Transforming Neighborhoods Together - Participatory Greening in Arab Cities

Cities across the Arab region face increasing pressures from climate stress, deteriorating public spaces, and unequal access to safe and healthy neighborhood environments. In many underserved areas, large-scale parks and infrastructure projects remain beyond reach, leaving everyday green spaces fragmented or neglected. In this context, participatory greening has emerged as a practical entry point for improving environmental quality, strengthening social cohesion, and enhancing neighborhood resilience while reinforcing inclusive local governance. This Voices from Cities session presents experiences from across the Arab region, highlighting participatory greening as a city-led, community-engaged approach that translates climate and livability goals into implementable neighborhood actions. It features the Urban Living Lab for Participatory Greening, currently implemented in Tunis (Tunisia), Amman (Jordan), and Nouakchott (Mauritania), in partnership with municipalities, residents, civil society, and academic institutions. The initiative focuses on low-cost, high-impact interventions such as pocket gardens, micro-green spaces, shaded gathering areas, climate-responsive seating, and the tactical greening of underutilized plots and streets. Through participatory planning tools, on-site co-creation, and municipal coordination, the Urban Living Lab enables cities to test realistic and scalable solutions grounded in everyday urban life. Implementation milestones in Tunis and Amman are expected by May 2026, supported by documentation to facilitate replication in other Arab cities. The initiative is supported by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, which will also share insights from its Green Initiative Program and funding mechanisms for neighborhood-level climate action. Drawing on first-hand experience from ongoing pilots, municipal representatives and partners will share practical lessons on community engagement, institutional coordination, and implementation challenges, emphasizing learning from real delivery processes. In addition, Riyadh Region Municipality will present the Riyadh’s experience through Green Riyadh 2030, offering a complementary perspective that links neighborhood-scale action with metropolitan greening strategies. By bringing together experiences from these four cities, the session highlights collaborative governance models and policy-relevant insights that support inclusive and resilient urban greening across the Arab region.