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London – Commonwealth countries need to do more to build capacity among planners, architects and engineers if they are to successfully tackle rapid urbanization. This was one of the findings presented to a policy roundtable held last month in the UK.

Following the roundtable, Commonwealth and UK built environment professions declared that more should be done to train a greater number of built environment professionals, such as planners, architects and engineers. Building capacity among built environment professions is also needed if the Commonwealth is to tackle pressing issues such as rapid urbanization. 

According to a recent survey on the planning profession in the Commonwealth, there is a significant shortage of planners in some of the countries most affected by rapid urbanization and climate change. Bangladesh has one planner for every 600,000 people, while East African countries such as Tanzania and Uganda, which are among the most rapidly urbanizing countries in Africa, have one planner for every 450,000 people. In the UK, the ratio is one planner for every 4,421 people.

To address this shortage, the UK Built Environment Advisory Group is working with UN Habitat to develop a training programme for city officials in 19 global cities, 7 of which are in the Commonwealth. One objective is to help align Commonwealth built environment policy with the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda.

Another focus to address the lack of planning capacity is to create greater dialogue across the built environment professions in the Commonwealth and engage a younger generation of planners.