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Good practice Imported

Livable Cities Investment Program — ADB-Financed Participatory Urban Upgrading in Georgia

Georgia · Tbilisi · See the Georgia profile · See the Tbilisi profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 63% 62/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2019, Georgia and the Asian Development Bank have run a $135m participatory planning programme — a 172-stakeholder national visioning exercise plus local consultations — funding heritage, transport and green-space upgrades in Tbilisi and four regional city clusters.

15 USD million
Project Readiness Financing loan (2019)
120 USD million
Livable Cities Investment Project loan (2021)
172 stakeholders
National visioning workshop participants
1.5 million people
Intended beneficiaries
52 %
Share of intended beneficiaries who are women

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Asian Development Bank with Georgia's Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure
Period
2019–present
Keywords
urban planning, infrastructure, participatory governance, tourism development

Context

Following a 2014–2016 national urban assessment, Georgia's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure worked with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to design an urban investment programme explicitly built around public participation rather than a centrally drafted infrastructure list.

Objectives

The Livable Cities Investment Program aims to improve quality of life through participatory urban upgrading, with explicit attention to accessibility for elderly and disabled residents, targeting Tbilisi and four regional clusters (Zugdidi–Mestia and Telavi–Gurjaani–Akhmeta).

Activities

The programme started with a $15 million Project Readiness Financing loan in 2019, followed by a $120 million loan in 2021 for the Livable Cities Investment Project for Balanced Development. Planning followed three phases: a national visioning workshop with 172 stakeholders that set priorities; an expanded consultation round with citizens, women, elderly people, youth, businesses and NGOs; and integrated action planning with regional governments mapping short-, medium- and long-term projects. Investments cover cultural-heritage restoration, kindergartens, sports facilities and a swimming pool, transport improvements and green space. Construction contracts began being awarded from September 2022 (starting with a youth centre, presidential library and museum in Zugdidi), with Mestia's contract under procurement as of the most recent public reporting.

Results

ADB states the programme is intended to improve the quality of life of at least 1.5 million people, 52% of them women, but as an infrastructure programme still mid-construction, no post-completion outcome evaluation has yet been published — the public record so far documents process (stakeholders consulted, contracts awarded) rather than measured changes in residents' lives.

Conclusions

The evidence available to date is programme-reported rather than independently evaluated, and the headline reach figure (1.5 million people) describes intended coverage rather than a measured outcome; because delivery is still underway, transferability and sustainability judgements rest on the participatory design process rather than on demonstrated results.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — $15 million Project Readiness Financing loan (2019) plus $120 million investment loan (2021), total $135 million across Tbilisi and four regional clusters.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — National urban assessment 2014-2016; readiness financing 2019; main investment loan 2021; construction contracts awarded from September 2022, ongoing.
Staffing & skills
Asian Development Bank (ADB) — financing and technical design, Georgia Ministry of Finance — financing/borrower, Georgia Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure — implementation, Regional governments (Tbilisi, Zugdidi–Mestia, Telavi–Gurjaani–Akhmeta clusters) — local action planning

Conditions for success

  • Structured multi-phase participatory planning (national visioning, expanded consultation, integrated action planning)
  • Explicit design attention to accessibility for elderly and disabled residents
  • Phased financing (readiness loan before the larger investment loan) to build implementation capacity first

Common failure modes

  • No post-completion outcome evaluation published yet, since most construction remains underway
  • Headline reach figure (1.5 million people) is intended coverage, not a measured outcome

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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