To help municipalities strengthen their institutional and technical capacities to manage urbanisation by integrating urban economic planning and design, urban legislation and urban investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and value chains projects, the UK Government is funding the Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED) to work with 12[1] municipalities in Kenya. The six-year £70 million programme utilises a three-step approach in its implementation approach. At the onset, the programme works with municipal and county staff to design a responsive Urban Economic Plan (UEP) that integrates market-based approaches helping the municipalities to identify viable value chain projects and supporting climate-resilient infrastructure that will help actualise the economic potential of the municipality. Once the municipality has formally adopted the UEP, the programme provides additional technical assistance to ensure that the plan is investor-friendly and attracts investors. To ensure that the municipal and county team implement the recommendations of the UEP, the programme ensures that its support includes a strong capacity building component that aims at building good governance systems and technical competencies for effective management of urban services to sustain SUED’s initiatives beyond the programme’s life span. This session is organised to share lessons on how the programme has worked with the municipalities to address challenges that they have faced in advancing inclusive urbanisation that have the highest economic potential for their intermediary cities. It will also showcase how SUED has helped them develop responsive urban economic plans that are geared towards improving their economic resilience. In it, session participants and various country representatives will see how the municipalities have defined their vision by outlining how they will build their infrastructure to better serve the population, develop decongested urban centers that enable their residents to live and work sustainably in well-planned urban centres that absorb direct and indirect impacts of climate change. The session will also address how it is key to work with intermediary cities leadership to identify economic sectors with the highest development potential. The sessions objectives are to:

• Highlight the work that SUED has done in intermediary cities and share replicable best practices with other countries
• Demonstrate how SUED has partnered with intermediary cities to harness the potential of urban areas as engines of inclusive and climate resilient growth
• Share how SUED has identified climate-resilient infrastructure and value chain projects/opportunities in supporting intermediary cities in Kenya to seek private investment

Showcase the first ever Kenyan Municipal-based Urban Economic Plans (UEPs). The objectives of the session will be met through the panel discussion and subsequent question and answer session. The session will show how the programme compounded the UEP development process to yield municipality-specific development frameworks that have enabled the intermediary cities (municipalities) to have an urban economic planning strategy that will inform their future socio-economic development. The plans have incorporated both national and international best practices in their development. As such, the intermediary cities have an UEP that marries economic development and sustainability ensuring that their market competitiveness in the region is enhanced. Further, this session will showcase why urban economic planning is the foundation of helping intermediary cities unlock their economic potential and become self-sustaining, resilient, and vibrant urban centers.   [1] Bungoma, Eldoret, Isiolo, Iten, Kathwana, Kerugoya-Kutus, Kisii, Kitui, Lamu, Malindi, Mandera and Wote