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Institute
This policy brief introduces preliminary research results of the
Build4People project, funded by the German government as part
of the multi-phase focus programme “Sustainable Development
of Urban Regions”. Furthermore, the research agenda of the
upcoming main four-year Research and Development phase (RD
phase) will be introduced based on insights gained in previous
shorter funding periods. The Build4People research consortium
consists of representatives from four German universities and two
German companies with their respective research, implementation and dissemination partners in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Build4People’s rationale is based on Phnom Penh‘s dynamic
economic growth, which is coupled with a local urbanisation and
construction boom. However, new buildings and neighbourhoods
are rarely constructed in a sustainable way with direct and
indirect negative environmental impacts. Issues of sustainability
are hardly addressed by decision-makers in the construction
sector, related ministries, city administrations or building users.
The overall aim of the multi- and trans-disciplinary Build4People
project during the RD phase is to support and analyse the
transformative shift in Phnom Penh’s current business-as-usual
urban development pathway towards a pathway with higher
sustainability and liveability levels. The entry points for the
research are the building and neighbourhood planning sectors.
Methods, tools and key instruments to achieve the objectives of
the RD phase are collaborative planning workshops, strategic
niche management approaches, transition management approaches and subsequent experimental implementation. All of these measures will generate applied knowledge for local stakeholders and a basis for evidence-based decision-making.
Urban quality of life as a people-driven approach serves as the
integrating link for all of our scientific, conceptional, analytical
and normative dimensions. During our research, we will jointly
conceptualize, measure and model urban quality of life and
consider its political dimension and its often-ambiguous
relationship to sustainability.
Research evidences that intact ecosystems within cities considerably improve the quality of citizens’ lives. The Cambodian-German project Build4People aims to include urban ecosystems into the long-term urban planning strategies of Cambodian cities. Jan-Peter Mund, Ravi Jayaweera, Hor Sanara, and Michael Waibel present the ambitious project.