Implemented Projects
Urban Pathways develops scalable pilot projects in cooperation with the partner cities at a neighbourhood level with an aim to provide a proof of concept of urban energy, mobility and waste management solutions. 
Based on the pilot project demonstrators, larger-scale projects will be developed to utilise the CO2 mitigation potential of an integrated urban energy, mobility and resource management approach and seize the opportunities for contributions the Sustainable Development Goals. This will be done in close cooperation with finance partners and will be geared towards the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility and similar sources of funding and financing.      

NAIRobi

Implemented Project: Nairobi

Tiny Houses
This sustainable living unit in the Tropics is a prototype of an affordable house provided with all basic services including: clean energy, food production, onsite waste management, natural lighting and ventilation and many more sustainable design principles.
Successful Implementation

Air Pollution Monitoring powered by Citizen Science in Kenya’s capital Nairobi
Date: 2.7.2019

In a collaboration between the University of Nairobi Science and Technology Park - Maker Space Lab, Open Seneca, the University of Cambridge and UN-Habitat, a pilot project has started in Nairobi to build low cost mobile sensors in order to map out air pollution in Kenya’s capital city. The sensors monitor particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micron (PM 2.5), which partly originate from the transport sector. The small particles impose a severe human health risk and affect the respiratory tract. The pollutant sensors are accompanied by a GPS module in order to correlate the air pollution data to a certain location. 

Pollution in the Kenyan capital Nairobi is on the rise - and there is no escape from it. With Nairobi’s predicted rise in population – and a constant inflow of cars due to the high motorization rate – an urban health crisis is anticipated if no action to lower pollution levels is taken. In an effort to measure air pollution, the Urban Pathways project spearheaded by UN-Habitat has joined hands with the University of Nairobi’s Maker Space Lab in a project called “Open Seneca Nairobi – Air Quality Monitoring powered by citizen science”. Open Seneca is a project that aims to create a global air quality sensor network with the help of citizen science to build sensors, measure their air pollution exposure in a bid to raise awareness and initiate behavioral change. 
Tuesday, 2 July, foresaw the launch of the project. In his opening speech, Dr. Robert Ayah, Director, Science and Technology Park, University of Nairobi, appreciated the efforts by the young innovators: “The Maker Space is full of bright minds that are turning ideas into actual products. The results of the Air Pollution study will benefit the people in Nairobi and create awareness on the hazardous impact of pollution on human health”. 
 
Stefanie Holzwarth, Urban Mobility Unit, UN-Habitat explained that “55% of the world’s population already resides in urban areas. However, 88% of the urban residents are exposed to air pollution levels that exceed WHO recommended levels. This project in Nairobi comes at the right time.”
 
During the workshop, participants did not only learn how to build sensors with open-source hardware and software, but also how to interpret the air quality data that will be collected over the next 30 days. A total of 10 devices were mounted on different transport modes: 3 on Uber taxis, 2 on matatus (Nairobi’s minibuses), 2 on BodaBodas (motorcycle taxis) and 3 on bicycles. The drivers/ riders were flagged off in the afternoon – and the mapping of the air quality levels around Nairobi at different times of the day has started. 
 
Successful Implementation
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BELO HORIZONTE IMPLEMENTS ITS FIRST ZONE 30 IN THE CACHOEIRINHA NEIGHBOURHOOD
Date: 21.5.2019
Author: María Rosa Muñoz B.
 
Between April 26thand 29th, the city of Belo Horizonte implemented the first Zone 30 in the Cachoeirinha Neighbourhood. This first intervention redesigned temporarily the Simão Tamm Street, between Cônego Santana and Conde Santa Marinha Streets with the goal of showcasing how Zones 30 can significantly improve the safety and comfort of pedestrians and cyclists. 
 
The action, which was carried out with the active participation of the community, included not only a 30 km/h speed limit, through signs and regulations, but also the extension of sidewalks and public space by inserting urban furniture and painting the pavement. These combined measures helped reclaim the public space that was previously assigned to cars and added a physical barrier that will prevent car drivers from speeding, promoting greater safety for all. 
 
The Sustainability and Environment Coordinator of BHTRANS, Eveline Trevisan, explains that it is necessary to include urban design measures in the implementation of Zones 30, so that drivers understand that they are entering a different area, where the safety and comfort of pedestrians are the priority.
The temporary intervention in the Simão Tamm Street is the first of a series of planned interventions to be implemented in approximately 25 blocks in the Cachoeirinha Neighbourhood, which were identified in the context of the International Workshop "CONNECTIVE CITIES: discussing Zones 30 and a viable city for all", held in Belo Horizonte in August 2018. The Simão Tamm Street is an area of the neighbourhood where the conflict between pedestrians and motor vehicles is critical because of the width of the road, the lack of signage for vehicles, the narrow sidewalks and the intense flow of children and adolescents due to the existence of two large schools in the area.
The action, implemented by BHTRANS in partnership with ITDP Brazil and the support of Urban Pathways, was preceded by a series of workshops and awareness raising campaigns to reinforce the participation and engagement of the community in the planning, design and implementation processes.
Background
​Belo Horizonte has a series of plans (Master Plan, PlanMob-BH, Belo Horizonte – a Smart City, etc.) and policies in place that are reviewed and monitored on a regular basis to help guide the urban development of the city. Belo Horizonte has already made important progress towards sustainability and in the medium and long run Belo Horizonte envisions becoming an example of smart and sustainable urban development for Brazil and Latin America. With this in mind, and because of the favourable technological environment of Belo Horizonte, in 2018 the municipality of Belo Horizonte conceived a new plan, the plan “Belo Horizonte, a smart city”. This plan involves the sustainable use of the city’s resources, such as water and energy, waste management, traffic im-provements, integration between public systems and efficient citizen services through the use of technology, innovation and information systems.

With regard to mobility, Belo Horizonte has an innovative Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, called PlanMob-BH, with comprehensive measures including TOD, BRT and Bike solutions since 2013. By 2030, the plan expects that the measures implemented contribute to reductions of 36% in GHG emissions, 25% in travel time and 19% in transport costs. A process of review and adjust-ment of the plan started in 2016 and was approved in 2017. The plan contains 8 intervention areas, one of which is active mobility composed by the programmes Pedala BH and BH a pé also mentioned in the Smart City plan. The main purpose of these measures is to increase the modal share of bicycle from 0.4% to 6% by 2020 and to improve the public space to create walkability.

Project: 
In this context, Belo Horizonte established a partnership with the city of Bremen, Germany, which will help BH implement a Zone 30 and a bicycle street (Fahrradstrasse). The Zone 30 pilot-project foresees a wide deployment of vertical and horizontal signaling, reallocation and repositioning of parking spaces to provide the reduction of the speed, and, enlargement of sidewalks with the creation of small areas of coexistence for pedestrians with the insertion of urban furniture. Beyond the immediate mobility related issues, Belo Horizonte also recognises these measures as an opportunity to revitalise the downtown area and enhance the quality of life by creating pedestrianised streets and giving the space back to people from cars. 
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Urban Pathways is working towards the first Pilot Project in Belo Horizonte, a  Zone 30 in the Cachoeirinha neighbourhood, the first of a series of planned interventions to be implemented in approximately 25 blocks. The first intervention will be in an area of the neighbourhood where the conflict between pedestrians and motor vehicles is critical because of the width of the road, the lack of signage for vehicles, the very narrow sidewalks and the intense flow of children and adolescents due to the existence of two large schools in the area.