with growth-oriented capitalistic systems (Price et al. 2020 ). This dichotomy presents a challenge for ecovillages as they put ideas of sustainability transformation into practice. We explore some of these contradictions through the case study of Auroville, an ecovillage located in southern India. A discussion on the gaps between the ideas of an ecovillage against their lived reality throws light upon the challenges that ecovillages face when they attempt to grow. We begin by elaborating the key characteristics of ecovillages in the “Characteristics of ecovillages” section. We then present our material and methods in the “Methodology” section. Furthermore, we use the key characteristics of an ecovillage as a framework for analysing and discussing Auroville in the “Auroville, an ecovillage in South India” and “Discussion” sections. We conclude with a reflection on the concept of ecovillages.

Characteristics of ecovillages

The concept of an ecovillage is broad and has multiple interpretations. Based on a reading of the existing literature on ecovillages, we summarize some of their key characteristics here:

Alternative lifestyles and values : Ecovillage can be seen as intentional communities (Ergas 2010 ) and social movements which have a common stance against unsustainable modes of living and working (Kirby 2003 ; Snow et al. 2004 ). Ecovillages advocate for achieving an alternate lifestyle involving a considerable shift in power from globalized values to those internalized in local community autonomy. Therefore many ecovillages aspire to restructure power distribution and foster a spirit of collective and transparent decision-making (Boyer 2015 ; Cunningham and Wearing 2013 ). However, it is difficult to convince many people to believe in a common value system since the vision is to establish a world that is not only ecologically sustainable but also personally rewarding in terms of self-sacrifice for a good cause (Anderson 2015 ).

Governance : ecovillages tend to rely on a community-based governance and there is an assumption that the local and regional communities respond more effectively to local environmental problems since these problems pertain to the local context and priorities (Van Bussel et al. 2020 ). In a community-based governance system, activities are organized and carried out through participatory democracy committed to consensual decision-making. However, participatory democracy has its own set of problems. Consensual decision-making is time-consuming, and the degree of participation tends to vary from time to time (Fischer 2017 ). Participatory processes have also been criticized on the grounds for slowing down the decision-making process and resulting in a weak final agreement which doesn’t balance competing interests (Alterman et al. 1984 ).

Economic models in an ecovillages : ecovillages have attempted to combine economic objectives along with the overall well-being of people and have experimented with budgetary solutions appealing to a wider society (Hall 2015 ). As grassroots initiatives, ecovillages have advocated and practised living in community economies (Roelvink and Gibson-Graham 2009 ) and have influenced twentieth century economic practices beyond their geographical boundaries (Boyer 2015 ). Due to the emphasis on sharing in ecovillages, they can be considered to accommodate diverse economies (Gibson-Graham 2008 ) where human needs are met through relational exchanges and non-monetary practices, highlighting strong social ties (Waerther 2014 ). In some ecovillages, living expenses are reduced by sharing costly assets and saving cost on building materials by bulk buying and growing food for community consumption and sale (Pickerill 2017 ). These economic models have their own merit but are perhaps insufficient for the long-term economic sustainability of ecovillages (Price et al. 2020 ). Eventually, ecovillages might have to rely on external sources to import goods and services which cannot be produced on-site. This contradicts the ecovillage principles of being a self-reliant economy, reduction of its carbon footprint and minimizing resource consumption, thus implying a dependence on the market economy of the region (Bauhardt 2014 ).

Self-sufficiency : fulfilling the community’s needs within the available resources is a cornerstone principle for many ecovillages (Gilman 1991 ). This is often achieved through organic farming, permaculture, renewable energy and co-housing. Such measures are an attempt to offset and mitigate unsustainable development and limit the ecovillage’s ecological footprint (Litfin 2009 ). The initial small scale of the community often allows for this. However, as ecovillages grow in size and complexity, the interconnectedness and inter-dependence to the surrounding space become more apparent (Joss 2010a , b ). Examples include drawing resources from central energy and water systems (Xue 2014 ). Furthermore, ecovillages might turn out to be desirable places to live, with better quality of life, driving up land and property prices in the region as well as carbon emissions with additional visitors (Mössner and Miller 2015 ). Furthermore, in their role as catalysts of change in transforming society, ecovillages need to interact with their external surroundings and neighbouring communities, the municipalities, and the state and national level policies (Dawson and Lucas 2006 ; Kim 2016 ). This is particularly relevant in the Global South, where the ecovillage development has the potential to drive regional-scale sustainable development.

The characteristics of an ecovillage, however, do not exist in a geographical vacuum. Scholarly understanding of ecovillages as bottom-up efforts to drive sustainability transitions largely draw from the experiences of the Global North (Wagner 2012 ). Such ecovillage models often challenge the dominant capitalistic paradigm of post-industrial development, overconsumption and growth. Locating ecovillages in the Global South requires an expansion or re-evaluation of their larger socio-economic context as well as their socio-ecological impacts (Dias et al. 2017 ; Litfin 2009 ) .

To build upon the opportunities and challenges of ecovillages, locating them within the context of the Global South, we present the case of Auroville, an ecovillage located in southern India.

Methodology

We use the initial theoretical framework of ecovillage characteristics as a starting point for developing the case study of Auroville. Here, we draw from academic literature published about Auroville during 1968–2021. We also draw inferences from self-published reports and documents by the Auroville Foundation. Although we cover multiple interconnected aspects of Auroville, the characteristics pertaining to an ecovillage remain the focus of our work. We review the literature sources deductively, drawing on aspects of values, governance, economics and self-reliance, established in the previous section.

We triangulate the secondary data sources against our ethnographic experience of having lived and worked in Auroville for extended periods of time (2010–2012 and 2013–2014, respectively). We have worked in Auroville as architects and urban planners. During this time, we participated in multiple meetings on Auroville’s development as part of our work. We have discussed aspects of Auroville’s sustainability with Aurovillians working on diverse aspects, from urban planning to regional integration. Furthermore, living and working in Auroville brought us in conversation with several individuals from villages surrounding Auroville, employed in Auroville. For writing this case study, we have revisited our lived experience of Auroville through memory, research and work diaries maintained during this period, photographs as well our previously published research articles (Venkitaraman 2017 ; Walsky and Joshi 2013 ). Given our expertise in architecture and planning, we have also presented the translation of the key characteristics of an ecovillage, namely, alternative values, governance and economic systems and self-reliance, in these domains.

We acknowledge certain limitations to our methodology. We rely largely on secondary data to expand upon the challenges and contradictions in an ecovillage. We have attempted to overcome this by drawing from our first-hand experience of having lived in Auroville. Although our lived experiences are almost a decade old, we have attempted to compliment it with recently published articles as well as newspaper reports.

The next section presents Auroville as an ecovillage followed by a critical examination of its regional impact, governance, and economic structure.

Auroville, an ecovillage in South India

Foundational values.

Sri Aurobindo was an Indian philosopher and spiritual leader who believed that “man is a transitional being” and developed the practice of integral yoga with the aim of evolving humans into divine beings (Sen 2018 ). His spiritual consort, Mirra Alfassa realized his ideas in material form through a “universal township” which would hopefully contribute to “progress of humanity towards its splendid future”. Auroville was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, as a township near Pondicherry, India. Alfassa envisioned Auroville to be a “site of material and spiritual research for a living embodiment of an actual human unity” (Alfassa 1968 ). On 28 February 1968, the city was inaugurated with the support of UNESCO and the participation of people from 125 countries who each brought a handful of earth from their homelands to an urn that stands at its centre as a symbolic representation of human unity, the aim of the project. This spiritual foundation has guided the development of the socio-economic structure of Auroville for individual and collective growth (Shinn 1984 ). To translate these spiritual ideas into a material form, Mirra Alfassa provided simple sketches, a Charter, and guiding principles towards human unity (Sarkar 2015 ).

Roger Anger, a French architect translated Alfassa’s dream into the Auroville City Plan that continues to inform the physical development of Auroville (Kundoo 2009 ). The Auroville Masterplan 2025 envisions Auroville to be a circular township (Fig. 1 ) spread over a 20 sq. km (Auroville Foundation 2001 ). Initially planned for a population of 50,000 people, today Auroville today has 3305 residents hailing from 60 countries (Auroville Foundation 2021 ). Since its early days, there has been a divide between the “organicists” and the “constructionists” of Auroville (Kapur 2021 ). The organicists have a bottom-up vision of low impact and environmentally friendly development whereas the constructionists have a top-down vision of sticking with the original masterplan and realize an urban, dense version of Auroville.

A map of Auroville and its surrounding regions, with the main villages in the area

Auroville has served as a laboratory of low-cost and low-impact building construction, transportation, and city planning. Although the term sustainability has not been explicitly used in the Charter, it has been central to the city planning and building development process in Auroville (Walsky and Joshi 2013 ). Unlike many human settlements that negatively impact their ecology, the foundational project of Auroville was land restoration. The initial residents of Auroville were able to grow back parts of the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest in and around Auroville using top-soil conservation and rainwater harvesting techniques (Blanchflower 2005 ). While the ecological restoration has been lauded both locally and globally, Namakkal ( 2012 ) argues that it is seldom acknowledged that the land was bought from local villagers at low prices and local labour was used to plant the forest as well as build the initial city. At the time of writing this paper, the Auroville Foundation still needs to secure 17% of the land in the city area and nearly 50% of the land for the green belt to realize the original masterplan. However, land prices have gone up substantially as have conflicts in acquiring this land for Auroville (Namakkal 2012 ).

Governance structure

While the Charter of Auroville says that “Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole” (Alfassa 1968 ), in reality, it is governed by a well-defined set of individuals. Auroville’s first few years, between 1968 and 1973, were guided directly by Mirra Alfassa. After her passing, there was a power struggle between the Sri Aurobindo Society, claiming control over the project, and the community members striving for autonomy (Kapur 2021 ).

The Government of India founded the Auroville Foundation Act in 1988 providing in the public interest, the acquisition of all assets and undertakings relatable to Auroville. These assets were ultimately vested in the Auroville Foundation which was formed in January 1991 (Auroville. 2015 ). The Auroville Foundation envisioned a notion of a planned future, resulting in a new masterplan in 1994. This masterplan encouraged participatory planning and recognized that the architectural vision needs to proceed in a democratic manner. This prompted the Auroville community to adopt a more structured form of governance. The Auroville Foundation has other governing institutions under it, namely: The Governing Board which has overall responsibility for Auroville’s development, The International Advisory Council, which advises the Governing Board on the management of the township and the Residents’ Assembly who organize activities relating to Auroville and formulate the master plan. Furthermore, there are committees and working groups for different aspects of development from waste management to building development.

Auroville is an example of the ‘bottom-up’ approach, in the sense that developments are decided and implemented by the community and the state level and national level governments get involved later (Sarkar 2015 ). An example of this is seen in the regular meetings held by the Town Development Council of Auroville which also conducted a weeklong workshop in 2019 for the community which covered themes such as place-making, dimensions of water and strategies for liveable cities and community planning (Ministry of Human Reource Development Government of India 2021 ).

Conflicts often arise between the interpretation of the initial masterplan and the present day realities and aspiration of the residents (Walsky and Joshi 2013 ). This is often rooted in the initial vision of Auroville as a city of 50,000 versus its current reality of being an ecovillage of around 3000 people. Spatially, this unusual growth pattern has been problematic in Auroville’s building and mobility planning (Venkitaraman 2017 ). At the time of writing this paper, there is a clash between the Residents’ Assembly and the Auroville Foundation over the felling of trees for the construction of the Crown Road project inside Auroville (The Hindu 2021 ). While the Residents’ Assembly wants a re-working of the original masterplan considering the ecological damage through tree cutting, the Auroville Foundation wants to move ahead with the original city vision.

Beyond its boundaries, Auroville is surrounded by numerous rural settlements, namely, Kuyilapalyam, Edayanchavadi, Alankuppam, Kottakarai, and Attankarai. The Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) aims to help the village communities to strive towards sustainability and find plausible solutions to the problems of contemporary rural life. In September 1970, a charter was circulated among the sub-regional villages of Auroville, promising better employment opportunities and higher living standards with improved health and sanitation facilities (Social Research Centre Auroville 2005 ). Currently, there are about 13 groups for the development of the Auroville sub-region. However, Jukka ( 2006 ) points out that the regional development vision of Auroville is top-down and does not sufficiently engage with the villagers and their aspirations.

Auroville’s economic model

Auroville has also strived to move away from money as a foundation of society to a distinctive economic model exchange and sharing (Kapoor 2007 ). However, Auroville needs money to realize its multiple land and building projects. Auroville also receives various donations and grants. During 2018–2019, Auroville received around Rs. 2396 lakhs (around 4 million USD) under Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) and other donations. The Central Government of India supports the Auroville Foundation with annual grants for Auroville’s management and for the running costs of the Secretariat of the Foundation, collectively known as Grant-in-Aid. Auroville received a total of Rs. 1463 lakhs (around 2 million USD) as Grant-in-Aid during 2018–2019. The income generated by Auroville during this time was Rs. 687 lakhs (around 91,000 USD) (Ministry of Human Reource Development Government of India 2021 ).

Presently, the economy of Auroville is based on manufacturing units and services with agriculture being an important sector, and currently, there are about 100 small and medium manufacturing units. The service sector of Auroville comprises of construction and architectural services and research and training in various sectors (Auroville Foundation 2001 ). In addition to this, tourism is another important source of income generation for Auroville. As per the Annual Report of Auroville Foundation, the donations and income have not been consistent over the years. In this regard, Auroville’s growth pattern in terms of the economy has not been linear and it does not mimic the usual growth patterns associated with the development of counterparts, in terms of capitalization, finance, governance, and on key issues such as distribution policies and ownership rights (Thomas and Thomas 2013 ).

Auroville also benefits from labour from the surrounding villages. The nature of employment provided in Auroville to villages remains largely in low-paying jobs (Namakkal 2012 ). It can be argued that the fruits of Auroville’s development have not been equally shared with the surrounding villages and a feeling of ‘us and them’ still pervades. Striving for human unity is the central tenet of Auroville (Shinn 1984 ), however, it has struggled to do so with its immediate neighbours.

Striving for self-sufficiency

Auroville has strived for self-sufficiency in terms of food production from local farms, energy production from renewable sources like solar and wind sources and waste management.

Many prominent buildings of Auroville have been designed keeping in mind the self-sufficiency principle in Auroville. For example, the Solar Kitchen was designed by architect Suhasini Ayer as a demonstration project to tap the solar energy potential of the region. At present, this building is used for cooking meals thrice a day for over 1000 people. The Solar Kitchen also supports the organic farming sector in Auroville by being the primary purchaser of the locally grown products (Ayer 1997 ). Another example is the Auroville Earth Institute, renowned for its Compressed and Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) technique, which constitute natural and locally found soil as one of its main ingredients (Figs. 2 and 3 ).

Compressed earth blocks manufactured by Auroville Earth Institute

A residence in Auroville constructed using compressed earth blocks

However, it is important to acknowledge that Auroville does not exist as a 100% self-sufficient bubble. For example, food produced in Auroville provides for only 15% of the consumption (Auroville Foundation 2004 ). An initial attempt to calculate the ecological footprint of Auroville estimates it to be 2.5 Ha, against the average footprint of an Indian of 0.8 Ha (Greenberg 1998 ). Furthermore, though Auroville has strived for material innovation in architecture, it has not been successful in achieving 25 sq. metres as the limit to individual living space (Walsky and Joshi 2013 ). This challenges the notion of Auroville continuing to be an ecovillage if it aspires to be a city of 50,000 people and might end up having substantial ecological impact on its surroundings.

Urban sustainability transformation in a rapidly urbanizing world runs into the risk of focusing on technological fixes while overlooking the social and ecological impacts of growth. In this light, bottom-up initiatives like ecovillages serve as a laboratory for testing alternative and holistic models of development. Auroville, a 53-year-old ecovillage in southern India, has achieved this to a certain extent. Auroville is a showcase of land regeneration, biodiversity restoration, alternative building technologies as well as experimentations in alternative governance and economic models. In this paper, we have critically examined some achievements and challenges that Auroville has faced in realizing its initial vision of being a “city that the world needs” (Alfassa 1968 ). Lessons learnt from Auroville help deepen our understanding of ecovillages as sites of fostering alternative development practices. Here we discuss three aspects of this research:

Alternate lifestyles and values in the context of an ecovillage : Ecovillages are niches providing space for realizing alternative values and lifestyles. However, ecovillages seldom exist in a vacuum. They are physically situated in existing societies and economies. Although residents in an ecovillage seek to achieve collective identity by creating an alternative society, an ecovillage is embedded within a larger culture and thus, the prevailing ideologies of the dominant society affect the ecovillage (Ergas 2010 ) as seen in Auroville. This can be noticed between the material and knowledge flows in and out of Auroville. Furthermore, the India of the 1970s when Auroville was born with socialist values is very different from present-day India where material and capitalistic aspirations are on the rise. These are reflected in higher land prices and living costs in and around Auroville. Amidst the transforming political landscape of India in the 1970s, there were implications which were seen in the character of architectural production. Auroville welcomed and immersed itself into this era of experimentation. These developments form an integral part of the ethos of Auroville. To achieve its initial visions, Auroville depends on multiple external economic sources. In analysing ecovillages, it is important to critically examine the broader context within which they are located and how they influence and, in turn, are influenced by their contexts.

Even though Auroville’s architects and urban planners remain committed to their belief that architecture is a primary tool of community - building, decades later, the developments seem to have progressed at a slow pace. The number of permanently settled residents in Auroville has barely reached 2000 currently and the overall urban design remains fragmentary. Despite witnessing a slower rate of progress, it has been able to sustain a culture of innovation and Auroville remains utopian in its aim to create an alternative lifestyle (Scriver and Srivastava 2016 ).

Governance, economy, and self-sufficiency in an ecovillage that wants to be an eco-city : In growth-based societies, ecovillages present the possibility of providing an alternative vision of degrowth (Xue 2014 ). However, Auroville currently functions as an ecovillage that aspires to be an eco-city as per its initial masterplan. This growth-based model sometimes conflicts with Auroville’s vision of being a self-reliant, non-monetary society. Given the urgent need to remain within our planetary limits, ecovillages like Auroville could re-evaluate their initial growth-based visions and explore alternatives for achieving sustainability and well-being. The visions of ecovillages should thus not be set in stone, but rather remain flexible to evolving ideas and practices (Ergas 2010 ).

Similarly, governance structures might need a re-evaluation with changing priorities within the ecovillage as well as a need to be inclusive of regional visions and voices. It would be intriguing to explore on what kind of governance model/leadership is best suited to fulfil the aims of an ecovillage. Auroville seems to follow the elements of sustainability-oriented governance: empowerment, engagement, communication, openness and transparency (Bubna-Litic 2008 ), yet it is seen that conflicts arise. One solution to this could be greater external engagement with government and continuing to engage the external community about Auroville. Generally, intentional communities are organized by embracing the ideology of consensus, but it remains to be seen whether the consensus decision-making model works to its full potential in the context of alternative lifestyles. When individuals seek alternative lifestyles in the current world, there is a shift from globalized values towards local community autonomy, this shift demands a need for processes that allow for a different and more equitable approach to governance (Cunningham and Wearing 2013 ).

Ecovillages in the Global South : Situating ecovillages in the Global South requires a nuanced examination of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability that the ecovillage aims to achieve (Dias et al. 2017 ; Litfin 2009 ). In the case of Auroville, Auroville has helped bring back ecologically restorative practices in forestry, agriculture, and architecture in the region. However, the average Aurovillian has a higher standard of living than the neighbouring villagers. This in-turn influences the material consumption practices within the community. The lessons in sustainable living, in ecovillages located in the Global South, need not be unidirectional (from the ecovillage to the surrounding society). Rather, the ecovillage also stands to lean from the existing models of low-impact living.

Ecovillages in the Global South such as Auroville face similar problems related to Governance as seen in some other ecovillages in the developed world such as The Aldinga Arts Village in South Australia (Bubna-Litic 2008 ) and in Sweden (Bardici 2014 ). However, despite the issues related to consensus in Governance, the ecovillages are noted for their sustainable innovations.

Auroville’s sustainable measures have been endorsed by the Government of India as well. The Auroville Master Plan for 2000–2025 has been dedicated to creating an environmentally sustainable urban settlement which integrates the neighbourhood rural areas. The surrounding Green Belt, intended to be a fertile zone is presently being used for applied research in various sectors such as water management, food production, and soil conservation. The results promise a replicable model which could be used in urban and rural areas alike (Kapoor 2007 ).

To address the expansion and re-evaluation of the larger socio-economic context of Auroville and its socio-ecological impacts, as enunciated by Dias et al. ( 2017 ) and Kutting and Lipschutz (2009), a proposal for a sustainable regional plan was prepared in 2012 jointly by Government of India, ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency), INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) and PondyCAN (An NGO which works to preserve and enhance the natural, social, cultural and spiritual environment of Pondicherry). The report was prepared and aimed to be a way forward for unique and diverse communities to grow together as a single entity and to develop a holistic model for future development in this region. This report takes into consideration the surrounding villages and districts around Auroville: Puducherry, Viluppuram and Cuddalore (ADEME, INTACH, PondyCAN,, and Government of India 2012 ).

The concept of eco-cities in urban planning is defined as utopias, hard to achieve standards of human settlements. Ecovillages emerge as small-scale realization of the ideas of an eco-city. Over the years, the alternative practices of Auroville have served as an educational platform for researchers, students, and the civil society alike. However, realizing alternative ecological lifestyles, governance and economic system and self-sufficiency struggle with challenges and contradictions as the ecovillage interact with a larger growth-oriented capitalistic system. Although ecovillages are sites of experimentation, they are seldom insular space. Regional impacts of and on ecovillage are important in analysing their developmental trajectories. Finally, the vision of ecovillages needs to evolve as the ecovillage as well is surroundings grow and change. Experiments in ecovillages like Auroville remind us that alternative visions of human settlements come with opportunities and challenges and are a work-in-progress in achieving a more sustainable future. There is further potential to understand the consensus-based approach and the governance models in an ecovillage in a better manner.

It can be deduced from the findings that ecovillages as catalysts of urban sustainability have a lot of potentials and challenges. The potential is in terms of devising an alternate lifestyle based on an alternative style of governance while the challenges include the local ecological impact and the difficulty in consensus about certain things. There is a future possibility to explore other conditions which facilitate the mainstream translation of ecovillage practices and how future ecovillages can progress to the next level (Kim 2016 ; Norbeck 1999 ).

Availability of data and materials

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

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The impact of smart city construction on urban energy efficiency: evidence from China

• Published: 20 April 2024

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• Jiasen Sun   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2515-8253 2 , 3  

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Smart city construction (SCC) has emerged as an innovative approach to address the challenges of urbanization by reconciling economic development and energy utilization. This study employs the difference-in-differences method using data from 284 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2019 to investigate the impact of SCC on energy efficiency and the mediating role of technological innovation. This empirical analysis yields some valuable conclusions. First, the SCC in China has significantly improved urban energy efficiency. Second, the driving effect of SCC on energy efficiency gradually increases over time and produces clustered shaded areas. Third, SCC improves urban energy efficiency through green, configuration, and infrastructure effects derived from technological innovation. Finally, SCC has a positive impact on moderately sized cities enriched with human, material, and financial capital. This study proposes targeted recommendations based on these findings to promote sustainable urban development and technological innovation. These insights could inform policy and decision-making to achieve efficient urban energy systems.

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The authors declare no potential competing interests. Acknowledgements The work is supported by National Natural Science Funds of China (Nos. 72371232, 72371179, 71871153), the Four Batch Talent Programs of China, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WK2040000027), the sponsorship of the Collaborative Innovation Center for New Urbanization and Social Governance of Soochow University.

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Wu, J., Lin, K. & Sun, J. The impact of smart city construction on urban energy efficiency: evidence from China. Environ Dev Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04916-8

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