The overall result of this consultancy is to enhance the national and local governments to scale up successful local-level approaches through tools development and application, and project finance, planning and policy advise towards sustainable urbanization.
Bangkok, Thailand
6 months with the possibility of extension based on performance
About UN-Habitat
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.
The Urban Planning and Design Lab (Urban Lab) of UN-Habitat is an initiative to promptly respond to the requests of national and local governments to support sustainable urban development. The Urban Lab is the integrative facility of the Agency where innovative processes and partnerships are translated into tangible and transformative solutions to complex urban challenges. The Urban Lab acts as a neutral broker, managing knowledge in complex stakeholder settings to resolve multi-sectoral, multi-scalar and multi-stakeholder challenges, by offering a multi-disciplinary team capturing the necessary thematic areas. In this context, the Urban Lab applies an integrated approach to systemic and strategic planning to deliver transformative change for sustainable urbanization and to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda.
Global Future Cities Programme
The Global Future Cities Programme (GFCP) under the UK Foreign and Commonwealth's Prosperity Fund (UK FCO) aims to deliver targeted interventions in 19 cities across 10 countries to encourage sustainable development, increase prosperity whilst alleviating high levels of urban poverty. The programme will also create significant short and long-term business opportunities in growing markets forecast to be regional growth hubs. In addition, the programme will make a significant contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA).
The Global Future Cities Programme includes cities in Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, Turkey, Burma/Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The programme builds upon three integrated pillars, that collectively will address key barriers to prosperity, in selected cities: Urban planning, Transportation and Resilience.The programme is delivered in two phases: A Strategic Development Phase, followed by an Implementation Phase.
Strategic Development Phase
The Strategic Development Phase of the GFCP was implemented by UN-Habitat's Urban Lab as a lead executive agency from April to December 2018. This phase aimed at supporting the UK FCO in the identification, further definition and validation of 30 urban interventions in the 19 cities part of the Programme. UN-Habitat's contribution focused on supporting an improved definition of strategic and transformative projects that are implementable and which contribute to the city's objectives, while at the same time ensuring an adequate level of city ownership and citizen engagement. This resulted in the development of Terms of References (ToRs) for each of the 30 urban interventions, supported by 19 city context reports, eight thematic cluster papers, five policy papers and two normative reports, as input and basis for the Implementation Phase. The Strategic Development Phase contributed to demonstrating how each intervention could contribute to multiple SDGs and gave recommendations based on international practices, while aligning with city visions for development.
Implementation Phase
The Implementation Phase of the GFCP will occur from September 2019 to March 2022. During the Implementation Phase, the 30 urban interventions will be delivered also contributing to the positioning the GFCP in an international context and demonstrating the added value of bridging global and local development agendas through achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the New Urban Agenda.
While the UK FCO, including the Country Programme Managers, are ultimately responsible for the delivery of the Global Future Cities Programme, the 30 urban interventions will be carried out in the form of Technical Assistance by private sector Delivery Partners with international and national presence, as well as expertise in cross-cutting issues, SDGs and the NUA. The UK FCO has requested UN-Habitat's Urban Lab to support the Implementation Phase by providing strategic advice, knowledge management and quality recommendations on both Programme and local levels. A programme level capacity building component will be delivered with the support of an implementing partner, the United Kingdom Built Environment Advisory Group (UK BEAG). The Urban Lab's main contribution will be to work a neutral actor, facilitating a process to make sure that interventions adequately incorporate principles for sustainable urbanization, that cities are capacitated to sustain the interventions in the long-run and that knowledge will be shared on local and global level.UN-Habitat's Urban Lab now seeks to strengthen its team in the delivery of the programme by engaging local experts (Local Strategic Advisors).
Urban projects in Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital city and biggest urban and economic centre in Thailand. In the last decades, Bangkok has experienced a rapid urban and population expansion which has left many issues unresolved. Some of these issues are related to lack of public transport, traffic congestion, loss of public space and flood risk.
Intervention #1 (resilience-related intervention): Decision support system for flood management.
Description: Flooding in Bangkok is a natural phenomenon. However, urbanisation has affected water bodies and flood risk areas increasingly aggressively, leading to increased pressure on the water system. Although the city recognises there is a need for increased retention areas in the city, urban development is not adequately guided by flood risk adaptation and mitigation measures, which leads to the city experiencing difficulties in demarcating and enforcing retention areas. The Decision Support System for Flood Control (DSS) the Global Future Cities Programme wants to support aims to increase the city government’s ability to enact day to-day and long-term planning for flood risk control. The DSS will help the BMA optimise the impact of its flood management strategy and related investments, building the capacity of relevant teams to implement
those systems.
Intervention #2 (data-related intervention): Integrated Data Centre Roadmap
Description: The lack of collaboration between departments is one of the main challenges which hinders integrated approaches towards urban planning, transportation and resilience. One of the ways in which this plays out is in the lack of data sharing. Large cohorts of data are collected by the departments within BMA, but there is insufficient co-ordination amongst them, and an absence of a centralised system that allows data consistency, reliability and quality. Data sharing and un-harmonised analysis make more complex the deployment of projects and strategies within the city. The development of an Integrated Data Hub (IDH) should address the lack of inter-departmental co-operation and enhance integrated planning and the adoption of integrated approaches in response to urban challenges. The IDH’s first priority will be the development of a Data Science Platform (DSP) to enable the BMA to develop solutions capable of more readily achieving its strategic as well as developmental goals whilst ensuring coherence between departments. The Intervention proposed by the Global Future Cities Programme will support the BMA in designing and developing a road map for implementation of a world class data centre shaped to the specific requirements of Bangkok. The BMA data centre will inform and enable integrated, sustainable, future-focussed and responsive city planning and management.
Intervention #3 (transport-related intervention): Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Plan: Khlong Bang Luang
Description: Bangkok’s traffic congestion is one of the worst in the world. Despite recent investments, the funds dedicated to the public transport system are not sufficient, and this impacts the mobility system as a whole. The implementation of mass transit stations to decongest strategic areas have attracted high-rise developments, that without adequate provisions for affordable housing, have displaced low-income communities. In addition, the lack of integration between the transport and flood control management leads to the exposure of the transport services to disruptions in times of heavy rain. The Khlong Bang Luang area was chosen for the development of an integrated plan with a focus on transit-oriented development approaches linked to the construction of the proposed new Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) station. The plan will promote public transport mode integration and incentivise nonmotorized mobility within the area. At the same time, it will promote local economic development and introduce safeguards to ensure existing communities benefit from the implementation of the project and are maintained within the neighbourhood. In doing so, the intervention will help to demonstrate how the government’s investments in enhanced transport access and connectivity can drive inclusive economic planning and sustainable development.
2. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Local Strategic Advisor will represent UN-Habitat on the ground and interacts with all the stakeholders of the Programme, therefore he/she will be appointed on the basis of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity In Thailand, UN-Habitat requires one consultant to manage the activities carried out in Bangkok for the Global Future Cities Programme, alongside local UK Government representative(s) and to support the Bangkok office in programme implementation and project development in the Southeast Asia region. UN-Habitat also requires a consultant to support UN-Habitat Bangkok office for general UN-Habitat Programme implementation.
Under the overall supervision of the Head of the Urban Lab / programme manager of the Global Future Cities Programme, and the Human Settlement Officer responsible for the coordinating the Southeast Asia Hub, the consultant will carry out the following duties and responsibilities:
1. SDG Project Assessment Tool:
The ‘SDG Project Assessment Tool; Guidance for cities to develop interventions towards inclusive and sustainable urbanization’ (the Tool) will be developed and applied to capacitate city authorities to conduct quality recommendations during the interventions’ development, and to enhance their ability for executing and sustaining the interventions beyond the Programme’s timeframe.
The Local Strategic Advisor will provide expert services to the Urban Lab in the process of tailoring the SDG Project Assessment Tool for each intervention. This will include:
• Assess the Logical Framework for each intervention to inform the SDG tailor-made tool;
• Organize and facilitate consultation with the City Authorities on the frameworks tailored to each intervention; and
• Provide technical input and expertise from local perspective to contextualize the Tool.
2. SDG Project Assessment Sessions:
Throughout the Programme period, the SDG Project Assessment Tool will be applied at periodic ‘SDG Project Assessment Sessions’ in each city. The sessions will provide a qualitative assessment of deliverables submitted by the Delivery Partners against each Terms of Reference (ToR). The sessions will be participatory events between city authorities, delivery partners and the UK FCO. During the course of the Programme, it is expected that 4 to 6 assessment sessions will be conducted.
The Local Strategic Advisor, with the support of the Urban Lab, will be responsible for the organization and delivery of these events. This will include:
• Technically review the ToR deliverables by applying the SDG Project Assessment Tool, including provision of recommendations to support alignment of the intervention to the SDG and the NUA with the support of Lab;
• Organization of consultations with the city authorities to evaluate the ToR deliverables through the SDG Project Assessment Tool in preparation of the multi-stakeholder SDG Project Assessment Session;
• Host multi-stakeholder SDG Project Assessment Sessions in each city, including organization and moderation;
• Coordination of participants attendance and arrangements of any logistic needs for the events;
• Develop a report of the main conclusions of the SDG Project Assessment Sessions based on a template provided by the Urban Lab;
• Review and provide input on the technical recommendations as part of the SDG Project Assessment Report, eventually adapted into roadmaps/ strategies to sustain the interventions beyond the programme period (considering financial strategies, legal frameworks, local capacity, governance); and
• Carry out brief surveys to monitor the city authorities’ perception of the SDG Project Assessment Sessions and Capacity Building events to evaluate, learn, and improve the activities development.
3. Capacity Building Programme:
As part of the programme implementation, city authorities will be supported with strategic advice and capacity building through an integrated approach. Technical assistance of the Delivery Partners will be complemented with learning-by-doing capacity building activities, (i.e. embedded in SDG project assessment process) and with a programme level capacity building and training component. The methodology and the thematic of these activities will be developed by UN-Habitat together with the implementing partner (UK BEAG), while the organization and delivery of the specific events will be led by UK BEAG.
The Local Strategic Advisor will:
• Lead local events, training courses provided by UN Habitat and UK BEAG (if any)
• Provide inputs for the city-to-city learning and knowledge exchange methodology for the Capacity Building Programme;
• Provide review and inputs on the capacity building methodology and timeline according to cities’ needs;
• Provide review and inputs on methodology and contents of the thematic learning events and webinars;
• Provide input on selection of participants to attend the events;
• Attend the thematic learning events in the cities of assignment and report on attendance;
• Provide input to, and potentially participate in, a Programme level Training and Dialogue event, if necessary; and
• Review and validate the reports prepared by UK BEAG to capture main finding and conclusion of the thematic learning events and provide input to the translation of these documents.
4. Expert Groups Meetings (EGMs):
A component of the programme aims to increase local and global knowledge on inclusive and sustainable urbanization through the production of normative work and a systematic capture and dissemination of the knowledge produced. In order to bolster the normative work, three EGMs will be held bringing together globally leading expertise around a certain topic area. The EGMs will help explore relevant contemporary research and analysis, identify inspiring practices and lessons learned and develop independent recommendations on a particular issue. The Urban Lab will organize and deliver these events and the Local Strategic Advisor will support when necessary.
This will include:
• Provide inputs to the events related to the technical expertise and local knowledge of the Local Strategic Advisor; and
• In case the EGMs will take place in the country or city of assignment, the Local Strategic Advisor will support in the logistic organization of the events and attend if necessary.
5. Knowledge Management:
A web-based platform will be created to facilitate the management of the knowledge captured and produced from the different activities of the Programme. The platform is envisioned as a tool for disseminating knowledge between the multiple partners and stakeholders of the Global Future Cities Programme, enabling knowledge exchange amongst them and particularly city-to-city learning. A public component of the platform will disseminate knowledge to the global audience. The platform will be established and managed by the Urban Lab.
The Local Strategic Advisor will:
• Facilitate the exchange and dissemination of the thematic documentation among the cities and the local networks through the platform; and,
• Develop a story on the Global Future Cities Programme’s interventions in Bangkok, to be published and disseminated on the Knowledge Management Platform.
6. Other activities:
The Local Strategic Advisor will be responsible of cross-cutting activities according to specific needs of the Programme implementation.
• Facilitate the communication between stakeholders and overcome potential linguistic barriers the Local Strategic Advisor will be responsible for the translation of key documents and moderate meeting and events when necessary.
• Provide expert input and support the Programme’s activities in other cities of the Global Future Cities Programme within the Southeast Asia Region
• To optimize the logistic organization and to ensure a time- and cost-effective development of the activities, the Local Strategic Advisor will support the Urban Lab to find substantive and logistic synergies between different components of the Programme.
• Safeguarding UN-Habitat’s cross-cutting issues that are considered in each project: Climate Change, Gender Equality, Human Rights, and Youth.
• Identifying programmes and events in the Southeast Asia region to explore synergies with other programmes to strengthen peer-to-peer learning, and to build a wider network to support implementation, replication and bankability of urban projects.
In addition, the consultant will carry out the following duties to the Bangkok and Regional office (situated in Fukoka, Japan):
• Develop project and programme proposals for the Bangkok and Regional office
• Provide expert input for project and programmes of the Bangkok and Regional office
• Identify and develop synergies in the field of urban planning, mobility and resilience in Southeast Asia region
Competency: • Technological Awareness. Keeps abreast of available technology, understands applicability and limitations of technology to the work of the office, actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks, shows willingness to learn new technology.
• Communication. Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed, Excellent drafting ability and communications skills, both oral and written; proven ability to communicate complex concepts orally; ability to prepare written reports that are clear, concise and meaningful.
• Teamwork. Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
• Client orientation. Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients ” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; Identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.
Skills: • Working knowledge and experience in urban planning, urban mobility, smart cities and/or resilience;
• Working knowledge and understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals and of the New Urban Agenda;
• Strong network within local government and private sector in Thailand;
• Extensive, proven experience in producing feasibility, evaluation or policy recommendation reports;
• Strong communications skills, including writing, presenting and facilitating workshops; and
• Able to work independently and as part of team and deliver on time under pressure.
Academic Qualifications: Advanced University degree in Architecture or Urban Planning, or related field that is
relevant for sustainable urban development and urban planning and design is required. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience: • A minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience in the fields of urban planning, mobility, smart cities, resilience, sustainable development, or similar is required;
• Experience in all levels of urban development from project development to practical completion and monitoring;
• Experience working in the South East Asian region is an asset;
• Experience working on social change projects is an asset;
• Working knowledge and experience in urban planning, urban mobility, smart cities and resilience and policies is an asset;
• Working experience with international development agencies and in particular the United Nations is an asset.
Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post
advertised, fluency in oral and written English and Thai is required. Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.
REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION
The consultant will be hired under the overall supervision of the Head of the Urban Lab / programme manager of the Global Future Cities Programme. The consultant will report to the Urban Lab (situated in UN-Habitat Headquarters in Nairobi) according to the activities need. The consultant is expected to continuously liaise and coordinate with the Urban Lab and with the Human Settlements Officer responsible for implementing the Programme’s activities in the Southeast Asia region in Bangkok.
The activities developed by the Local Strategic Advisor, including meetings and communications with local stakeholders at the country and city level, will be discussed and agreed in advance with Urban Lab.
The UK FCO Country Programme Manager have the role to supervise the implementation of the country-specific component of Programme, ensuring an effective activities’ development and a clear coordination between the City, the Delivery Partner and the Strategic Partner – UN-Habitat, supported by UK BEAG. The Local Strategic Advisor together with the Urban Lab will communicate and agree in advance the planned activities to the UK FCO Country Programme Manager.
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.