International Centre for Sustainable Cities

Published purpose

The Partners for Long-Term Urban Sustainability (PLUS) Program aims to catalyse action on urban sustainability through demonstration projects in selected cities around the world. This program works to reduce poverty in informal communities in Dakar, Dar es Salaam, and Durban by increasing the capacity of local governments to design and implement projects that reflect the priorities and interests of residents. It supports initiatives that address the environmental and social impacts of rapid urbanization. The demonstration projects deal with issues such as urban design, land-use planning, transportation, solid waste, urban greening, energy efficiency, disaster mitigation, and poverty reduction. The program is expected to reduce poverty levels for over 600 people and families involved in the demonstration projects. The program helps to upgrade informal settlements in Dakar, Dar es Salaam, and Durban through community mobilization and youth initiatives. It fosters the transfer of innovative solutions for urban sustainability between cities. As a result, demonstration projects are expanded to clusters of three to six cities working on similar issues. Successful innovations are further shared with peer learning networks of 30 to 45 cities that represent a wide range of different communities.