Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal Program Technical Assistance

In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, nearly 850,000 people – over 60% of the city’s population – live in ger areas, characterized by poor sanitation, heavy reliance on coal stoves, and limited access to water and other services. To address the key issues of housing affordability, lack of infrastructure, and negative climate impacts, the Government of Mongolia and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are redeveloping Ulaanbaatar’s ger areas into affordable and climate-resilient eco-districts.

The US $570 million Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal Project (AHURP) builds directly on the affordable housing strategy that we developed for the Municipality of Ulaanbaatar in 2014 and the subsequent feasibility study we conducted for AHURP in 2018, a complex multisector project that required full-scale due diligence in technical, economic, financial, social, resettlement, environmental, and institutional aspects. Following the completion of AHI’s feasibility study, AHURP was approved by ADB for implementation and awarded US $150 million in funding by the Green Climate Fund.

Our foundational work is enabling the delivery of 10,000 affordable green housing units and the redevelopment of 100 hectares of ger areas into 20 eco-districts – low-carbon, climate-resilient, mixed-income, and mixed-use areas with parks, heating systems, solar panels, and water and sewerage pipes. The 500 or so homes in each eco-district will be 15% for rent or rent-to-own, 55% low-cost homes, and 30% market rate, significantly improving the living conditions of more than half of the population in Ulaanbaatar.