The American Planning Association (APA) awarded AECOM Design + Planning, AECOM Economics, and other consulting partners with its top honor, the Daniel Burnham Award, for the Kigali Conceptual Master Plan in Kigali, Rwanda. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa and is recovering from a period of war and genocide. Rwanda's vision is to become an important center of stability and development for the entire continent of Africa. Our plan helps to advance this vision.

Rwanda's capital city seeks to develop an urban landscape that will help expand its economy and, at the same time, provide livable neighborhoods for a population that is projected to triple by 2030. A multi-disciplinary team led by OZ Architects and including landscape architects, engineers, architects, and economists focused on the goals of economic prosperity, advancement in science and technology, and preservation of the natural environment for Kigali. Our comprehensive plan outlines a vision and an implementable framework centered on sustainable, holistic, and locally-based solutions.

Kigali's hilly topography provided both challenges and opportunities for the master plan. Higher-density development was recommended for the hilltops; lower densities were recommended for the slopes; and the lowland wetland areas were recommended to remain in their natural state, as were the steepest slopes. Poor water sanitation is one of Kigali's most pressing problems, contributing to disease, malnutrition, unsanitary open-spaces, and poor quality of life. An alternative decentralized system based on watersheds was developed that uses the hilly terrain, gravity, and the existing wetland areas to efficiently and affordably cleanse and recycle wastewater and stormwater.

The Kigali City Master Plan was developed through a series of public workshops, informational and technical seminars, and stakeholder meetings. Public workshops were held in French and Kinyarwanda in each of the 35 sectors and were advertised on the radio as well as the newspaper to get maximum participation.

While these solutions are tailored for Kigali, similar strategies could be transferred to other developing cities. The need for original and innovative urban planning decisions in the developing world is becoming more and more apparent. The Kigali plan features land-based strategies derived from the natural terrain. These strategies affordably promote development to meet the current needs of a city in which 80 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day in areas that lack basic infrastructure and legal rights.

The Kigali plan has now entered its second phase. AECOM is working to train local planners through the development of finer grain pilot projects. The hope is that after these directed pilot projects, in-house planning staff and local planning staff will be sufficiently trained to carry on the implementation of the master plan without assistance from outside consultants.