Mogadishu - Somalia's Banadir Regional Administration's Department of Urban Planning (DUP) in conjunction with UN-Habitat today launched a two-day urban consultation to discuss solutions for urban planning, land management and the reconstruction of Mogadishu.

During the launch, DUP and UN-Habitat also presented results of urban mapping of the city and analysis of key urban problems.

In his opening remarks, Mogadishu Mayor Mohamud Ahmed Nur noted that protection and security could not be effectively managed without proper city planning. He added that there was a need to spread public services - including schools and hospitals - more evenly around the city.

"I am here today not just because Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia and has an important political and economic place in Somalia, but because Mogadishu is my home and because the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) is based in Mogadishu," Nicholas Kay, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, said at the event. "After 22 years of conflict, you have a historic opportunity to create a new Mogadishu. With this analysis you are moving in the right direction; there is a need for a strategic plan for the city that international partners can support."

Mr. Kay thanked the Banadir Regional Administration and international partners including Turkey, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the United Kingdom, among others, for their role in the city's reconstruction and development.

Engineer Nadifa Mohamed Osman, nominated Minister for Public Works and Reconstruction, said there was a need to modernize the planning process in consultation with professionals in order to create a 21st century city.

“The Mogadishu urban analysis presented at the Urban Consultation today is the result of the cooperation between the UN-Habitat Somalia Programme and the newly established Mogadishu DUP,” Anna Sobczak, project manager for UN-Habitat Somalia, said. “The analysis has brought to light that IDPs and urban poor in Mogadishu make up almost 40 percent of the total estimated population of close to one million. UN-Habitat proposes to support the Banadir administration in developing appropriate solutions to address the protracted housing crisis of urban poor and IDPs.”

“In 2014, UN-Habitat will support the DUP in the development of a strategic urban plan, the continuation of urban mapping and the establishment of a GIS based property database for Mogadishu,” she added.