Background

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. UN-Habitat is playing a key role implementing the Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in September 2015 as well as the New Urban Agenda adopted in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016. The Urban Planning and Design Branch (UPDB) of UN-Habitat supports countries in developing urban planning methods and systems that address current urbanization challenges. It promotes urban planning approaches to address urban expansion and transformation.

The Project Coordination Office for Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States is based in Moscow, Russian Federation. The Office coordinates UN-Habitat’s work in these countries, in close consultation with Headquarters in operationalizing specific technical areas of UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan. 

The Urban Planning and Design Lab (Urban Lab) is a UN-Habitat initiative to promptly respond to the requests from national and local governments to support sustainable urban development. The Urban Lab is an integrative facility within the agency where innovative processes and partnerships are translated into tangible and transformative solutions to address complex urban challenges. Throughout the process, the Urban Lab acts as a neutral broker, managing knowledge in complex environments to resolve multi-sectoral, multi-scalar and multi-stakeholder challenges. The Urban Lab brings together a multidisciplinary team of urban planners, environmental, data-science, mobility, legal and financial experts, providing a holistic and proactive approach to sustainable urbanization. Hence, the Lab captures the necessary thematic disciplines, experts, actors and stakeholders. In this context, the Urban Lab applies an integrated approach to systemic and strategic planning to deliver transformative change for sustainable urbanisation and to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in alignment with the New Urban Agenda.

The Public Space Programme aims to improve the quality of public spaces and helps cities become more sustainable by providing policy advice, capacity development, knowledge sharing and support for public space regeneration and improvement. The overall goal is to support local governments in creating and promoting socially inclusive, integrated, connected, environmentally sustainable and safe streets and public spaces, especially for women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities.  More concretely, the programme maps public spaces and works with cities to develop city-wide strategies and urban development frameworks.  

Urban Planning for Humanitarian Development Practices (UPHDP) aims to identify the strategic challenges and opportunities which will inform planning strategies for settlement affected by the conflict induced migration. The significant part of the initiative is focused on the promoting sustainable urban planning for the refugee settlements, supporting local governments and humanitarian partners to develop  the “New Way of Working” which aims at better coordination between humanitarian and development actors in pursuit of “enhancing the protection of persons of concern and building measurable progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The consultancy will focus on three areas of work in the Commonwealth of Independent States:

•  Supporting the Urban Lab in urban resilience planning activities in Khorog, Tajikistan
•  Supporting the development of a technical proposal for Victory park in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
•  Support in preparing the Voluntary Local Review for Moscow on achieving the SDG’s and one area of the Urban Planning Practices (UPHDP)
•  Supporting the development of the settlement profiling in Uganda, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Kenya

Khorog, Tajikistan 
The World Bank in 2010 commissioned a report listing Tajikistan as most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change induced natural disasters in Central and Eurasia and with the second to least coping capacity in the region. At an elevation of nearly 2,200 meters, Khorog remains one of the highest peri-urban settlements in Central Asia. At the confluence of the Gunt and Pyanj rivers in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), Khorog serves as the administrative hub for the oblast and as the cultural centre for its nearly 240,000 residents. 

As a result of poor planning, land scarcity and overextended infrastructure, the expanding population base in Khorog has continued to encroach on habitats that are at significant risk from natural hazards with limited access to municipal services. This has led to ad hoc interventions in water supply, sewerage and access to energy which has further deteriorated the environment. This, alongside increasing frequency of natural hazards resulting from climate change, has led to increasing challenges in the maintenance of social stability in the state and civil society.

The overall objective of the project developed in partnership with Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is to develop an Urban Resilience Plan for Khorog that creates economic opportunities and builds social stability for future growth scenarios. The project aims to improve resilience for existing communities and accommodate the increasing population in Khorog. More specifically, the project aims to provide environmental, legal, economic, spatial and infrastructure policies and projections, resilient infrastructure plans, implementation mechanisms for transformative projects, and planning and technical capacity building for stakeholders. UN-Habitat’s Urban Planning and Design Lab aims to provide planning expertise, drawing on existing methodologies, toolkits and best practices in a collaborative and integrated way.

Partnerships from the international community for the Khorog Resilience Investment Programme include investments from the European Union for resilient infrastructure, the Government of Japan for Resiliency in education and health initiatives along with capacity building and engagement from the IFC and World Bank for demographic and social stabilization projects. For the Planning and Proof of Concept Initiatives the primary partnership will be with the agencies of the AKDN and the Government of Tajikistan in setting the foundation for the larger programme of works. UN-Habitat aims to support the Revised Town Planning process to support the alignment of the town plan to UNDRR resiliency principles through best practices.

Victory Park, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 
The provision of quality and safe public space in cities and towns in Kyrgyzstan is limited, and access to public space is becoming more and more controlled or privatized.  In Bishkek, there are very few neighborhood parks. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, about 80% of the city’s public spaces have been commercialized. There are many green spaces, but people do not consider these places “theirs” because they are poorly maintained and uninviting. Transforming the state of public space in Bishkek is vital to improve the quality of life for citizens and migrants alike. As a large part of the Bishkek population live in informal settlements, this is particularly important in poorer neighborhoods such as the novostroiki as well as inner city neighborhoods. 

In its new programme “Cities as Points of Economic Growth”, the Government of Kyrgyzstan has paid considerable attention to public space, seeing the programme implementation as a tool for economic development and the creation of a livable urban environment. All cities in Kyrgyzstan have drafted their development programs, which – among other issues – support citizens’ initiatives aimed at the restoration and creation of public spaces. This provides an excellent entry-point and opportunity for the proposed project to be implemented as a visible demonstration project, partnering to build on national Kyrgyz expertise and complementing with UN-Habitat’s global experience.

The key element of this Project - implemented for the first time in the Commonwealth of Independent States - is to demonstrate through the physical improvement of Victory Park, the feasibility to enhance public spaces. This will be done by improving the physical infrastructure and supporting the local government in Bishkek together with other key stakeholders in creating, designing, and building high-quality public spaces, as well as protecting, enhancing and managing those that already exist. The selected spaces will act as a catalyst for improving public space networks in neighborhoods and help improve the capacity of local institutions and communities by adopting a city-wide approach and contribute to long-term change for a better quality of life for all. 

Through the implementation of the programme in Bishkek, it is expected that other cities in the Kyrgyzstan and the region will also benefit and be inspired from its implementation, gain experiences and lessons learnt. The project is considered a pilot initiative that provides evidence for policy makers and practitioners on the importance and feasibility of such transformation, as well as appropriate approaches and tools to be used.

SDG Voluntary Local Review for Moscow

Moscow is among the world's largest cities, being the 14th largest metro area, the 18th largest agglomeration, the 14th largest urban area, and the 11th largest by population within city limits worldwide. Also, Moscow is the major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city (both by population and by area) entirely on the European continent. Despite their significant influence, there have been notably few initiatives so far to localize the SDGs in global megacities. Moscow is well positioned to become a global city SDG champion; building on the immense social and economic importance of the Russian capital, not only at a national and regional level but also at the global stage. 

This project aims to demonstrate how the City of Moscow is repositioning itself in the international arena to lead the implementation of the 2030 Agenda among other global cities and accelerate momentum for SDG localization. While the SDGs are not legally binding, national and local governments are expected to take ownership and establish proper frameworks and implementation mechanisms. The 2030 Agenda explicitly emphasizes the need for an inclusive and localized approach to the SDGs stating that ‘governments and public institutions will also work closely on implementation with regional and local authorities, sub-regional institutions, international institutions, academia, philanthropic organizations, volunteer groups and others.’

The VLR for Moscow will focus on the progress at the local level including their baselines and status. The project will also collect data and best practices on other megacities to better understand specificities of Moscow in implementing the 2030 Agenda. For that to happen, the project will identify the elements that define a megacity and the challenges of opportunities of this typology in the light of the SDGs. 

UN-Habitat will provide its global technical advisory services to support the first SDG Voluntary City Review for the City of Moscow. UN-Habitat, as the designated UN agency to monitor the implementation of the urban-related SDGs and the New Urban Agenda, will draw on this global mandate and its international network and research expertise for the preparation of the Review.

Spatial Settlement Profiling
The spatial profiling is developed utilizing a spatial profiling methodology piloted by UN-Habitat’s Urban Practices Branch. The profiling is essentially a process of high-level assessment that provides an overview of the social, environmental and spatial components of urban-like settlements affected by climate and conflict induced displacement. The process of developing the profiles is participatory and field oriented, with the aim to extract a tool as an output to allow for this process to be replicated locally in other contexts to facilitate informed decision making as part of longer term climate and socially responsive urban and regional infrastructure planning. 
The unified Spatial Settlement Profile exercise should thus help serve decision-makers in prioritizing and streamlining funding and implementation modalities, benefiting not only PoC, but also host populations and coordination amongst international governments and partners. 

Location:         Moscow with expected travel to Bishkek and Khorog, Nairobi (HQ) and Ethiopia

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will support UN-Habitat from Moscow, and on the ground in these countries, and interact with stakeholders, therefore he/she will be appointed based on securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. As a UN representative, he/she is expected to exhibit and adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct. Some of the key responsibilities of the Consultant are as follows:

• Support the Programme Managers with stakeholder engagement and communication;
• Provide expert advice as part of programme delivery;
• Ensure alignment of UN-Habitat’s and AKDNs activities;
• Support city authorities with policy recommendations;
• Provide technical input to prepare sustainable urban plans;
• Adapt and develop methodologies and approaches for sustainable urbanization and resilience planning;
• Coordinate participants attendance and arrangements of any logistical needs for engagement events like workshops, focus groups, exhibitions;
• Provide peer reviewing and comment revision on SDG related contents;
• Host multi-stakeholder workshops, including organization and moderation;
• Provide guidance and expert advice on the process to localize the SDGs in Russia and the CIS Region;
• Provide technical advice on urban planning for `humanitarian and `development practice;
• Facilitate the communication between stakeholders and overcome potential linguistic barriers;
• Safeguard the cross-cutting issues of the programme that are considered in each project: Climate Change, Gender Equality, Human Rights, Youth, Children and Elderly Persons, and Disability.

Outputs:

Output 1 - Scoping activities in the inception phase for Urban resilience Planning project in Khorog, Tajikistan; including (1 month):

• Concept note and project document for the proposal of Promoting Spatial, Environmental and Social Resilience - Khorog, Tajikistan; including feedback and recommendations on the scope of the project, outputs and activities.
• List of preparatory activities to initiate the project, including UN-Habitat team set-up, reaching out to key local experts and stakeholders along with the workplan.
• Inception report including the preliminary research on the local context, urbanization trends, and ongoing projects, in addition to the scoping mission to Khorog, meeting with Programme Partners and stakeholders, identification of priorities, and assessment of vision, goals and objectives of previous plans and stakeholders.
• Compiled list of data required to deliver the project outputs and activities and conducting urban analysis including demographic growth, economic development, housing, land use, mobility and municipal services.

Output 2 - City and regional assessment (analysis) activities for Khorog; including (1 month):

• Assessment Report on policy analysis, capacity assessment, legal and governance structure, infrastructure assessment, and climatic, demographic and natural hazard risks that Khorog City will face over the next 20 years.
• Workshop report on the planning, delivery and outcome from the design charette and visioning workshop, capturing lessons learnt and key recommendations for strengthened vision for Khorog City.
• Training report on urban planning trainings targeting the city authorities and key stakeholders in Khorog, capturing the outcomes and key recommendations.

Output 3 - City Profile (diagnosis) for Khorog; including (1 month):

• City Profile (diagnostic) capturing the 20-year forecast and identified key challenges (from a spatial, resilience, governance, economic and legal perspective using data, stakeholder meetings and scoping mission).
• Report on capacity gaps and needs in the city, related to sustainable urban development and resilience planning.
• Development of recommendations and action plans for Khorog City, based on urban diagnosis influenced by the results of visioning and design workshops.

Outpiut 4 - Conduct a site-specific assessment of Victory park in Bishkek and prepare the report - the preliminary phase of the urban design process dedicated to studying the climatic, geographical, historical, socio-economic, legal, and infrastructural context of a specific site. The analysis is carried out at the both neighborhood and project area scale to identify spatial and design linkages with the surrounding built environment. The study includes a mapping of key stakeholders and a comprehensive summary of the collected data, identification of the main challenges and opportunities for the project proposal, represented by the set of graphic material (strategic zonings, diagrams, charts). (1 month)

Outpiut 5 - Develop a detailed project document with a team for Victory park in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan which includes concept design and detailed budget. (1 month)

Outpiut 6 - Develop at least one Urban Design under various projects under Urban Planning for `humanitarian and Development practice. (2 weeks)

Outpiut 7 - Develop and finalize urban profiling tool in collaboration with `humanitarian and development practice team (2 weeks)

Outpiut 8 -Supporting activities related to the Moscow SDG VLR (4 months):

• Inputs on the elaboration of the project workplan and implementation strategy;
• Revision of Terms of Reference for experts and specialists (6 ToR’s);
• Elaboration of contents and conduction of an SDG survey, including a technical assessment note based on conclusions and summary of results;
• Elaboration of contents (including the development of a methodology) and conduction of 2 workshops focusing on localizing the SDGs in Moscow, this includes the delivery of 2 final reports.
• Identification of key project stakeholders in Moscow and preparation of a stakeholder engagement strategy;
• Provision of technical notes on localizing the SDGs in Moscow. 

Deliverables:

Deliverable 1 - Report on site-specific assessment of Victory park in Bishkek 1 month 10%; deadline: mid May 2020
Deliverable 2 - Detailed project document with a team for Victory park in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan which includes concept design and detailed budget - payment: 10%; deadline: mid June 2020
Deliverable 3 - Report of inception phase for Urban resilience Planning project in Khorog, Tajikistan - payment: 10%; deadline: mid July 2020
Deliverable 4 - City and regional assessment (analysis) report of activities for Khorog - payment: 10%; deadline: mid August 2020
Deliverable 5 - City Profile (diagnosis) for Khorog - payment: 10%; deadline: mid September 2020
Deliverable 6 - Draft Urban Design project on and urban profiling tool in collaboration with `humanitarian and development practice team - payment: 10%; deadline: mid October 2020
Deliverable 7 - Project workplan and implementation strategy for Moscow VLR and 6 Terms of Reference - payment: 10%; deadline: mid November 2020
Deliverable 8 - Technical assessment note from summary or results of SDG survey - payment: 10%; deadline: mid December 2020
Deliverable 9 - 2 workshop reports and technical notes on localizing the SDGs in Moscow - payment: 10%; deadline: mid January 2021
Deliverable 10 - Mapping of stakeholders and stakeholder engagement strategy - payment: 10%; deadline: mid February 2021

Competencies

Professionalism:

• Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to urban planning and design. Strong analysis of urban form, urban systems, underlying social, legal and financial mechanisms and the political context. Ability to develop strong graphic materials (concept plans, diagrams, street sections) as well as substantive reports. Knowledge of urban development issues and humanitarian context. Ability to observe deadlines and achieve set goals. Ability to work and deliver under pressure.

Communication:

• Excellent written and oral presentation skills in English and Russian. Excellent capacity to produce and manipulate graphic documents and drawings. Good presentation skills. Ability to communicate complex interventions in a clear language and convincing narratives. Sketching capabilities to effectively communicate in workshop settings and teams.

Corporate competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards; 
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP; 
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; 
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict
• resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education: 

•  Minimum advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Architecture, Urban Planning and Design, or related field that is relevant for sustainable urban development. 

Experience: 

•  A minimum of 5 years of experience in urban planning and design with direct proven experience in drawing and preparing plan graphical material using computer assisted design tools including  knowledge of urban planning contemporary approaches.
•  Experience with hand drawing / sketching of macro-scale plans is an advantage. 
•  Experience with developing graphic material and production of complex urban planning documents; a portfolio of plans and designs of which he/she is the author 
•  Architecture or urban planning and design experience from the CIS region is required. 
•  Excellent research and analytical experience combined with good drafting and drawing skills

Language skills: 

•  For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English and Russian is required.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11/CV desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.  

Only candidates who receive min 70% of points in desk review (Criteria A-G) will be considered for portfolio evaluation. Only candidates who receive min 70% of points in portfolio evaluation (Criteria H) will be considered for interviews.  Only candidates who receive min 70% of points in technical evaluation (Criteria A-I) will be considered for the financial evaluation. 

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

• Criteria A - Academic qualifications – max points: 10
• Criteria B –experience in urban planning and design and contemporary approached– max points: 10 
• Criteria C – Proven hand drawing / sketching of macro-scale plans – max points: 5
• Criteria D – The Consultant requires some previous architecture or urban planning and design experience from the CIS region– max points: 5
• Criteria E – Excellent research and analytical experience combined with good drafting and drawing skills – max points: 5
• Criteria F – Language - max points– max points: 5
• Criteria G – methodology - max points– max points: 5
• Criteria H - Portfolio of plans and designs of which he/she is the author – max points: 10
• Criteria I– interviews (technical knowledge) – max 15

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points

Application procedures
The application submission is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications.

Step 1: Interested candidates must include the following documents when submitting the applications (Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF attachment as the system only allows upload of one document):

•  Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the assignment 
•  Filled P11 form or CV including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees  (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc); 
•  a portfolio of plans and designs of which he/she is the author
•  Brief outline on how you will approach and conduct the work 
•  One sample of the similar assignments delivered by the applicant, focusing on city profiling

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and requested to provide a financial offer.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. 

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.