18-12, Nishiochiai 2-chome,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 161-8575, Japan
Phone: +81-3-5906-0211
FAX: +81-3-5906-0112

Urban & Regional Development

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE OF PROJECT

The population of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, has been rapidly increasing since the end of the civil war in 1999 because of the inflow of immigrants from local regions and of refugees from within the nation and from abroad. However, the development of urban facilities such as roads, water supplies and housing has yet to catch up to this rapid increase in population. The city of Kabul is now facing a tight water supply, deteriorations in hygiene, traffic congestion, and the urban sprawl into suburban areas among other urban problems, calling for efficient urban development to solve these problems.
Although city planning for Kabul was defined in 1978 before the civil war it has not been updated since, and does not provide a sufficient answer to the current rapid city expansion. Therefore the JICA implemented the "Kabul Metropolitan Development Plan in Afghanistan" in 2006, and verified the validity of the Deh Sabz district in northeast Kabul as a candidate location for new city development and defined a concept for new city development.
However, to solve the current problems facing Kabul and allow it to adequately grow, it is necessary to improve the condition of the existing urban district as well as carry out the planned development of the Deh Sabz district to help further develop the Kabul metropolitan area on the whole. For this purpose, it is necessary to define a comprehensive masterplan for city planning based on a mid- to long-term vision. Under these circumstances, the Afghanistan government requested the Japanese government to implement this development study to define a masterplan for the Kabul metropolitan area.
This study aims to: 1) define the master plan for the development of the Kabul metropolitan area with a target year of 2025; 2) prepare the (short-, mid-, and long-term) execution program for implementation of the master plan; 3) propose an administration scheme for city planning, contributing to the implementation of the master plan; 4) examine the possibility of water resource development in the Kabul metropolitan area; and 5) improve the capacity of local authorities to define the city plan.

CHARACTERISTICS, CONCEPT, STANCE & SKILLS OF PROJECT

(1) Alignment of the plans for the metropolitan area, Kabul city area, new urban areas and each district based on socio-economic outlines.
The socio-economic factors were forecasted firstly for the Kabul metropolitan area based on macro socio-economic trends and resettlement trends of returnees to Afghanistan. Based on the forecast's results, resources allocation was planed in turn to Kabul city, the newly developed areas, new urban areas and so on. When allocating resources, the availability of land and water resources was used as the basic resources required for city development while considering the arrangement of local industry.
(2) Realistic feasible plan considering water balance and the environment
Currently the water supply in Kabul relies heavily on groundwater, and the present population level has come close to going beyond the limits of its support capacity. With this in mind, the city plan was defined paying enough attention to the macro and micro water balance.
(3) Realization of a participatory plan to facilitate unification and harmony of people in Afghanistan.
Workshops for problem analysis using the PCM method were held with the participation of representatives from different districts in Kabul city. In addition to this, a workshop about the PCM method were held to train local facilitator personnel to allow them to implement the problem analysis workshop in each district. After that, the facilitators were held PCM workshops repeatedly to define a project plan from the bottom up.

EFFECT OF PROJECT

・Definition of a master plan for the metropolitan area of Kabul (with a target year of 2025).
・Preparation of an execution program with regards to the master plan mentioned above (short-term: until 2015; mid-term: until 2020; and long-term: until 2025).
・Introduction of an administration scheme to smoothly implement the master plan mentioned above.
・Examinations will be made into the possibility of water resource development in the Kabul metropolitan area.
・Improvements will be made in the local partner's capacity to define the city plan.