Policy Forum – Urban Development Challenges of Tbilisi: Dialogue for Effective Policy-Making

On May 20, at 10:00 a.m. East-West Management Institute’s (EWMI) Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) project will host a conference on urban planning, road safety and traffic congestion issues in Tbilisi. The Conference will be held at IREX Multimedia Education Center (10a, Aleksandre Chavchavadze Str. Tbilisi)

Over the recent years Tbilisi has been facing a number of long-standing systemic problems: congested roads and disorganized traffic, increasing number of road accidents, and chaotic constructions of multistory buildings causing dilapidation of the green space. These problems significantly deteriorate the living standards in Tbilisi, inhibit its prospects for sustainable development and pose risks to public health and economic efficiency.

How can the government make Tbilisi’s roads safer? What should be the top priorities for implementing the road safety strategy? Should Tbilisi authorities focus on improving the public transport system and discourage usage of public cars, or should they instead capitalize on expanding roads and highways? What is the most optimal means of transportation for Tbilisi? How should the seemingly chaotic constructions be addressed? How should the public officials, businesses and CSO representatives work together for a more sustained urban development? How is Tbilisi government dealing with these issues right now? Invited experts, government and CSO representatives will discuss these and other issues at the conference on May 20.

Purpose of the event is to support to an open and constructive dialogue among the Georgian policy-makers, CSOs (think tanks and watchdog organizations), experts and the donor community to develop effective and sustainable urban policies for Tbilisi, without inflicting significant damage to the businesses and the city.