Experimenting with transitional and participatory urban planning in the context of major urban projects
Since 2020, urbaMonde, Gret, urbaSEN, and Cabanon Vertical have been collaborating to animate and develop an international network of partners engaged in urban innovation initiatives, called Urban Fabric Initiatives.
This partnership was born out of an experimental approach conducted in Tunisia and Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou). Its aim was to support local project owners and civil society in exploring new ways to create urban space.
It is part of a multi-country programme set up by the Agence Française de Développement, which consists of the animation of this network of actors around participatory and transitional urbanism and of a funding window for new urban nursery projects.
With its partners, urbaMonde is in charge of facilitating and coordinating the network, accompanying and supporting the operational implementation of urban incubators, and communicating and capitalising on the urban fabric approach.
Urban Fabric Initiative Organigramme :
▶ Visit the Urban Fabric Initiatives website
As part of the network’s coordination activities, exchanges are organised online (network meetings) or during stakeholder gatherings (Urban Nursery Week in Dakar in late 2021 and in Nairobi in June 2024). These events provide key opportunities for sharing experiences and tools, and for building capacity among stakeholders (nursery operators, project owners, civil society, etc.). The team also undertakes work to document and capitalise on practices tested in the field.
As members of the programme, urbaMonde’s project managers are regularly called upon to carry out operational support assignments: on an exploratory basis, to assess the potential of sites identified for new incubators; at the start-up stage, to kick-start the initial phases of the project; or during implementation, in response to specific needs.
By early 2026, the network comprises 4 completed incubators (Dakar, Abidjan, Ouagadougou and Tunisia), 4 under construction (Monrovia, Nairobi, Kigali, Antananarivo) and 4 in the start-up phase (Tamale, Douala, secondary cities in Madagascar, Tunisia, new phase).
The Dakar Urban Fabric Initiative
The Dakar Urban Fabric Initiative sees the emergence of transitional facilities, conceived and designed by users, along the lines of the urban transport system currently under construction.
Through a process of experimentation, the facilities and activities deployed around the selected sites – halts, stations, and suburban stations in Dakar – aim to improve the quality of future urban public transport facilities for users and residents. This also helps them take ownership of the facilities.
