Urbanist Expert

CONTEXT AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

With a total population of 30.4 million people in 2019 and more than 55% living in cities, Ghana has a dense network of urban areas mostly concentrated along the Atlantic coast and in the Ashanti Region. The country is halfway through urbanisation, and has benefited from an urban economic network more advanced than other countries in West Africa. While the first period of urbanisation has generated job creation and opportunities, improved living conditions and reduced poverty for many Ghanaians, the country now faces the challenges of economic efficiency and social inclusion within its urban areas, where globally basic services are still lacking. In addition, unplanned spatial expansion of urban and metropolitan areas and their limited connectivity within and across Ghana’s cities is a challenge, increasing social and environmental costs, unequal and inadequate access to basic services, health risks and ecological damages.

To address these challenges, an integrated programme is proposed by the European Union to meet demands in infrastructures and services by working both on the institutional and legislative framework at central level, and on the urban growth at local level.

As the second largest technical cooperation agency in Europe, Expertise France (EF) has been entrusted by the EU with the design and implementation of the “Sustainable Cities – Phase 1” project. The action proposed by Expertise France will address the need for capacity building and data collection of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGRD); at decentralised level the action will target selected Regional Capitals – Wa, Damongo, Nalerigu, Bolgatanga, Tamale – and the secondary city of Yendi.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

The Sustainable Cities in Ghana – Phase 1 is funded by the European Union (EU) to support both national and local authorities enhancing sustainable and inclusive cities in Ghana. The project will support the development of more sustainable and inclusive cities, with a particular focus on 6 cities of the Northern regions during 60 months.

The Overall Objective of this action is to improve urban prosperity for all.

The Specific Objectives of this action are to:

1. Improve national and city level policy framework for gender responsive integrated urban development
2. Improve environmental management and climate change adaptation and mitigation by targeted cities
3. Increase delivery of quality urban services and accountability of local authorities in targeted cities.

In order to achieve this objectives, EF will pursue the following actions:

• Encourage coordination mechanisms between local and national authorities: strengthening capacities, urban observatory, include climate change and inclusivity issues in the urban policies, peer-to-peer dialogues…;
• Structurally improve urban governance by strengthening the capacity of central and local governments to coordinate, design and implement urban policies, planning and regulation ;
• Enhancing and building the technical capacities of local authorities and promoting participatory approach supporting local authorities in the planning and implementation to improve water and sanitation and waste management services in the 6 cities of the project.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

To support the implementation of the “Sustainable Cities – Phase 1” project, Expertise France is looking for an Urbanist Expert.

Based in Accra, the Urbanist Expert works under the supervision of the Project Manager and in close link with the project Data Scientist. He/she is in charge of leading the activities related to i) supporting the implementation of a national Urban Observatory (UO) and ii) supporting the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development (MLGDRD), Ghanaian municipalities and other relevant institutions (Ghana Statistical Services – GSS, National Development Planning Commission – NDPC) in enhancing evidence based decision-making on urban planning and progress tracking of the urban policy. He/she supports also the project’s activities related to urban planning, and works in close collaboration with other thematic experts (urban planner, water and sanitation etc.).

The key responsibilities of the Urbanist Expert include the following:

Structuring and operationalizing of a national Urban Observatory

• Develop a dialogue and coordination mechanism between national, local authorities and agencies in charge of urban development;
• Develop a comprehensive urban data collection and analysis strategy for the UO, in collaboration with the MLGRD, NDPC and GSS;
• Establish the architecture, operational functioning of the UO and pilot its deployment;
• Identify and select administrative, territorial and climate indicators and datasets, in collaboration with the Data Scientist and relevant partners;
• Support the data collection and management system of the UO;
• Prepare capacity building activities work plan, documents and supervise their implementation;
• Organize and facilitate consultation/coordination meetings and peer-to-peer exchanges with project implementation partners (experts, public and private stakeholders, DP’s etc.) involved in urban planning and city governance;
• Advocate for data-oriented urban planning and policymaking processes at local and national level;
• Participate in identification, definition of needs, and mobilization of short-term expertise (draft of terms of reference, recruitment, monitoring of missions etc.) and verify the quality of deliverables;
• Ensure the quality of activities and their technical alignment with expected results, ensuring overall compliance with technical results within the set deadlines;

Cross-cutting activities

• Participate to consolidate the planning of component activities (contribution to the development of the action plan, monitoring tools, budget, and schedule, etc.);
• Facilitate synergy among activities planned in other components;
• Contribute to the development and consolidation of key project documents and deliverables (preparation of interim and final project activity reports);
• Report on the difficulties encountered, the risks identified and/or the context elements (sector, security, policy, etc.) that may have an impact on the successful implementation of the activities, and participate in the identification of mitigation measures;
• Participate in the sharing of experiences and dissemination of best practices and contribute to communication activities and program valorisation.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Education

• Master’s degree in urban planning, local development, urban development, social sciences, or any relevant discipline
• Fluent in spoken and written English

Professional Experience

• At least 10 years of working experience in the field of urban development
• Excellent knowledge of decentralization, urban regulatory frameworks and planning tools (master plans, sectoral plans etc.) at national and local level
• Experience in leading multi-stakeholders initiatives and high level institutional dialogue
• Demonstrated experience in institutional capacity-building related to urban development (development of capacity building plans and conduction of trainings)
• Experience of international projects implementation

Qualifications and skills

• Strong cross-functional ability and sensitivity to urban planning and environmental and societal issues
• Excellent communication skills: diplomacy and communication Conduct meetings, communication, negotiation and conflict resolution skills,
• A strong sense of organisation, rigour and autonomy is required
• Excellent analytical and reporting skills
• Experience in Ghana requested
• Authorization to work in Ghana is a bonus