GIZ implements SUD on behalf of BMZ, together with Georgia’s Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure. Since 2023, the project has run Urban Labs in Batumi, Gori, and Zugdidi. The cities initiated their projects, civil society organisations led participation, and City Hall departments steered decisions.
At the conference, our partners and friends Irakli Zhvania (Urbitectura) and Nutsa Lomsadze (Bau Design) presented the results, and Tina Stambolishvili (BISC Partners) moderated the panel that followed.
In our talk “Developing Neighbourhood Concepts: Approaches and Methodologies”, Thomas presented the Neighbourhood Concept as an informal, iterative planning instrument. It links objectives to concrete actions through a theory of change. It rests on three pillars: participatory, climate-sensitive, and integrated planning. We coordinated the method as international experts and our Georgian partners applied it on the ground.
We closed with three recommendations for Georgia: integrate Neighbourhood Concepts into the formal planning process as a “phase zero”, link financing and urban development, and build citizen ownership through small, visible interventions.
Georgia needs goal-oriented, conceptual, and participative approaches for higher success of planning, amending Georgia’s existing regulatory toolset. What happens next depends on the cities and on Georgia’s Spatial and Urban Development Agency (SUDA).
Coming soon: To support innovation in Georgian planning, TSPA has developed participation guidelines with Irakli Zhvania (Urbitectura) and Ana Gulisashvili for GIZ. We will publish them shortly.
We thank the GIZ team, Anka Derichs, Phillip Reviere and our city coordinators, as well as the Ministry, our partners Bau Design, Urbitectura, Geographic, and BISC Partners, and Ana Gulisashvili. Above all, we thank the Urban Lab members and the people of Batumi, Gori, and Zugdidi participating in the process!
