In order to build traction and share the ownership of the plan, we needed to establish an inclusive process to gather and reflect the true aspirations of Luanda’s citizens and institutional stakeholders. To this end, we consulted widely, with people living in informal settlements and university students, business owners and community leaders. In parallel, our engagement with the government, from local municipalities to national decision-makers, gave us a clear understanding of the political environment at all levels and enabled us to pitch our ideas within the right framework.

We were fortunate to be provided with a huge amount of information at the start of the project and we ended up reviewing more than 10,000 documents. Luanda’s government saw an opportunity to achieve their long-term goals by setting up a GIS land-use model for the province. The absence of coordinated digital map information meant we had to start from scratch, but it was worth the effort and we avoided the project grinding to a halt.

Our integrated framework for sustainable growth required a robust yet flexible economic base. Building on the existing policy framework, a set of strategic objectives were established to accommodate growth and support the spatial elements of the plan focussing on economic diversification, managing demographic growth, balanced economic development and international competitiveness.

Our approach to develop an integrated vision also brought us to combine land-use spatial planning with an assessment of transport needs and solutions, applying Transport Oriented Development (TOD) principles to Luanda’s route network to improve cross-city connectivity, diversify peak-time travel routes and broaden the city’s land-use distribution.

While developing proposals for the plan, we never forgot that green cities are healthy cities. Our 2030 plan for Luanda seeks to clean up the city by transforming its watercourses and radically improving the condition of the marine environment. The strategy allows the city to embrace the natural context of its verdant river basins and sandy coastal beaches as major assets integral to its revitalised green network.